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Post by michelleg on May 27, 2020 13:36:53 GMT
Just bought a Noodler's flex nib fountain pen. It came with an impressive set of instructions on how to fill it, but for the life of me, I can't figure out. Help!
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Post by ginny on May 27, 2020 14:36:42 GMT
Just bought a Noodler's flex nib fountain pen. It came with an impressive set of instructions on how to fill it, but for the life of me, I can't figure out. Help! Does this link help? www.youtube.com/watch?v=fW9A0Mv7HBg
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Post by Lupine on May 31, 2020 1:50:59 GMT
Congratulations! I am sooo curious about those. If you use it in a letter to me, let me know you used it. I'm excited for you! What color is it?
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Post by michelleg on May 31, 2020 13:31:39 GMT
Green! I wish there a way to share photos on here without a url. The flex nib is not as flex-y as I'd like, so we'll see.
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Post by filpot on May 31, 2020 16:22:43 GMT
Green! I wish there a way to share photos on here without a url. The flex nib is not as flex-y as I'd like, so we'll see. I found that when I bought my Noodler's Ahab! Watching a few tutorials is helpful, as you can alter how wet the pen writes by moving the nib.
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Post by jamberrychoux on May 31, 2020 18:21:02 GMT
Green! I wish there a way to share photos on here without a url. The flex nib is not as flex-y as I'd like, so we'll see. I found that when I bought my Noodler's Ahab! Watching a few tutorials is helpful, as you can alter how wet the pen writes by moving the nib. I could never get my Noodler's flex pen to work properly, and so I eventually just gave it away. Too much effort involved, and therefore not very enjoyable to use. Thankfully the pen was on the cheaper side so I didn't feel that bad about giving it away.
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Post by filpot on Jun 1, 2020 7:31:43 GMT
That's a pity jamberrychoux. I wouldn't say my Ahab is my favourite pen, but it is still fun. In fact, my profile picture is my writing with the Ahab. I also have a Conklin Stylograph with Omniflex nib, which is very nice indeed - and less complicated than the Ahab - but the nib on that isn't as flexible as a Zebra G-type nib. I love the really flexible nibs, but I'm such a thug that I break them all the time, so they're really limited to dip pen use for me!
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Post by MKB on Jun 2, 2020 5:12:42 GMT
I had an Ahab or three (my first pen actually, as I was intrigued by flex). My best was finicky, but once tuned in, it had a nice sharp line with just a bit of line shape with normal writing. Inks always looked darker coming out of that pen. The other two weren't as satisfying, but I didn't put the time into them. Compared to other pens, they are a pain, but I learned a lot, so I wouldn't trade the experience. I'm now comfortable messing with stuff if I feel it could use it.
They aren't really flexible enough to be effective at it under normal writing conditions. They can flex when pressed, but it's exercise.
If you are interested in flex, it's so much easier to get a dip pen holder and a Zebra G nib (I prefer an angled holder to get the slant and flex going the right way easily), and just dip in a sample vial. I use a few Legos stacked around a sample tube to hold it up for dipping. I generally dilute regular fountain pen ink 1 part water to 3 or 4 parts ink. Some inks work better than others, so a quick test for that and the strength is to put one drop of water on a plastic baggie or cling wrap and add 2 drops of ink, test then add another and another until it's about the right strength and see if it performs well on paper without needing too many dips. Some inks go on and on with sharp lines, while others spread or don't do more than a few words. Before you get started, scrub the coating off of a new nib and stab it into a cut raw potato to help the ink cling better. Keep your finger oils away from the nib for the same reason.
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Post by Lupine on Jun 2, 2020 14:14:41 GMT
That's a pity jamberrychoux . I wouldn't say my Ahab is my favourite pen, but it is still fun. In fact, my profile picture is my writing with the Ahab. I also have a Conklin Stylograph with Omniflex nib, which is very nice indeed - and less complicated than the Ahab - but the nib on that isn't as flexible as a Zebra G-type nib. I love the really flexible nibs, but I'm such a thug that I break them all the time, so they're really limited to dip pen use for me! This is such an interesting conversation to me. I also own a Conklin Omniflex, one of their LE Earth pens. I was sure I could get it to flex for me and had some success by making my up strokes very, very light to emphasize the contrast of the down stroke. I wanted to test out an Ahab very much, but I see stiffness is a universal concern with fountain pen flex nibs. I have a 1970 NOS Pilot E95s that is surprisingly more flexible than the OmnI "FLEX." It sounds like people who want a calligraphy look must buy a calligraphy type nib like the Zebra G. I have not given up on the idea of a flexy nib, but I switched my focus to italic cursive nibs or stub nibs to give my handwriting that little sparkle and zing. For me, those work like magic with no special effort. Long story short, I am waiting for a shipment of a Conklin 1.1 stub nib to come in and replace my Omniflex. Trying not to feel like a quitter . . . but there you have it. I want to be able to use my pen.
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Post by michelleg on Jun 2, 2020 15:46:44 GMT
Penguy has used a really nice italic nib before - I loved that look. Going to have to get an italic nib to try.
