JulesJones

🔶🇪🇺🇬🇧
I write science fiction, fantasy, and (mostly) lgbt romance. I read *lots* of things.

Started on Usenet and mailing lists, added LJ and IRC, moved from LJ to DW, added Twitter then moved to Mastodon and Bluesky.

Website: https://www.julesjones.com
Blog: https://julesjones.dreamwidth.org
Email: jules.jones@gmail.com

Public Key

npub16n2279saeh3uplmdqlvryvvsp4lf5ylsnyn66djd0xc0f7wvacjqfkxr2q

NIP-05 Address

julesjones_at_mendeddrum.org@momostr.pink

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsdf490zcwumc7qlaks0kpjxxgq6l56z0cfjfadxexhnv85l8xwufqpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0dsynj435

Publishing to

relay.damus.io

nos.lol

Author Public Key

npub16n2279saeh3uplmdqlvryvvsp4lf5ylsnyn66djd0xc0f7wvacjqfkxr2q

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Last Notes

2026-10-09 22:15:28 UTC

OMG. Someone on AliExpress is selling Diamine 30ml bottles. For more than triple the price in the UK, although you do get free Choice shipping.
#FountainPen

2026-10-09 06:26:11 UTC

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For that amount of money I might as well buy a C1 and be done with it, but I can see that for a cheap but much loved model of pen it might be worth it if one really wanted to have an ebonite feed for a flex.
Alternatively I could ask Other Half if he'd like to take a break from milling parts for his miniature steam engine project, and do some customisation on a pack of Jinhao feeds. :-)

2026-10-08 22:47:13 UTC

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flow. This is with Diamine Sapphire Blue. Don't have anything by way of additives. I have no idea how to obtain an Ebonite feed as a standalone thing, which seems to be the recommendation. Third Jinhao I've tried it on, and it seems to like the X750 better than it did the others, but that's not saying a lot.

2026-10-08 21:58:37 UTC

I mentioned that someone on AliExpress was selling Jinhao X750 pens with the Majohn flex nib fitted, but while I was thinking over that Ali decided I needed to see a listing for various colours of X750 on sale. So the purple one for £3.50 went in my basket, and it arrived today. I've just pulled the flex nib from the Jinhao Dadao 9013 where it had been not very successful and fitted it to the X750. Success, of a sort. Still needs the feed to be reprimed every few lines, but it is actually possible to get words out of it.
Unfortunately I don't actually like it very much. Without pressure it's just a scratchy EF. With pressure it's a scratchy F to M that runs dry almost immediately, and I still can't get any real line variation with my writing style. It might be me, or it might be that the nib got damaged during various taking out and putting in operations, but I think at this point I'll write it off. I did buy another nib as a complete nib unit, which I will put in the parts drawer until I feel enthusiastic about dropping £20 on a Majohn C1
#FountainPen

2026-10-03 18:01:53 UTC

So far this X159 isn't very successful. It managed about half an A5 side before the nib ran dry. Repriming got it going again, but not for very long. The nib was slightly loose on the feed, so possibly it needs a little work. I'd also not washed it before filling it, so it may need a rinse through with soapy water.
Before it ran dry I was finding it quite comfortable to hold. Although i's fatter than my usual EDC selection, it's a good bit lighter than the metal Jinhaos. When the ink was flowing the M nib laid down enough that it glided nicely across the paper. Then it got a bit scratchy after the second priming, so I suspect I've misaligned the tines. Chonky boi nib is probably too long for extended use, but I was fine using it for that half page. We shall see...
#FountainPen

2026-10-03 10:09:26 UTC

So I uncapped my new Jinhao X159, and good lord that nib is a chonky boi when you're used to something like a 51a open nib. I may have to line it up with a 51a and X750 to take a photo.
#FountainPen

2026-10-02 22:25:21 UTC

And in the "truly insane fountain pens for kids" category, we have the Hero #FountainPen with an hourglass built into it...
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005011872260276.html

2026-10-02 21:28:01 UTC

Last week's AliExpress shopping accident has arrived. Flex nib, stub nibs, a Jinhao X159 to put the flex nib on... Also 3 pack of piston refillable "gel pens" that take fountain pen ink.
#FountainPen

2026-10-01 18:48:34 UTC

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Slightly more seriously, I have seen multiple suggestions that you really need a piston filler to keep up with the ink flow needed, so whether an X750 is a good choice is something someone will have to experiment with. I'm sure you're willing to volunteer for the cause.

2026-10-01 18:45:47 UTC

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This terrible frankenpen can be seen here. It is a thing of horror.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005012879564799.html

2026-10-01 17:33:10 UTC

I did not need to know that someone on AliExpress is selling the Jinhao X750 with the Majohn flex nib fitted, in a variety of barrel and nib colours.
#FountainPen

2026-09-24 11:15:22 UTC

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I looked at the Diamine Inkvent calendar, then I looked at the boxes with 25 Van Dieman inks most of which aren't open yet, and then I closed the browser tab.

2026-09-23 22:32:35 UTC

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be strong. Resist. Remind yourself of how many inks you already have to use... says the person who had a yarn-related shopping accident a couple of weeks ago when she wandered into the craft store on an entirely legitimate quest for upholstery foam for some necessary configuration work on a home office chair.

2026-09-20 20:43:50 UTC

So there I am watching Antiques Road Show and there is a cylindrical object lying on the table, and the owner says something about years ago "it was an old pen lying around in the office and it was going to be thrown out so I took it". They show a close-up from an angle where you can see the whole thing. Other Half is wondering why I'm sitting there hyperventilating and squeaking "OMG". Because this thing that could have been thrown out is only a Namiki!
At first I thought it couldn't possibly be, but no, expert is looking very happy, and yes, it is a Namiki.
For the non- #FountainPen people, this is basically a work of art in pen form. They are gorgeous things. Even with a small bit of damage this one was £4-6,000 estimate.

