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Noodler's Konrad

Squeteague

By Squeteague
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Squeteague NOS (New Old Stock)

Squeteague

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The Noodler's Konrad for me, has been a fickle beast. :P

 

 

I was gifted the Galapagos Tortoise model and it looks good in my opinion, with its orange-gold swirls throughout its entire body and cap. It is quite light in hand, but not so much as to make it feel cheap. The construction feels solid, and the cap screws on nicely.

 

When it first arrived, I soaked & flushed it with an ammonia solution before inking it with Noodler's Squeteague. To my despair, it dripped straight out like a leaking tap.:embarrassed_smile: So I flushed it again, tinkered with the feed placement and now it wrote, but it was too wet. So I looked up some guides and helpful posts here on FPN, and I think I've finally found the golden ratio. It very occasionally burps out a fat drop when I'm flexing heavily, but other than that, the flow is good and the nib is buttery smooth.

 

This is my first flex pen so I have nothing really to compare it with, but I'd imagine this to be a semi-flex rather than a flex. It needs to be consciously pressed to produce a line of some width and my hand hurts after flex-doodling for more than 30 minutes. Maybe I'm just not used to flexing? But one thing to note is that it has become a whole lot easier to flex now than it was new, so who knows? Maybe all it needs is some loving use. ;)

 

I'd recommend this pen for those of you who like to experiment with a cheap but nice flex pen. It probably won't work great out-of-the-box, but the final result makes the tinkering all worth it. :lol:

 

This is my first pen review, so take it easy and all feedback/questions/suggestions are welcome! :lol:

Also please excuse my handwriting - I'm only 17 and I've only started with this whole cursive(?) business only a week ago.

 

post-100728-0-35158700-1363146303.jpg

 

post-100728-0-32121500-1363146223.jpg

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Great review! :W2FPN:

 

I agree that the Noodler's nibs become more flexible with use. Whether it's your hand learning how to use the pen or the pen itself becoming more springy with work, I don't know. I think the real thing about using Noodler's pens is finding a feed setting that works for you. Their feeds are designed for slow flex in their factory setting.

 

Also-- From one seventeen year old who's just learning cursive to another, take a look at the Palmer Method for some pointers on letter forms and arm position and movement. I'm a lefty overwriter, so it might not be as helpful to you, but I adore it, even if some of the letters, like capital I, are pants-on-head in their design. For those, I just use the print capital.

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lovemy51 Antique

lovemy51

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thx for the review! my "beast" is fitted with a Knox nib from Xfountainpen and is behaving ok.

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JonSzanto Antique

JonSzanto

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To the OP: nice review, but I just have to say - it isn't just you or your hand, it's the nib. If you ever get a chance to use a nice, vintage flex nib, you'll see just how much work you are going through that you shouldn't have to. These Noodler's nibs are, as you say, semi-flex at best, and they require far too much pressure to be a comfortable writer, especially when the style of writing one would use them for should just flow.

 

You'll find plenty of use for it, I'm certain, but if you enjoy this style of penmanship, keep going and eventually get a good, gold-nibbed flex pen. You won't believe the difference.

"When Men differ in Opinion, both Sides ought equally to have the Advantage of being heard by the Publick; and that when Truth and Error have fair Play, the former is always an overmatch for the latter."

~ Benjamin Franklin

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Pterodactylus Collectors Item

Pterodactylus

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http://imageshack.us/a/img69/5465/hrro.jpg

 

(Noodler´s Ahab EMF Mod ..... P.W. Akkerman Binnenhof Blues)

 

But I don´t know if the Konrad has the same (or similar) nib than the Ahab as I don´t have a Konrad.

Edited by Pterodactylus
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Squeteague NOS (New Old Stock)

Squeteague

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Great review! :W2FPN:

 

I agree that the Noodler's nibs become more flexible with use. Whether it's your hand learning how to use the pen or the pen itself becoming more springy with work, I don't know. I think the real thing about using Noodler's pens is finding a feed setting that works for you. Their feeds are designed for slow flex in their factory setting.

 

Also-- From one seventeen year old who's just learning cursive to another, take a look at the Palmer Method for some pointers on letter forms and arm position and movement. I'm a lefty overwriter, so it might not be as helpful to you, but I adore it, even if some of the letters, like capital I, are pants-on-head in their design. For those, I just use the print capital.

 

Thanks! :roflmho:

I'll definitely be checking out the Palmer method. The fact that it looks good + fast is very appealing to me because of the amount of writing I do at school.

 

http://imageshack.us/a/img692/6743/konradresponse01.jpg

 

(Noodler´s Ahab EMF Mod ..... P.W. Akkerman Binnenhof Blues)

 

But I don´t know if the Konrad has the same (or similar) nib than the Ahab as I don´t have a Konrad.

 

I heard the Ahab and the Konrad use the same nib & feed.

The mod itself looks very interesting. Maybe if I get the time, I'll go through the toolbox to find myself a dremel and get to work. Not too sure if I have one though.

Nevertheless, I could probably improvise with an electric drill. Thanks! :thumbup:

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