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Lanbitou Need bottled ink
or refills?
"Thanks Norman! I received my
pens and inked them up last night.
The Duke 209 “western”
nib is absolutely amazing. It’s better than some expensive Pelikan nibs that I
own. I have not had high expectations for third-world nibs in past experience,
apart from the high-end 14k Hero pens you sold me. This Duke Chinese-made steel
nib has me seriously re-evaluating the low end of the market! I haven’t tried
the Chinese calligraphy nib yet, but it looks like fun. The
Lanbitou pocket rocket was another pleasant
surprise. It’s probably the best x-fine nib I’ve ever experienced. They should
train Hero on how to do it. As for the “Space Arrow,” it’s dry and balky. I’ll
have to fuss with it a bit. I love the design though --- if they made a version
of this as a cartridge pen, I think they’d have a real winner. Thanks for the
prompt service. I look forward to whatever goodies from Duke that you decide to
import next. Best regards,
Lanbitou Space Arrow fountain pen
Like it's 'brother' the Pocket Rocket and the Monteverde Poquito, the Space Arrow is a diminutive pocket pen that posts to become a full-sized writer. It measures 3-3/4" capped, a respectable 5-1/4" posted and a still-useable (for smaller hands) 3-1/2" with cap held aside. No, the pen isn't made by Parker...despite the arrow clip. Lanbitou makes that pretty clear with its artsy, two-colored Space imprint directly underneath the clip, as well as Chinese characters and model number. The Lanbitou logo can be found on the rear of the cap, and near the barrel end is the character for 'fine'. The cap band, end-caps and clip are all chromed, nicely off-setting the black lacquer of the pen's body and cap.
The slip cap, which is virtually the length of the pen body itself, snaps onto both ends of the pen, for added security. The gripping section is also chrome, although I imagine that due to the pen's size, some may find gripping the barrel behind it to be equally comfortable.
The hooded nib is equivalent to a western fine.
Unscrewing the all-metal threads between the section and barrel reveals the pump-style converter for bottled ink. As with all new pens, I recommend to run a dilute solution of dishwashing soap (two or three drops to a small bowl of water) through a new pen a few times, followed by water only. Step one is effective at removing manufacturing oils that can tend to make the ink less than enthusiastic in heading from the converter/filler to the nib, and step two removes the traces of the detergent you've used...which tends to have the opposite, diuretic effect.
IMPORTANT SERVICE NOTE: Every nib that ships from His Nibs is closely examined under high magnification and tuned or adjusted if needed. About 85% of modern nibs need some adjustment out-of-the-box from the manufacturer for an optimal writing experience. Most commonly, the tines of the nib are misaligned -- which would cause scratchiness at the minimum; the slit between the tines is partially or fully closed -- which would starve the nib of ink and at best cause skipping; or the slit between the tines is too wide -- which will either again cause skipping, or conversely, flooding. There are other factors -- such as separation of the nib from the feed -- that are inspected and repaired before any pen leaves the Palace. The only 100% guarantee of course comes when the pen is actually filled with ink and written with for the first time, but our pre-shipping inspections and tunings have eliminated 99.99999 (my finger is getting tired) of the frustrations that a customer experiences when first using a new fountain pen. Although this can be time-consuming on occasion, it affords our customers a much more pleasant experience when receiving a fountain pen from His Nibs -- and saves us the frustration of dealing with returns! |
Ordering Procedures & Returns International customers, please note, we will not falsify shipping documents Please send your order and shipping address (along with any questions) to:
orders@hisnibs.com We will email you back with your order total (PA residents please add 6% sales tax) Credit cards, for the quickest fulfillment of your order, are accepted through PayPal, a secure site allowing you to use your credit card without us even seeing the information. If you'd like to make use of this credit card service, please let us know when you email your order and address, and we'll email you the appropriate Request for Payment, and instructions for the simple payment procedure (you don't need to join PayPal to use it).
If you would like us process your credit card directly instead, then please email us: 1. Card # (dividing this number in two, between two emails, will
ensure security) If you'd rather pay by money order or check, kindly make payable to: His Nibs.com We ship via
insured Priority Mail
Warranties and returns If an item proves to be defective, in most cases the manufacturer's warranty will apply. However, please email us first so that we can determine the easiest way to resolve the problem to your satisfaction. In the case of fountain pens -- which are a bit more individualistic than other writing instruments -- what may at first appear to be a defect (hard starting or poor flow for example), can in almost all cases be resolved with a few simple 'tweaks' to the nib, which we'll be happy to guide you through or perhaps suggest returning to us for adjustment. Should you wish to return a non-defective item within 3 days of receipt because it doesn't suit you for some reason, again please email us and we'll arrange an exchange, credit or refund (minus any shipping/insurance charges), if the item is returned in an 'as new' condition. If you've dipped a fountain pen to try its writing characteristics, kindly clean off any ink residue prior to shipping -- to save us both a nasty surprise . We want you to be happy with your purchase from HisNibs.com and hope to have you join the ranks of our many long-term, repeat customers!
Revised: August 19th, 2023
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