Noodler's Ahab Question

[THRobinson]

Still hoping to get a Konrad when I see stock appear, in the meanwhile I bought an Ahab clear flex nibbed pen to see if I like the flex or not.

 

Cleaned it when I got it, put it back together and only needed to adjust the nib once and seems to flow just fine, though wish it was more broader of a tip. Otherwise I am liking the flex more than just a standard nib. Too bad not easy to find... I'd love to test this pen with a broad flex or even a 1.1.

 

Anyways... one thing I'm not liking is the piston. It fills with ink, as well as the stem (part you push/pull to get the ink). I tried the pen with one ink, then went to try another ink and that stem part is not the best thing to flush clean. I unscrewed the black cap on the end off expecting there to be a hole there to make it easier to run water through, but no hole.

 

Should this stem be filling with ink? and should there be a hole at the end with the cap?

 

On a side note, writes well, but, not a clear pen... has a sorta milky white haze swirled in it, some yellow staining around the rubber bits, and stinks of silly putty... happy to finally try a flex nibbed pen, but glad it was only $25CAD. It's an ugly stinky pen.

Edited May 21, 2015 by THRobinson

[Jamerelbe]

Screwing the black cap off the end allows you to push the 'stem' (the plunger?) up and out of the piston body - but no, there's no hole at the end, and yes, it *is* designed to hold ink. The best way to clean it is to flush it out with a syringe full of water.

 

If you leave the breather tube inside the piston, and if you plunge and pull on the piston a few times when filling, then yes, you might just manage to get some ink up into the plunger part - but you really need to get a 'full fill' for that to happen.

 

The Ahabs are renowned for their aroma - glad to read that you're getting the full "multi-sensory experience"! It does fade with time, though - so a time will come when the pen is no longer stinky, just ugly...

[THRobinson]

That was my other question actually... what is that small tube, which I guess is a breather. I have a very limited knowledge of pens but of the few I have I don't recall ever seeing that part before... almost removed it.

 

Pen stank... ya I was surprised at how many posts I found (before buying the pen) that were devoted to the 'diaper-like-smell' they had. Mine smells exactly like silly putty, but, luckily not as bad as some pens I guess... few posts said they could smell it across the room. Though, I may get home from work tonight and discover the same thing.

 

So, ink in that plunger-stem is normal, use a syringe to flush, leave the breather in, and hope the 'stank' fades.

 

I read a few posts where people soaked the pens in fabric softener over night... which I debated, but, given what the pen is made of, was worried about other things, like staining or breaking down the plastic/celluloid/whatever it's made of.

[fountainpenlady]

Screwing the black cap off the end allows you to push the 'stem' (the plunger?) up and out of the piston body - but no, there's no hole at the end, and yes, it *is* designed to hold ink. The best way to clean it is to flush it out with a syringe full of water.

 

If you leave the breather tube inside the piston, and if you plunge and pull on the piston a few times when filling, then yes, you might just manage to get some ink up into the plunger part - but you really need to get a 'full fill' for that to happen.

 

The Ahabs are renowned for their aroma - glad to read that you're getting the full "multi-sensory experience"! It does fade with time, though - so a time will come when the pen is no longer stinky, just ugly...

I have a Pearl Mars and a Burmese red and both are beautiful. Both have been fitted with Goulet Extra fine nibs and I continue to love them both. They don't stink as much as my Bexley America The Beautiful and I have learned to re love it.

[fountainpenlady]

That was my other question actually... what is that small tube, which I guess is a breather. I have a very limited knowledge of pens but of the few I have I don't recall ever seeing that part before... almost removed it.

 

Pen stank... ya I was surprised at how many posts I found (before buying the pen) that were devoted to the 'diaper-like-smell' they had. Mine smells exactly like silly putty, but, luckily not as bad as some pens I guess... few posts said they could smell it across the room. Though, I may get home from work tonight and discover the same thing.

 

So, ink in that plunger-stem is normal, use a syringe to flush, leave the breather in, and hope the 'stank' fades.

 

I read a few posts where people soaked the pens in fabric softener over night... which I debated, but, given what the pen is made of, was worried about other things, like staining or breaking down the plastic/celluloid/whatever it's made of.

Also, according to a thread which was devoted to the smell of Noodler's Ahabs, someone said using Freebreeze will remove the smell. Did not work. Considering the smell of another pen I own, neither of my Noodler's Ahabs smell bad. Over time, months, the smell has faded for both of them and not as strong. I did not find the smell obnoxious though. As said, I have smelled worse. My only concern from time to time is that if you don't use them routinely, the ink inside comes out through the breather hole and gets trapped in the inside between feed and nib. this causes the ink to emit sporadically, and can even stain inside of cap and cause the ink flow to not be controlled. Simply, once I used almost or all of the ink in the pen and after thoroughly cleaning the pens, I am going to repeat the process of heat attaching the feeder to nib again for each one and this should help the problem. In the meantime, I gently run water on each and it cleans the surface ink enough for it to not continue to look unsightly or cause the ink to continue to be trapped and emit sporadically and unsightly.

Edited May 21, 2015 by fountainpenlady

[THRobinson]

I have a Pearl Mars and a Burmese red and both are beautiful. Both have been fitted with Goulet Extra fine nibs and I continue to love them both. They don't stink as much as my Bexley America The Beautiful and I have learned to re love it.

 

I think I'd like mine more, if it was clear... the yellow stains from rubber, and that milky white haze/swirl throughout the body kinda kills the look for me.