2026-09-14 20:27:38 UTC

#WordWeavers 14/9: Your MC is offered exactly what they've always wanted-but accepting it will cost them something they love. What do they choose?
I have had so many hashtag game questions this month that could be answered by "I'm currently writing Blake's 7 fanfic..."

2026-09-13 15:04:38 UTC

I wanted a gold ink for doing some highlighting in a colouring book, so I selected Van Dieman Ink's Honeybee as this week's new bottle to open. I failed to read the full description. _Silly_ me. As the bulk chromatography experiment in the bathroom sink is currently demonstrating, it is a very, very high dye black base with green-gold shimmer.
The currently drying swatches reveal a very pretty ink, but not quite what I was looking for. :-)
#FountainPen #FountainPenInk

2026-09-13 14:01:30 UTC

Open a new bottle of one of Van Dieman's particularly high shimmer inks. Start pipetting, both for eBay and for me because insane sheen settles fast and is easier to keep consistent between fills by dumping a load into vials.
Sixth vial...
One of the delights of chronic migraine is hands shaking occasionally as part of aura. Good thing I was planning to wash these jeans tonight anyway.
#FountainPen #FountainPenInk

2026-09-01 17:52:06 UTC

#WordWeavers Sep 1: What is something your MC desperately wants but would never admit to wanting?
The other MC. I'm currently writing #Blakes7 fanfic. :->

2026-08-29 14:14:22 UTC

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The ease of pushing books onto multiple platforms was exactly why I went with D2D when I started self-publishing my books that went out of print when Loose Id shut down. I wasn't trying to Sell Lots, because I had medical issues that meant I wasn't going to be doing the self-promotion I did years ago. I just wanted the books to be there if anyone wanted to be able to buy them.
The other benefit of D2D is having an ISBN. That's the thing that probably makes it worth the $12 for me.

2026-08-29 08:17:20 UTC

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One thing to look at is that I've seen a couple of people say that sales via D2D have dropped drastically over the last few years, and increased again when they started selling direct. I'm not sure mine would sell enough even so to be worth dealing with the admin hassle, but it's something to keep in mind.

2026-08-28 21:00:34 UTC

Urgh. Just paid my ransom fee to Draft2Digital, because I have not had time/spoons to move everything to publish directly through stores and I would rather they were available for now. I wonder how many people are in the same boat? #AmWriting

2026-08-26 21:24:03 UTC

I once got interviewed by my local BBC radio station because of the many people at the theatre dressed as Frank I was the first one who didn't spot the reporter in time to run away. I was invited to describe how I was dressed. It was an honour to stand in the high heels of #TimCurry

2026-08-23 18:08:30 UTC

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Still a stunner when the shimmer lays down thickly using a glass muddler on a Wearinguel swatch card. Almost no shimmer in my Wing Sung 3008 or Hocoro F nib - I suspect this is one for pipette filling an eyedropper and making sure you get a good chunk of the settled out shimmer.
Also, I am now covered in ink because the 30 ml bottles drip all over the place if shaken after opening no matter how firmly you reseal the cap.
2/2

2026-08-23 18:08:24 UTC

Now swatched Odysseus. The Van Dieman shimmer inks really do have a problem with the shimmer settling instantly in the bottle, which makes it impossible to get consistent results. Base colour is a very nice deep teal, shimmer pink-purple.
I'm not getting the same results on Clairefontaine 90gsm vellum as VDI show on their website with I think Tahoe - the shimmer isn't multichromatic.
#FountainPen #Fountain Pens #FountainPenInks
1/2

2026-08-22 10:59:03 UTC

The misbehaving red Jinhao 20s have been refilled with Diamine Claret. In the course of logging this I realised that the F had had a sink-related accident a while back, which was probably not helping matters. They both seem much happier for the moment.
The Diamine inks I've been using in these are all pretty ancient, and true to its namesake the Claret has definitely thrown a slight sediment, but the Woodland Green has been fairly well behaved so far and I've used the Claret in a Tombow Lucca without problems, so we shall see.
#FountainPen #FountainPens #FountainPenInks

2026-08-20 20:22:52 UTC

Disassembled the pair of red Jinhao 20s earlier this week and gave them a good soak. That Diamine Ancient Copper may well have been part of the source of the problems, as @npub1hmu…k6rx suggested. Also, in the course of the dismantling I discovered that the retaining collar inside the EF unit was distorted, which may not have been helping the refusing to work for more than a couple of words. Anyway, the nib units were thoroughly soaked to remove the ink crud, and for good measure I gave the inside of the section a good rinse as well, before leaving everything to dry for a couple of days.
And then this evening I somehow lost the retaining collar for the F unit, having reassembled it and then taking it apart again to check a nib alignment issue.
I think they're headed for the spares bin, and two more will be on the shopping list for next month's AliExpress run.
I'd note that there seemed to be a lot of ink buildup inside the section, which I think was affecting the seal on the hatch. I'd found the same thing on the green pen filled with Diamine Woodland Green after it had had several fills, presumably from ink getting wiped off each time the hatch is opened and closed, and the seal definitely improved after the ink was washed out.
Anyway, I also cleaned out a Wing Sung 3008, so am now eyeing the box from Van Dieman Ink and wondering which of their bonkers inks to try next. Maybe the Odysseus we were talking about yesterday?
#FountainPen #FountainPens #FountainPenInk

2026-08-19 19:07:05 UTC

More re-releases from Van Dieman Ink, including the seriously over the top Odysseus. This sort of ink is why I need to get some B and stub nibs for my shimmer-friendly Wing Sung 3008 pens. :-)
#FountainPen #FountainPens #FountainPenInk
https://www.vandiemansink.com.au/products/van-diemans-greek-heroes-odysseus-shimmering-fountain-pen-ink

2026-08-16 21:03:22 UTC

That's my third Van Dieman shimmer marked in the log book as "do not buy again" because they're horribly dry. I think the entire type can be marked as that now, because we clearly do not get on. It's not as if I don't already have plenty of them waiting. #FountainPen FountainPens #FountainPenInks

