2021 Hongdian 960 Fountain Pen Unboxing and Review

and what i’d like to do today is go over the parts and features of this pen show some size comparisons some measurements and then provide a writing sample after the writing sample please stay tuned as i will talk about what i like and what i don’t like so much about this fountain pen overall this is a very attractive pen this blue turned acrylic in a cracked ice style has some lovely sparkle to it but it’s nowhere near the spectacular acrylic of the galaxy in this moon man m800 the blue in the 960 is also a bit muted and slightly more in the purple range from the top we see the main similarity to the pelican m800 the cap finial the two-step gold metal finial has what you might say is a tip of the cap pardon the pun what pun shut up he thinks he’s witty to the pelican finial the 960 is straight edged and flat topped whereas the pelican has a domed top and a tapering step the hongdae 960s flat top has a laser etched hongdian logo of a dove with world peace written below it surrounded by laura leaves and then the word hongdian then we have two steps down to a gold medal ring that holds the clip in place the clip doesn’t resemble the pelican at all but it is a nice tapering design but it’s very stiff to the point of making it almost impossible to use the cap tapers up in a really nice shaped curve to a gold metal band that goes all the way to the end of the cap the cap band has two grooves which frame the name hongdin on one side and 960 on the other stamped into it the barrel has a very slight 0.

5 millimeter taper down to a gold ring which separates the barrel from the black plastic full blind cap this of course is not a piston filler but a cartridge converter pen the cap unscrews with one and about a quarter turn to reveal a section of the same acrylic material that has a slight taper to it and a small flare right there towards a gold ring and the number six size steel nib which is two toned and a black plastic feed the section is separated from the barrel by a thin gold ring which is actually part of the nozzle and threads of the section let’s look closely at this nib the chrome part of the nib has some nice scroll work on it and then it says 1997 has the hongdian logo and lan thien li shui jeshiang if my chinese is uh correct which it usually isn’t and an f refine the text is different again from other hongdian pens i reviewed but this is the first hongdian number six size nib i’ve ever seen but this is clearly the parent company of the brand hongdian which is the jijang li shui lancian pen manufacturing company which was founded in 1997 and was an oem manufacturer of other pan brand names from that time until now when it has created its own brand again this isn’t unlike other companies like opus 88 in taiwan the nib and feed are part of a nib assembly that unscrews to be replaced which is a really good thing because i had some big issues with this nib out of the box as you’ll see the section unscrews to reveal an included cartridge converter which is very upscale and branded hongdiem it has a reinforced nipple and can be disassembled the pen also accepts parker lamy and pen bbs standards so it will take a pen bbs converter along with lamy long cartridges parker short and long cartridges inside of the cap shows a milled edge right about there that’s supposed to act as a cap seal there is no cap liner but as you’ll see when i cap the pen you might be able to see where that ledge is milled into the inside of the cap and where the section ends up there’s about two millimeter gap right there the cap doesn’t post for any practical purposes like most duo fold style fountain pens like the xinhouse centennial moon man 600 s or the wing song 670.

it must be difficult to get the proportions right or something uh how does pelican do it the posting of the m800 is sublime look at that posts beautifully and doesn’t unbalance the pen beautiful length both posted and unposted and it seems to be a tough thing for other pen manufacturers to do unposted the pen is very comfortable and balanced and and just long enough in the hand for me the section is a good size and girth and that little flare at the end of the section is a nice addition this is a very comfortable pen to write with at length i bought this pen on ebay from the seller sally of easy buy sally also has an etsy shop by the same name easy buy i paid 28.

91 u. s including two dollars shipping and the pen has since dropped in price to 26. 91 including the shipping it is available in two nib sizes ef and f and in five colors orange black dark red dark blue and dark green now let’s look at some size comparisons here is the hongdae 960 with a pelican m800 a moon man m 600 s a jinhao centennial and a kaigalu 316.

