JINHAO 51A Wooden Fountain Pen Steel Cap (Red GuiBao Wood, Extra Fine Nib 0.38mm)

Here's what you need to know. They're Jinhaos: that means you get duds sometimes. Every Jinhao nib is, uh, unique. You have to think of this as part of the fun. You buy a fistful of these el-cheapos and *find out* which ones are your favorites. Sometimes you get an absolutely tasty nib: keep an eye on that one. It's worth 5X what you paid for it.Out of eight wooden ones, I only got one dud. It writes, but it's dry and annoying. I don't know how to fix it. I admit I didn't try every trick I know. Life is short.Another thing. You would think you could swap out the nib-and-section of one of the *plastic* 51As (the ones that are translucent rainbow colors) into the barrel of a wooden one. Wrong. The wooden ones are sliiiiighty too small for the other kind of 51A.What else. Oh, ink suggestion. Diamine "Chocolate" seems to be gooey-er than other browns (?)—which makes it perfect in a 51A. You get an excellent, firm, micro-gooey line. Monteverde "Scotch Brown" and "Brown Sugar" are very lovely browns, w/the right amount of yellow in ’em. (The "right amount" if you want the brown to be that of a beautiful person's brown eyes.)Some comments here in the stream complain about leaking. This has never happened to me, ’cuz mine never leave my desk, but I believe the problem is there. Listen, I lived in the People's Republic of China for a year: 1990–1991. All anybody had were Jinhaos, and those puppies leaked like crazy. Slip one into a shirt pocket and you'd have an entirely black chest in one second flat. But, again, it's all part of the fun. People shouldn't buy fountain pens if they're not into (a) fuss, and (b) danger.

I took a chance on this pen after having such a good experience with my first Jinhao - you just can not beat the quality given this price point! It is a light pen; it feels good in the hand; the ink flows smoothly; it looks great! My only knock against it is the need to store it vertically. I am finding that I often need to wipe ink off the body of the pen (where the cap goes over the nib) after laying it down. The first time, I thought I may have had a leaking ink cartridge but it has continued to happen after trying other ink cartridges. All I know is that the other fountain pens that I have used never did this. It is causing me to wash my hands a lot more frequently - but as I write this, I have faded ink splotches on my hands.

Jin Hao are known for their quality affordable pens. I knew this going in, but I was still surprised by the weight and how smooth it wrote. Using Diamine Blue Black, it writes like a charm and the hooded nib gives it a unique touch.Everything was great until I started carrying it around every day. I use a pen case and with my Twsbi Eco and my Lamy Safari, I have never had any leaking problems. This pen also did not leak out, but it leaked within the cap. With a black grip I did not see the ink on the pen until I found ink all over my hands. Chalking it up to a bad bump I cleaned the pen and carried on. Fast forward to the next day and the problem got even worse. Now all over the cap, the end of the pen (after being posted) and again all over the grip, I had an inky mess.All of this to say that this is a great pen and it will look great on a desk where you can guarantee it will sit nib up when not in use. However, do not expect clean hands if you toss this in your bag as an EDC pen.

I like the 51A a lot. I have a few colored demonstrator models that get a fair amount of pocket time. This feels like an upgrade.The ebony is pleasant to look at and warm to the touch. It appears to be real ebony but I don’t know what a scrap of ebony big enough to make a pen body costs or if it’s reasonable to think so. For my purposes it’s real, real enough.I like the fine nib and the hood keeps fingers clean. I think an extra fine wouldn’t work for me. This one writes very well with no hard starts, or skips. I’ve used both Diamine Oxblood and Noodler’s Bad Black Moccasin in It without issue. Internally it’s the same reliable, budget friendly Jinhao 51A.What would be nice is if the cap was a seamless fit rather than slipped over like in the photo. The pen is long enough to write without posting, which I do not do with this pen because I don’t want to mar wood. I wear a size 10 glove, so average I guess?For the price that’s a very minor complaint but if it that sort of detail matters to you, this isn’t your pen.I don’t worry too much about losing it or having the kids take it.For me it’s about equivalent to my Pilot Metropolitan. Though I like the Jinhao converter much more than the Pilot squeeze converter. The fit and finish isn’t quite there but it’s a quarter the cost.

The Jinhao 51A is an obvious copy of the famous Parker 51, and it is an excellent one. It arrived in a plain clear plastic sleeve only. If gifting, you’ll want to acquire a box for presentation. There are no instructions and no included ink. A Lamy-style converter is included.The peach wood barrel has a lovely matte finish, sanded smooth and feels great in your hand. It fits into the plastic section perfectly, and the threads on both the section and the barrel are metal, and screw together smooth and tight. The clip is stiff but has a rounded head and slips nicely into shirt pockets. The cap has a brushed finish. I do miss the Parker-style arrow clip, however.I simply dipped the nib into Noodler’s Q-E’ternity ink for a fill and set nib to paper. Straightaway the Jinhao 51A wrote a tad less than smooth, with an occasional hard start on the upstroke. There is some feedback that is not distracting. I did a little smoothing on micro mesh which helped quite a bit. The nib claims to be an EF, but it’s an F. The Jinhao 51A weighs in at 21 grams capped, 12 grams uncapped. It is well balanced with and without posting.With excellent fit and finish, a decently smooth nib, and gorgeous looks, this pen is an outstanding value. I have ordered another one in ebony. Something tells me I’ll end up with all the wooden 51A pens. And then there’s those swirly acrylic ones ...

When it first came, I found the flow of the ink difficult. I wanted a v fine nib that I could use everyday. Only after about a week of relentlessly writing with it, it finally flows well now. So, be patient if yours doesn't flow smoothly first. Otherwise I would have given it 5 stars.