2026-08-16 16:39:24 UTC

Pen spa and fill day. I had some Lamy style stub nibs I bought specificially to put on a Wing Sung 3008 so I had an easy-to-dismantle-for-cleaning pen to test some of the wilder sheen/shimmer/chromashading inks I have. (Not looking at any Tasmanian ink manufacturers, not at all...)
Can I find those nibs? No, I can not.
I also have some Majohn Wancai 2s, ditto. I have a mix of F and M. Why do Wancai-sized Moonman nibs not have the size marked on them?
Hello Jinhao Century... Er. No. Not on the normal nib. At least the heartbeat nib has a nice clear M on it, so it's heading for the spa shortly, even if I haven't finished testing the pen itself with the Diamine Sapphire Blue I use as a standard test ink.
There's a shiny new Jinhao 82 in transparent and glitter. Brand New. It has not been tested itself yet, which does not make it the ideal pen for testing inks.
I need to tidy my room...
#FountainPen #fountainPens

2026-08-16 15:07:07 UTC

Picked up an almost-empty WS3008 pen to clean it out, scribbled a few words on scrap paper to check what was in it, thought, "That looks like the Sacagawea that hates me, except it's working beautifully. Huh?"
Checked the log book. It is indeed the VDI Sacagawea. Scribble in the logbook, which is a Clairefontaine Evolutive. Horribly scratchy and dry within a couple of lines.
Back to the scrap paper, which is a sheet of Steinbeis 2 Recycled from work. Still working beautifully.
It appears that this very expensive, very complex sheen/shimmer ink prefers a cheap'n'nasty paper to even a good quality copy paper like HP, never mind Clairefontaine's 90gsm vellum.
Okay....
As it happens, most of my writing at work is now done in a Rhodia notebook, but I do use the Steinbeis for printed out templates and general disposable scribble headed for confidential waste. So fancy ink is heading for work, to see long it keeps behaving itself there.
#FountainPen #FountainPens #FountainPenInk

2026-08-09 22:42:42 UTC

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I have reservoirs for the two I have, but regretted it for one of them (I would have to downstairs to find out exactly which one 🙂 ) It holds so much ink that it's actually quite difficult to get it fully clean. I'm tempted to get a duplicate without the reservoir for things where I'm not interested in being able to cover an A4 side before redipping.
The 1.0 mm stub, on the other hand, I am very happy to have fitted with a reservoir.

2026-08-09 22:35:29 UTC

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Ancient Copper is what I've got in those two red Jinhao 20s I've been complaining about, so I just pulled out the nib unit on the EF one and ew. Maybe I've blaming the wrong thing there. I've used it in other pens with no problem at all, but the nib creep in the J20 is apparently auditioning for a role in Dr Who.

2026-08-09 18:24:11 UTC

Van Dieman do come up with some weird #inks. Busy swatching Mermaid, their Jan 2026 ink of the month. Shading, multichromatic, multi shimmer... Pity the pink shimmer settles so quickly you have to fill very fast indeed.
I've filled several sample vials for my own use, just so that I have a vague chance of getting a consistent fill. In the meantime here's their page: https://www.vandiemansink.com.au/products/van-diemans-2026-mermaid-100ml-shimmering-multichromatic-fountain-pen-ink
#FountainPen #FountainPens

2026-08-09 17:27:08 UTC

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I think I must have done it when rinsing it. What size Hocoro do you think would be good for drying time tests? I do a line of loops then smear for each time I'm recording.
I love this glass pen and will try to grind it back to a usable shape, but it's had its chips as far as ink testing goes.

2026-08-09 17:06:24 UTC

Bother. My Majohn Sakura glass pen must have knocked against something. The tip's chipped so it's now either an EEF or a B depending on which way I hold it, which means I can no longer use it for ink drying time comparisons.
#FountainPen #FountainPens #inks

2026-08-09 14:33:04 UTC

Currently wondering which Bizarroland ink from Van Dieman I should open and swatch today. I have rather a lot to choose from after the binge earlier this year. I also need to choose one of their less insane ones to put a new Jinhao 20.
Or I could just be boring and put a nice reliable Diamine in a new J20 so that if it borks I know it's the pen and not the ink. :-)
#FountainPen #FountainPens #inks

2026-08-08 15:03:17 UTC

Howling with laughter after poking around "LT Hong Dian Official Store" on AliExpress - they have a model in a colourway called "Flaming Sex". And it's available in a bent nib option.
I have spent my toy budget for the month or that would be in my basket right now.
#FountainPen #FountainPens

2026-08-08 14:36:46 UTC

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I stick to the cheaper ones in part because I do actually use them as my main pen type at work, and there's always the risk of one disappearing or being damaged by someone treating it like a biro. (Or, um, its owner falling to catch it before it hits the floor, that used to be an F nib 3008, not an M...)

2026-08-08 14:29:52 UTC

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Nothing is going to beat a Platinum Preppy or Wing Sung 3008, though. :-)

2026-08-08 14:22:01 UTC

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Nice photo. :-) I had it on a white sheet of paper on a windowsill that was bright but did not have direct sunlight on it. I suspect I need to put it on darker paper just to lower the contrast a bit so the phone can hit the right levels.
I left mine loosely capped over lunch, just to see if slipping the cap over without clicking it into place would be enough to stop it drying out if I get interrupted, since that's my use case at work, and it started immediately. We shall see how it does with being left unused for several days, but that might take a while in normal usage.

