I’m in trouble, aren’t I?

[TgeekB]

1 hour ago, Bo Bo Olson said:

Glad you like it.

 

 

 

Semi-flex spoiled me.

I think it’s cool you like vintage semi flex nibs. It’s your “thing” and there’s nothing wrong with that. To me they one of several nice nibs that give me a variety, which I like.

 

Oh, by the way, I’m not “lazy”. I’m passive. 🤣

[Bo Bo Olson]

There will come a day when one of the many German '50-70 or before factory stubbed semi-flex pens falls into your hand, and you will know what all the fuss was about.

 

I've been collecting for 13 years and here on the com. Dirt Cheap pens at first...semi-vintage '80 late '90's. Up to E 20.

 

Semi-flex pens were out of my range, in most cost E-50 or 60....I had read of semi-vintage and knew a 140 Pelikan was one.

 

One tests a nib against one's thumbnail to see if the nib is nail, semi-nail (like a P-75 or modern 400/600 or regular flex....Japanese 'soft'.

About eleven years ago at a flea market, I tested a 140's semi-flex OB nib against my thumbnail, I suddenly knew what all the fuss was about.

 

I had a Franklin Mint R.E. Lee pocket knife in a case that was actually too good to use and ill formed for carrying it in one's pocket. I ended up with that 140 and 4 other no name junker pens including a Chinese one...that I eventually tossed because the Esterbrook folded steel tip nib was so, so much better than the cheap Chinese folded steel nib.

 

I do recommend a OB in Vintage German semi-flex. It is a writing nib = @ a modern fat M. The sweet spot is wide enough one can learn to cant the nib easy...........I have tricks for that too. And it gives a nice oblique pattern.

 

I fell into the semi-flex rabbit hole, having 35 and 15 maxi-semi-flex pens.

 

Don't forget your regular flex nibbed pens like the '82-97 Pelikans. They are better than semi-flex when using two toned shading inks, in semi-flex is a wetter writing nib due to it's ease of tine spread.

 

I rave often about regular flex nibs. Once regular flex was regular issue even in US pens, not just the 70-late 90's of MB or '82-97 of Pelikan.

You can find early '50's Sheaffer or Crest subbrand  in nail, regular flex and the rare semi-flex. Esterbrook has regular flex nibs as does Wearever. US Parker was always nail and semi-nail....in the late thirties and later outside of their English made nibs. I have an English Jr. Doufold in Semi-flex and an English P-45 in regular flex. They had to compete with the wide range of flex in the Swan .

I also have an Australian Shaffer Snorkel in a factory stub BB, in maxi-semi-flex. Again because of Swan.

 

Pelikan 200 is one of the very best made nibs in the world, a nice springy comfortable ride, 1/2 a width narrower than modern Pelikan gold nibs....which unlike them writes in a nice clean line.

I have read Japanese 'Soft' nibs are mushy, which is not the case of the affordable 200 nibs.

 

Your 250's gold nib or any other '82-pre'98 gold nib is = to the steel/gold plated 200's nib....Great regular flex nibs.

 

 

 

[TgeekB]

I don’t know, I’ve never been very flexible. I have a bad back and I’ve had surgery on my knees. When I get up in the morning I feel like a modern steel nib, so maybe that’s why I’m not clamoring over vintage flex anything. By mid afternoon I can barely touch my toes and it goes downhill from there. I’ve learned to be happy with who I am. 😎

[Bo Bo Olson]

Semi= almost.....

Semi-flex is a Flair nib.....not a "FLEX' nib. A "Flex" nib is properly called Superflex.

Compared to Japanese 'soft' or regular flex = soft +, semi-flex is soft ++.

 

There are idiots who over stress a semi-flex nib trying to make it into a short lived calligraphy pen. (Then sell the pre-sprung nib for your convenience on The Bay.)

 

I had wondered for years why folks were saying they wrote so slow with semi-flex; when I scribble along just as quick as with any other nib.

Then fine some poster turned my attention to this Nib Abuse that it appears many take for normal.

The tines here are spread 4-5X...a light down stroke. Semi-flex should be only a seldom used 3 X max tine spread vs a light down stroke and mostly  just an easy 2X vs a light down stroke.

The thinner letters are normal for a BB nib.....the fat ones are not.

Regular flex, semi-flex and maxi-semi-flex are a 3X tine spread set. Spreading the tines more than 3 X wider than a light line can lead to springing the nib.

The fancy S's is 'normal' if one wants a fancy decender at the end of a paragraph, or spend time crossing a T.

The first quick fox is normal, the second is maxed at three X, the XXX's are pushing springing the nib.

 

 

Those pictures are of Nib Abuse. That is not what semi-flex is about IMO. It is not a calligraphy nib.

