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Battleflex!


tenurepro

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fpn_1355545831__threemuskateers.jpg

 

 

After about 10 years of using stiff nibs (all Mantblanc),I decided to branch out and try different manufacturers and nib styles. It started last May with a Nakaya long cigar with a soft medium nib modified by J.Mottishaw to give a bit more flex. Seethe original review here.

 

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It took a lot of practice, but I eventually found 'flexing' to be very addictive! There is something pleasant about cursive writing with flex-flair, and it is also a very nice experience to get to use your nib like a brush. Flex also up's the shading factor (by at least 2 ;)). So, I decided to try more flex, and especially vintage flex pens as I heard that they have a different feel than modern flex-tuned nibs.

 

So here we go; Battle Flex! East vs. West

Nakaya long cigar vs. Flexy Parker Vacumatic '46 vs. Waterman No. 2 '20s

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My first acquisition after the Nakaya was the fabled waterman No 52, with a superflex no. 2; got it from Mauricio @ www.vintagepen.net. It is in very good condition, and writes like a dream.

 

 

fpn_1355545994__waterman_body.jpg

 

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Then, out of nowhere (actually at a Toronto FPN meeting),this lovely Parker Vacumatic fell into my hands. A gorgeous golden pearl with translucent celluloid and a flexy Canadian nib.

 

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fpn_1355545983__parker_profile.jpg

 

So, how flexible is the Mottishaw-tuned Nakaya soft-medium & Parker Vacumatic relative to the Waterman superflex (I am taking Mauricio's grading of the waterman as definitive given his experience).

 

Honestly, the differences don't feel that great, but my initial feeling was that the waterman had the most flex, parker coming in a close second, then the Nakaya a close third. I decided to get a little bit more objective with the classification, so I put my rhodia pad on an analytical balance, and measured the 'weight' of each pen as I wrote with the maximum possible flex; more force applied to the pen = more weight. (I repeated this several time as the variation was large)

 

Waterman Superflex -150 g (+/- 30 g or so)

 

Parker Vacumatic '46 – 220 g (+/- 40 g or so) ; this one varied alot, with some scores as low as the waterman

 

Nakaya Mottishaw-tuned soft medium – 250 g (+/- 20 g or so)

 

So the 'feel' test was corroborated with the balance data; I am calling the Nakaya a medium-flex and the parker as a super/medium flex (but I may be wrong as I don't have a good feel for the difference between medium and semi flex).

 

In terms of writing performance:

Nakaya is wet, but not anywhere near as wet as the vintage pens. Both write very smoothly on good paper, and write very well flexed and un-flexed. The Waterman and Parker don't look great on cheap paper – they lay down too much ink and cause problems with feathering and bleed-through. All three pens are comfortable to use. I usually like wider grips, but I am finding that it is easier to flex a thinner pen. The Waterman is so easy to flex that you can write for a long time without fatigue (even while apply pressure to flex the pen on every downstroke). I did notice more fatigue when flex-writing with the Nakaya (after writing for 10/15 mins)

 

The vintage waterman and parker do suffer from more nib creep, and also 'burp' up ink if jerked around a bit too fast; no such issues with the Nakaya. I guess the feed system is a bit on the aggressive side in the waterman/parker.

 

In terms of road-worthiness; the Waterman seems a bit frail;the hard-rubber is not supposed to get wet, which makes flushing/soaking the pen a challenge. The lever filler also worries me; it is in good shape now but I worry that it may snap off one day. The parker vac is pretty sturdy and I would feel comfortable lugging it around with me without any hesitation. The Nakaya is fairly solid, I've been carrying it around in my laptop case (in its kimono, or pen wrap) for a bit under a year now without any issues.

 

Summary: Three great pens. Waterman 52 - is a very nice pen; a special pen for special writing sessions. Not for everyday work. Parker and Nakaya are both very solid and gorgeous. Both are sturdy enough for everyday use, but the Nakaya writes better on cheap paper, so it is still my no. 1 rolleyes.gif.

 

 

Now – here is the fun part; below is the writing samples:same letters / phrases written with all three pens, side by side by side.

 

I am curious to see if you can spot the differences between the three hmm1.gif,so I would like you to please guess; which pen is which?

 

1. ?

 

2. ?

 

3. ?

 

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fpn_1355546094__battleflex_whoiswho.jpg

I'll post the answer in a bit.

*** it is posted now! ***

Edited by tenurepro
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What about rebound on the three nibs? I find that with some modern pens that they are slow to go from full flex back to the narrow line. I am also wondering if your pens are B,F, or EF with flex?

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My guess is

1: Parker

2: Nakaya

3: Waterman

 

Or possibly

 

1: Waterman

2: Nakaya

3: Parker

 

But if I only get one guess, it is my first one. :rolleyes:

Edited by Tiffanyhenschel

"Life is too big for words, so don't try to describe it. Just live it."

- C.S. Lewis

http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/606/letterji9.png

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Interesting - why? wink.gif

My guess is

1: Parker

2: Nakaya

3: Waterman

Edited by tenurepro
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Interesting - why? wink.gif

My guess is

1: Parker

2: Nakaya

3: Waterman

Here is my completely unprofessional, novice reasoning. Pen 2 shows railroading, which makes me think that one is the Nakaya.

