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You guys are gonna love this! So last weekend I was up in Snohomish (which is kind of the antiques hub of the greater Seattle area) poking around for fountain pens. I was in the last shop in town empty handed when this little guy caught my eye. It may be hard to tell from the picture, but this is a pretty small pen in red woodgrain hard rubber (body) and gray patterned celluloid (cap) made by Ambassador (a pretty cheap American brand). The kicker: the price tag said five bucks! So for five bucks plus tax I took home a fountain pen with a very nice flexible #4 Warranted gold nib! Thing is buttery smooth and flows the perfect amount of ink for a flex nib (no railroading!). Probably runs from about a thin medium to a very generous double or even triple broad. Also, please pardon my handwriting, I'm still learning.

Looks like the t2mr guys have posted one more review, this time of a very popular pen called Noodlers Ahab. I just received it in my inbox. Didn't know Noodlers Ahab is made in India. Its called Kanwrite Heritage Flex Pen, it seems. I did check the seller's shop on ebay and he has this pen in a range of colors. Btw, here is the review: I don't understand one thing. These guys call themselves 'the two minute reviews', but this review is of 9 minutes . Nonetheless, i love their style of review .

Hello, Looking at buying my very first vintage pen... I'm currently looking at Vacumatic but having a difficult time finding one with a flex nib. So my question is, can I buy a vacumatic pen and swap it out with a parker flex nib? Thanks in advance!

Which one would you buy and why?

I recently acquired a Mabie Todd # 4 nib (18K) and dip pen from eBay. The nib looks to be almost in mint condition. I'm very new to Dip pens, so I might be missing something on how to use it. I thought that this was a flex nib, but I don't see the tines separating when I put a little pressure. It instead writes like an extra-fine nib. The ink doesn't flow very freely, and I've only used it with fountain pen ink so far, and not India Ink or other calligraphy inks. The nib feels scratchy, but the times are perfectly aligned. Is there anyway to make the ink flow more freely or improve the flex? How much pressure can I put on it? I've attached a couple of images for the nib. Thanks.

The self-filler is a New York pen from about (I would guess) 1924. It is fitted with a Pat. 1915 clip. The leverless was a bit of a pain; English from about 1933, its internal mechanism had rusted away and the fact that it is thinner than the standard leverless pens of the period (e.g. L200/60) made the repair trickier than it might have been. And of course the nib was bent too. Anyway it works now and as I hope the writing shows, it was worth straightening the nib! The colour difference is interesting I think, the New York pen being quite a bit darker; perhaps there was more "gold in the rolling"? Rgds Cob.

Dear FPNers and Fountain Pen tinkerers. I have something to show you today. As they say, an empty mind is the house of devil. And apparently, I believe in it! I cannot sit idle for more than 30 minutes unless the situation demands it. I am always looking for opportunities to learn something new. As it happened this morning. I was free and needed something to do. I thought about the options i had and remembered the spare Wality nibs lying around in the drawer. Waiting for a home. I had been seeing a lot of flex nibs in action on the internet and always wanted to try modifying one of my own. Just for the fun of it. I had seen the designs and thought, how hard can that be? However, i cannot say the same for what the nib went through in this whole process. The poor little thing sure took a hell of a beating! And let me tell you, this nib is the "Rocky Balboa" of nibs when it comes to taking a beating! Anyway, i got some metal files and a wire cutter from a hardware store and knew immediately that i was in trouble. Well, not entirely so! But, the metal files that i got were useless as the steel nib was apparently too hard for them. So, let me tell you that i added the flex to my Wality nib by using JUST the wire cutters and a pair of pliers. NOTHING ELSE. This proves that it is indeed possible to add flex to your steel nibs at home using a minimal set of tools. But how esthetically pleasing will the end result be is entirely a different matter! Because it will result in a crude looking nib that will appear more "Damaged" than "Customized". LOL! But that being said, the nib wote perfectly for me with a nice amount of added flex. No problem at all in that aspect. Here are the pictures of the end result. The pen body is Oliver Matrix. NOTE: This in NOT a how-to-do-it-yourself post. I just wanted to share it with fellow members that it is possible to modify nibs to your liking. And of course the finish quality of the end product will never be as good as any of the professional Nibmeisters, it is still worth trying on your inexpensive pens and get what you want. However, the responsiblity for the work you do on the pen is yours own and it will void any kind of warrenty (if applicaable). C360_2015-06-26-12-41-01-605_1 by Chintan Pandya, on Flickr C360_2015-06-26-12-42-29-797_1 by Chintan Pandya, on Flickr C360_2015-06-26-12-42-14-910_1 by Chintan Pandya, on Flickr NOTE the line variation above the word. I was finished with the nib modification in about 30 mins. Now, i enjoy a fun nib to play around with, whereas earlier it was just lying sadly in my drawer..thirsty for some ink! I hope you found it interesting and had a bit of fun. Thanks for your time in reading this.

