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$20 Konrad Plastic Durable?


NewPenMan

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Anyone know whether the "vegetal resin" plastic of the Noodler's Konrad (the $20 one) is more durable than other injection-molded pens?

 

Thanks!

Franklin-Christoph Stabilis 66 and Pocket 40: both with Matsuyama CI | Karas Kustoms Aluminum, Daniel Smith CI | Italix Parson's Essential and Freshman's Notator | Pilot Prera | Pilot Metropolitan | Lamy Safari, 1.1mm italic | Muji "Round Aluminum Pen" | Waterman Phileas | Noodler's Konrad | Nemosine Singularity 0.6mm stub | ASA Nauka, acrylic and ebonite | Gama Hawk | Wality Airmail | Noodlers Ahab | TWSBI GO | Noodlers Charlie | Pilot Plumix |

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Oh, not particularly. On the other hand, my Konrads have been in regular use for the last five years or so and are still going strong. Looks like you have a good set of pens, including an Italic nib or two. A Konrad or an Ahab might just be a good addition to you pen collection.

 

Be advised that Noodler pens do have a learning curve with them and require a bit of fiddling with and tweaking over every once in a while.

 

Best of luck,

Yours,
Randal

From a person's actions, we may infer attitudes, beliefs, --- and values. We do not know these characteristics outright. The human dichotomies of trust and distrust, honor and duplicity, love and hate --- all depend on internal states we cannot directly experience. Isn't this what adds zest to our life?

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Well I'd say they are considerably more durable than some of the other options out there.

 

Things like Nemosine Singularity and the Dollar pen, have a lot thinner plastic which could be quite brittle and can be easily crushed with bare hands if one tried.

 

In the intro youtube for the new Noodlers Refillable Cartridges, Nathan demonstrated that this vegetal resin material is sturdy enough to withstand being run over by a car. Then he proceeded to pound one of these cartriges under his fist while placed on the table top, and those things survived it just fine.

 

I'd say the only other thing to worry about (instead of actual damage) would be the fact that theses pens are billed as bio-degradable but still designed to last a "lifetime" of use.

 

I'd say you need not worry about it being brittle.

 

The other versions of the Konrad, though, (acryllic and ebonite) is a different story. I've had cracks develop in my resin Konrad and ink leaks from two of my ebonite konrads from the cap threads on the barrel, so those aren't particularly stellar in that regard..

Edited by pepsiplease69
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Nathan finally caved in to cartridges....sad, but many folks just have cc pens.

 

If the Konrad is as well made as the Ahab, I'd expect it to last.

 

The Ahab/Konrad have 'expensive to make...even in India,' hand machine cut ebonite feeds, which are better than cheap modern pressed plastic feeds. It holds the ink better...one of the reasons why many vintage pens had more flexible nibs was the ebonite feed held the ink well.

 

 

Looking long term, you can learn a world of feeds, by adjusting the nib to the feed, by making the channels wider or slicing off combs of the feed to adjust the feed to you exactly.

 

Even if you don't have a problem...and my Ahab is perfect, at least reading the many threads will make you wiser to how important a feed really is.

 

If you over adjust the feed, Nathan sells extra's cheap....so it's a learning experience you can afford.

 

I don't know about the Konrad, but the Ahab is a superflex nib....but a semi-flex one....so takes a lot of pressure, but gets you started. After a few weeks....

Then once you are started there is the Ahab Mod....two little half moons ground with a Dremmil or a small round file on the sides of the nib; that will take the nib into true superflex.

My Ahab has that done to it, and it is now an Easy Full Flex....superflex, the fun stage above a wet noodle. A much more fun nib than when it was a hard semi-flex...and semi-flex is very hard to flex for a superflex nib.

In reference to P. T. Barnum; to advise for free is foolish, ........busybodies are ill liked by both factions.

 

 

The cheapest lessons are from those who learned expensive lessons. Ignorance is best for learning expensive lessons.

 

 

 

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Bo Bo Olson - any photos to share, or can you describe how you cut the two little half moons?

 

Thank you! I want me some of that wet noodle action!

