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FPR nibs in alternate pens?

WolfeyedWitch

By WolfeyedWitch
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WolfeyedWitch Dipped Only

WolfeyedWitch

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Do you have any suggestions for pens that will fit the FPR flex nibs? I am not a fan of the FPR pens; I find them to be cheap and uncomfortable to use. I put a FPR #6 ultraflex in a Conklin/Monteverde nib unit and tried that in a few different pens, but the feed couldn't keep up and the nib railroaded constantly. The FPR ebonite feed won't fit in the unit, either.

 

I have had success putting a #5.5 ultraflex in an Opus 88 mini pocket pen; I've only just started testing it, but the feed seems to be supplying enough ink, at least so far.

 

I suppose this is more of a "how do I pair a feed that will work with the nib in the housing" question, given that I know the FPR #6 nib fits decently into the Jowo housing. It just won't hold the ebonite feed that the flex nibs seem to need to perform best.

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A Smug Dill

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1 hour ago, WolfeyedWitch said:

I suppose this is more of a "how do I pair a feed that will work with the nib in the housing" question, given that I know the FPR #6 nib fits decently into the Jowo housing. It just won't hold the ebonite feed that the flex nibs seem to need to perform best.

 

Fit the FPR nib into this, then? https://flexiblenib.com/store/product/jowo-6-replacement-feed-and-housing-black-ebonite/

I endeavour to be frank and truthful in what I write, show or otherwise present, when I relate my first-hand experiences that are not independently verifiable; and link to third-party content where I can, when I make a claim or refute a statement of fact in a thread. If there is something you can verify for yourself, I entreat you to do so, and judge for yourself what is right, correct, and valid. I may be wrong, and my position or say-so is no more authoritative and carries no more weight than anyone else's here.

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HobbitLife Mint

HobbitLife

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I have a size 6 FPR Ultraflex in a Noodlers Konrad that works really well with the Konrad ebonite feed. 

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Ted A Collectors Item

Ted A

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I find the FPR flexible nibs to be slightly easier to flex that the Noodler’s nibs. The Ultra Flexible are a fair bit easier to flex. But they aren’t as flexible as the really flexible wet noodle types

To hold a pen is to be at war. - Voltaire
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HobbitLife Mint

HobbitLife

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On 1/13/2023 at 10:47 PM, WolfeyedWitch said:

Is the difference enough to bother, given that Noodlers nibs are already flexible?


I’ve found a big difference between the Noodlers flex nib and the FPR Ultraflex. The Ultraflex flexes more easily, snaps back better, and has finer fines (in my experience). 

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txomsy Antique

txomsy

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I have two #5 FPR in two (I think) Baoer 79, and a #6 in a Jinaho x159. Both nibs hand-modified by me to add the EMF modification.

 

 

If you are to be ephemeral, leave a good scent.

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Vintage_BE Near Mint

Vintage_BE

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On 1/14/2023 at 4:44 AM, HobbitLife said:

I have a size 6 FPR Ultraflex in a Noodlers Konrad that works really well with the Konrad ebonite feed. 

I use size 6 FPR “ultra flex” nibs in a Noodler’s Ahab. Works well for me, I appreciate the Ahab’s larger ink capacity. 

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ASCIIaardvark Mint

ASCIIaardvark

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The FPR ultra-flex nibs has worked on basically every #5 or #6 pen I've tried it on: Wing Sung 699, PenBBS 355, Narwhal Original+/Nautilus, Twsbi 580/Go/Draco, Genesis Deluge/Sleipnir, various ebonite-feed pens from Gama, ASA, Ranga, Noodler's.

 

You may have to heat-set the feed. It's not hard, but if it's a plastic feed expect several rounds of heating.

