Yesterday was a good day for me. The future was so bright I had to wear shades:
Thanks to a modification of one of my pens for a custom order, I now had a new pen grip section design compatible with three converters: the standard international, the TWSBI Swipe, and the Jinhao 9019.
I already have a good supply of standard and TWBI converters. I just received a small inventory of Jinhao converters, and a larger supply was on its way.
Since I haven’t been documenting things very well lately (see my previous blog post), I’ll review the characteristics of these converters. Here are the converters side by side. From top to bottom, a Jinhao 9019 converter, a TWSBI piston converter, a Schmidt standard international converter, and a Schmidt threaded standard international converter.
The standard converter is a familiar friend. It is available in push-in and threaded variants and is supported by many manufacturers.
The TWSBI Swipe converters were introduced with the TWSBI Swipe pen. They come in two variants: a piston style and a spring style. The nib connector is compatible with the standard international converter, so the TWSBI Swipe pen can still use the existing standard international cartridges and converters. The advantage of the TWSBI converters is that they hold more ink than the standard ones. A standard international converter holds 0.8ml of ink, and the TWSBI converters hold 1.4ml of ink. Several makers, myself included, now make pens that can accept the TWSBI converters for those who crave more ink capacity in their pens.
I first learned about the Jinhao converter when I purchased a Jinhao 9019 pen. It is similar to the TWSBI converter. It has slightly more capacity, 1.7ml, and is also threaded. Fortunately, a pen grip section that accepts all three types of converters can be made.
Now, let’s get to the present. Today, I built a pair of pens incorporating the new section design. Beautiful! Then, I tested the fit of the different converters in a new pen. Bother! The Jinhao 9019 converter did not work! It was too loose to seal onto the Bock #8 nib in the pen.
The coupling of the Jinhao 9019 nib and converter is slightly larger than the others. There’s always a slight variation in these dimensions, but the Jinaho 9019 is just a bit too large for comfort. Here’s a quick sample from some nibs and converters I have on my workbench:
Nibs:
Jowo #6: 2.45mm
Bock #6: 2.32mm
Bock #8: 2.40mm
Jinhao 9019 #8: 2.55mm
Converters:
Schmidt: 2.28mm
Pelikan: 2.32mm
TWSBI: 2.34
Jinhao 9019: 2.55mm
As I said, I’ve noticed variations before. The plastic of converters is somewhat flexible and will stretch to seal to the nib. Occasionally, a nib and converter pair are loose, but I will sort through my bin of converters to find one that fits tight enough to seal. With tight ones, the converter will stretch enough to make the connection.
Unfortunately, Jinaho made the 9019 nib and converter too large to be compatible with the others. It is so close, but this makes the Jinhao 9019 nibs and converters join the ranks of proprietary ones.