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If Nathan Tardif Had A Grave, He'd Be Rolling In It...


heymatthew

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Well done! Both the frankenpen and the story lol!

 

Thanks sharing! :D

~April

 

 

One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem,

see a fine picture, and, if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words.

 

~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

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Thanks all. Unfortunately, I had to throw the Konrad away as the piston knob broke. It wasn't fixable. Nathan, forgive me.

 

The ink is Private Reserve Purple Mojo on Bristol Board.

 

Thanks for the compliment on my writing. It's a work in progress. :)

 

HeyMathhew:

 

What a great little story of recycling and innovation, the first airplane that flew was after all made out of many old bicycle parts and North American ingenuity. Nathan may be interested in pictures of your feed and nib assembly in the body of the pen creation. He will need his next iteration of affordable and well made pens and could maybe use your example to help him create his offshore manufacturing specifications.

 

The handwriting samples are flowing and bold writing examples. Bravo. :puddle:

 

Thanks for your post.

Rob Maguire (Plse call me "M or Mags" like my friends do...)I use a Tablet, Apple Pencil and a fountain pen. Targas, Sailor, MB, Visconti, Aurora, vintage Parkers, all wonderful.

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I don't see how you guys can write with those Noodler's pens. My Ahab is a total piece of junk. I can't adjust it or fix it, and the nib is not a fine point, but a medium at best. Flexing is like bearing down on a tree branch. LOL

 

Maybe I just got a bad one, I don't know.

Maker of Custom Oblique Pen Holders

 

Visit me at http://uniqueobliques.etsy.com

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I don't see how you guys can write with those Noodler's pens. My Ahab is a total piece of junk. I can't adjust it or fix it, and the nib is not a fine point, but a medium at best. Flexing is like bearing down on a tree branch. LOL

 

Maybe I just got a bad one, I don't know.

 

All you need is a Jihhao and a new feed and it'll write like a champ! :D

No, that's not blood. That's Noodler's Antietam.

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Maybe so. I guess I'm spoiled to the old vintage nibs. You seem to be doing quite well with your Noodler's nib, beautiful writing! Mine was a total nightmare. I spent hours adjusting the feed, the nib, etc. It would work ok for a few sentences, then back to it's old tricks...false starts, skips, horrible railroading, dropping big blobs of ink without warning. I tried, I really did. LOL!

Maker of Custom Oblique Pen Holders

 

Visit me at http://uniqueobliques.etsy.com

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MusinkMan - 3 threads that may help you:

Adjusting the Ahab - nice summary of what you can do

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/210763-noodlers-ahab-setup-for-beginners/

 

Making the Noodler's flex nib more flexible - very important mod

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/240492-noodlers-ahab-ease-my-flex-mod/

 

Thoughts and technique for adapting other nibs to Noodler pens - my thread, hope it helps

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/259717-fitting-a-nikko-g-nib-into-a-noodlers-creeper/

 

The Noodler oriented videos over on Brian Goulet's site are also very good.

http://www.gouletpens.com/

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I really wanted to like the Ahab and for a while, I convinced myself that I did like it. Now, however, I think that a pen designed to be tinkered with by the final purchaser in order to get it to write is a brilliant marketing plan because Nathan seems to sell at lot of Ahabs, but to me it means buying a pen kit with the worst assembly instructions I've ever seen. I prefer the write right out of the box models. YMMV, as always.

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I was put off buying an Ahab for ages, because so may of the reviewers complained they had to tweak theirs ... now I have two and they wrote perfectly fine, right out of the box, as has every new FP I've ever bought. The filling system is even more of a doddle than cartridge/converters, and I've never had a problem with Noodlers inks; the only ink that's ever blocked up a pen of mine (before I was gifted it) was Shaeffer black.

 

I worry sometimes that the casual visitor to FPN might scan its pages and mistakenly conclude that FPs are, on the whole, too much trouble to be doing with; I guess the nature of the site is that its content will disproportionately reflect the bad experiences of people who are dissatisfied with their purchases.

 

But I guess there are bigger things to worry about, even within the small area of handwriting skills; I regularly hear people in positions of influence within education opining that learning to write at all is using up school hours that could be put to better use.

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  • 1 year later...

Either way... Here's the little matte black abomination (please pardon my TERRIBLE handwriting... You can see I still haven't gotten around to the practice part yet):

 

 

You have an awesome handwriting!

 

It looks really good. You know exactly where to bear down on the nib and where to use a light hand, and how to gracefully transition between the two, thereby achieving a very pleasant aesthetic and make use of line variation. Most folks working with flex nibs cannot write like this.

