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Scribble Monboddo

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Is it my imagination, or has FPR changed the shape of their semi-flex nib recently? It appears to have a waist now, rather than the edges coming straight back to the section.

ron

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Is it my imagination, or has FPR changed the shape of their semi-flex nib recently? It appears to have a waist now, rather than the edges coming straight back to the section.

ron

As far as I can see, the only change has been to make the finish a little more highly-polished and engrave the imprint in a slightly larger typeface. I may have sited my nib a little too far down the feed, which may give the appearance of a 'waist' - but it still writes well enough.

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A new pen! It looks like Kevin has persuaded Serwex to produce something just for him, and on first impression it's looking very impressive for the money - good cheap flexy fun. I've posted a hand-written review with a basic photo here: http://scribbledemonboddo.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/fpr-guru-flex-nib-2014.html

 

 

Nothing at the above link for me. Is an updated site in process?

“Don't put off till tomorrow what you can do today, because if you do it today and like it, you can do again tomorrow!”

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This seems to be the correct link.

 

I received mine and it appears to be an upgraded Serwex 162, of which I have two examples. Serwex's piston fillers have clutchless piston assemblies but not as easy to remove, compared to Chelpark and Noodler's Konrad and Nib Creaper, as the front end has a bit of a "grill", ostensibly for stopping the feed from being pushed too far back in. Both my 162 examples have their piston drives out of mesh progressively, thus reducing the in reservoir size along the way, and I had to ram a stick through the grill to remove the piston assembly to effect a cure; Kevin told me that he had never heard of such an issue before though. With the benefit of being transparent I am sure this issue can be successfully avoided, if the possibility has not already been totally banished.

No, I am not going to list my pens here.

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I had the same problem with the 162 as well; took the piston out and did a "reboot". It never occurred to me to let Kevin know - I assumed he would have known it was a quirk of the design.

 

Anyway, a Guru dropped on my doormat yesterday too, and I was a little ho-hum. The trouble with clear demonstrators is they do show every little blemish and manufacturing mark, and the trouble with many Indian pens is they do tend to have plenty of those, so maybe not the best choice on my part. This doesn't really excuse the clip looking like it's been chewed by a gerbil though. However, the feed looks very crispy and it writes beautifully, which is the important bit. I shall probably leave this nib as-is and not "EMF'd", but in the fullness of time it will be interesting to swap in my eased FPR flex nib and see how the feed copes with that extra flex.

 

Cheers, Al

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grainweevil,

 

Interesting to know that you have the same issue with the 162 helicoid drive too. Since the 162 was never made in transparent materials, I cannot see the exact cause of the problem, but I do have a suspicion that the piston shaft was a tiny bit too short, so that it slips out of mesh with the knob's helicoid; even if it was 1mm longer, it would have avoided the problem altogether. I have no intention to strip them down for a side-by-side comparison, but being transparent, I would have the reassurance that I won't mess up again, and that's a good thing.

No, I am not going to list my pens here.

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Ah, you have a better handle on it that I; I wouldn't even begin to know why it did it. Failure for want of 1mm of shaft length sounds all too likely a scenario, and may perhaps account for why it's not a wide spread, or at least widely known problem - perhaps just the odd one or two fall short. Must admit being able to see what's going on is going to be a major benefit over the 162. As you say, it's reassuring.

 

Cheers, Al

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Good review of a pen I'm thinking of (after I see what I have left in the wallet after the Pen Show in Cambridge on Sunday).

 

But "Ideally wielded by: T Rex"??? The poor thing's arms would hardly reach the paper, and as for what might happen if it wanted to chew the end of the pen ... ...

 

(image : http://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fitxer:Young_Tyrannosaurus_rex_02.JPG)

post-51492-0-82940100-1393942481_thumb.jpg

Edited by PDW
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I believe the consensus among paleontologists is that T Rex was adapted for writing while sitting in airline seats.

ron

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Firstly apologies for a dodgy weblink - Google's fault I'm afraid, but here it is again in case it misbehaves for anyone else: http://scribbledemonboddo.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/fpr-guru-flex-nib-2014.html

 

Secondly, I'm not so sure about T.Rex writing in airline seats - I mean, isn't the lack of an aircraft the reason they developed the archeopteryx and ended-up accidentally discovering the quill?

 

Thirdly, yes there are all sorts of visible flaws on the Guru, whether the clip was nibbled by a gerbil or an allosaurus, but for the money I think the rugged looks are possibly, just possibly, part of the charm...

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I just picked up my Guru at the post office, I also opted for the clear demonstrator, but with a bold nib. First impressions were: hey, this is pretty much a clear Serwex 162, that's kinda cool. Same funky smell as the Noodler's Nib Creeper, but thicker. The bold nib is nice, writes more like a medium, but the ebonite feed keeps up. I am also hoping that the evaporation problem is not as pronounced on this pen... though I think it may be a characteristic of the polymer used (if it smells like a Noodler's, it probably lets ink evaporate, too). Hoping to be surprised, I will carry it for a few days and see. Kudos to Kevin for making an inexpensive bold-nibbed pen. If the nib in the Guru keeps performing like it has out of the bubble wrap, I will have to consider investing in a Triveni Ebonite.

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Secondly, I'm not so sure about T.Rex writing in airline seats - I mean, isn't the lack of an aircraft the reason they developed the archeopteryx and ended-up accidentally discovering the quill?

 

 

Oh, no! You don't mean that T.Rex was flightless?

(tears forming at the corners of wide, disillusioned eyes ...)

ron

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  • 2 weeks later...

Have to agree with the rest, that the Guru may not be the best looking pen. But it's cheap. I got it with a Flex nib. Have the Dilli and Noodler's Creeper too. Maybe its just my way of writing, but I found the feed on the Guru kept up with all the flexing and no railroading. And this is straight out of the packing and inking up.

It the cheapest Flex pen out there and performs really well.

I guess I am OK with a bad looking clip as long as the nib and feed Perform, and it does perform on the Guru. Great job Kevin.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi,

 

To all those interested I just received my demonstrator FPR Guru pen with flex nib and all I can say is WOW.

 

The nib is amazing and has put my vintage Montblanc 342 and 221 semi-flex pens to shame. The nib on the Guru is smooth and responsive with hardly any railroading; It is as if I have stepped into a new world with a reasonably priced nib and pen! It reminds me of the days in Devon when some mad country friends dropped Porsche 911 turbo engines inside VW beetles!

 

On a more enlightening note I had written off the following ink: Caran d'Ache Chromatics - Delicate Green. In all the pens I own the ink looks terribly boring and was considered a rather expensive disappointment until... I put it in the FPR Guru with flex nib . I am now quite embarrassed by how well the ink performs and shades with a flex nib.

With regards to flex writing - I advise you to consider one of the many reasonably priced pens that can support a flex nib from FPR.

 

Finally - Does anyone own one of these FPR pen/flex nibs and a vintage flex fountain pen as I feel a comparison is required?

 

Garrowp...

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