Omniflex Made By Jowo

[shostakovich]

 

​As to the performance of the new nib, the two videos about it on the Goulet Pens website are not extremely encouraging. The first one describes only a factor-of-two line variation with flexing and shows more than occasional railroading, while the second is devoted to how to fix the nib if you spring it, apparently not an infrequent outcome, and ends by saying that you are likely to need to replace it after springing it a few times.

What is RAILROADING?

[BlueJ]

"Railroading" is when a flexed nib becomes starved of ink, and only puts down two fine lines at the tips of the tines, instead of a broad line, in analogy to the rails of a railroad track.

[Honeybadgers]

What is RAILROADING?

 

[shostakovich]

Thanks for the information in the last two posts. It's added to my knowledge about pens and handwriting.

[Honeybadgers]

Also worth knowing - some people like railroading, that it adds personality and character. Whether or not it is something like requires that you kinda first experience it.

[Honeybadgers]

Got it today.

 

As a general nib, it's vastly improved and for normal writing, it's solid. Like a regular JoWo EF with a smidge of bounce. As a flex nib, still a hunk of abject (bleep). Do not flex it at all.

 

It was a nice F/EF line with 4001 black, but sprung when I tried going past a very gentle medium line. There was no feedback, warning, or general response from the nib that it was even remotely approaching its limits. And I gotta stress - I was trying to make it put down a very gentle western medium line

 

So with some more play - it's a wet JoWo ef/f that has a little personality if you write normally with some pressure. But do not attempt to do even very modest shades, it will spring really badly and will not communicate at all that it's reaching its limits, which aren't even what I would call even approaching a flex line to begin with.

 

Honestly, if you want a nib that you can actually put down a little flex shade with every now and then... Get the regular conlin nib. I compared it to both my new JoWo conklin EF's and the B, and all 3 of those nibs flexed a little more than the omniflex - only by a little, and with more pressure required - but snapped back with no worry about springing.

 

In the end, it's still light years better than the old omniflex because it actually does write (very well to be honest), but it's still an absolute garbage flex nib because they just didn't make the geometry even remotely correct, it's just a low effort stamping of their original #6 nib with very slightly different scrollwork.

 

At the very least I won't be throwing it in the garbage like I did with the old omniflex. It's just annoying because I have seen, and can even make myself, a true flex nib from modern regular stainless steel, be it by bock, penbbs, JoWo, osprey, FPR, nemosine or even jinhao. It's not hard to do.

Edited October 30, 2020 by Honeybadgers

[kestrel]

Inked mine up today with Horizon Blue and had the same results as Honeybadgers. It is a big improvement over the old Omniflex as long as you don't expect it to flex. It is wet, very wet. No crossword puzzles with this one unless I go to a much drier ink. It is also a much better average writer than its predecessor which isn't saying much, sort of like saying Beverage X tastes better than porcupine urine. It takes an excessive amount of pressure to flex the nib to produce what I think of as a medium line. I was afraid to go past that point after watching the Goulet video on repairing a sprung Omniflex. I am not quite ready to try destructive testing on a brand new nib. Pressing down hard enougn to go from fine/medium to a little more than western medium width left creases in the page under the page under the page I was writing on for both Clairefontaine and Whitelines papers. I like the softness of it as a regular nib and it is a more consistent writer than both my old Omniflex nibs which tended to start hard and occasionally skipped.

 

Summary: It's a decent nib for the money but a flex nib it isn't.

[shane27]

Thanks for saying so, you saved me some $ for sure haha

[Christopher Godfrey]

 

And I daresay that my Omniflex will soon appear for sale!

[Nyoko]

I agree with everyone's comments about this nib having no flex whatsoever. Mine came a few days ago. I inked it and tried it out with dismal results. It made a very wet medium line with no flex to speak of. The nib was quite stiff despite the cutouts. I decided to send it back and take the loss rather than trying to sell it later.

Not sure what Conklin had in mind in introducing this nib.

[hzhuk]

I bought a Herringbone with this new Jowo Omniflex. It's got a little bit more flex than a standard steel nib in my view. I am able to achieve perhaps double the line width, but I am not going to push it beyond that.