 

It gives you that old fashioned fountain pen script, with out doing anything but writing normal. One gets some line variation from normal 1 X to 2 X at the start of a word, loop of a letter, or a T crossing. One might go 3 X for a nice long slow decender at the end of a paragraph.

Flair.....not calligraphy.

 

Because of my rotten handwriting I have few pictures of it. This picture is using a old pretty third tier semi-flex, with a light hand looking to see if MB Orange shaded, which it didn't.

 

There is just a little bit of line variation....in I wasn't asking for it.

Semi-flex is Line Variation On Demand...and when one don't demand, the nib gives you close to normal handwriting.

 

I was looking for shading, not line variation.

A small mistake, in semi-flex writes wetter than regular flex which is the better nib for two toned shading.

 

When I came back to fountain pens, I was heavy handed (as most are coming from ball points)....at first maxing my semi-flex 140 out to 3 X all the time....after six weeks most of the time, three months maxing when I wanted too. A bit later I had a lighter Hand....which one wants, so one can go from a lighter line to a thicker one On Demand.

 

Semi-flex is a soft writing nib; that if your Hand is light enough will look like regular flex, until you demand flair of the nib.

[TgeekB]

So I’ve been playing around with my OB. Different angles, how I hold it, etc. It’s interesting to see the differences. With more practice it will add a bit of flair to my writing when I’m in the mood for it.

 

Also enjoying my 400nn with some Pilot Iroshizuku Yama-Guri I just purchased. The chestnut brown color matches the barrel of the pen so well (tortoise). Like a match made in pen heaven. 

[Bo Bo Olson]

Forgot you have a 400NN, so have a semi-flex nib.

 

I've 35 semi-flexes, 15 maxi-semi-flex and a mix of those in 15 obliques from OF to OBB in both 15&30 degree grinds....with my signature pen, a Pelikan 500 with an OBBB 30 degree grind maxi-semi-flex.

 

An unusable nib. to write a legal signature takes up 2/3rds to 3/4ths a page.

 

Of the 8 pens I have out only one is Oblique, a BBL (right foot oblique) a late '40's black and gold Osmia # 63 semi-flex.

 

I'm trying to keep my inked pens at 7 or less to use up more ink.

[TgeekB]

13 minutes ago, Bo Bo Olson said:

Forgot you have a 400NN, so have a semi-flex nib.

 

I've 35 semi-flexes, 15 maxi-semi-flex and a mix of those in 15 obliques from OF to OBB in both 15&30 degree grinds....with my signature pen, a Pelikan 500 with an OBBB 30 degree grind maxi-semi-flex.

 

An unusable nib. to write a legal signature takes up 2/3rds to 3/4ths a page.

 

Of the 8 pens I have out only one is Oblique, a BBL (right foot oblique) a late '40's black and gold Osmia # 63 semi-flex.

 

I'm trying to keep my inked pens at 7 or less to use up more ink.

Thats a lot of pens!

 

I’ll never have that many, just enough to use regularly. In fact, I’m selling some right now. My keepers will be my Montblanc 146, Pelikan 400nn and Lamy 2000. The rest will probably be sold. 

[Bo Bo Olson]

I've been sitting at the lip of the well in Germany for the last 13 years and got semi-flex pens for me, then expensive back when E50-60 were expensive, that now go for here E 100-120.....Stateside now $280+.

 

I had been in the Pen of the Week in the Mail club from E-15 to E-40 for a while.....then slowly in the Pen of the Month Club's E-50.

 

Had I had to pay today's prices then.....I'd be a two pen guy....three really. Back then you could get an Esterbrook for $15.And one of my inherited pens was an Esterbrook.

This one was to be sold at the flea market for E5....after all it was a an obsolete piece of junk.

Then it was worth $250, and my $22 sterling silver new bought P-75 was worth $225.....so sudden can a collection start.

 

Then I went cheap....E-20 was expensive...as noobie.

[TgeekB]

On 7/31/2021 at 8:20 PM, Bo Bo Olson said:

I've been sitting at the lip of the well in Germany for the last 13 years and got semi-flex pens for me, then expensive back when E50-60 were expensive, that now go for here E 100-120.....Stateside now $280+.

We are living in a global world. There is no “stateside”. I purchased my 400nn with matching pencil and case for way less than $280 and I’m slumming it “stateside”. 
 

You’re watching too many black and white movies. Time to join the current age!

 

P.S. - I hope you don’t mind my sense of humor, no matter how bad it is! 

[Bo Bo Olson]

Black and White movies....I prefer the sound of actors on stage to the silent flickers.

 

 

There is a Stateside......folks that pay $280 for a E-100 pen because they refuse to Hunt on German Ebay......won't take the minute to get a Google translation.

 

Impatience is a sin......Buy Now Idiot.....pay twice as much, so you won't be disappointed and have to wait for an ebay auction end as a looser.