 

You can use Vanness White Lightning or Kodak Photo Flo to make inks wetter if your feed doesn't keep up. Or you can take an exacto to the feed's ink channel and make it permanently wetter 😈

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WolfeyedWitch Dipped Only

WolfeyedWitch

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On 1/26/2023 at 11:03 PM, ASCIIaardvark said:

The FPR ultra-flex nibs has worked on basically every #5 or #6 pen I've tried it on: Wing Sung 699, PenBBS 355, Narwhal Original+/Nautilus, Twsbi 580/Go/Draco, Genesis Deluge/Sleipnir, various ebonite-feed pens from Gama, ASA, Ranga, Noodler's.

 

You may have to heat-set the feed. It's not hard, but if it's a plastic feed expect several rounds of heating.

 

You can use Vanness White Lightning or Kodak Photo Flo to make inks wetter if your feed doesn't keep up. Or you can take an exacto to the feed's ink channel and make it permanently wetter 😈

I wasn't aware you could heat-set a plastic feed; I thought it only worked for ebonite?

 

As for modifying a feed, are there any good tutorials on that? I definitely don't want to just start going to town without knowing what I'm doing!

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WolfeyedWitch Dipped Only

WolfeyedWitch

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1 hour ago, WalterC said:

Marc Kompanets has a couple of videos showing switching FPR 5.5 into TWSBIs. Switching into 580al, vac mini and Opus 88 picnic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTS5imJq3NE&t=6s

I am midswitch to a vac mini; I think I still have to heat set the feed to the nib.

Great video! I just got a TWSBI mini vac, so I'll definitely give that a try. I put a FPR 5.5 into an Opus 88 mini pocket pen, but I'm having a bit of trouble with it. I made a post about it here: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/369567-opus-88-pocket-pen-feed/#comment-4588830

The gist of it is this: First off I need to heat set the nib, but don't know how to do that on a plastic feed. I know for ebonite you can just use near-boiling water; how do you heat set a plastic feed, though? I am having some railroading, but I'm not sure if that's because I need to adjust the feed for wetter flow, need to heat set it, or if I'm just expecting too much out of it.

 

Any resources on how to heat set a plastic feed? All the info I've seen is for ebonite ones.

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WalterC Rare

WalterC

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1 hour ago, WolfeyedWitch said:

Thanks! Is this a step I should do before or after any feed modifications?

My guess is do heat setting before modifying the feed in major ways. Marc Kompanets says that the TWSBI feeds keep up fine. I would defer to others who know more than me. At least if you screw up, you can get replacement TWSBI nib units easily. It was easy to get the TWSBI nib out of the nib unit and put the FPR 5.5 nib in, but there is a gap between the nib and the feed; that's why I think I need to heat set the feed.

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Jamerelbe Antique

Jamerelbe

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My advice would be to be very cautious about heat setting plastic feeds.  It *is* possible to do, but plastic is a lot less forgiving than ebonite (more easy to melt, and/or to damage) - and much harder to "reset" for the original nib, if you decide that you want to switch back!

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WolfeyedWitch Dipped Only

WolfeyedWitch

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Thanks @WalterC, @Jamerelbe. So far I've been working on my Opus 88 pocket pen; the feed really doesn't keep up. I tried modifying the feed, and now the ink doesn't make it to the tip of the nib at all. I'm going to go Google how to fix what I've messed up, and possibly order a replacement as well.

 

(I swear all I did was very gently take an x-acto to the central groove to widen/deepen it a little, just as literally every modification guide says. To the Google I guess. Argh.)

 

Update: turns out I just didn't get the nib aligned properly and it wasn't pushed in all the way. Now the feed is keeping up better with the flex and it's doing quite well!

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WalterC Rare

WalterC

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Goulet Pens has a video where he talks about heatsetting plastic feeds.  Brian Goulet does not pretend to be an expert repair person, but he is relaying what he was taught by Mike Masuyama, who is very expert. https://youtu.be/AR5aAMcw7mM?t=2350

      Do read the cautions that Jamerelbe gives. Plastic is less forgiving than ebonite. I wonder if TWSBI would sell us some spare feeds for the vac mini? I did buy a second nib unit (~$21) so if I screw it up I can still use the pen

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