Bought A Flex Pen, It's Cool! A Question Too

[Apprenti]

Hello everyone!

 

I'm Joe, and I'm about to start College taking English, Art (possibly), Music and Carpentry. So where does Calligraphy come in? Well I've been practicing Copperplate with a cheap Manuscript Dip pen, and quite frankly I was disappointed. The nibs were old and rusted, the ink was awful and I got fed up of dipping! Last week my dad was given the Noodler's Ahab for Christmas. I'd been wanting one for a while, but when I used his I realised I didn't like how big it was. So on Monday I bought a Creaper (Topkapi amber, it's so ORANGE!) and me and dad have ordered a couple of bottles of ink.

 

The Noodler's Creaper is very good. It railroads a lot, but that's definitely down to the ink and not the pen (when I can get the ink flowing it actually writes really nicely). The nib's nice, albeit a bit firm and scratchy, and the rest of the pen is lovely.

 

Now for my first question: in Nathan's (the owner of Noodler's ink) video, he demonstrates that different nibs can be used with the Noodler's pen. I think that the Waterman Ideal 2 fits, but I can't afford to buy an expensive nib at the moment. Does anyone know of a flexible nib that might fit the Noodler's and that won't cost a lot as well?

 

Thank you,

Joe

[RMN]

Hi and

 

I am not a flex-writer myself, but I hear the really good flexible nibs are very expensive, although you might happen onto one on a carbootsale or such.

These are scarce. You're not going to do economic studies but you will probably know scarce commodities get expensive.

It would be much cheaper to buy new flexible dip-nibs.

 

If that creaper you have feels stiff it is probably NOT made for flex writing. You might end up with a sprung nib.

Real flex-nibs should widen with only minimal pressure and close again on the slightest release.

 

But please head over to the penmanship forum for more specialist advice.

 

Oh, and eehhh, with in dip-nib you may use india-ink. With a fountain pen NEVER (as in absolutely N E V E R) use india-ink, or you can throw your precious FP away.

 

Enjoy the forum

 

D.ick

[Apprenti]

The ink I've got is Osmiroid calligraphy ink. It's old and doesn't run well, I ordered a Lamy bottle and a Waterman bottle.

 

Dip pen nibs can be used in the fountain pen, but none of the ones I've got are really much use as they're rusty and cheap. The nib I've got is ok, I'd just prefer something looser. It works fine but I don't like pressing so hard for long periods of time.

 

And thank you, I look forward to learning what I can and sharing what I can as well.

 

Joe

[Pterodactylus]

Welcome on FPN

 

You can modify your Noodler's nib to be (much) more flexible.

 

Check out the following thread:

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/240492-noodlers-ahab-ease-my-flex-mod/?p=2607667

[1point1mm]

Greetings and Welcome aboard the FPN! There is truly much to absorb here so Enjoy your stay!

[Ursus]

You sure are right - flexible nibs are wonderful! Even my wife praised one the other day.

Buying a good flex nib may not cost significantly less than buying some ugly and rather common pen with a good flex nib.

[Scribblesoften]

Welcome to FPN. I wish you success in college. Nathan Tardif has a video on using dip pen nibs in your Creaper pen. He also has one on heat setting nibs. They are useful and instructive. Dip pen nibs can be found at many art supply stores for not too much money. Fountain pen ink and dip pen ink have different properties, you are doing the right thing by ordering the fountain pen ink for you and your father's pens. Some people make feeds for their dip pens out of beeswax. I believe there are some youtube videos on how to do that if you are interested. If you do purchase dip pen ink don't use it in your fountain pen. Dip pen inks, such as India Ink, contain substances that could damage your pen. You have a lot of fun ahead of you.

 

I was mistaken. The beeswax feed that I saw was right here on FPN. JBB posted some images on a thread about the Ackerman Pump Pen. I am sorry but I do not know how to hyperlink.

Edited January 2, 2014 by Scribblesoften

[Apprenti]

I'm not sure I'm willing to modify the nib yet (especially as I don't know where I might get a replacement) and I do actually kind of like the nib; if you pull the tip away from the tip of the feed a bit it flexes MUCH better. I've also never had a nice nib, so this is all I've got at the moment. This is also the reason for me wanting a nicer nib like a Waterman.

 

In the video Nathan mentions several nibs, but I can't keep up with what ones he mentions because I'm still reasonably new to fountain pens! Anyone have a spare #2 size Waterman they wouldn't mind donating to a student in need (sort of)?

 

I'm kidding, of course, I guess I'll just save for a Waterman 2 as I'm 100% sure it'll fit.

 

Thank you to everyone for the warm welcome!

 

Happy new year, and I hope you all had a great Christmas,

Joe

[Pterodactylus]

If you want to have a vintage Waterman nib, then I suggest to buy a whole pen and not just a nib.

