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Noodler's Creaper With Flexible Nib


WillSW

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Well, I received my Noodler's Creaper yesterday, fresh from Todd's restock at isellpens.com (great, quick service by the way). Here's a review. First, the hand written one (Click here for the large version):

 

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a94/willsw/creawriSM.jpg

 

And now, the typed:

 

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a94/willsw/crea2.jpg

 

First Impressions: This pen met all my expectations! I mean, my after all the reading and pictures on here, my expectations were pretty low as far as straight out of the box excitement goes. Anyway, my first impression was not impressed, but not disappointed.

 

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a94/willsw/crea3.jpg

Appearance and Design: It's a little demonstrator made of a strange plastic that I believe is very chemically stable. Right now the light from the computer screen is causing rainbow colored highlights, like oil. The barrel has some bubbly shapes within the plastic, which actually looks kind of cool. The clip is very utilitarian and I think adds to the pen, it doesn't try to look fancy at all. I also like the very simple font that NOODLERS INK is stamped in on the clip. The sticker "jewel" on the top of the cap seems to be coming up a bit on the edges. I think the section is ugly. These things are fine, really, they don't bother me at all. This is my first piston filler with a blind cap covering the knob, I'm a big fan of that feature. Even though I've never accidentally unscrewed anything, my friend did evacuate all of my Reform's ink into the cap once.

 

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a94/willsw/crea4.jpg

 

Construction and Quality: We are warned about the fragility of the material by Noodler's, though I'm not sure that is actually a negative aspect of construction or quality. It just means the pen is a little fragile. It's a cheap pen, the parts are cheap, look cheap. I don't expect this pen to work flawlessly for 100 years, but I don't see why it wouldn't. Nathan has given very simple and cheap instructions on how to repair the piston seal, should it expire.

 

Weight and Dimensions: It is very close in length both capped and posted to my Pelikan M205, though it's slightly thinner. Very light.

 

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a94/willsw/crea1.jpg

 

Nib and Performance: One must become acquainted with this nib. It seemed to need to be broken in, and I wasn't sure about how it wrote, but now it seems to have found its groove. Things I had to adjust to: Writing angle - the pen works best when it is held at no less than 45 degrees relative to the page. Flow - when flexing you really have to slow down and find the rhythm of the pen. Pressure - it requires a significant amount to get the flex going. Now that I'm friends with this nib, I like it a lot. It writes a very nice, smooth, extra-fine line without pressure, and can achieve a respectable amount of line variation with pressure.

 

What makes this nib a Creaper is that the slit continues all the way through the nib, making it seem almost like the nib is two halves rather than one piece. This allows the steel to be more gently bent in order to spread the tines, making it, I hope, more resistant to springing while allowing more spread.

 

Filling System and Maintenance: A piston filler, holds a nice amount of ink. I haven't taken the pen apart, so I don't know how that will go. From what Nathan says, maintenance on the piston seal is pretty simple.

 

Cost and Value: $21 shipped from isellpens. The nib makes it very worth the price, I'd buy another. If it didn't have the nib - no thanks. But it does!

 

Conclusion: Another innovation from the mind of Nathan Tardif! I'm glad I supported this one. Maybe I'll even get one of his other pens if he puts these nibs in those.

 

More nib pictures:

 

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a94/willsw/crni2.jpg http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a94/willsw/crni4.jpg http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a94/willsw/crni3.jpg http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a94/willsw/crni1.jpg

Edited by WillSW
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i bet a wetter, less saturated ink would help the railroading. or you could of course hack the feed.

 

that's pretty neat though. splitting the nib all the way to the section. wonder what the nib looks like removed from the pen. two pieces?

Edited by watch_art
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i bet a wetter, less saturated ink would help the railroading. or you could of course hack the feed.

 

that's pretty neat though. splitting the nib all the way to the section. wonder what the nib looks like removed from the pen. two pieces?

 

I'm guessing the nib is connected at least a little bit at the very back, but maybe not. I'm not yet in the mood to find out. When I refill this I'll probably put in a wetter ink, I filled it with Old Man Black because that's what my other modern flex-added pen, a Binderized XXXF Full-flex Pelikan M205, is always drinking.

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I was supposed to get mine today, but I think the mail man is lost or something.

 

I'm looking forward to giving this pen a try.

