Noodler's Ahab Flex Pen

[MrDickens]

I received my Noodler's Flex pen in Apache Tortoise the other day from Pure Pens. Not had a flex pen before and wasn't sure quite what to expect. I'd read here and elsewhere varying opinions of these, some good, some bad - smelly! Though mine actually smells quite pleasant, a rather sweet, heady smell. And mine came with a spare non-flex nib as well.
 
My other concern was the setup as after buying first then reading about them in more depth, they seemed to be problematic to get going with and I was concerned I had wasted my money. I did have a few issues as I have noted in my review but generally it writes well.
 
There is a good setup tutorial here on FPN I found: Noodler's Ahab Beginner Guide and Goulet Pens has some really helpful videos as well.
 
As my written review says - apologies for the awful writing  my excuse being it is a flex pen ... - it is quite a different experience writing with it compared to FPs I am used to - Parkers, Lamy, various Chinese pens, etc - and I wasn't sure what to expect or if my experiences are similar to other users, I'd be interested to know what other people's experiences are.

[Seele]

Thewiccaman,

 

The Apache Tortoise looks great! All of my Ahabs are a bit less glamourous, but work well using my method of testing prior to assembly.

 

Regarding your experience with ink flow: before you take your knife out, give it a bit of time investigating other areas first. One thing I make a point to do - and to impress upon others - is to ensure the feed is properly vented. And then the underside of the nib and top side of the feed are in proper contact to ensure a continuous film of ink is present between them.

 

Another tip that is rarely mentioned is that, never over-tighten any screw threads, especially that one between the syringe body and the back of the section: use silicone grease to ensure a good seal.

 

As the nib position is fixed, the feed setting issue is about how far the feed sits inside the section; some prefer to have it pushed deeper in, I found that about two to three millimetres would be a good starting point though.

 

Hope this is of some interest.

[MrDickens]

Thewiccaman,

 

The Apache Tortoise looks great! All of my Ahabs are a bit less glamourous, but work well using my method of testing prior to assembly.

 

Regarding your experience with ink flow: before you take your knife out, give it a bit of time investigating other areas first. One thing I make a point to do - and to impress upon others - is to ensure the feed is properly vented. And then the underside of the nib and top side of the feed are in proper contact to ensure a continuous film of ink is present between them.

 

Another tip that is rarely mentioned is that, never over-tighten any screw threads, especially that one between the syringe body and the back of the section: use silicone grease to ensure a good seal.

 

As the nib position is fixed, the feed setting issue is about how far the feed sits inside the section; some prefer to have it pushed deeper in, I found that about two to three millimetres would be a good starting point though.

 

Hope this is of some interest.

 

 

Thanks, Seele.

 

This is really helpful advice. So far, after giving it a thorough flush out before filling it and the initial hiccoughs with ink flow, it has been behaving quite well ... I did go off to check I wasn't making it up & yes, still writing well after 3 days!

 

I suspect I may need to resort to your advice in the future though and have logged it.

[alanlight]

Heat setting the feed can also help with this pen.

It's quite simple to do.

1. Heat a cup of water in the microwave to just below boiling.
2. Dip the pen in the hot water up to just where the feed meets the section for about 30 seconds. It goes without saying that the pen needs to be uninked for this procedure.
3. Firmly pinch the nib against the feed with your thumb and forefinger for about a minute. Be careful not to burn yourself, you can protect your fingers with a paper towel.

 

There you go.

[MrDickens]

Heat setting the feed can also help with this pen.

It's quite simple to do.

 

1. Heat a cup of water in the microwave to just below boiling.
2. Dip the pen in the hot water up to just where the feed meets the section for about 30 seconds. It goes without saying that the pen needs to be uninked for this procedure.
3. Firmly pinch the nib against the feed with your thumb and forefinger for about a minute. Be careful not to burn yourself, you can protect your fingers with a paper towel.

 

There you go.

 

That's clever, and simple, thanks.

 

Even the instructions that came with the pen suggested cutting into the feed to adjust ink flow and it all seemed to get a bit much! Whilst it's working I'll leave some of their drastic suggestions alone!

[Animage]

I have 4 Ahabs now. Only one doesn't really perform well, but not to the point I want to modify anything. After some months of love, like any other pen, they become just fantastic writers. Scratchiness seems to go away pretty quickly for me. I love the variation and shading these pens give me. Now, if I could just get ones that didn't have the smell. I'd love an ebonite Ahab.

[MrDickens]

I have 4 Ahabs now. Only one doesn't really perform well, but not to the point I want to modify anything. After some months of love, like any other pen, they become just fantastic writers. Scratchiness seems to go away pretty quickly for me. I love the variation and shading these pens give me. Now, if I could just get ones that didn't have the smell. I'd love an ebonite Ahab.

 

I'm ok with mine so far. And I quite like the smell - can't quite put my finger on what it smells of though!

[Seele]

 

I'm ok with mine so far. And I quite like the smell - can't quite put my finger on what it smells of though!

 

Pretty much all my Ahabs are bought pre-owned so there's not much smell left; if I put my nose right against the barrel, the smelliest example can give off just the slightest hint of it, which I think is probably like a yogurt created by Wallace on a bad day...