Just received my first Noodlers Panther from ebay and here are my honest impressions. - Firstly I thought that the pen looks cheaper than it costs. Sure, It's not expensive, but still there are much cheaper pens which look more presentable. - The clip is so soft and fragile that when I unscrewed the cap it changed it's angle a little. - But the color is fun. - The piston filler is interesting and convenient to use. - Semi-flexible nib for me happened to be absolutely useless, because when I tried to use its functions my handwriting became even worse than usual. In fact this is not the pen which made me write beautifully. Quite the opposite ) But for sure I need to train my cursive. - This nib also gets scratchy when underlining something or striking out. - On the other hand the nib feels very soft and pleasant when I just try to write something without care about the beauty of the letters. - The ink flow is optimal - not too little, not too much. - Another good point is that the ink doesn't dry in this pen when it's not used for few days. - In general (if not pay attention to the fragile clip) the pen looks quite stable and trustworthy. - Would I buy it again? Yes, to know what it. - Will I buy another? Only if they make some new cute color or design. - How many points I give this pen out of 10? 6. Do you have this pen model or other Noodlers? What are your impressions?

Any idea about the flex nib pen made in india or the flex nib with feeds??

I'm looking to get a flex nib fountain pen for really cheap (below $20 if that's possible). I have a Pilot MR and three Jinhao 450s. I've been told that the Jinhaos don't work well with replacement flex nibs. Any suggestions? Even buying a cheap pen and then getting a seperate cheap flex nib to replace the orgiginal nib with. Thanks

So I bought a random NOS German button-filler fountain pen with a new sac from a seller on eBay. The nib is certainly flexible, but some of the time it railroads immediately. Occasionally it will write fairly consistently and I can produce multiple flexed lines. Other times it will skip and hard start just in normal use. The tines look like they are little far apart. I tried moving them closer together, but to no avail. The pen is pretty old, but I have no idea if it has an ebonite or plastic feed. When the pen feels like writing it is quite wet. Are there any solutions I can try at home with minimal chance of destroying the pen? I would rather not take it apart. I hope this is the right forum for this question.

Do flexible pen nibs become more flexible over time? For instance, leather shoes tend to be stiff at first but will become more supple and stretch a bit with wear. Does this go for flex nibs (ie: the more you use the pen, the more flexible the nib becomes).

I saw a Waterman's 12 1/2 BCHR on Ebay with what appears to be a Toledo overlay (I have no affilication to seller, see link below). I have never seen any Toledo overlay pen in person and was wondering if this is a genuine example. http://www.ebay.com/itm/131289632586?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649 Item # 131289632586 Thanks, Jesse

To followers of Ahab threads, Over the past two days, I have turned two unusable dogs into excellent writers. Because I did three things, I can't say that all three are essential, but two of the three definitely are. However, it has raised a question I would love to kick around with you. Here is what I did, which all came from advice from Drone and Brian Goulet: 1. Cleaned the channel with the BACK, not the blade, of an Exacto knife. 2. Cleaned the entire feed with a grease cutting dish soap (blue Dawn). 3. Heat set the nib (thanks to Brian Goulet for his excellent how-to video). 4. Tested with a well behaved ink (Waterman Mysterious Blue). I've actually done three, but I have not yet inked up the third. The first two write perfectly. One has the Ahab stock nib, the other has a Goulet nib. Here is my issue: The Goulet nib is a #6 nail, but is beautiful to look at. The stock Ahab nib is at best plain, possibly ugly as sin. The Goulet also has a hole in it which allows using a straightened paper clip to make sure the slit in the nib is perfectly aligned with the channel. The Ahab nib does not. The Ahab with the Goulet nib went from a $20 waste of money to a $35 dollar pen that writes perfectly and is stunning to look at. But it is not a flex nib. But is the Ahab a flex nib? Yes, you can flex it, but it takes plenty of pressure to get real line variation. My best pen has a JinHo semi- flex Binderized nib, and it is far more flexible that the Ahab nib. The experience of using the Ahab nib is far closer to writing with a nail, unless you really bear down to get some flex. So, is the Ahab nib a flex nib, or is it an nib that can be flexed, given enough effort? The Ahab I have not yet inked in now set up with the stock nib. I'll probably try it that way first. The second Ahab I did is not particularly beautiful, and I'll leave the stock nib in it. But I am seriously thinking about that third Ahab, which is also gorgeous, topping it off with another Goulet nib I have, and giving up the ability to flex it in favor of a truly striking pen that really performs. So I'm curious about other's opinions on the designation of the Ahab as a flex pen. To me, that means I should get a bit of flex as I write, not have to decide "now I want it to flex" and bear down to make it do so. So what say you? Is "flex pen" an apt description of the Ahab, or a bit of a stretch? Ben