 

Thanks for the quick review.

Equal Opportunity Ink and Fountain Pen User.

 

My blog: The Dizzy Pen

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I'm looking forward to getting mine -- anticipated date of delivery is 29 Oct. For $14.00, it seems you get a lot of pen. Now, if we can get Nathan to include one free in every bottle of Heart of Darkness ...

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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I think I will hold out to see some more reviews. However, I want to see the rest of that nib. Show us the innards!

My thoughts are as scattered as the frozen winds of November swept across the harvested fields of my mind. ~ Justin - damaging things since 1973

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Ok, ok, MAYBE I'll pull the nib out when I get home tonight. But I don't have internet at home, so the results will have to wait until tomorrow. Or maybe we could just ask Nathan.

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Great review. I ordered mine yesterday along with a navy blue Noodler's piston filler. Not sure how much I'm actually going to like them, but I was curious enough that I had to try.

"Instant gratification takes too long."-Carrie Fisher

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Does anyone know if I could just switch this nib into another one of the Noodler's pens? Or, since Nathan made the other pens to fit any #2 nib (I don't really know what that means), if I could fit it into a vintage pen that takes an average, #2 nib.

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I just wanted to add that I recently (2 weeks ago) ordered one of the swirl colored Noodler's piston fillers from isellpens and the nib that came on it was, to my surprise, slit all the way down and had some flex. I knew that a flex nibbed Creaper was coming out soon, but now that you've posted this review I can confirm that this is the same nib that came on my pen. So there are other options for trying this new nib if you don't like the Creaper style pen.. and also, this must mean they are interchangeable..

 

As to the nib itself, this review is very accurate. It takes tons of pressure, but can open up rather wide. If I do so, however, 2 out of 3 times the flow won't keep up no matter how slow I go.. Basically it needs to be well primed right before a thick line. For normal width writing ( XF-B ) the flow is just fine, even a bit wet with Diamine Syrah which I have inked up right now.

 

It's actually a great writer that I am really happy with, the red swirl happens to match Syrah perfectly.. But I prefer the Creaper style (I have the rollerball) as it is a bit thicker and has that ebonite section which provides more grip than the plastic of the standard piston filler..

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Nib pictures added to the original post. I think I'd really like a mottled ebonite with one of these nibs. I tried putting it into the Sheaffer I took that other nib out of, but it was too small.

 

Another thing I noticed when putting the nib and feed back in: the feed will happily go in farther than it should, relative to the nib. I'm very glad I took pictures, so that I could be sure the nib was in far enough. It's not like the feed is just sliding back in forth, it's stable, but if you push it (as one is wont to do when putting back friction fit nibs and feeds) it will keep going back.

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Just got mine last night (very fast service Todd! thanks!) The feed and nib comes out very easily. I compared mine to my Dollar demonstrator, the nib is longer, when you shove the feed down all the way it's in the same length on both pens, but the nib is longer on the Noodler's pen. I haven't inked the pen yet, but only dipped it (still deciding which color) The feed has a HUGE ink channel in it, something along the size of the channel in my Waterman's 3V, which is a bit like writing with a fire hose...

 

Should be fun!

 

For $21 shipped it's hard to go too wrong, I've blown more on Pizza and tea..

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I don't get it, is this the creaper (rollerball pen) with an actual nib installed? Or is this a completely separate pen? On isellpens.com it doesn't really say much and it's directly under the rollerball creaper pen.

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I don't get it, is this the creaper (rollerball pen) with an actual nib installed? Or is this a completely separate pen? On isellpens.com it doesn't really say much and it's directly under the rollerball creaper pen.

 

The rollerball unit fits into pens just like a normal nib and feed (if you watch Nathan's youtube video he shows how it works), so you could call it a creaper with an actual nib installed, though it's more like the rollerball is just another nib you can have.

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So if you order the flex nib do you get both the flex and rollerball? Or do you have to purchase the rollerball and then get the flex nib for the extra money?

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You order the flex nib pen separately. It's listed as "Clear Piston Fill ~ Flexible Nib - $14.00" and is currently sold out at isellpens.com

Increase your IQ, use Linux AND a Fountain pen!!http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk11/79spitfire/Neko_animated.gif
http://fedoraproject.org/w/uploads/5/50/Fedorabutton-iusefedora.png

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