2026-08-08 14:09:53 UTC

Crossing the streams... I have just used my knitting needle size gauge to measure the diameters of the Hongdian and Jinhao 20. The J20 is a bit difficult to measure because of the clip, but it's at least 2 mm wider where I actually hold it.
The barrel's significantly wider, which also plays into the comfort, along with the weight and length. I like the Hongdian so far, but of the two I think the J20 is more comfortable for extended use for me.
#FountainPen #FountainPens

2026-08-08 11:18:28 UTC

Well, I would like to show you a photo of my new Hongdian Black Forest fountain pen, but when they say black they *mean* black. It appears that I don't have the gear/skill to take a decent photo of something that light-sucking. Pretty, though. :-)
#FountainPen #FountainPens

2026-08-06 22:21:47 UTC

The AliExpress parcel has arrived, complete with 5 Jinhao 20s and the Hong Dian Black Forest I treated myself to while I was there. :-) A report may follow at the weekend if I get time to fill some of them.
#FountainPen #FountainPens

2026-08-05 19:39:09 UTC

So my parcel of pens is with the UK courier. Except if I want to see any details about when/where my delivery slot is, I have to download the courier's app. Slot info is not available on the website. This is apparently an improved service for my convenience.
I think from the verbiage I also need to use the app to rearrange delivery. This is also an improved service for my convenience.

2026-08-02 15:14:15 UTC

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Hm. My green 20 F has been superb so far, other than needing to give the nib half of the barrel a soak after several fills because there was obviously a build up of ink on the hatch / and or leaking through seams once the water was running clear and It had air dried it was fine again. White with black trim F does dry out a little overnight but will start promptly if touched to a piece of absorbent paper like toilet paper of kitchen towel. The black and the glitter/silver trim were both decent although I haven't used them for a couple of months and need to try them again. Red F needs to be dipped in water and ref EF just isn't having it at all.
Currently got Diamine Forest Green in the green and Pure Pens Lady Rhodda (purple) in the white.

2026-08-02 11:06:49 UTC

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sounds as if I should keep a note of this and report back. @npub1hmu…k6rx have you noticed any pattern in the red Jinhao 20 being worse than the others?

2026-08-01 12:13:25 UTC

Anyway, I made the mistake of going to AliExpress last night and will shortly be able to carry out an experiment on which colour barrels of Jinhao 20 retractables are most reliable.
This is not entirely a joke - the red F and EF I have are much more prone to drying out than the other colours, and I wondered if it was a coincidence, not least because the barrel pieces didn't fit together properly on one and I had to Frankenpen it with the other.
(exits clicking)
#FountainPen

2026-07-21 06:41:02 UTC

For anyone not subscribed to their newsletter, Van Dieman's Ink are doing one of their "buy more, get more off" sales to celebrate the re-release of more of their inks in 40 ml bottles. From 15% off for 5+ bottles to 35% for 25+, and stacks with Ink of the Month.
(Not sure who buys 25 bottles of ink in one go other than heavy-use artists, but if you do this is definitely a sale worth looking at.)
#FountainPen #FountainPenInk

2026-06-25 20:53:54 UTC

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That really is dedication... or masochism. (Or maybe both.)

2026-06-22 16:28:19 UTC

Lovely. I strongly suspect from the state of my file structure in Windows Explorer that for my convenience Microsoft has moved my documents to the cloud and deleted the copies on my hard drive. As if I don't have enough jobs for the next few weekends without putting them back where they belong.

2026-05-31 18:35:26 UTC

Well, I can say that the converter that comes with a Jinhao 20 with EF nib will write at least 14 sides of A5, because this afternoon I filled a brand new pen with a matching colour of ink for today's writing stint, and have covered 12 of the pages with the WiP and another 2 with notes for it. I am pleased to report that neither the pen nor I have run dry yet. However, it is time to stop and make the dinner.
#FountainPen #Writing

2026-05-30 17:24:33 UTC

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Though I've read that the data centre chips are mostly optimised for data centres and aren't really what you want for consumer goods. The problem they're creating is sucking up all the capacity at chip manufacturers.
I may have to bite the bullet and buy a new external hard drive. I ought to anyway for general backup, quite apart from "is the internal hard drive about to die?" Time to go and pester Spousal Unit for a professional opinion on what to buy.
Also seriously considering a Blu-ray drive for "Try and wipe this after moving everything to cloud behind my back, Microsoft" purposes, but it is so long since I read computer mags for fun that I have no idea what the practicalities are.

2026-05-30 16:52:47 UTC

I do not like the noise my computer is making today. I also do not like the price of a replacement. Or even an external hard drive to back it up with just in case. I wonder how long before the AI bubble pops and chip prices drop. 😞

2026-05-30 10:44:59 UTC

Having tried that Majohn flex nib in a Jinhao Century and failed miserably , it occurred to me this morning that I had bought a Jinhao Dadao 9013 to get one of Jinhao's heartbeat nibs... One nib swap and feed prime later, a few test lines and the nib is still drawing ink. Conclusion so far is that it is scratchier than I like (possibly not the nib's fault as I may have damaged it pulling it from the Century's feed), and that to get any line variation from it I have to press harder than I normally would, and harder than is comfortable for me.
This nib is not a daily writer for me. I don't regret dropping six quid on it to try it out, and will use it for a few sheets to report back, but I think it's going to be relegated to "occasional use for a laugh" status. It can stay in the Dadao as that doesn't really suit me as a daily writer either - body's too thick and the barrel's slightly too short without posting the cap. I don't enjoy using pens with the cap posted, so the Dadao's been more of a "this one's run out, grab nearest inked pen on desk" pen for me".
(Also, I thought I'd cleaned the Dadao. Apparently not, because what's coming out of the nib is not the Diamine Sapphire Blue I've just filled the converter with.)
#FountainPen

2026-05-25 17:35:39 UTC

Was looking at the Jinhao Century with a dodgy feed wondering whether to try getting a replacement feed, and realised it can probably be converted to an eye dropper. The barrel seems to be airtight, and there's a (tiny) O-ring between the barrel and section. I wonder if that would help the feed keep up with the nib?
The one with the heartbeat nib is also now having the odd hard start and skip, although far less so than the standard nib. It does make me wonder whether it's worth messing about with one, even if I love the look of the demonstrator and find it comfortable to use (so far).
#FountainPen

2026-05-23 16:38:37 UTC

Hm. Just inked the Jinhao Century #FountainPen that I bought a few months ago because I wanted a heartbeat M nib, and am comparing it with the one with a standard M nib that I bought last month to try with the flex nib. The flex failed miserably, and even the standard nib skips a lot.
The one with the heartbeat writes nicely with no skipping, although slightly scratchier than I would expect for an M. Comparing the two, the feed is flooded on the heartbeat but not on the standard, and I think the standard nib isn't quite sitting on the feed but has a slight gap. I wonder if it's the feed that's the problem?
I don't want to pull the nib on the heartbeat since it's working nicely, but am very tempted to buy another one and try fitting it with a flex.