10:41 - now let’s look at them posted and here they are posted and you’ll see that the only one in this group that does a good job of posting is the pelican m800 now let’s look at some measurements and i’ll be back with a writing sample and we’re back with the writing portion of the review this is clairefontaine 90gsm paper and this is the hongdian 960 and that has a fine steel number six nib now before i go any further with the writing sample i have to tell you the issues i’ve had with this nib it came to me out of the packing material like this notice how wide the tines are apart from each other the nib almost looked sprung i inked the pen anyway and did a writing sample and here’s the writing sample it was not only very wet but also one of the scratchiest nibs i’ve experienced lately the times didn’t look to be out of alignment so i decided to attempt to make it less wet by scissoring the tines i’ve made that term up i don’t know whether it’s accurate or not it’s uh it’s the way i describe it it’s a technique i saw brian goulet demonstrate on one of his videos it’s where you take the tines and purposely misalign them by passing them over and under each other and pressing them together this will close the gap between the tines and of course it’ll misalign the tines themselves and you have to realign them again i did this a few times each time scissoring the tines in an opposite direction over and under and under and over i worked on the nib for about an hour until i got the wetness where i wanted it to be so it was a lot less gushy than this but it was still very very scratchy but i worked on the nib first with some eight thousand grit uh micro mesh and then with some 12 000 grit micro mesh until i got it relatively smooth i wrote with the pen for several days after that and i’d keep my micro mesh handy and tweak it as i wrote in my journal and i must say i’m surprised at the results i thought i’d have to throw this nib away but it surprised me in that it has almost a pen bbs fine mini fuday character to it it must have been an accident i don’t know let’s get back to our writing sample let’s check the wetness now this pen is still extremely wet and but it isn’t as much of a fire hose as it was and the ink which is iroshizuku acigal is a very nicely behaved lubricating ink all of the aroshiozuku’s that i have are wonderfully well behaved and nicely lubricating inks and here are some close matches to asigal from inkswatch.

com as to line variation this is a very stiff nib and i don’t want to push it anymore because that will spread the tines out again and it’s already wet enough for me but i’m getting some subtle line variation just from the nib itself it’s not a mini fuji but i’m getting a slightly thicker line in the horizontal direction than i am getting in the vertical direction and the pen is nicely smooth now with a bit of feedback and this line is 0.

5 millimeters which is a western fine and the japanese uh fine more to medium and for our quote and some reverse writing it is very scratchy but you do get a much thinner line and some quick writing no issues at all very very wet and keeps up very nicely so what do i like and what do i not like about this fountain pen i really like the styling and the looks of this pen capped it is just about the same size as this jinhao centennial but rather than being straight sided and flat topped it has some very pelican like curves to it on the cap and the barrel and of course that two-step finial which is very pretty remember it may look similar to a pelican but it’s not it looks like gojira but due to international copyright laws it’s not still we should run like it is though it is it unposted the pen is very comfortable in my hand and has a nice balance and a nicely shaped and sized section and smooth cap threads i like the upscale quality converter supplied with the pen and the fact that it will take parker long short and lamy cartridges as well as except a pen bbs converter i like the large two-tone number six size steel nib this pen would look awful with the number five hongdae and steel nib i think kind of like how the twisby draco looks with its undersized nib is this what happens when you die what i don’t like so much is the lack of deep posting i know all of the duo fold clones from the moon man m600s and the kai glue 316 to the gin house centennial and the wingsung 670 none of them posed well if at all but my pelican m800 posts beautifully is it really that difficult to do this pen would be freaking amazing if you could post it as deeply and securely and well balanced as the pelican but no it would probably cost a few hundred dollars i guess i don’t know i’m no engineer uh but can’t you guys just put the end of this pen in a big pencil sharpener and taper it a bit just saying good day miss bellum how is every little thing pencil go snap here let me help you with that the pen is okay as i said unposted it’s just on the border of becoming too small i have medium hands so someone with larger hands would find this pen too short ugh and posted it is ridiculously long and unbalanced i wish the pen came with a medium option and i wish the clip weren’t almost impossible to use but my biggest issue with the pen was the nib and how it came to me in almost sprung condition if i didn’t have the skills i’ve learned over the last couple of years of dealing with crappy nibs i’d have to return this pen or throw it out as it is i spend about an hour fiddling with this nib to get it to right and as it is i’m now delighted with it somewhere in my scissoring twisting bending and meshing i hit upon a sweet spot that gave the pen that had no character and gushed like a fire hose and was scratchy as a wool suit they gave it a whole new personality i’d say skill was involved but it could have easily turned into a bent pos it is a well-priced pen that comes in a variety of really cool colors if you get lucky and get a nib that works well it’s an awesome buy and there you have it if you like this video please like and subscribe and don’t forget to ring that bell to get instant notifications whenever a new video is posted and that just leaves for me to say thank you for watching and that’s all she wrote i made this.