 

I do like using a flex nib. Until now, all my pens have been the steel M nibs, with no real variance in line width. Shame OB Broad vintage nibs are so costly... I'd love to find a Pelikan with one but, I'm more a $20-40 pen kinda guy.

[edebill]

 

I think I'd like mine more, if it was clear... the yellow stains from rubber, and that milky white haze/swirl throughout the body kinda kills the look for me.

 

I do like using a flex nib. Until now, all my pens have been the steel M nibs, with no real variance in line width. Shame OB Broad vintage nibs are so costly... I'd love to find a Pelikan with one but, I'm more a $20-40 pen kinda guy.

 

The haze and discoloration seem odd. I bought the exact model you did maybe a month ago from Goulet and mine is beautifully clear, not milky, not discolored. In the particular atmospheric conditions in my house it seems to take 2 weeks to a month before I stop smelling my Ahabs without intentionally sniffing them. Just leave it sitting out where it can get good air flow and the smell should get milder fairly quickly.

 

As for ink in the plunger handle, you can cut down on it by removing the breather tube (that extra small tube that goes up into the plunger handle). That doesn't seem to hurt things - I believe it might even be there expressly to help get that last little bit of ink capacity by filling the plunger handle.

 

Having both a Konrad and now 3 Ahabs, I'm definitely an Ahab fan. At this point I'm only using the Konrad at all because I jammed a Zebra G nib in it, so it does crazy fantastic flex.

[fountainpenlady]

 

I think I'd like mine more, if it was clear... the yellow stains from rubber, and that milky white haze/swirl throughout the body kinda kills the look for me.

 

I do like using a flex nib. Until now, all my pens have been the steel M nibs, with no real variance in line width. Shame OB Broad vintage nibs are so costly... I'd love to find a Pelikan with one but, I'm more a $20-40 pen kinda guy.

What you mention is not normal. I have had both my pens for a couple months now and nothing of what you mentioned, yellow stains from rubber, milky white haze/swirl throughout the body is normal. You may have purchased an anomaly. A smell maybe normal until it fades, but the rest is not normal. Don't base your entire views on what is going on with your Noodler's Ahab is I guess what I am trying to delicately say to you.

Edited May 22, 2015 by fountainpenlady

[zenephi001]

 

I think I'd like mine more, if it was clear... the yellow stains from rubber, and that milky white haze/swirl throughout the body kinda kills the look for me.

 

I do like using a flex nib. Until now, all my pens have been the steel M nibs, with no real variance in line width. Shame OB Broad vintage nibs are so costly... I'd love to find a Pelikan with one but, I'm more a $20-40 pen kinda guy.

 

Re OB nibs being costly - get some of the untipped Noodlers nibs and learn to create your own (or a cheap Jinhao 159 or similar). When ready you can then try to create an OB on one of Noodlers tipped nibs. Read up on nib alterations and take your time.

 

Re the aroma - mine had the smell of a 'smooth sweet vanilla". It does lessen with time AND polishing / cleaning - my much polished Ahab Lapis Inferno needs to be almost "stuck up my nose" to get a wiff of the aroma now [NOT recommended - especially uncapped, inked, and nib first :-) ]

 

Re Demo pen colour change - are you referring to the ink cylinder that the piston slides up and down in, or the whole pen? I have one clear Ahab Demo and a very nice looking semi-transparant Hudson Bay Fathom, and, of course the internal cylinder is transparant in all the Ahabs. I have used a range of ink colours from Noodler, Diamine, Waterman, Parker, Private Reserve, Pelikan, J. Herbin & Visconti without any real problems. Some inks took a bit more effort than others, some a very weak solution of ammonia etc. But all came clean.

 

So, the questions are ... which ink left this residue/changed the colour of the pen? and how did you try to clean it. As you may have seen elsewhere some inks are much more stubborn than others and do require more than just a 'quick flush' to get fully clear.

 

 

Background ... I have 6 (six) Ahabs & 6 (six) Konrads that I use on a regular basis. I have learned to heat set the ebonite feeds (flame heat & hot water), use the supplied nibs (excellent whether used with the lightest of touches for a fine line, flex, or reverse) added nibs from Jowo, Goulet (EF & a range of italics) and some small stub italics from FPR that are the "wrong size" but look "interesting" and write fantastically. I have learnt to strip, clean, reconfigure and reassemble pens using pens that are not only robust and good looking but also affordable. Not only are they excellent tools I can "play" with them as well - especially now Noodlers have started selling un-tipped nibs at fantastically low prices for some adventurous nib modifications [ MANY THANKS NATHAN ].

 

Why so many Ahabs & Konrads? I bought my first, an Ahab Lapis Inferno, in the UK, fell in love with it but I couldn't get the Konrads & other Ahabs I wanted in the UK at that time. So I ordered from Goulet Pens in the USA. But it was uneconomic for me to buy a couple at a time and "import" them into the UK - 20% VAT is OK (it helps keep the country running) but the Postal Service then charge a flat £8.50 for collecting the tax, while the Parcel Service charges £11.50. So I needed to spread the "service charge" over more items :-) It was in this way I convinced myself to buy more pens than I really needed (perhaps sell a couple of each on in the UK - not done yet, I can't decide which ones!!) - it was all down to economics / value for money. Goulet were great - excellent packing / delivery and I ended up with another 10 pens - including 5 really good looking Konrads out of the six I bought (The sort of smoky Krakatora Konrad I've not really taken to the colour of).

 

OK - enough of the background ramble :-)