 

The weakest part of the Noodler's pens is the feed (beside many other flaws) , a wonderful nib is not enough, you need also a feed which can keep up.

You will not be happy with such a solution.

 

And a cheap Noodler's pen body can't mess with a vintage Waterman, so mounting a vintage Waterman nib on a Noodler's body (and the crappy Noodler's feed) is at least for me a kind of overkill.

[Ursus]

 

If you want to have a vintage Waterman nib, then I suggest to buy a whole pen and not just a nib.

 

The weakest part of the Noodler's pens is the feed (beside many other flaws) , a wonderful nib is not enough, you need also a feed which can keep up.

You will not be happy with such a solution.

 

And a cheap Noodler's pen body can't mess with a vintage Waterman, so mounting a vintage Waterman nib on a Noodler's body (and the crappy Noodler's feed) is at least for me a kind of overkill.

I so agree!

[PAKMAN]

Hello and Welcome to FPN!! Glad to have you as a member!!

[Apprenti]

If you want to have a vintage Waterman nib, then I suggest to buy a whole pen and not just a nib.

The weakest part of the Noodler's pens is the feed (beside many other flaws) , a wonderful nib is not enough, you need also a feed which can keep up.

You will not be happy with such a solution.

And a cheap Noodler's pen body can't mess with a vintage Waterman, so mounting a vintage Waterman nib on a Noodler's body (and the crappy Noodler's feed) is at least for me a kind of overkill.

What's wrong with the feed? I haven't got any complaints about it, do you have the older ahab model or something?

 

I've found Waterman nibs consistently selling between £10 and £20 in the uk. That's about the same price as the pen itself and the nib is (IMO) more important. The whole point of the Creaper's design is that you can use a range of nibs with it. Leigh Reyes seems to manage it just fine.

 

Obviously, I'd love a more expensive pen some day. At the moment, however, I can't afford an expensive pen. And I actually really like the Noodler's, I'd just like to try a new nib!

 

Thanks again,

Joe

[Apprenti]

Hello and Welcome to FPN!! Glad to have you as a member!!

Thank you, glad to be a member!

[Wahl]

Welcome to FPN, Joe !

[Ursus]

I'm glad to hear that it's possible to get old Waterman nibs for £ 10. It is, however, impossible to know how flexible they are before you have bought them and tried them out... Of cause, if you are not satisfied, you can always sell them on.

I'm not impressed with the (lack of) interest in flexible nibs in the UK - it is as if sellers don't care if their pens are flexible or not. In the US, on the other hand, so many sellers describe the flexibility of their nibs - and in a way that makes you sure that they know what you are talking about. I did, however, recently buy a quite well-writing and rather flexible British pen (but I have to admit that the price was somewhat higher than £ 10 and that the seller's description of it's flexibility was overdoing it a little, not to say a lot).

[notVirtuThe3rd]

Hi! Welcome to FPN.
I'm really glad you've joined us.

 

Have a good day,
Kota Adachi

 

From Japan

[Aquinata]

Welcome--was that a set of Speedball nibs you were using? I know they get rusty if they aren't dried well after use....

[Pterodactylus]

It happens IMO quite often that sellers describe their pens as more flexible as they really are.

 

I bought some time ago a Mabie Todd SM1 which was advertised as full flex one of the best flexing pens ever produced (muhahaha) , in my perception it is only a semi flex.

 

But there is no norm regarding flexibility and it's always a bit dependent on the user experiences, and items will sell much higher when they are advertised as flexible.

 

 

The problem with the Noodler's feed is that it really has problems to keep up, especially when you increase the flexibility of the nib.

You have to modify it heavily to keep up at least somehow (which also can cause ugly dripping problems)

 

You did not modified your pen and even with its little default Chuck Norris flex, you mentioned that you have railroad issues.

 

Don't get me wrong, in the meanwhile I love my Ahab despite I almost thrown it to the bin several times in the beginning and I considered it as my worst pen (still can be read in the "Worst pen ever" thread).

They can be a lot of fun (but also can spoil all the fun using FPs for a Newbie so that they never ever want to use a FP again).

 

What I also don't like is that Noodler's promote them as pens to tinker with, but does not sell spare parts (and I don't count O-rings as needed spare parts).

When you tinker around with such a pen you most likely will need a spare nib or a spare feed, but unfortunately Noodler's don't sell them as spare parts.

So for me this is incompatible to a tinker pen.

[Apprenti]

Yeah it was, a set of drawing nibs. My dad was given them in that state, I didn't rust them!!!

Thanks for the welcome,

Joe

[Apprenti]

The railroading is caused by the ink, my uncle's got one and it writes fine with Waterman ink.

 

I don't need a wet noodle nib, I'd just like something a little looser than the noodler's nib. I'll PM you the link to the nibs so you can have a look.

 

Thanks for all the great advice everyone,

Joe