After failing many times to get good photos from an iPad, I have given up. So, my apologies for the truely poor images, which do not do justice to the wonderful nibs from Richard Binder. The Edison Nouveau Premiere LE has a JoWo nib customized to XXXF with Extra Flex (Artists Nib), and the ink is Diamine Oxblood (which I find to be wetter than the Kon Peki in the Pelikan). The Pelikan has its Pelikan nib customized to XXXF with Extra Flex. The ink in the Pelikan is Iroshizuku Kon Peki. Both these nibs are soooo... amazing. Just wonderful. I've posted two images, both awful quality, unfortunately. The paper looks like paper bag paper in the photos! The first is on an Exacompta pad, and is really white paper! The second is on regular (read 'poor') quality graph paper. The grid, at 5 squares to the centimeter, gives a clearer idea of scale than plain paper. I have not flexed either nib very hard, usually writing with only the weight of the pen plus a little. My estimate is that I used light medium pressure for these samples for the 'squiggly bits'. I never flex a fountain pen nib very heavily. These pens are used for regular, everyday writing, not just for special occasions. They're that smooth, but I have to mention that I learned to write with old school steel nib pens. So I may be biased. Does anyone else remember the inkwells in desks? I can heartily recommend these nibs! Hmmm....Maybe I need some more of them!

Tachlis is a Hebrew word meaning practical, as in getting down to brass tacks. 1. I want a true flex pen that will give me that bouncy feel as I write. 2. I believe the above means I must go vintage. Is that correct? If not, please list my options before going to #3. 3. For the rest of the thread, we are going to say used, not vintage. Why? 4. With two in college and a third almost there, and a clergyman's salary, I might be able to buy a used pen, but I doubt I can afford a vintage pen. With the above in mind, what makes and models should I look for that will give me that bouncy feel and be of good enough quality for daily use, but be at the very low end of used—ok, vintage—market? If you have suggestions on where to look for these makes and models, that would be very helpful as well. Jeez Louise, this time last month a fountain pen was just that silver thing on my desk that I wrote with.

(I realize this is a lame post without pictures, but I'm having uploading/photo editing problems, so I apologize for the lack of them.) Today, for the first time I've been in a big antiques mall since I started with Fountain Pens a few months ago, I asked the guy at the desk if he had any fountain pens. He rummaged around in the junk drawer to end all junk drawers, pulled out two, and told me $60. One is a nice blue Esterbrook, needs a new nib and has chipped jewels. The other is an Eversharp. Though it had ink in it and has some scratches on it, it still has the paper band around it from when it was brand spanking new, and the band says "NO. 60-B $9.75 Fine-Flex" The nib is marked Eversharp, 14K, and Made in USA. A line of lettering around the band up by the top of the cap says it is a Skyline. There is a sort of brass barrel around the cap - it's loose now, but obviously was glued on to begin with - possibly with shellac? I gave the man 40 for the two of them, and my question is, did I get a shellac-ing myself, or did I do OK? I figured I was paying fifteen for the Esterbrook and 25 for the Eversharp. I was proud of being able to come out of the bathroom where he sent me when I said I wanted to dip the nibs in water and see how they wrote able to say that the Estie needed nib work or a new nib and they both probably needed to be re-sacced. Nothing brilliant, but I would not have known that all before I got here... T

