Jinhao 9019

[Fuellerfuehrerschein]

I bought black and wine red 9019 ‘Dadao’ series pens with F nibs. Jinhao probably tested the pens, as the converter soaked up blue ink residues when flushing the new 9019 F pens. The converters prove to have a copious almost 1.9 ml ink capacity! I filled them up with (generally well behaving) Noodlers Black ink for my writing test and confess I am a nitpicky fountain pen user. The very conservative looking black 9019 F wrote well from the start, but dryer than I prefer as the pen barely wrote under its own weight. After minor nib tuning, it writes appropriately wet and is also capable of reverse writing. Most people would not have tweaked this pen, as its nib arrived in an ok condition. The conservative looking wine red 9019 F wrote scratchy, too dry as the pen did not write under its own weight, reverse writing was impossible and a visual check under magnification showed the nib was mounted suboptimal over the feed. For me an invitation to tweak the nib unit to optimize its performance. After adjusting the nib unit and tuning the nib, it writes well, appropriately wet and is also capable of reverse writing. Please note, only few people are able to inspect, adjust and tune fountain pen nibs. If you do not hesitate to tune nibs to bring them to your preferred writing characteristics, the Jinhao 9019 ‘Dadao’ series is a very affordable thick pen that most people will categorize as an imposing looking XL-pen. As the 9019 ‘Dadao’ series pens are not exceptionally long, and I prefer a wide grip section, I use them as pocketable travelling pens. The #8 F steel nibs in my pens are relatively stiff and produce typical Western F line width and after tuning nice hairlines in reverse writing. A DIY treatment with silver polish gave the metal clips, cap bands and acrylic exterior parts additional luster.

[gone]

I have one. 
 

On the plus side:

 

- Once thoroughly cleaned, the M nib on mine is really quite good. It has a slight italic grind, writes smoothly with a bit of pleasant feedback and is springy with a touch of line variation possible. 
 

- The ink capacity is large. 
 

- It seems to seal well enough and it hasn't dried out in the few weeks I've had it. 

 

- All the parts that should stay together are still together and the parts that can be unscrewed from each-other seem to unscrew well enough. 
 

On the minus side:

 

- Although some line variation is possible, the feed can't really keep up and it railroads very easily with moderate pressure. Not a big deal. 
 

- The material and finish is low quality. There are obvious moulding marks, some surface imperfections and it just feels a bit thin and cheap. So far no structural issues, just cosmetic. 
 

- The converter rattles. It screws in tightly enough to the body, but there is a "gold" coloured knob which is loose fitting and rattles if the pen is shaken. Slightly annoying. 

- It takes almost three complete turns to unscrew the cap. That is excessive and inconvenient and I see no reason why it needs to be this way. 
 

With discounts etc. I paid less than €3 for it including shipping and I'd say it is worth the price I paid for it, but not much more. I'll keep it as I have a specific use for it, but probably wouldn't replace it if it broke. 

[Doc Dan]

I just got a dark blue 9019 and I just want to say, Wow! For a $6 pen (including shipping), this pen is remarkable. I got the medium nib and it writes very smoothly with just a hint of feedback. It is not too wet and not too dry. It is gorgeously two toned. I noted that it had been tested by the factory. The converter uses metal instead of being all plastic, and it is gold in color. Nice touch. The fit and finish is very good. The acrylic is nicely polished. I also like the simple design. This is not a gaudy, over done pen. Another thing, this is a BIG pen. Even the grip section is big. A lot of big pens I have tried have small, narrow grips. Not this one. I don't yet know about durability, but so far I'm a happy camper. 

[SLinkster]

Have we found a broad nib, or factory stub, for the 9019?

[Estycollector]

Isn't the X159 the same pen?

[Dan Carmell]

7 hours ago, Estycollector said:

Isn't the X159 the same pen?

No, but they both share the same #8 nib. Here are they are side by side, the 9019 to the left & the x159 to the right. 

[SLinkster]

@Dan Carmell did you do the MoP yourself, on the black pen? 

[Estycollector]

10 hours ago, Dan Carmell said:

No, but they both share the same #8 nib. Here are they are side by side, the 9019 to the left & the x159 to the right. 

That two tone is outstanding. Thank you for posting. Did you purchase an orange and black pen to produce that two tone? 

