Majohn P140 Review: No.8 Nib, Piston Filler, Wet Ebonite Feed and Good Value

    

The P140 in solid blue on the left. The clear acrylic demonstrator on the right.

    Majohn’s P140 Piston-filler with a No.8 steel nib, brass-bodied piston mechanism, and ebonite feed is a overall an oversized pen with a good value.

    That basically sums up my overall feelings and thoughts about the P140. The moment I saw it being reviewed, mainly the clear acrylic demonstrator version, I knew this seems worth getting. These specs at its price point seems pretty tempting.

    I bought two P140; the original clear acrylic demonstrator, and this solid blue colour with an ink window. Both of them I managed to get from separate vendors for around RM 150.  These prices are before shipping and taxes. I bought them alongside other pens and accessories from Aliexpress so I am not entirely sure what the individual shipping fee and taxes would normally cost.  

    These two pens are of the typically cigar shape, with gold trims and clip. The latter is straight and with the only notable aspect being this extra bump at the top. While the clear demonstrator has well-made trims on either end that align well with the entire body as far as I could tell.

    The blue version which I am not sure is coloured acrylic or plastic resin, I could feel on one side the trim stands out a tad bit. I couldn’t see it with the naked one but definitely can feel under my fingers. The trip at the top, however, which is part of the clip, is a little more prominent where one side of it I can feel it juts out very mildly.

    Both pens has a dual cap band, one this simple thin gold band, and the main one which thicker and has this wave-like pattern. I actually do like the looks of it. I do not recall whatever pens has this kind of cap band.

    Using the demonstrator version, it can clearly been seen that the piston mechanism is made out of brass, with the exception of the piston itself obviously. Whenver I operate it, both the mechanism in the demonstrator and blue resin has been smooth so far. I used the latter pen more often, and had refilled it three times and still smooth. It still remains to be seen how well the mechanism holds out, but I am confident it will do fine.

    I have to say this is actually pretty handsome looking demonstrator, with its very clear acrylic that doesn’t seem to have any defects anywhere, and framed with these gold trims and brass piston mechanism. The solid blue version was the first I feel most attracted though when I saw the images on Aliexpress. It is a simple and classic colour scheme of blue and gold, and I am just like deep solid blue colours in general.

    Uncapping the solid blue P140 reveals a generous and clear ink window, and both versions of the pen has a small grip section just big enough for my fingers to grip on, and it tapers very subtlety, ending with a little flare. The threads between the grip section and the ink window covers a notable amount of space, and thankfully, not sharp at all. I can even hold my fingers there and almost feel nothing. And finally, the cap takes a little over two turns to come off, I say around two and roughly a quarter turns.

    The caps themselves feel light and the inside has a round ledge carved to seal the nib when capped.

    The highlight of the pen is, of course, this no.8 gold plated steel nib, with this sun motif around the breather hole, the company’s name, the exact name of the nib itself which is apparently ‘Expedition’ and the nib size, all stamped. I am not for sure why exactly Majohn decided to call this particular nib ‘Expedition’. And accompanying this nib is an ebonite feed.

The ebonite feed in question

    Ok, I will just get to the point; the two nibs weren’t perfect out of the box either. While there were not any flow issues or the nib was very smooth and wet, it tended to have hard starts even I had it capped quickly or sometimes, only a few short seconds of not writing. So I did a little adjustments, making sure the slits are not far apart, and the tines are flushed, while also giving it a little work on some micromesh, I did seem to have largely solve the issue, and all that is left is how well the nib performs.

    Once that one problem is out of the way, this Expedition nib with its sun motif, with the help of that ebonite feed, is actually pretty smooth out of the box. On top of that, it is also wet, dispensing a good amount of ink on paper. Sometimes I actually think it might be too wet, and yet I can tolerate and still enjoy it.

    I bought the blue resin version in this medium nib point, while the demonstrator has the fine nib. From what I had seen on Aliexpress, the nibs only come in these two sizes. The medium nib is very smooth with no feedback, whereas the fine nib does some feedback, as expected from this nib size, but it still retains the same smoothness. I wonder if how wet this nib unit is also contribute to it.

    Besides the smoothness, the overall shape and size helps when writing. The extra distance from the page, the feeling of the large steel nib, and how well the smoothness, and tactility, transmits from the tip up to the body and my hand. It never feels like it squeaks or stutters, it just keeps on going with every stroke, and whenever I lift the nib from page and back down again for another letter and word. It just solid all around and feel reliable despite that earlier hiccup.

    Something to note, I have noticed that the difference in size between the fine and medium is very narrow. I do believe the wetness of the nib unit might had helped, but still I am a little surprised.