Pens 1 and 3 are close, but pen 3 seems to lay down more ink at the bottom of the downstroke, similar to the effect in my really flexy writers, so that is why I pegged that one as the Waterman.

The reason I questioned my choice is that the writing with pen 1 seems to show more control, which could be because you said that the thinner body of the Waterman was easier to flex. Then on the other hand, the extra flexiness of the Waterman could make it harder to control, which supports my original thought that the Waterman is pen 3.

"Life is too big for words, so don't try to describe it. Just live it."

- C.S. Lewis

http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/606/letterji9.png

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They are all three beautiful pens, by the way!

"Life is too big for words, so don't try to describe it. Just live it."

- C.S. Lewis

http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/606/letterji9.png

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Who is who?

fpn_1355546094__battleflex_whoiswho.jpg

1. Waterman 52

2. Nakaya

3. Parker

 

@ Tiffanyhenschel - very close, and astute analysis.

 

I think the most interesting part is that all three pens look close on paper! The differences are there, but they are subtle. The Nakaya does rail roads sometimes - but not often . LinearM's comments about rebound are also very interesting; The Nakaya does need more force to flex, and presumably will require a little extra time to go back from broad to fine, but i do not think this drastically affects the result on paper. For example, compare the small case g's and j's and the upper case G's, F's and H's - no obvious differences in terms of transition from thin to thick lines between Waterman (1) and Nakaya (2)

 

Perhaps the best way to describe the difference between the Waterman/Parker vs. Nakaya is ability to 'control' the nib. Tiffanyhenschel - you were again bang on with describing #1 - Waterman - as 'controlled'. Flex writing with the Waterman feels almost effortless (the Parker is also easy to write with). The Nakaya, because of the added force needed to flex the nib, is a little bit harder to control, so some of the strokes go astray (e.g. see e, E,D, and the curve on the G) [i should mention that i am new to flex and i am very new to copperplate(-ish), so this may go away as i gain dexterity and experience.]

 

Cheers

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  • 1 month later...

...

Just got a lovely and very flexy Parker Vacumatic 1941 (Azure blue, double jewelled, with speedline filler (Thanks David!). It appears to be a medium/super flex and goes from F(or is it M) to BB+ (maybe even BBB).

 

So here is Battleflex... reloaded (this time with different colours)...

 

fpn_1358890436__battleflex_reloaded.jpg

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Wow, what a great review. Very insightful and objective.

 

Two questions though (hope they were not already answered). Which one did YOU like the best and why?

“Don't put off till tomorrow what you can do today, because if you do it today and like it, you can do again tomorrow!”

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very good thread :thumbup: and great pens :clap1:

Pens are like watches , once you start a collection, you can hardly go back. And pens like all fine luxury items do improve with time

 

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Hard to pick one... the nakaya, '41 parker vac and the waterman are all in rotation at the moment. [and the '46 is my wife's rotation too]

 

Waterman is super flexy and snaps back so well, but it is ~90 years old so i'll be using sparingly

Parker '41; very easy to flex and love that BB+ width. Parker vac and 51 have a good reputation for being sturdy workhorses, so this will be my main go to flex pen

Nakaya - lovely pen... the nib is very spring; my go to regular pen (and the added flex is useful for a very writing flourishes)...

 

I must admit that after learning to handle flex pens, i find the writing experience with my non-flex FPs to be pretty ... dull. I have several MB and they are extremely smooth and glide on paper, but i end up missing the feedback and the extra level of control you have with a flex pen....

 

Wow, what a great review. Very insightful and objective.

 

Two questions though (hope they were not already answered). Which one did YOU like the best and why?

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I must admit that after learning to handle flex pens, i find the writing experience with my non-flex FPs to be pretty ... dull. I have several MB and they are extremely smooth and glide on paper, but i end up missing the feedback and the extra level of control you have with a flex pen....

 

Yup, once I went flex (even vintage SEMI-flex) I find I can't go back to modern nail nibs. They're just... BORING.

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glad to see others have the flex bug too :)

Yup, once I went flex (even vintage SEMI-flex) I find I can't go back to modern nail nibs. They're just... BORING.

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Thanks Lince... I especially appreciate the complements about beautiful handwriting; although i think that my hand writing is far from being beautiful, it is considerably better than the awful chicken scratch that was my handwriting a couple of years ago. I've been working on my handwriting a lot and having nice and expressive fountain pens have helped a lot.

Your photography, your pens and your handwriting is beautiful. Thanks a lot for taking the time to produce this thread.

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Nakaya from nibs.com ~ $700 (with custom nib work and shipping and sales tax)

Waterman from Maurico @ www.vintagepen.net ($350)

Parkers from David @ http://www.restorersart.com/ ($150 each)

I am sure you can find Waterman / Parker on Ebay for less, but I prefer dealing with known folks from the FPN community.

Beautiful pens and handwriting! May I ask the approximate prices of these pens? I am lusting over any one of them but they are a huge investment I believe.

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