Flexi Favourites

[Uncial]

I'm beginning to enjoy my flex pens (mainly Waterman's), but I was looking recently at Noodler's Ahab's. Now they are cheap, but I've also read the thread here that they are best when adjusted with the use of a dremel. Now I've been asking around and can't find anyone I know with a dremel, so if I bought an Ahab I would probably have to buy a dremel to make the adjustment. To do that, a cheap pen would end up being quite expensive. So, I started to search a little and saw the Pilot Namiki (for roughly the same price as a dremel and an Ahab!) and it said it had a flexible nib. I just wondered if anyone had any experience of the Pilot Namiki (saw it on Goulet pens website) and if it is just as 'stiff' to use as the Ahab.

 

Essentially what I was looking for was a cheap pen that I could throw any ink into without worrying and sometimes I worry about certain inks in my vintage pens that have flex nibs.

[rhr2010]

Namiki Falcon or Noodler's Ahab have some springiness but in terms of flex do not match at all vintage Waterman flex nibs. Some nibsters provide some aggressive modifications to nibs that give some resemblance to vintage Waterman or Swan pens. Pendleton Brown at some point offered on Twisbi pens a nib modification called "Bad Boy with Angel Wings" or some name like that and that nib has pretty nice flex...no affiliation, just have that nib and Iike it...you might inquire here http://pendletonspens.com/Custom_Nib_Work/index.html

 

But if you want great flex, you might also just stick with your vintage Waterman pens...or Swan pens...

[Apprenti]

You can do the EMF mod with needle files, which will cost you next to nothing.

[Pentulant]

The Pilot Falcon (probably the pen you saw on Goulet's) is a good pen with some flex. (Some writing samples here and here.) It's a pen I enjoy a great deal, but it is no where near the flex-ability of the vintage Waterman. The soft-fine nib seems to be the one suggested for getting the most flex (or perhaps it's the soft extra-fine by now).

 

On the Noodler's - I don't like them. They require too much fiddling with for me, but it sounds like you're prepared to fiddle some with it so your experience may be different.

[legume]

The Namiki Falcon is more a soft, bouncy nib than anything else, a semiflex, maybe. If you want to go the Noodler's route, why not try putting a large dip nib in place of the Ahab nib? In this video Stephen Brown uses a Brause Rose nib to modify his Ahab. You can get nibs from places like John Neal Bookseller, JetPens, and Paper and Ink Arts. It still requires a lot of fiddling and maybe hacking the feed, but it seems like a worthwhile experiment. I'm including an Ahab in my next Goulet order so I can try this out.

[Bo Bo Olson]

Try dip pens...they have nibs with real more than wet noodle Flex.

[discopig]

I love my Namiki Falcon, but I love my vintage Moore pen even more. They are both good flex pens, but the Moore flexes significantly more with a lot less pressure.