I already showed one of mine, but here’s another. This is a 莫兰迪 (Mòlándí) brand and it’s … ah … decidedly inexpensive. Everything you see in this picture (the brush with suction reservoir, 50 ink cartridges, ten copybook pages for calligraphy practice) cost the equivalent of about $1.40.
After shipping.
That being said, though cheap, the only part that’s chintzy is the really badly plated plastic of the brush mount and the little plated plastic disks top and bottom. The cap and barrel are decent metal with fairly good what seems to be electrostatic vapour deposition coloration. (I chose “champagne” coloured.) Disappointingly, though the barrel is long enough for it, something inside of it prevents putting a spare ink cartridge inside of it. It will only hold one.
It has one advantage over the linked one, however: it’s long enough that I can use the standard grip for Chinese calligraphy making it a perfect practice pen to carry with me. (Carrying a traditional pen and an inkstone is not practical.) This means I’m likely to start learning how to do it soon.
$1.40 delivered makes this a an obvious value for something that has a minor drawback. The tool in hand us definitely better than the one you don’t have access to when you’re ready to use it. I love it!
Yeah, I got it because the price was incredibly low, so if it’s usable at all it’s a bonus.
And it’s actually very usable. I just think the gold chrome plastic pieces are a bit naff.
But for $1.40? HELL yeah! I’m in.