 

;-)

Franklin-Christoph Stabilis 66 and Pocket 40: both with Matsuyama CI | Karas Kustoms Aluminum, Daniel Smith CI | Italix Parson's Essential and Freshman's Notator | Pilot Prera | Pilot Metropolitan | Lamy Safari, 1.1mm italic | Muji "Round Aluminum Pen" | Waterman Phileas | Noodler's Konrad | Nemosine Singularity 0.6mm stub | ASA Nauka, acrylic and ebonite | Gama Hawk | Wality Airmail | Noodlers Ahab | TWSBI GO | Noodlers Charlie | Pilot Plumix |

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The other versions of the Konrad, though, (acryllic and ebonite) is a different story. I've had cracks develop in my resin Konrad and ink leaks from two of my ebonite konrads from the cap threads on the barrel, so those aren't particularly stellar in that regard..

 

That's surprising to hear. I really like my ebonite Konrad better than the resin ones, and keep hoping that Nathan will release some new colors of ebonite (some of the original ebonite Neponsets were great looking, but the Neponsets are too big for my hand). I haven't tried any of the acrylic ones -- most of the acrylic colors didn't wow me, and the few that I did like are all sold out. My main issue with the acrylic ones is that they're sort of generic looking: IMO, they could just as easily be any number of other brands of acrylic body pens.

As for the original resin Konrads, I've lost two (both the original Red Mesa Tortoise and its replacement); sort of messed up the nib on the Poseidon Pearl and haven't gotten around to fixing or replacing it (and that pen wrote much drier than any of the other Konrads for some reason); and the Hudson Bay Fathom is the Kung Te Cheng pen so its behavior is, well, variable (but the pen itself has held up pretty well in the 4 years I've owned it otherwise).

I guess that once again it's a case of YMMV -- I know people complain about the amount of tinkering they've had to do with their Noodler's pens, but mine have all worked well out of the box, with just flushing out with soapy distilled water and then rinsing well. And I've had worse leaks from other pens (the Parker Urban from Hell comes to mind...).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

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Nathan finally caved in to cartridges....sad, but many folks just have cc pens.

Looks like he decided to make some lemonade.

 

Empty cartridges specifically to be filled with one's favorite ink.

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My resin Konrad has issues with the threads at the back where the piston screws into the body. The threads don't hold well, and the piston mechanism pops out occasionally. I have 2 acrylic versions, and no issues at all with those.

My feedback is similar to others: they take a little fiddling, but I love Noodler's pens overall. I have 2 Ahabs, 2 Neponsets (1 acrylic, 1 ebonite), and 3 Konrads (1 resin & 2 acrylic).

I'm least impressed with the quality of the Neponsets, considering the price.

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Nathan finally caved in to cartridges....sad, but many folks just have cc pens.

 

If the Konrad is as well made as the Ahab, I'd expect it to last.

 

The Ahab/Konrad have 'expensive to make...even in India,' hand machine cut ebonite feeds, which are better than cheap modern pressed plastic feeds. It holds the ink better...one of the reasons why many vintage pens had more flexible nibs was the ebonite feed held the ink well.

 

 

Looking long term, you can learn a world of feeds, by adjusting the nib to the feed, by making the channels wider or slicing off combs of the feed to adjust the feed to you exactly.

 

Even if you don't have a problem...and my Ahab is perfect, at least reading the many threads will make you wiser to how important a feed really is.

 

If you over adjust the feed, Nathan sells extra's cheap....so it's a learning experience you can afford.

 

I don't know about the Konrad, but the Ahab is a superflex nib....but a semi-flex one....so takes a lot of pressure, but gets you started. After a few weeks....

Then once you are started there is the Ahab Mod....two little half moons ground with a Dremmil or a small round file on the sides of the nib; that will take the nib into true superflex.

My Ahab has that done to it, and it is now an Easy Full Flex....superflex, the fun stage above a wet noodle. A much more fun nib than when it was a hard semi-flex...and semi-flex is very hard to flex for a superflex nib.

 

wow! would you link or post an explanation of how to do that mod? i'd love to try it because i'm really looking for a way to get better flex.

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My resin Konrad has issues with the threads at the back where the piston screws into the body. The threads don't hold well, and the piston mechanism pops out occasionally. I have 2 acrylic versions, and no issues at all with those.

My feedback is similar to others: they take a little fiddling, but I love Noodler's pens overall. I have 2 Ahabs, 2 Neponsets (1 acrylic, 1 ebonite), and 3 Konrads (1 resin & 2 acrylic).