The P140s in comparison to a Uni Jetstream and Pilot Juice Up

The P140s in comparison to a Lamy Safari and Platinum Preppy

    The girth and size of the P140 fits into my medium-sized hands just right, and during the journaling and writing that little draft, I never felt uncomfortable so far. The cap does post securely on the back although it needs a slight push. From the demonstrator version, where I test and see if twist the cap and turn the piston knob. Thankfully it doesn’t. But the pen is already long on its own, so posting the cap made it too long to be comfortable outside of quick notes. The cap is not too heavy and barely back-weights the pen, but still I rather not post it.

    The cap seals on these two pens seemed very good so far. I left the blue resin, filled with ink, aside and check on it every few days, for at least three weeks, and there doesn’t seem to be any noticeable dip in the ink volume. This might need further testing for months, but still I believe I have confidence in the P140’s seal.

    During my usage of these two pens, I inked the solid blue P140 with Diamine Majestic Blue, while the demonstration I decided this Taccia Benizakura with its deep red would fit well.

    I had been using the solid blue P140 for more than a month now, six weeks give or take, and after solving the minor hard start issue, I have no problem as I used it for my diary, notes and this little random short story draft I concocted on the fly. I wrote on this A5 Sanzen Tomoe River paper notepad, and got over 24 pages over the course of a few weeks, and the pen has been quite encouraging throughout. Meanwhile, because the demonstrator version arrived a little later, and I only used it for maybe three weeks, and it performs just as well.

    In conclusion, the Majohn P140 is good, affordable fountain pen with a No.8 nib and ebonite feed, that is also a piston-filler. Hard to argue against specs like that. It is good and fun to use, and the nib does write wet and smooth, although I hope no other P140 out there come with hard starts.

    If there is an alternative, a direct competitor I could think of is the Asvine V800, which is a vacuum filler. I recently acquired that pen but haven’t try it yet. A cheaper option would the Jinhao 9019 and Hongdian A9. Unfortunately I do not have the latter, while the former is still a good value option, cheaper, with a No.8 steel nib, and has a large, proprietary, screw-in converter.

Majohn T5 Quick Review: It Is Alright

    I am going to try something a little different here. I want to review this Majohn T5 piston filler fountain pen, which I had only been using for  a week. I am trying to use a writing instrument for at least three weeks to a month, but for this fountain pen, it got rather uninspiring pretty quickly after just this one week.

    But instead of a written review, I want to experiment with a picture of a handwritten review that I made where I break down what I do like and do not like about the T5. Hopefully this works out well because, apologies in advance, my handwriting is a little rough.

    Anyway, here it is, and thanks for reading. Have a nice day. 

TIJ Ballpoint Pen Pro+: Overengineered Click Pen

 

    Last time I talked and reviewed the TIJ Pen R Extreme, which is a machined cap pen from the Taiwanese manufacturer called...well, TIJ. Now I want to move over and review their click pen, which on their website, is called ‘TIJ Pen Pro+’, or ‘TIJ Ball Pen Pro+’. I just gonna call it the Pro+ from here on out.

    The Pro+ is a click pen made out entirely out of titanium, with the exception of its grip which is made out of wood, that has the manufacturer’s name engraved on it. According to the product page, the wood that I chose is called Red Sandalwood, which is this really deep dark red-brown color, polished to catch the light.

    I really do like the grip, as it gives the pen some personality, and most importantly some ergonomics. It provides some extra girth (pen body diameter according to TIJ’s website is 9.7mm), while the wood itself also provides some nice warmth to the fingers.

    Much like its capped pen brethren, the Pro+ features TIJ’s unique Zero-Gap technology, which is essentially just to say that the gap in the nose cone where the refill tip comes out is relatively much smaller than what we would normally find on the market. Because of this, the edge of the gap rests on the metal shoulders of the tip, securing it tightly as it gets press against the former.

    This Zero-Gap tech is meant to eliminate any tip wobble since there is literally no gap between the edge and the tip. Thus allowing for a steady, and comfortable writing experience since there is no wasted movement due to tip wombles, nor any potentially clicking noises when metal tip meets the edge.

    This is basically what drew me to TIJ’s pens in the first place. A patented, their words, invention which is designed to help in improving writing performance. Maybe tip wobble, or wiggle, is not a big of a deal for majority of people, but for me, I really do enjoy writing with this pen, as every time the ballpoint is put to paper, and every stroke or flick as letters is formed into words and then into sentences. There is no wasted and awkward feeling, because the pen now feels like one solid piece of a writing instrument. The tactile and feedback transmitting through the pen to my hands, without obstruction is just an enticing feeling.

    Until I tried pushing the tip a little harder. For context, the unique click mechanism (which I get to later) the pen uses, also provides a sort of spring cushioning feature. So if I press the tip hard enough, the refill will be pushed back, in the body. I actually do not see how this feature can be useful except maybe saving the pen tip from damage if I drop the pen nose cone first with the said tip extended. When the spring inside gets push back, it gets rid of that awesome solid writing experience I had been having.