2026-05-11 21:16:30 UTC

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Plastic by the looks of it (and it being Jinhao and thus cheap).
It's a clear Century demonstrator and a rather pretty pen I don't mind having bought, other than I already have one with an M heartbeat nib and do not need another with a plain M nib to go with it. 😆

2026-05-11 21:03:05 UTC

Well, since I found a website which said that the new Majohn flex nib seemed to fit the feed on a Jinhao Century 100, I went ahead and bought one of each. I'm afraid that while the nib will go onto the feed, it doesn't draw ink. (This is with my standard test ink, Diamine Sapphire Blue.)
The nib is very flexible, though, so I may well try it in one of the Majohn pens it's supposed to fit. The problem is that I know a Century is small enough to be comfortable for me, while pictures of the Majohn pens taking that size of nib look as if they might be on the chunky side.
If anyone has suggestions on tweaking the Century/flex combination I will be glad to hear them.
#FountainPen

2026-05-10 14:34:25 UTC

Currently dithering over whether to spend the rest of the afternoon to a) talk some more about #Blakes7 over on my Dreamwidth, where I have posted more often in the last 10 days than in the previous 10 months courtesy of a "talk about Blake's 7" meme; b) mess about with some new #FountainPenInk and then talk about it on DreamWidth; c) work on getting an agent for the finished manuscript; d) finish finding and typing in the handwritten text for the WiP; e) do the laundry; f) vacuum.
"Tidy my room" is not on that list. I am aiming for the achievable this Sunday. 🤣

2026-05-05 07:08:11 UTC

I was on AliExpress yesterday (bad move), and have an email this morning to say my Majohn flex nib is on the way. I also ordered a Jinhao Century to put it in, since apparently they will fit together. I did manage to make saving throw v shiny regarding the half price Jinhao 20s, though.
#FountainPen

2026-05-04 20:17:47 UTC

Right, I'm admitting defeat on the Van Dieman's Ink Sacagewea, I've tried it in a Wing Sung 3008, and those are pretty good-tempered, but it dries up after three or four words. I've just tried it in a Majohn Wancai, both F nib and fude nib, and it doesn't come out at all unless I prime it under water and then write on paper towel or chromatography paper, neither of which are really practical for actual writing. I tried pulling out the feed on the Wancai, and that's some surface tension the ink's got, because it didn't come out of the hole once the feed was out unless I shook very enthusiastically. I've tried it in a fine and stub nib Sailor Hocoro, and it will grudgingly flow in the stub as long as I only want to write a few words. It did work with the glass dip pen, but I hadn't cleaned the Achilles off it from yesterday's swatching, so it may have got diluted a bit with something with less surface tension.
@npub1hej…qetx has no problem with it, and I've seen a couple of other people like it, so maybe I just got a dud bottle. I love the colour, but since I don't paint it was a waste of nine quid. The entire bottle may be heading in the direction of the meet next year. Time to try a drop of washing up liquid.
#FountainPen #FountainPenInk

2026-05-02 12:23:51 UTC

I'd note that by the time shipping and VAT were added the inks from Van Dieman cost almost as much as they would have just buying from a UK stockist, even if they were half price in Australia. However, some of these are colours I wanted to try but which were out of stock in the UK. They're a small family business with tiny batch runs by the standards of the big companies, and a liking for experiments. They have some weird and wonderful inks, some utterly insane inks, they don't always make more of them, and if you snooze you lose.
#FountainPen #FountainPenInk

2026-05-02 11:30:19 UTC

The parcel from Van Dieman's Ink arrived yesterday and went away again, because it was sent by a "signed for" tracking service and I was at work at the time. But the postie has just been back and I have 15 new bottles of lovely ink. 😍
#FountainPen #FountainPenInk
https://fsn1.your-objectstorage.com/drum/media_attachments/files/116/504/725/007/122/892/original/5cd323ef3bcca4e2.jpg

2026-04-30 21:01:37 UTC

My parcel of inks from Van Dieman's Land has arrived in the UK and is in the tender care of Royal Mail. :-)
With any luck this means it will arrive by Saturday. Hopefully even unbroken.
#FountainPenInk #FountainPen

2026-04-29 17:43:28 UTC

RE: https://ioc.exchange/@peterrenshaw/116487214476308718
My immediate reaction to the robots? "Omg John Carpenter's The Thing."
#note147y…n8vs

2026-04-26 16:36:49 UTC

Taking photos of the mint Wing Sung NOS fountain pens I'm going to put on eBay. Some of them really are lovely looking pens, and I'm having to remind myself that the reason they're mint is that I hate filling/cleaning aerometrics that are fixed in place and would regret trying to use all of them. There are a couple I'm very tempted to keep anyway and just deal with committing them to a single colour family. There's one that I think would look very nice with the Van Dieman Black Truffle that's on its way.
Still debating what to do about that Jinhao 8802 I was trying to identify earlier. I don't normally use pens that hefty, but it's probably one to keep if I do want to start messing about with giant economy size nibs.
Also took some fresh photos of a couple of the ink samples that are heading to eBay. The Van Dieman's Ink Sacagawea is an astonishing polychromatic shimmer, and I have simply not been able to capture it on film^W electrons
#FountainPen #FountainPenInk

2026-04-25 13:18:09 UTC

"No more inks until you've got rid of some of the current stuff," I said to myself last weekend while contemplating how to sell sample vials on eBay as part of this plan.
Van Dieman Inks newsletter yesterday: "Hi, we're moving and we need to clear the warehouse, all the old 30 ml bottles now 30-50% off, also stacking discounts for buying manymanylots of our fine bottles whether or not they're already on sale."
And that is why 15 bottles are heading my way and I am wondering just how picky Customs and Royal Mail are going to be about import duty and VAT.