The idea was though to get the pen at a fair price....not at any price at all.

 

I've been preaching for near a decade, The Hunt, is half the Fun.

 

But many have more money than good sense and or have been very well trained by their life long addiction to TV adds. So haunt the Buy Now Idiot section of life....... Could explain the high divorce rate.

 

It is hoped the convid depression has driven pen prices down. I don't know, not being in the market.

[TgeekB]

I doubt the average person knows there is a German ebay. They assume ebay is one large internet marketplace for the entire world. I'm sure if more people knew, they would take advantage of it.

 

Perhaps you can start an advertising campaign extolling the virtues of vintage pen hunting on German ebay. You had a perfect opportunity during the Olympics. Would have only cost you a couple million dollars. 😁

[Bo Bo Olson]

I've been doing such for the last 11 years.....every day.....from the time the best buy for semi-flex was the Geha 790 for e-19... now E-60. Still best buy..

..unless you can find an Osmia for that....which surprised me the price was as 'low' as it was a decade ago.

...of course you may have to get the Osmia re-corked....and do it in boiled in oil and beeswax cork, and not Plastic Gasket 2.0. Properly prepared cork is the smoothest gasket according to the 'Pen Repair Book', by Marshal and Oldfield.

 

The torpedo shape was very popular in the '50-60's....Swan, MB 146/9B, Pelikan 120/140/400nn, Geha semi-flex  760/790. Standard sized like the 400, just as well balanced, and with a slight tad better nib than the 400.  The 790 below. I have 4 790's and a 760....and Geha's greatest pen and better than MB 2XX, Geha's 725......one of the greatest pens ever made. Classy, sleek, great balance, fantastic looking semi-flex nib....and so on.

790

 

and Geha's greatest pen and better than MB 2XX, Geha's 725......one of the greatest pens ever made. Classy, sleek, great balance, fantastic looking semi-flex nib....and so on. The little curved lines of the clip make such a difference.

Cheap too...(E50-70)...talk about it a 100 years but no one looks .... it's on German Ebay. Became the Geha flagship replacing the 760 @ 1965..1972 Geha closed down it's fountain pen division, selling it's office supply division to Pelikan 1990.

 

Rolled gold trim.....cost new DM360 or $90 when a sterling silver P-75, cost $22 in silver dollars.....which is what I paid for my P-75, and $18 for the matching BP/MP in '70/71.

 

With permission of Penboard.de

 

 

 

 

Best buy for regular flex is as always the Geha school pen, no longer E12, but can still be had for E-19 with some luck....unless you want a Stateside price of only $89.

 

I think there were 7-10 folks that told me, they had been to German Ebay and I was right......3/4ths a person per year.

I'd even helped a few...checking out the pen on German Ebay for them.....but Google is good enough today.

 

Americans would rather spend a fortune than translate German into English......once I even had basic translation I'd given to the com......

A decade ago.

 

A losing battle like trying to tell set in concrete minds, Semi-flex is not a superflex nib.  Almost is not quite......but when only Flex is seen and comprehended.....another decade down the drain.

 

All that , just so folks could have the same fun I have.....

I'm giving up the lost battle.

 

Hey, buy Stateside priced.....that will mean less ruined nibs....in the pen cost enough to be babied.

[TgeekB]

Well, you obviously haven’t been doing well enough or the world, especially stateside, would be more educated and buying vintage Pelikan pens off German eBay by the dozens. Perhaps you need to rethink your strategy. 
 

I’ve pretty much decided that, between modern and vintage, I’m a modern guy. I find the nibs and build much more pleasing to hold and write with. My P400nn set will continue to be my dive into vintage for variety, which we all need. My everyday pens will remain my MB 146 and Lamy 2000 as they are unmatchable performance wise (for me). I continue to enjoy learning about pens from people like yourself and being a part of the FP community. 

[Bo Bo Olson]

You are right.

Many folks are quite satisfied with half a portion of fancy.. nailish stub and CI is but half a portion of what could be had......really good in they don't have to worry about all that tine spread and bend stuff. You know....developing a light hand takes work!!!....why waste time on that?

 

Have fun with your 146's....do get one with balance and a good nib....a medium-large '50-60 146, mine has a maxi-semi-flex nib......my other two Large 146's ('70-80's) are sort of mox-nix, run of the mill large pens of fair balance (better and more lively than the 800) but do have regular flex nibs.

Vintage and semi-vintage nibs do write with a clean line.

 

[TgeekB]

9 hours ago, Bo Bo Olson said:

You are right.

You are correct, I always am. 

[Vladpu]

People think they had it hard in the Old West.  Ha!, I say.  Ha!

Just think how hard my grandmother had it in Tuktoyaktuk.