Fountain Pen Revolution -----> Gold Flex Nibs

[fountainpen51]

My 1st impression....

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Sorry folks

 

I'm going to work on it when I get more time but it isn't looking good at this point.soft?

 

How is it soft?

[ReadyFireAim]

It basically flexes with the same firmness as their stainless version but lacks the snap.

The tipping is a little bigger so you have to be very light on the pen to get any fine lines.

 

The modified Creaper is still the best modern FP flex nib.

Hybrid pens still top anything.

 

I was hoping this gold nib would beat stainless but it didn't happen.

[AAAndrew]

Well, there's always Old School.

 

[Tseg]

Sorry to hear the result, but thanks for saving me $100.

[inkstainedruth]

 

 

That was the first thing I thought too...

 

My first thought was that these are like the Noodler's flex nibs. So I'm wondering how much flex they're actually going to have. The nibs on my Flex Creepers have more flex (after having used the pens for a while) than the nibs on the Konrads.

Will be interested in seeing further reports.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Gloucesterman]

Sorry to hear the result, but thanks for saving me $100.

+1 and thank you. Now the question is, "where do I spend the $100.00 that I saved?"

 

There is always food, I guess!

Edited May 20, 2018 by Gloucesterman

[Tseg]

+1 and thank you. Now the question is, "where do I spend the $100.00 that I saved?"

 

There is always food, I guess!

 

Hah! Clairvoyant as I placed an order today for a nice 24 pen leather folio/holder.

[ReadyFireAim]

Sorry to hear the result, but thanks for saving me $100.

 

About once a year I loose my mind.

 

I'm back to stainless & dip nibs again.

 

Time to get back to writing and not chasing unicorns.

[Cyber6]

I am so sorry nail bender.

 

I have enough experience (chasing flex myself for years) to know that the material is not the ONLY variable to have a great flex. I have several 1940's vintage flex on steel. They are fantastic, no wet noodles but really great line variation. I have used them for years on a daily basis and they are still great. I also have a few gold flex and one luscious wet noodle in gold.

 

Shape of the nib is important too.

 

 

 

One of my "cheap" glorious flex pens... Geha Schullfuller.

 

 

 

About once a year I loose my mind.

 

I'm back to stainless & dip nibs again.

 

Time to get back to writing and not chasing unicorns.

[Cyber6]

Another one... Vintage Staedtler Noris... This is the pen I use in all my ink reviews. Been using it constantly for at least 7-8 years.

 

 

[Powree]

Another one... Vintage Staedtler Noris... This is the pen I use in all my ink reviews. Been using it constantly for at least 7-8 years.

 

 

 

I thought Noris were their Pencil line up... Curiously which Noris model is this? I tried searching in Ebay but the one they sell is a hooded version...

[Honeybadgers]

bummer. it looked interesting, but for the price, you can have a JoWo gold nib WITH customization from pablo over at FPnibs....

 

If this nib was $50-60, I'd be down, but it does look like a huge amount of gold.

 

for those of you yearning for a CHEAP #5 gold nib, there are still surplus lucky 14k nibs sold in the wing sung 698 on eBay for about $50. It's a genuinely soft gold nib, a little softer than a pilot custom 74 SF, and fits any #5 nib pen or steel pilot feed (it lacks the wings so it fits a ton of stuff) so if you ever wanted a gold nib prera or metropolitan, it's possible!

 

it also has beautiful scrollwork. They come with an F tip.

 

Why does nobody make the japanese Shiro nib anymore. That bugger was a REAL semiflex and made out of steel.

Edited May 31, 2018 by Honeybadgers

[strelnikoff]

I just saw (again) someone on YouTube showing off his Pink nib... and Red nib for that matter.

Someone paid the price (not full price, but ok 700 bucks - for pink nib in some frankenpen, then paid 500 bucks for Red Ripple 5 with red nib and swapped the nibs) and ... basically he is overflexing - to the point of both pens railroading - the nibs... both. Plus his handwriting and technique is horrible.

"This is not as flexible as I was expecting" etc. So I was cringing and "nonono" ... that feeling of powerlessness ... seeing those nibs being abused and (soon) damaged. That's all, just wanted to vent a little.

[strelnikoff]

 

 

Why does nobody make the japanese Shiro nib anymore. That bugger was a REAL semiflex and made out of steel.

 

I've seen one on eBay recently. But the pen was in a fairly bad shape, and having enough flex nibs I passed the offer. You may still find it, but it was not listed as such, more like "japanese pen with steel nib".

[ReadyFireAim]

I just saw (again) someone on YouTube showing off his Pink nib...

They can show off and flex it out to 4 mm if it will go that far.

Unless you're willing to put it on a grinder, you still have a big fat ball of tipping material to contend with.