2026-04-19 18:21:43 UTC

Anyone know what the model number of the Jinhao with wooden body and black cap is? The thing is *massive* - that's a Jinhao X750 next to it for scale.
If I remember correctly it arrived in a pack of second hand pens from eBay several years ago. Rather nice converter which I failed to take a photo of but which looks higher quality than the current big standard ones.
#FountainPen
https://fsn1.your-objectstorage.com/drum/media_attachments/files/116/432/717/898/836/706/original/f182744162dee831.jpg

2026-04-18 08:45:50 UTC

Finally cleaned out and inked an Ohto Dude pen I was gifted at a con meet a couple of years ago. Um...
Pen body is nice. Nib is *horrible*. I had the same thing with the Ohto Rook I bought some years ago, although that improved after being used for a week or so. Looks like the same nib, so maybe it will improve. If not it is heading for the container with the candidates for "Jules learns how to adjust nibs", along with the Tasche that also has this problem, and the other Rook, and there seems to be a common theme here. Of the four Ohto pens I have, 3 of them have horrible nibs out of the box, and the 4th arrived second hand with a horrible nib. The other thing I see in reviews of the Rook and Tasche is that the starter ink cartridge they come with tends to be horrible. I do not need more pens anyway, but I am certainly not spending money on another Tasche, even if they are otherwise good pens.
(I love my black Rook and do not regret buying it and the silver one, but the silver one is probably getting a nib transplant at some point.)
#FountainPen

2026-04-16 21:28:46 UTC

So the almost-final count on my shiny new spreadsheet is over 200 pens. Not all of those are fountain pens, but still... um. And it's only almost-final, because it doesn't yet include the very oldest purchases on eBay.
I know there are people with many more than that in their collection, but even so, maybe it's time to stop buying cheap Chinese pens just because they are so pretty. (Jinhao, please stop making gorgeous looking pens for silly prices, please.)
#FountainPen

2026-04-11 17:21:35 UTC

I have spent today going through my old email and digging out the Cult Pens orders. Now completed. I've been adding the other pens/pencils as well as the fountain pens. Now up to 200.
Onward to the Pure Pens and digging through my really old eBay emails.
#FountainPen

2026-04-09 22:58:42 UTC

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Given the price of the converters that might well be "buy a converter and we'll throw in a cheap pen for (almost) free".
They've always come with a starter cartridge in the matching colour, which is one of the things that makes them a good "try this and see if you like it". You can get three pre-inked pens in different nib sizes to try out for £15.

2026-04-09 13:39:00 UTC

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"All of them" refers to the standard line. I have a couple of the Wa Modern Maki-e collectable versions, but wouldn't actually go out and collect them, given they're more than double the price to get some pretty screen printing on the barrel.

2026-04-09 13:30:02 UTC

Still chugging through adding my pens to a spreadsheet. Platinum Preppy has been added as a single line with the notation "all of them". 😆
Also separate lines for each of the Crystal Preppies, as they don't come with matching ink and are being/will be used largely with Platinum's pigment ink.
#FountainPen

2026-04-07 14:59:14 UTC

Currently adding lots of pens to a spreadsheet to try and keep track of exactly what I have. Lots. Manymanylots. About 70 so far.
Spousal Unit may have a point about "What do you *do* with all those pens?"
#FountainPen

2026-04-04 10:57:32 UTC

My fountain pen gear is determined to be annoying. The one with the Van Dieman Launceston Fog I particularly wanted to show the meet has run dry.
At least I have just remembered to transfer the two sample vials I did find from suitcase to backpack.

2026-03-29 17:16:26 UTC

Last weekend's pen tat from AliExpress included the Majohn A1 pen disassembly tool. I have now disassembled the Jinhao 20 nib unit involved in The Unfortunate Incident when I tried to fill it for the first time (nib down on a tiled floor). I know a) it works on a Jinhao nib unit, b) more about the internal anatomy of a Jinhao 10/20 nib unit, c) if that one wasn't already toast it is now.
Good thing I effectively got a 20 for free in last week's batch because the silly buggers sent me the wrong colour and have presumably decided they'd rather refund me than have me ship it back. Since it's in the form of bonus aka store credit I'd better go and spend it, hadn't I?
Not sure if I want to get a Majohn nib after all, because the Jinhao nibs are perfectly nice.
#FountainPen

2026-03-29 15:26:43 UTC

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6th picture down on the listing - 24.5 cm x 12.5 cm x 4.7 cm. A quick check on mine is consistent with that, although I haven't measured it accurately. The top of the cap sits a couple of cm about the 4.7 cm for the rack.
The membrane is only on the bottom half of the rack so the vials do move around if you push them, but not if you just shake the rack (again, might change if you've got the weight of 5 ml of ink added).
Only downside is that it isn't designed to self-stack. You'd really need to find a rack or set of drawers to hold multiple trays for that. Or an Ikea Billy bookcase with a pack of extra shelves. :-)

2026-03-29 14:32:03 UTC

It's designed for 18mm tubes so does a nice job of holding the 5ml sample vials ink samples usually come in. The interesting thing is that it has a perforated silicone membrane in the lower half, which grips the tube to hold it steady. So steady that I was able to turn the rack upside down and the two test tubes I'd put in it didn't fall out. :-) Granted, they were empty, but I don't think the weight of ink would be enough to pull them loose. It's a solidly constructed piece of kit, as it should be given that the intended audience is biochemical labs.
Downside for pen people is that you need to take the vial out to read the label, which means pulling it free of the silicone membrane, so a bit slower than just flicking through the traditional shoe box. Putting a little bit of label on the vial lid with a tiny sample of the ink would be a good idea with this one. But if the membrane's grip is good enough to hold the tube even with the rack on its side it'll be easier to find somewhere to stuff it out of the way. I can see myself getting a couple more of these if I do actually manage to do some decluttering in order to store even more hobby stuff (or "junk" as Spousal Unit likes to call it).
#FountainPen #FountainPenInk
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006464390482.html