 

Now my question really is: does a steel semi-flex nib like this one gets softer over time???

 

Thanks.

[Loke]

Thanks for the information.

Saved me some money 🙂

[MidSouthern-Dad]

Conklin has their own specific collar unit.  The Goulet video that announced the changeover stated that the feed and nibs will now be Jowo, but they will still be put into the Conklin housing.

I already had Joey at Flexible Nib Factory make special Conklin nib housings to fit his Jowo ebonite feed.  I have replaced all my Conklin nibs with Fountain Pen Revolution 14K gold flexible nibs.  The ebonite Conklin nib housings are now standard items for sale on the Flexible Nib Factory Site.  My updated pens write fantastically, wet, and with no railroading even at maximum flex.  Very thin hairlines.  Super smooth nibs.  The 14 K gold flex nibs from FPR are the closest to vintage flex that I have ever experienced.

 

Yes, the original Conklin units were only fit for the landfill, hence the effort that I went through to remediate them.

[Bo Bo Olson]

On 1/27/2021 at 12:52 PM, hzhuk said:

does a steel semi-flex nib like this one gets softer over time???

 

No.

I have Osmia steel nibs in both semi-flex and maxi-semi-flex from the late '30's and Osmia-Faber-Castel from the early '50's that are just as great as the Osmia 14 K gold semi&maxi-semi-flex.

 

I have a number of semi-flex steel nibs that are still great even if from late '30's-40-50's. Not only Osmia, but on no names and have both old Bock semi-flex in steel and gold.

 

On 1/27/2021 at 12:52 PM, hzhuk said:

Jowo Omniflex. It's got a little bit more flex than a standard steel nib in my view

Have you checked this nib against a Japanese 'Soft' or Pelikan 200's steel nib..........if well mashed will go 3 X a light down stroke = regular flex.

 

From my reading it appears many of the new 'flex' nibs are just the old regular flex that was common in German pens in @ 1990 and could be found in some American....(som) Esterbrook, sub-brand Crest&Sheaffer and Wearever nibs of the '50-60's. Called regular flex in it was often regular issue.

I don't have  out side my P-75 any US pens after 1970, so don't know when regular flex was phased out.

 

Like the BS nib that Aurora is beating with the Magic Marketing Switch, instead of calling some old timers out of retirement. They were the last of the true semi-flex nib makers, stopping sometime in the 2000-2010 time span. My guess from reading is it is a regular flex nib, called 'flexi' ...hey the tines do twich and bend....'flexi.

Right.

I can offer you salvage right points in an old NY bridge, it flexes too much.

 

I suggest going to Geramn Ebay, and to the Auction section only and spend no more than E100-110 or $120 on a real factory stubbed semi-flex Pelikan 140, 400-400nn. Geha 790 for E-60 is as ever for the last 15 years the best buy in semi-flex. Once I got the from E-15 when a 140 cost E50.

Torpedo was ever so popular in pens of the '50-60's. Swan, MB 146/9, Pelikan 140-400nn, Geha 790.

The 790 was aimed at Pelikan's 400 in they were made in the same city. Very well balanced, nib a slight tad better/springier than Pelikan's semi-flex.

The real thing. At an affordable price for a life time use pen that is only 50-60 years old.

It only comes in black and gold.....I have 4 and a 760 and a much more expensive rare 780.

 

When I buy a pen I take the picture if I'm wise in I take poor picture. This is a 1959 true three ring finial 790. the rings polished up real nice.

 

Yes, you have to go to Auction Only, and Hunt.....otherwise if you go to Buy Now Idiot, you will be paying Stateside prices.

But folks looking for semi-flex in the modern 'flexi' age, keep complaining they are not even getting semi-flex.

Go Hunting on German Ebay.....the seller must ship to the States, many won't ship out of Germany. Postal costs is 1/3 US costs so is cheap.

 

Of course if you are rich enough to buy at idiot prices, one wouldn't be buying a JoWo nib that don't perform.  Hunt for a Geha 790....the width is 1/2 a width narrower than modern Pelikan...post '97 & recently post 2016 or so with the 200.

So a semi-flex B is a nice writing nib, not a fat signature nib.