 

My success rate with grinding a stainless nib down to a smooth controllable 0.2 mm is not all that great but with a $5/nib, I don't have to be too concerned.

To date, I managed 3 very nice Creapers and about a dozen that are in the "dead nib jar".

 

Several people that have flex pen experience have told me that they can't tell the difference between my hybrid pen writing and that done with a stainless.

 

(It's obvious >1.5 mm so what I'm talking about is fast-cursive-flex and not slow nibs like the Brause Rose)

 

I've only used one gold nib pen that can go from near hairline to 2+ mm with dip-pen flex force.

It was Mabie Todd Bard over/under-feed and not for sale.

The closest thing to a holy-grail I have ever seen.

Not something I'd really want to use even if I owned it.

Edited May 31, 2018 by Nail-Bender

[Honeybadgers]

 

I've seen one on eBay recently. But the pen was in a fairly bad shape, and having enough flex nibs I passed the offer. You may still find it, but it was not listed as such, more like "japanese pen with steel nib".

 

I have one already, stunning writer. that's why I want it to come back!

[surprise123]

This one I call the "boat profile".

There isn't much left of it beyond what touches the feed.

It had about the same flex as a Creaper but lacked snap.

I pretty much gave up on the s-steel FPR nibs after about a half dozen tries at various modifications.

 

It does give a pretty good illustration of my preferred tip grind though.

(everything off the top & narrow the sides but don't mess too much with the bottom)

IMG_0837.JPG

Could you give us a writing sample of this "boat" nib? I'm eager to see what it does. If you ground that nib down to an XXF, you could have a great flex nib at hand.

[ReadyFireAim]

Could you give us a writing sample of this "boat" nib? I'm eager to see what it does. If you ground that nib down to an XXF, you could have a great flex nib at hand.

 

It's in my dead nib jar but I can fish it out and send it to you.

PM me your address and I'll put it in the mail.

 

My best results are from Creaper nibs.

Do a search for my posts and there are a lot of examples.

 

Do you have a FPR or a Creaper you can stuff it into?

[surprise123]

 

It's in my dead nib jar but I can fish it out and send it to you.

PM me your address and I'll put it in the mail.

 

My best results are from Creaper nibs.

Do a search for my posts and there are a lot of examples.

 

Do you have a FPR or a Creaper you can stuff it into?

I have no pen to stuff it into, so yeah...

 

But how is it a dead nib?

[MidSouthern-Dad]

I love the FPR 14K flex nibs.  They are finicky, and require work to make them perform properly.  The main problem is that they arrive with excessive pressure closing the tines together.  Then you have to push down hard in order to make the tines open up, and then the thing feels like a Noodler's Creeper nib.  Also, the ink flow is very dry in the default state.

 

I put two 1/1000" brass sheets into the slit to protect the slit walls.  Then, I insert a business card in between the brass sheets, to open up the tines.  You need a loupe to verify the results.  What you want are for the tines to JUST TOUCH, but with minimal pressure.   After you do this, the tines are likely to be misaligned.  This procedure tends to change the curvature of the undersurface of the nib a bit, so it's better to do this before you heat set the feed.  Ideally, you do this without a feed in the way.  Using the loupe, get the points aligned.  Check the slit against the light to be sure that the points touch at the tip.

 

I also prefer to use the high flow feed that FPR sells.  Typical feeds can't keep up with the ink demand for flexing.   For pens with a JoWo or Bock thread in the section, I order the appropriate collar and ebonite feed from Flexible Nib Factory.  For current Conklin pens, I paid Joey to make a custom collar for Conklin pens.  He liked the outcome so much, they are now a standard offering on his site.

 

Set the nib into the feed.  I find that a distance of 3 - 4 mm from the tip of the feed to the tip of the nib seems to work best.  Heat set the nib.  I just use a cup of water heated to a boil in my microwave as the heat source.  Hold the pen with just the nib and feed in the hot water.  If I'm using a typical Indian eyedropper pen ebonite feed, then merely holding the feed in the heat will make it conform to the nib shape.  The Indian ebonite feeds are soft.  The literally drape themselves onto the nib after heating.  For the Flexible nib factory ebonite feeds, the Japanese Nikko ebonite is much harder, and you may have to repeat this process a couple of times, with some finger pressure.  Ideally, you want to have the feed touching the undersurface of the nib, AND holding the tine points in alignment at rest.  That way, the nib remains in alignment ever after flexing.

 

I don't have pictures to show you, but afterwards, you can get very fine hairlines (for a fountain pen), and flex up to 2.5 mm in width safely.  It is a very responsive and satisfying nib to use.  Also, in spite of the fear that the slit would lead to a crack, none of mine have ever split.