2026-03-27 20:02:27 UTC

I have decided that I really really like Jinhao 20 pens, which is a good thing because I now have several of them after a binge in the shop that is selling some of the basic colours at half price. I also have the Majohn disassembly tool, which I will use this weekend to practice on the nib unit that had An Unfortunate Accident when I was about to put the converter with its first fill in.
I should probably have bought a spare nib while I was buying the tool, because I couple of places have them on offer and it's probably just the nib itself that's damaged, not the complete unit.
#FountainPen

2026-03-21 19:07:17 UTC

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Oh dear. I hope that's not going to happen to the one I bought last year before I can even get around to using it. (Installing unfamiliar software seemed like a bad idea given how flaky my computer was getting.)

2026-03-15 18:32:49 UTC

Went to AliExpress to order some cheap Jinhao 20 #FountainPens and the tool plus maybe an M nib.
There is a sale starting in 5 hours.
Plus, not in the sale, but back in stock - the rose-gold /transparent Jinhao 20 that I had set my heart on but didn't nab before it was sold out.
Oh dear...
(Yes. yes, the "sale" mostly involves things where the price was put up a few days ago in order to make it look like a massive reduction when they put it back down.)

2026-03-14 22:04:16 UTC

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I did also wonder if it was something to do with having swapped the converter to the Majohn one, but installing a Majohn in the new nib unit didn't affect it, so probably not.
While I was at it, I tried the cartridge-with-stopper that was included in the pack with the Majohn converter and pipette. It would be nice to try the system out, and also check whether you could see the ink when the pen was in use - one of the nice things about demonstrators. Um. It would not feed ink through to the nib, which fair enough, brand new pen. So I tried squeezing it to force some through - except it's a lovely strong thick piece of plastic and wouldn't squeeze...
As usual, it occurred to me too late that what I should have done was put in a converter and use that to force some ink through first. So that's what I've done. The refillable cartridge had has its little rubber bung put in, so I'll get to test how well that seals. I'll use it once the convertor is empty. If it works, the little case with 5 cartridges I also bought will be a good solution to the problem of trying to refill it at work.
One thing that's rapidly becoming clear is that this style of nib is a bit of a pain to clean, so I won't be changing ink colours in it that often. Ah, well. It's an excuse to buy more of them when they're on special offer. 🤣

2026-03-14 22:03:52 UTC

Dug out one of the heavily reduced Jinhao 20 #FountainPens I bought last month, and tried its nib unit in the transparent 20 with the nib alignment problem. *Much* better. When I tried the possibly damaged unit in the other pen it was slightly off alignment, but nowhere near as much. I think it may be a combination of the nib unit and the pen.

2026-03-11 23:20:51 UTC

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Oh, does the Majohn tool work in the Jinhao nib units? You've probably told me before, but I've forgotten.

2026-03-11 23:19:37 UTC

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A quick glance through AliExpress shows some allegedly Jinhao 20 pens at suspiciously cheap prices. If they aren't counterfeit they might do for a nib unit transplant, since it's cheaper than buying a nib unit. 🙂 I need to go to bed now, but might do that tomorrow.

2026-03-11 22:35:47 UTC

Oh dear. Dropped the nib unit on my transparent Jinhao 20 #FountainPen as I was taking it out of the housing for its very first fill a couple of weeks ago. The nib hard starts, which I'd assumed was minor damage to the nib, and I was going to look at changing it when I get around to buying a tool. But it dries out even when the nib is retracted. And having dipped it gently in water and then wiped it on a paper towel to get ink flowing I've now got ink leaking between the clear plastic barrel and the metal bit housing the trapdoor mechanism. Looking at the trapdoor shows the nib well off line as the trap opens and the nib extends, although it's lined up by the time it's fully extended. This is not a happy pen.
I suspect the best use for this pen is to buy another one plus a tool and use this one for dismantling practice. :-(

2026-03-07 19:29:14 UTC

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I'm extremely reluctant to do a fresh install nowadays, because the last time I bought un upgrade of Dragon !!!!"£$ing Nuance was selling a DVD copy for an extra ten quid - which turned out to contain nothing more than a link to the site where you could download the actual software as long as you did it within 30 days of purchase. And I don't have a DVD burner to burn my own copy, which is why I was buying the DVD in the first place. The only way I can transfer it to a new computer is upload to the cloud and back down again, or buy a DVD burner, both of which are fraught with difficulty - especially as I've lost the licence code after losing some of my mailspool when I moved off my ancient email client.

2026-03-07 19:15:51 UTC

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Thanks for those - bookmarking for when I have sufficient spoons.
I know plenty of people who use and like Linux without feeling the need to evangelise, and I'm very glad to know that I'll have useful help and advice if I'm ever in a position to switch. It's the Reply Guys and their smug self-righteousness who get my goat.

2026-03-07 18:51:17 UTC

*Bother.* My laptop has been getting ever more cranky over the last few months, and in particular really dislikes having more than a couple of tabs in Edge open - there's some sort of memory leak there. Eventually I have to reboot it to get memory back because it's slowed to a crawl. Only it's been getting worse, and as of today even rebooting doesn't seem to clear it properly.
I have in the past dealt with this by buying a new laptop, because by the time it starts doing this it's several years old and worth upgrading anyway. But right now AI tulipmania has sent the price of anything powerful enough to run Dragon with all the bells and whistles in use through the roof.
I'd even be tempted to take up the "cheap trial offer!!!" the next time Norton wants me to buy the SuperDuper AllSingingAndDancing that supposedly fixes broken drivers and links and memory leaks and all the rest of it, but I'm not letting that loose without running a full disk backup *and* making sure it can be reinstated. And tulipmania has sent the price of heavy duty backup media through the roof....
I suppose it's time to move over fully to DuckDuckGo and see if that's any better. If nothing else, it won't require as much of my limited cognitive power as trying to kick Edge into behaving, and I can cope with my browser at home being different to the one at work.
(Anyone thinking of saying "You should switch to Linux" -- it's not funny and it's not clever. It's not practical for me, for reasons I have discussed before. And I am sick of cult members telling me I don't *really* need my accessibility software or compatibility with all of the Spawn of Redmond's word processing features because the OS they worship is The One True Way.)

