hero 336 disassemble

hero 336,  does have a collector. I was wondering how it writes without a feed given the equations reasoned that it should, and since today I felt so bullied that I decided to employ that nib extraction technique to the pen as well....
Anyway, I said before this pen has no fins collector. And yea, I just shot my head.

A pictorial comparison of the muji pen set

left to right : muju short fountain pen, muji gel pen, muji mechanical pencil, muji long fountain pen.

Note the differences in the length and the length of the pen body between muju short fountain pen, muji gel pen and the muji mechanical pencil so that you don't get the wrong item. the fountain pen is more expensive.

rotring core disassemble.

comparison : wing sung 612, hero 336, hero 331

comparison : wing sung 612, hero 336, hero 331

First impression : They are the same hooded nib pen. except 612 is trying to copy parker 51 when 336 and 331 might be copying parker 61. not really that important though.

Really? I need hard evidences. So, time to break them apart.

In order : wing sung 612, hero 336, hero 331. in order of their price. for hero 336, it is more expensive than 331.

packaging: 331 wins!

the pens themselves: i kind of think 612's clip looks nicer. no difference to me for 336 and 331.

612 doesn't have an arrow head....

The top and bottom of the pen. again, 612 looks nicer. 336 and 331's top and bottom do look a bit different, though you need to put them side by side to see the difference.

Now, the details:

The metal protector for the sac: each has their names on it. else, it is similar looking. especially 336 and 331.

The feed looks different for 612. 336 and 331's feed is exactly the same.

the nib for 612 is shorter. 336 and 331 is exactly the same.

verdict?

1) 612 is different from 336 and 331.
2) 336 and 331 looks only a bit different from each other, almost negligible.
3) 336 and 331's internal guts are the same.
4) the reason why 331 is more expensive than 336 is just for the packaging. :p

Real vs fake fountain pen : hero 616

These 2 are both 616 heroes, notice the differences?

Presumably one is real, the other is false. The presumed real version is very very VERY well made. 

I managed to get my hands on a very well made 616 for about 20 minutes until the owner realised...:p

the black one is supposed to be real, the red one isn't.

 

 

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 As i get more of the real 616, these are the comparison.

The top 2 are the real 616, the bottom is the fake. They have significant difference in quality, especially in the rubber sac.

This is the guts of a real 616 normal size. I love the transparent feed.

The $2 daiso china pen (version 1: not the current version)

no, I am not talking about the rivere pen. yes, that's good, but the body cracks too easily, and the window for imagination is quite small.

It's this pen I am talking about , in grey and white. the brushed metal edition is my doing. again. i never expected this pen to be so full of surprises, so here goes.

 the nibs are even more astonishing:
left to right: inner matt nib, outer matt nib, flex nib, normal nib.

 And their cartridges are even more crazy: http://pen-vault-ink-cellar.blogspot.sg/2015/09/a-standard-ink-cartridge-new-twist.html

Some WIP:

The cerruti 1881 automatic

 [First posted on facebook in feb 2015]

Well, I made a number of modified version pens for this particular cerrruti model. It has great potential, that's the bottom reason, and that I like demonstrator doesn't help. Anyway, here goes.

For a start, this is only an automatic fountain pen that requires a special feed. I don't know if this is done before, but I don't think anyone is more insane than me.

So, how does this work? it loads the ink by pulling the string that pulls the plunger up, and that strings sits quietly in that space. adding some aesthetic to it. that is the simple part.

the magic comes in when it is in use. with the special feed, the plunger will automatically move down when in use, as the air will enter from the rear than the front of the pen. thus when the pen is emptied, the plunger is already touching the nipple. it moves down automatically. The next step to reload is to just pull the string again.

Silicon oil is used extensive to ensure that the plunger is able to move freedom and yet do not move too freely. The right amount of silicon oil also ensures that the the plunger do not act as a weight on the ink and forces ink out. The balance of the amount of frictional force is the key. 


So, why doesn't the air comes in from the front? easy, I reversed what Waterman did decades ago; he opened the air inlet, I closed everything. no air can enter into the feed and into the reservoir. The seal is delicate which requires careful studying of the nib. the feed is filled with superglue where the air might move, and the nib is closely sealed with the feed whereby there is no air inlet from the drain to the nib. thus obviously, this nib cannot flex. It is a hard nib anyway. this nib also do not have a breather hole by its own design.

Honestly, I didn't come up with the engineering in totality. It was an idea borrowed from this vacuum pump from daiso which obviously works, and it works when i use it. 

This is a novelty prototype btw...so, while it works, it may not be practical to all situation.