    I had been trying to write with a lighter hand even with ballpoint pens, so I don’t actually apply enough force to activate the spring cushioning. But however, I used this pen during my office work, which involves carbon paper, so I have to use some extra force, which actually does push the refill back in.

    Of course, that is only one scenario where I felt the whole Zero-Gap tech’s advantage gets somewhat nulled. Otherwise, whenever I just use the pen for notes, and even some journaling, it has been a fun experience.

    Besides the Zero-Gap tech, this pen can boast the ability to accommodate a lot of refills. A feature that makes it possible is the use of these screwable 5mm pen tube accessories, which can help in extending the length of the pen body to allow longer refills, or just take them out so the pen is on its default length, which allows its to hold and use shorter refills like a Parker G2-styled refill.

With these pen tubes, the pen becomes 15mm longer

    

My favourite set up, where the grip section is 5mm further from the nose cone

    The Pro+ can use up to a total of 3 tubes, extending for an extra 15mm in length. I can even choose where these tubes can be screwed on, so the grip section can be further or closer to the nose cone. This does help in finding the most comfortable position when I am using the pen, if I do use the pen tubes. 

    In the pen’s product page, TIJ even gave a link to excel sheets where they list what refills the pen accommodates according to how many 5mm pen tubes attached, which can help in giving an idea what we should expect to fit in this pen.

    Finally, the click mechanism is apparently something TIJ made themselves. While I do not really know how click pen mechanisms actually work, I believe the one in the Pro+ works differently while doing the same thing as any click pen. I suggest going to their product page for a better understanding, although I also believe the English translation is a little rough.

    Essentially, the mechanism is created to be as quiet as possible, and from my experience so far, it only makes a mild grating noise as titanium meets titanium, and as far as my ears can pick up, nothing else. When clicking to extend the pen tip out, there is this substantial tension in the second half of the travel before it fully pressed down. I wouldn’t call this a fidgeting mechanism, which would be considered the point of the design.

    Another feature of this mechanism actually also helps in both its Zero-Gap feature, and its compatibility with multiple refills. I can adjust this positional anchor inside its body, according to the length of the refill I decided to use at the moment. In the slot where I can access the anchor, there are these spaces which are meant to help in positioning the anchor, although I find that it technically can put anywhere alongside the length of the body of the click mechanism. To unlock the anchor requires unscrewing it with the help of this L-shaped Allen key that comes included with the pen.

    The refills is held to the mechanism by this lock ring tube which has this white plastic inserted inside, called teflon, according to their website.

    This, with the screwable 5mm pen tubes, it is a matter of testing and experimenting with the position of the anchor and how many pen tubes I should use. Which would take some time to get use to and to figure out. But in exchange, a lot of refills will work in this pen.

    However there is one massive caveat that I found out. Despite the pen’s ability to accommodate a lot of refills, there are some biases. Basically refills with the typical conical tips works the best so far, since the around shoulders rest perfectly against the gap in the nose cone.

    Now anything besides that are considered a tight squeeze. I attempted to use a Pilot Juice Up refill, and while it definitely works, the pen tip is just a millimeter away from just sticking out from the gap even when not retracted. So thankfully it is still kinda works, but it does prick my senses to know the refill tip is so close to be exposed even when in the retracted state.

The Pilot Juice Up refill, just barely meet the gap in the nose cone

    But now the one refill that I found is not a good fit, even though it still technically works, is the needle tip like the Pentel Energel Infree refills. When retracted, even when I placed the anchor the furthest back of the mechanism, and use all three 5mm body tubes, the tip does stick out of the gap!

    If I even try to put the achor a slot further back, or remove a 5mm body tube, the tip will be retracted further from the gap, but unfortunately it does not sit on it snugly, hence the tip will wiggle once extended. Essentially, with this needle-tip, it is either I have it retracted well but the Zero-Gap aspect will not work, or have that work but the tip will be exposed, even when retracted.

The Energel Infree needle tip sticking out, even retracted

    So yeah unfortunately, the best refills to use in this pen is anything with a conical tip. But regarding the Pentel Energel Infree refill, at least the basic Energel refill has that aforementioned tip. Despite the poor ability to use refills of any other writing tips, I still think it does fulfill its purpose to be able to accommodate many different refills and when it works, it really does work.

    Besides all the drawbacks I mentioned, there is still the issue of price. I bought this for 5080 New Taiwanese Dollars, or around $160. This is kinda steep if someone is just looking for a pen to use daily. But as an writing instrument hobbyist, who likes journaling and works in office and would like something to last a long time, all these features in a titanium body, and a comfortable grip section is worth the price.

    So in conclusion, despite the hiccup with the pickiness of the tip type, I still believe the Pro+ is still overall an amazing click pen, that does offer promises of a solid and excellent writing experience despite being a ballpoint-tip pen, especially when paired with a smooth, consistent and even saturated refill of my choice, without sacrificing the said writing experience, while being comfortable thanks to the wooden grip section.