2026-03-07 11:56:46 UTC

Thursday night I got home to two more parcels of "I already have stash beyond life expectancy but it looks so pretty" - some rather nice aran weight linen yarn, and a bottle of Hero ink. Fresh supplies of sample vials arrived earlier in the week, so I can spend a bit of time this weekend decanting the Hero.
I can also spend some time decanting a different hero, since I've found my "writing on the bus" notebooks for the next WiP to finish now I've something vaguely resembling a functioning brain again.

2026-02-28 17:52:06 UTC

Oh dear. One of those days where I am grateful for Mastodon's ability to mute someone for a specific period. Some of my friends scroll through their feed rapidly boosting everything on a particular topic, which means that I get spammed with the world's opinion on Hot Topic Of The Day. And that I have to scroll through several screen's worth of Hot Topic before I find conversation I'm actually interested in; or even not interested in but at least it's not Hot Topic. Someone got muted this morning because they would Not. Shut. Up. about the by-election. My dearly beloved friend, I know you are very pleased that your party won. You do not need to tell us this thirty times in two minutes.

2026-02-28 11:58:13 UTC

It occurs to me that I could try out ink in a variety of nib sizes by getting several nib units for a Wancai and just swapping the nibs without having to empty the pen. One half fill of the barrel of a clear Wancai would give a good look at how the ink behaves in various nibs without having to clean and refill an entire pen in each nib size. I currently have a set of Jinhao 51a in acrylic for daily use testing, but it takes ages to empty them, whether by using or by washing.
I don't actually like Wancais very much for daily use, because they're a bit fatter than I find comfortable to hold, but I may have had a slight shopping accident on AliExpress involving needing something to bring a basket over a minimum spend and there being a sale on a specific colour.
#FountainPen #FountainPenInk

2026-02-23 19:13:03 UTC

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Very much so.
on my floor there was an initial 15 seconds of "stunned mullet" reaction while everyone processed that yes that was the fire alarm and it wasn't fire alarm test day, and then an orderly evacuation with people taking a few seconds to grab coats and a few handbags that were conveniently to hand. Only a few handbags, so there was a bit of "how do we get home" and/or "I can't buy anything if we go to the pub to keep warm while we wait". Various people have now decided that their phone is now staying on their person all day even if they have to get a bumbag to keep it in. I noted that not only do I keep mine with me (it's a work phone and I'm supposed to), I have a five pound note stuck in the case so that I have bus fare home if we have to evacuate and aren't allowed back in.

2026-02-23 18:50:40 UTC

Always fun when you have to evacuate the office on a cold damp day. At least most of us were able to grab our coats on our way out the door.
It was a real alarm, and while it turned out to not be a fire the thing that had tripped the alarm was still serious and dangerous, so we got to mill around at the assembly point for half an hour while it was made safe. Fortunately nobody was injured.

2026-02-22 18:30:31 UTC

Well, I've swatched Van Dieman's Launceston Fog and Sacagawea this weekend, and was able to photograph Launceston Fog in not just natural light, but actual sunshine. I didn't manage to finish Sacagawea before it got dark, so I'll just hope there's some sun next weekend, or at least only light cloud.
Sacagawea is stunning when I manage to get it to work, but it does not like the Hocoro dip pens and I keep getting airlocks in the channel in the feed of the WS3008. The shimmer settles so fast you really have to have your wits about you when filling. I may try to find a broader nib for one of the Wancais, and possibly have two so that I can swap a nib unit out to give it a good scrub without having to empty the pen.
#fountainPen #fountainPenInk

2026-02-21 17:03:25 UTC

Just finished swatching Van Dieman's "Launceston Fog". With any luck a) there will be enough natural light tomorrow to take photos, b) I will remember to do so.
I've done a second swatch to do a sun fading test - if there is ever sun in this country again...
#fountainPen #fountainPenInk

2026-02-21 15:41:27 UTC

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I suspect it's probably taking the opportunity to put the prices up a bit after a long run without increasing retail price to match their own increasing cost of materials.
I'm glad I took the opportunity to grab a few of the old style bottles, because I already have a lifetime supply of stash, and do not need actual volume as opposed to getting a few more New!Shiny! colours.
I was feeling slightly guilty about the number of pens I have, and then I saw the toots by @npub1hmu…k6rx logging cleaning out some of his many, many pens. 😆

2026-02-21 10:48:57 UTC

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AU$15.95 for the 30 ml bottles and AU25.95 for the 40 ml bottles, so a significant price rise.
The monthly limited edition inks are AU49.95 for a 100 ml bottle, so good value per ml, but you need to be a heavy user to get through that much. :-) I got January 2025 free, though, because they usually run a special during the month where if you buy 10 bottles you get the ink of the month free.
Annoyingly, the first one of theirs I got and love, Leatherwood honey, is now on clearance. I would actually buy a bottle or two of that and a couple of the other clearance inks if it wouldn't be so expensive to ship them. Though still probably cheaper than waiting until the next time in .au and having to buy the bigger bottle. 🤣

2026-02-20 22:47:52 UTC

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The one I've got is an open nib, so maybe they've changed it.
Just went to Ali to look up buying a couple of things for the meet, including a nice little Majohn glass pen I'd like a second one of , and discovered that Majohn are now doing a fancier glass pen that comes with pen rest and a covered ink well. I do not need it, but will bookmark for a later credit card month...
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005010565280233.html