Hello! I discovered fountain pens about 18 months ago. My first pen I purchased on Ebay was a 1959? Lady Sheaffer Skripsert Paisley (periwinkle/gold design). I had Pendemonium grind the nib to a cursive italic. I LOVE it! However, I would really like to get a pen with a very flexible nib (even wet noodle). I am frustrated that it seems like pen companies no longer market to women. I don't mean to sound sexist, but I really hate the big bulky plastic polymer? tortoise shell design style pens....and any big bulky pen, actually. I would like to find a delicate, slender, lightweight pen with a vintage flex nib....although I am willing to purchase a new pen if it meets my criteria. Style characteristics I'm looking for include: metal, art deco, solid color or regular geometric pattern (not random design), classy - not cheap looking. My wardrobe includes a lot of black/white with red or rose/purple highlights. I love hounds tooth patterns (not expecting this in a pen - just giving a description of my personal style.) Am I crazy to think I might find a pen that fits even some of this criteria? HELP!!! Any advice appreciated!

Hi, After seeing some very nice penmanship video here and on the Internet I decided to try my first video. I tried it with my Esterbrook J with 9128 flex nib. Hope you enjoy... comments are welcome [video=youtube] Original post at my blog

I bought a Noodlers Ahab from Goulet Pens and I LOVE it. However, my foster dog did not appreciate my attention being split between him and the letter I was writing so he flicked dear Ahab out of my hand. The pen is fine but the nib is beyond repair. I can find all kinds of non-flex replacement nibs out there on the interwebs but my Google-Fu fails when it comes to finding a flexible replacement. Does anyone have any ideas on where I might be able to find something? Thanks for your help folks.

Hi all, Carried out my first pen modification toady, it went quite well. I didn't break anything anyway! So I got a Vac 700 with a 1.1mm snub nib a few days ago, got to say seriously smooth nib there. I had been happily enjoying the effect it had on line variation whilst using Private Reserve's Copper Burst when what should happen? My Noodlers Konrad Flex nib arrived, along with some Private Reserve Sepia. Inked it up and Oh My, what a combo It wasn't perfect, very scratchy and the pen body was awful coming from the Vac 700. But I couldn't put it down, It was throwing out such fine control over then line variation that when I compared it to my 1.1mm snub's efforts they just looked boring and childish!! But I couldn't keep my eyes off the TWSBI, and the Konrad looks like a 50p pen. What to do, what to do?....Brain wave, stick the Noodlers nib on the TWSBI........ TADA!! http://www.flickr.com/photos/39505524@N02/9452789866/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/39505524@N02/9449939479/ Here is what I had to do to get it to work: 1. The nibs are both #6, but have a slightly different curvature, the Noodlers has a shallower curve. So find a 6mm piece of metal rod that matches the TWSBI nib perfectly. Put the Noodlers nib over the rod to see how much re-shaping you have to do. 2. Start GENTLY squeezing the bottom for the nib together in a pulsing motion (i used pliers), literally 1 or 2 squeezes at a time. Put it back on the rod and see how it compares. 3. Dont try to get it anywhere near perfect, just get it a little deeper. Test fit it to the TWSBI, Its a tight fit. 4. You may find that the Noodlers nib wont go as far in as the original, if this occurs gently squeeze the nib together about 3-4mm from the bottom. Pulsing motion again, 1 or 2 times. 5. Time to modify the feed. All i did for this was run a used stanley blade down the TWSBI channel a few times I didnt want to make the feed as big as the noodlers one because I didn't want to wreck it for use with the 1.1mm stub. However the pen does dry out if I try to use max flex at any speed above dead slow, so I may have to re-visit this. 6. Putting it back together. The feed will only go in one way, dont force it, on its own it will just slip in. Note the orientation of the pen and feed when you have got it to slip all the way in. Get the noodlers nib and line it up so that there are 6 fins left visible on the back of the feed (ensuring that the feed channel and the tines line up 100%) try to push both the nib and feed in simultaneously, you will encounter problems if the feed slides ahead of the nib. 7. Check cap fit. First couple of attempts i made, the pen wrote fine, but the lid would not go on, nib wasn't far enough in. So be careful when you first attempt to fit the cap, even now my nib is less than a hair width from the cap when its on. Bad points: Only thing i can think of is that I like the engraving on the TWSBI nibs I actually do kinda miss it. If fact the TWSBI nib looks better generally than the Noodlers. Oh yeah and I still have to widen the channel a bit, which my rule out putting the snub nib back on. Here is a writing sample (not great) using the TWSBI Vac700 Flex nib! http://www.flickr.com/photos/39505524@N02/9452707954/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/39505524@N02/9452690942/ Well thats it really! Its on here now if anyone wants a cheap flex nib on a Vac 700! Cheers James