 

(there are alot of folks that can, but 9 out of 10 times I see someone working with a flex nib and it's like a rookie violin player trying to use a stradavarius)

 

Thanks for the awesome idea of combining the Noodler's nib (which was never my fave), with an X750.

 

I had both of these lying around and as soon as I saw this I came home and immediately had to try this for myself.

 

One of the first things I noticed while using this combination was that the nib was a lot easier to flex than before.

 

Probably because the nib sits a bit further out from the section than it normally does in an Ahab. I can actually see where the breather-less ink-slit ends on the nib. In an Ahab the nib is too deep into the section and I cannot see upto that point.

 

This makes the nib have more bendability (if that's even a word?)

 

But the nib rides on the paper the same way as it does before. Semi-injuring the rhodia reversbook paper as I go. The ink almost starts to come through on the other end.

 

I tried two combinations.

 

Bulow X750 'Vertrag' (black) - Noodlers Flex Nib - Namiki Blue

 

Bulow X750 'Marmor' (marble red/black) - Noodler's Flex Nib - Namiki Black

 

On both of them I have to force the ink out to the nib by pushing the piston up. It runs dry after several lines and I have to repeat.

 

Maybe I missed it, but can you mention what feed you used for this?

 

Thanks again for this awesome tip I'll be posting something on my blog about this shortly.

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Maybe so. I guess I'm spoiled to the old vintage nibs. You seem to be doing quite well with your Noodler's nib, beautiful writing! Mine was a total nightmare. I spent hours adjusting the feed, the nib, etc. It would work ok for a few sentences, then back to it's old tricks...false starts, skips, horrible railroading, dropping big blobs of ink without warning. I tried, I really did. LOL!

 

Maybe it was the ink. ;)

Jim Couch

Portland, OR

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Well... I still wrote a good story. We can just pretend.

 

You cracked me up, but then made me want to stab you with a vintage Esterbrook...you dare call that BAD handwriting?

My latest ebook.   And not just for Halloween!
 

My other pen is a Montblanc.

 

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Thump up for story!

Thump up for Noohao!

Thump up for your hand writing (wished that my smicken scratch hand writing looked that good :( )!

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I really wanted to like the Ahab and for a while, I convinced myself that I did like it. Now, however, I think that a pen designed to be tinkered with by the final purchaser in order to get it to write is a brilliant marketing plan because Nathan seems to sell at lot of Ahabs, but to me it means buying a pen kit with the worst assembly instructions I've ever seen. I prefer the write right out of the box models. YMMV, as always.

 

Agreed. If I buy a pen, I expect it to work without my having to fix it. That is, if I need to do the work to make a pen function, I'd just make my own pens! I bought two Noodler pens, and they both went in the trash as unusable.

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I purchased the noodlers Ahab and that was the only pen I promptly chucked in the garbage as it never really worked for me and the piston broke inside the barrel an the barrell would no longer unscrew. It was the worst pen I bought. My second worst pen is bought was a Jinhao.

 

A deadly combo I would not touch with a ten foot pole.

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I purchased the noodlers Ahab and that was the only pen I promptly chucked in the garbage as it never really worked for me and the piston broke inside the barrel an the barrell would no longer unscrew. It was the worst pen I bought. My second worst pen is bought was a Jinhao.

 

A deadly combo I would not touch with a ten foot pole.

 

 

You have an awesome handwriting!

 

It looks really good. You know exactly where to bear down on the nib and where to use a light hand, and how to gracefully transition between the two, thereby achieving a very pleasant aesthetic and make use of line variation. Most folks working with flex nibs cannot write like this.

 

(there are alot of folks that can, but 9 out of 10 times I see someone working with a flex nib and it's like a rookie violin player trying to use a stradavarius)

 

Thanks for the awesome idea of combining the Noodler's nib (which was never my fave), with an X750.

 

I had both of these lying around and as soon as I saw this I came home and immediately had to try this for myself.

 

One of the first things I noticed while using this combination was that the nib was a lot easier to flex than before.

 

Probably because the nib sits a bit further out from the section than it normally does in an Ahab. I can actually see where the breather-less ink-slit ends on the nib. In an Ahab the nib is too deep into the section and I cannot see upto that point.

 

This makes the nib have more bendability (if that's even a word?)

 

But the nib rides on the paper the same way as it does before. Semi-injuring the rhodia reversbook paper as I go. The ink almost starts to come through on the other end.

 

I tried two combinations.

 

Bulow X750 'Vertrag' (black) - Noodlers Flex Nib - Namiki Blue

 

Bulow X750 'Marmor' (marble red/black) - Noodler's Flex Nib - Namiki Black

 

On both of them I have to force the ink out to the nib by pushing the piston up. It runs dry after several lines and I have to repeat.