[Estycollector]

On 1/30/2024 at 5:57 PM, Doc Dan said:

I just got a dark blue 9019 and I just want to say, Wow! For a $6 pen (including shipping), this pen is remarkable. I got the medium nib and it writes very smoothly with just a hint of feedback. It is not too wet and not too dry. It is gorgeously two toned. I noted that it had been tested by the factory. The converter uses metal instead of being all plastic, and it is gold in color. Nice touch. The fit and finish is very good. The acrylic is nicely polished. I also like the simple design. This is not a gaudy, over done pen. Another thing, this is a BIG pen. Even the grip section is big. A lot of big pens I have tried have small, narrow grips. Not this one. I don't yet know about durability, but so far I'm a happy camper. 

Just trying to understand, you said blue and then two toned. 

[Dan Carmell]

16 hours ago, SLinkster said:

@Dan Carmell did you do the MoP yourself, on the black pen? 

I did not, I don’t have that kind of skill, unfortunately! The person who did it is very skillful, but didn’t like the plastic on the 9019 and isn’t going to try it again. 

[Dan Carmell]

5 hours ago, Estycollector said:

Just trying to understand, you said blue and then two toned. 

Two different Dans here, Doc Dan wrote about the blue, and I showed the red and black x159, which is two pens combined, an idea I borrowed after I saw it on Facebook. 

[Doc Dan]

6 hours ago, Estycollector said:

Just trying to understand, you said blue and then two toned. 

I said the pen was dark blue. Then I spoke of the nib, which is two toned. However, as @Dan Carmell said, there are two Dans in this conversation, so it is unclear where your confusion originates. His pen is two toned, but not blue. 

 

My pen is so dark blue it looks black unless it is directly under a lamp. 

[Estycollector]

9 hours ago, Dan Carmell said:

Two different Dans here, Doc Dan wrote about the blue, and I showed the red and black x159, which is two pens combined, an idea I borrowed after I saw it on Facebook. 

Yes, but only one Dan wrote "two toned". Anyway, thanks because that answers the question of how you made your pen. 

[Graywolf503]

To Dan Carmell: do you have a link to disassembly/switching the x159 parts? I have been unable to find this by Googling.  Thanks.

 

 

 

[Dan Carmell]

2 hours ago, Graywolf503 said:

To Dan Carmell: do you have a link to disassembly/switching the x159 parts? I have been unable to find this by Googling.  Thanks.

 

 

 

I’m not aware of a how-to for this but as I remember what was suggested, a little heat will loosen the glue enough to swap the barrel end piece. The section unscrews, of course, so that’s it unless you want to swap the cap end piece as well—it’s probably glued as well. The pieces fit tightly so care is needed. 

[Dan Carmell]

22 hours ago, Doc Dan said:

I said the pen was dark blue. Then I spoke of the nib, which is two toned. However, as @Dan Carmell said, there are two Dans in this conversation, so it is unclear where your confusion originates. His pen is two toned, but not blue. 

 

My pen is so dark blue it looks black unless it is directly under a lamp. 

I have the dark blue as well, great color for a pen. This snapshot shows it in my case and the end lit by the lamp is clearly a deep blue, but the other end is the shade it appears more often. 
 

Years ago, near my parents home in NH, on a country road a barn had a big sign for ‘Two Dans Canoes,’ which I imagine were very fine canoes, if you judge by the name! 😂 

[Doc Dan]

24 minutes ago, Dan Carmell said:

I have the dark blue as well, great color for a pen. This snapshot shows it in my case and the end lit by the lamp is clearly a deep blue, but the other end is the shade it appears more often. 
 

Years ago, near my parents home in NH, on a country road a barn had a big sign for ‘Two Dans Canoes,’ which I imagine were very fine canoes, if you judge by the name! 😂 

 

They had to be the best canoes! I found a reference where someone said they started out with a Two Dans Canoe. He said they made either fiberglass or kevlar with birch added. He went on to say it was a good platform for rough water or for fly fishing. They were made in the 1970's in NH. I wonder if they are still in business? 

 

Anyway, back to the pen...yeah, you can see the blue under strong light, but it looks black otherwise. Great looking pen. 

[SLinkster]

Sooo... I guess that's a "no" to the stub or broad nib question? 

[Dan Carmell]

6 hours ago, SLinkster said:

Sooo... I guess that's a "no" to the stub or broad nib question? 

I was hoping that someone else would say ‘yes’ but I guess not. I’d love a stub like the #6 Moonman unit for the p136. I’d like to see more sizes in the #6 heartbeat nib, too. 
 

You might ask your favorite vendor.  Seeing a photo and asking a vendor is how I got this 630 in yellow. 

[jchch1950]

17 hours ago, SLinkster said:

Sooo... I guess that's a "no" to the stub or broad nib question? 

The Chinese pens are made mainly for local users, how many broad or stub nibs will they demand?