{"id":5217,"date":"2021-08-13T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-08-13T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/?p=5217"},"modified":"2024-07-04T17:16:32","modified_gmt":"2024-07-04T21:16:32","slug":"jowo-problem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/jowo-problem\/","title":{"rendered":"Ever-Growing Jowo Problem"},"content":{"rendered":"
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We interrupt our scheduled programming on the 2021 DC Pen Show<\/a> for this special bulletin on Jowo<\/a> issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My next post will be back to DC Pen Show fun, but I felt that Friday the 13th was the perfect day to post this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Issue<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Over the past year (ish) the number of posts I’ve seen about cracked Jowo<\/a> housings has steadily increased. What started as an occasional post has turned into multiple posts per week, from makers and buyers alike. This clearly isn’t a small, single batch issue, it’s a manufacturing problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I recently went through my own Jowo nibs and found around 10 cracked housings. I don’t remember the exact number, nor did I keep them for later documentation (lack of foresight on my part). However, in checking my nibs again last night, I found two more cracked housings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

With permies.world’s<\/a> recent<\/a> instagram<\/a> posts<\/a>, my decision to post a Jowo nib issue post was cemented. I want to add my two cents to the pot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jowo’s actions \u2014 attempting to blame makers and users \u2014 and inaction \u2014 claiming it was a small issue that has been dealt with \u2014 is unacceptable. A couple of days ago, I changed my one active Indie order to a Bock nib.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don’t have a real preference for either company’s nibs, but I don’t want nibs that will have usage issues I can’t fix. I can adjust a funky nib \u2014 Bock isn’t without QC issues of its own \u2014 but I can’t do anything with a cracked housing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some Useful Information<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

But moving on, there is a way to pre-check your nib housings. As I see more and more posts and comments, there appear to be multiple potential crack locations. So far, though, everyone seems to agree that the cracks are always on the nib side. My nib housings have only cracked in one of two locations, both on the right hand of the nib side (when looking at the nib side \u2014 as opposed to the feed side). Note: click on any image to view it larger.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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There are darker\/more matte lines there on some of my housings. They aren’t on my older nib housings. And they seem to be darker and bigger\/longer the newer the nib is. Considering they’re in the same places as the cracking problems I keep encountering, it seems a logical conclusion to draw that they are weak spots that leads to the cracks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The darker line on the lip (top left) is harder to see, but the one on the main body (bottom left) is clearly visible.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I first noticed the “weak spots” when I was checking over my nibs a while back. To better explain what I mean, I made this video.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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