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Post by filpot on Jun 6, 2020 14:08:48 GMT
That's a pity jamberrychoux . I wouldn't say my Ahab is my favourite pen, but it is still fun. In fact, my profile picture is my writing with the Ahab. I also have a Conklin Stylograph with Omniflex nib, which is very nice indeed - and less complicated than the Ahab - but the nib on that isn't as flexible as a Zebra G-type nib. I love the really flexible nibs, but I'm such a thug that I break them all the time, so they're really limited to dip pen use for me! This is such an interesting conversation to me. I also own a Conklin Omniflex, one of their LE Earth pens. I was sure I could get it to flex for me and had some success by making my up strokes very, very light to emphasize the contrast of the down stroke. I wanted to test out an Ahab very much, but I see stiffness is a universal concern with fountain pen flex nibs. I have a 1970 NOS Pilot E95s that is surprisingly more flexible than the OmnI "FLEX." It sounds like people who want a calligraphy look must buy a calligraphy type nib like the Zebra G. I have not given up on the idea of a flexy nib, but I switched my focus to italic cursive nibs or stub nibs to give my handwriting that little sparkle and zing. For me, those work like magic with no special effort. Long story short, I am waiting for a shipment of a Conklin 1.1 stub nib to come in and replace my Omniflex. Trying not to feel like a quitter . . . but there you have it. I want to be able to use my pen. I'd love to know how that turns out. I occasionally switch to an italic/calligraphy nib when my I'm frustrated that my flexis don't flex enough, but I'm always really disappointed with the result.
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Post by radellaf on Jun 7, 2020 5:00:21 GMT
> I occasionally switch to an italic/calligraphy > nib when my I'm frustrated that my flexis > don't flex enough, but I'm always really > disappointed with the result.
I have the opposite problem. Italics look great, and with a flex only my "f" really gets any nicer.
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Post by Lupine on Jun 7, 2020 22:41:46 GMT
This is such an interesting conversation to me. I also own a Conklin Omniflex, one of their LE Earth pens. I was sure I could get it to flex for me and had some success by making my up strokes very, very light to emphasize the contrast of the down stroke. I wanted to test out an Ahab very much, but I see stiffness is a universal concern with fountain pen flex nibs. I have a 1970 NOS Pilot E95s that is surprisingly more flexible than the OmnI "FLEX." It sounds like people who want a calligraphy look must buy a calligraphy type nib like the Zebra G. I have not given up on the idea of a flexy nib, but I switched my focus to italic cursive nibs or stub nibs to give my handwriting that little sparkle and zing. For me, those work like magic with no special effort. Long story short, I am waiting for a shipment of a Conklin 1.1 stub nib to come in and replace my Omniflex. Trying not to feel like a quitter . . . but there you have it. I want to be able to use my pen. I'd love to know how that turns out. I occasionally switch to an italic/calligraphy nib when my I'm frustrated that my flexis don't flex enough, but I'm always really disappointed with the result. I got the stub from Goulet. It is an entire piece: nib and feeder. It is made by Conklin and was an easy replacement and a perfect fit. The ink flow is much, much better. It simply writes the way any good fountain pen writes. It writes in the boldest line of all my pens, and I plan to use it for signatures/checks/documents and addressing envelopes with a (mostly) permanent brown ink, Noodler's Kiowa Pecan (a golden brown). The line it produces is good, but honestly not quite as "pretty" as the dry and scratchy flex.
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Post by penguy on Jun 18, 2020 4:00:32 GMT
I have purchased a couple of pens from fprevolutionusa.com and found them to be excellent for the price. If you want flex you might try their ultra flex nib. There are interchangeable nib units so you can buy a fine, stub, and ultra flex if you wish and change them out depending on your mood. I think they flex more easily than Noodler's, not sure how they compare to the Conklin nib. I purchased one for myself for sketching and one for each of my grandsons. I would suggest a model with a #6 nib some are piston fill and others offer use of cartridge,converter, or as eyedropper filler. If you would like to use a zebra G in a fountain pen take a look at what www.desideratapens.com has to offer. I have their Daedalus model. They are a bit more pricy than a Noodler's or FPR pen. But I think the very best flex nibs are to be found on pens made between 1890 and 1930. A good 14K gold nib with flex can be a beautiful experience. I picked up two pens on eBay for under $30 each and they have fantastic flex. They aren't wet noodles (pens that write more like a paintbrush) but give nice line variation writing at near normal speed and not forced. There are also dealers that handle vintage pens who offer vintage pens with flex which are reconditioned (completely cleaned with new ink sacs or piston rebuild, tuned and ready to go) before sale and are good for years of service.
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Post by Lupine on Jun 20, 2020 15:07:35 GMT
If you would like to use a zebra G in a fountain pen take a look at what www.desideratapens.com has to offer. I have their Daedalus model. They are a bit more pricy than a Noodler's or FPR pen. Okayyyyyy . . . I've been learning. I liked to learn that it is possible to get a re-conditioned "good-to-go" vintage because I don't want to mess with rusty parts and manufacturing my own rubber sacs . . . or whatever. I may yet look into that someday. In the meantime, I visited www.iampeth.com/home and Desiderata and am waiting for a pen delivery. Holy cow. I watched an hour's worth of videos and scrolled through a "how to" manual. I learned (among MANY things) first, that writing with a flex nib is a fussy enterprise. It is not a grab and go sort of thing. And second, that the Zebra G nib is disposable. You clean off the anti-rust coating and ( MKB ) might even stick it in a potato (!) to make the ink cling better. I'm very curious to learn how long the nib lasts. I shoulda bought the 12 pack of nibs along with the pen to save a little on postage. Plus, I needed to buy a little jar of silicone sealing grease not lubricating (there are TWO kinds, for heaven's sake), as well as an ink syringe (Jet Pens). Fortunately, I happen to own the best kind of ink and paper for pens that must write "wet." I'm sure all this information has been laid out on this site somewhere in plain view right under my nose, but I'm the type to dive in and learn as I go. There may be another casual reader considering the parallel universe (mirror universe?) of calligraphy or even just flex nibs, so I thought I'd share my first impressions.
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