 

Maybe I missed it, but can you mention what feed you used for this?

 

Thanks again for this awesome tip I'll be posting something on my blog about this shortly.

 

Thank you very much for the awesome compliments! I'd love to see your blog post when you get it up. Feel free to reference this thread if you need to. Lots of good information in here.

 

 

You cracked me up, but then made me want to stab you with a vintage Esterbrook...you dare call that BAD handwriting?

Thump up for story!

Thump up for Noohao!

Thump up for your hand writing (wished that my smicken scratch hand writing looked that good :( )!

 

Thank y'all! I'm working on it. I get lucky sometimes. :D

 

 

 

Agreed. If I buy a pen, I expect it to work without my having to fix it. That is, if I need to do the work to make a pen function, I'd just make my own pens! I bought two Noodler pens, and they both went in the trash as unusable.

 

I still own an Ebonite Konrad, but it's the only functioning Noodler's pen I own. I have it set just so that it writes pretty well. Otherwise, I don't mess with Noodler's pens anymore. They're not worth the trouble to get them to write as even when they do write, they're not THAT good. And it cracks me up when people buy a $40 Ebonite or Acrylic Konrad and then put a $15-20 replacement nib in it, creating what is essentially a $60 pen. I'd just as soon spend $60 on a TWSBI 580 and some ink and be a much happier camper with a pen that works right out of the box. The $100 or so I've spent on Noodler's pens over the years have been chalked up to lessons learned. I do love their ink, though. Especially for watercolors and folded nib writing like this lettering I did for a single release:

 

16536452600_30482bde17_c.jpg

 

Noodler's Dragon's Napalm blended with Antietam Red and then accented with Iroshizuku Take Sumi, which gives the darker transitions AND the green sheen that you can just BARELY make out, but it's there. This is where I think Noodler's really shines is in the inks. His pens are fun the first time around, but I'd never recommend them, even for those interested in flexible writing as I think the FPR Guru with Flex nib is a significantly better pen for peanuts.

 

 

I purchased the noodlers Ahab and that was the only pen I promptly chucked in the garbage as it never really worked for me and the piston broke inside the barrel an the barrell would no longer unscrew. It was the worst pen I bought. My second worst pen is bought was a Jinhao.

 

A deadly combo I would not touch with a ten foot pole.

 

But... Did you try combining them with a feed from some other pen (I think this one is a TWSBI feed)? Like a Dodge Dart with a Ford Engine and Chevy SS Bucket Seats. :D

No, that's not blood. That's Noodler's Antietam.

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I don't have an Ahab, but I have three regular Konrads, an ebonite Konrad, and three FPCs. Maybe I've been lucky, but all have worked well out of the box with just a flushing before use. Okay, well, one of the regular Konrads is a very dry writer, so I have to be a bit careful of what ink goes in it, but that's it.

I think the only issue Nathan would *maybe* have with the OP's frankenpen is that he doesn't seem to have a high opinion of China and the Chinese government/economic policies (but then, he doesn't seem to have a high opinion of the US government sometimes either... :rolleyes:). Otherwise, he seems to definitely be a proponent of people finding their own solutions to issues they have with pens (even his): he designs pens that are easy to completely take apart for cleaning and maintenance, he shows how to retrofit vintage nibs on them in his videos, and so on.

Although admittedly I don't think I've seen those tiny little replacement o-rings in any hardware store I've ever been in.... :blush: (Good thing that the Goblets carry them).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

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I don't have an Ahab, but I have three regular Konrads, an ebonite Konrad, and three FPCs. Maybe I've been lucky, but all have worked well out of the box with just a flushing before use. Okay, well, one of the regular Konrads is a very dry writer, so I have to be a bit careful of what ink goes in it, but that's it.

I think the only issue Nathan would *maybe* have with the OP's frankenpen is that he doesn't seem to have a high opinion of China and the Chinese government/economic policies (but then, he doesn't seem to have a high opinion of the US government sometimes either... :rolleyes:). Otherwise, he seems to definitely be a proponent of people finding their own solutions to issues they have with pens (even his): he designs pens that are easy to completely take apart for cleaning and maintenance, he shows how to retrofit vintage nibs on them in his videos, and so on.

Although admittedly I don't think I've seen those tiny little replacement o-rings in any hardware store I've ever been in.... :blush: (Good thing that the Goblets carry them).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

Ya gotta ask. And take the original with you.

My latest ebook.   And not just for Halloween!
 

My other pen is a Montblanc.

 

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Ya gotta ask. And take the original with you.

Ack. Just looked at what the spell corrector did. Obviously it was supposed to say "Goulets". :blush:

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

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