I'm least impressed with the quality of the Neponsets, considering the price.

 

How do you know whether you have an acrylic or a resin Konrad?

Franklin-Christoph Stabilis 66 and Pocket 40: both with Matsuyama CI | Karas Kustoms Aluminum, Daniel Smith CI | Italix Parson's Essential and Freshman's Notator | Pilot Prera | Pilot Metropolitan | Lamy Safari, 1.1mm italic | Muji "Round Aluminum Pen" | Waterman Phileas | Noodler's Konrad | Nemosine Singularity 0.6mm stub | ASA Nauka, acrylic and ebonite | Gama Hawk | Wality Airmail | Noodlers Ahab | TWSBI GO | Noodlers Charlie | Pilot Plumix |

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How do you know whether you have an acrylic or a resin Konrad?

 

Well the price would be the easy indicator.

 

Vegetal Resin version is priced at $20 or thereabouts.

 

Acrylic and Ebonite version are priced at $40 approximate.

 

The other thing is the Acrylic version smells like paint (or similar to that, for me at least).

 

The Vegetal Resin has a (shall we say) less desirable smell initially.

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I recently picked up a Konrad Lapis to try a more flexible nib. The smell is quite distinct, but after a soak in a water and Dawn solution, the smell was mostly gone or hardly distinctive at all. I applied some Pinnacle carnauba wax on it and there is only the fragrant wax smell on it now.

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that sounds good..

Franklin-Christoph Stabilis 66 and Pocket 40: both with Matsuyama CI | Karas Kustoms Aluminum, Daniel Smith CI | Italix Parson's Essential and Freshman's Notator | Pilot Prera | Pilot Metropolitan | Lamy Safari, 1.1mm italic | Muji "Round Aluminum Pen" | Waterman Phileas | Noodler's Konrad | Nemosine Singularity 0.6mm stub | ASA Nauka, acrylic and ebonite | Gama Hawk | Wality Airmail | Noodlers Ahab | TWSBI GO | Noodlers Charlie | Pilot Plumix |

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wow! would you link or post an explanation of how to do that mod? i'd love to try it because i'm really looking for a way to get better flex.

Search "Noodlers Ease My Flex Mod" on this site. There's a whole thread with pictures and instructions.

 

Edit:

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/240492-noodlers-ahab-ease-my-flex-mod/?fromsearch=1

Edited by scully012
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'Ahab Mod' should get you pictures over on the fountain pen sub section, others have posted pictures.

 

One of these days I got to re-register on Photobucket and reload everything...When my computer died, I stopped using AOL in in spite of paying I can't get in....and of course don't remember my old password, even if I could get Photobucket's attention.

In reference to P. T. Barnum; to advise for free is foolish, ........busybodies are ill liked by both factions.

 

 

The cheapest lessons are from those who learned expensive lessons. Ignorance is best for learning expensive lessons.

 

 

 

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"Nathan finally gave in to cartridges."

 

If I remember correctly, Nathan disliked cartridges for at least 2 reasons. 1. They are throw away. 2. They make the ink inside much more costly than ink from a bottle.

 

Looking for a black SJ Transitional Esterbrook Pen. (It's smaller than an sj)

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"Nathan finally gave in to cartridges."

 

If I remember correctly, Nathan disliked cartridges for at least 2 reasons. 1. They are throw away. 2. They make the ink inside much more costly than ink from a bottle.

I would have probably named it differently.

 

Refillable ink tank, maybe.

 

Since the word 'cartridge' already has a strong connotation attached to it, most folks understand them to be the single-use disposable type, refillable only to the frugal among us.

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ah..ok, I have the vegetal resin version..I'll take extra care with the piston mechanism..wouldn't want that popping out!

Franklin-Christoph Stabilis 66 and Pocket 40: both with Matsuyama CI | Karas Kustoms Aluminum, Daniel Smith CI | Italix Parson's Essential and Freshman's Notator | Pilot Prera | Pilot Metropolitan | Lamy Safari, 1.1mm italic | Muji "Round Aluminum Pen" | Waterman Phileas | Noodler's Konrad | Nemosine Singularity 0.6mm stub | ASA Nauka, acrylic and ebonite | Gama Hawk | Wality Airmail | Noodlers Ahab | TWSBI GO | Noodlers Charlie | Pilot Plumix |

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