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I was hoping to show you a picture of this new, very sleek looking pen, but it seems that's not an option right now. Lightly brushed, matte back body, gloss, transparent red section and ink window, designed around the Zebra G flex nib with a purpose-designed ebonite feed, but can take any screw-in #6 nib unit. Clipless. Handmade in America by me. Limited run. Please have a look at the full story at the link above.

Hi all, this is my inexperienced review at a flex pen. As far as I have seen, it is difficult to get a hold of flex pens in India for cheap. The noodler's pens are available on Amazon, but they cost about Rs. 2000 (around $30), and as someone who has never used a flex pen before, I couldn't bring myself to make that investment. This pen, however, cost me Rs 500 (~$7). It's a plastic pen and comes in a velvet pouch with two cartridges. The nib is quite stiff but provides some good line variation with the appropriate pressure. Weirdly though, the pen and pouch come engraved with "Click", which is another brand from India, but nowhere in the description of the product does it mention it. I had no expectations for this product, but I was pleasantly surprised. Attached below are some pictures of the pen compared to the TWSBI Eco and a writing sample. For more pictures and the link to the product (no affiliation), please check out my blog post.

I ordered a Ledos Glare Diplomate, which was advertised as a cheap Flex Pen on Amazon, but the pen itself and the pouch was engraved with "Click". Is this a Click pen? ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ I also have a review with the writing sample on my blog: https://fountainpensandstationery.home.blog/2019/01/25/ledos-glare-diplomate/

Hello, I have been considering some different flex pens for copperplate and as I can already write with a fountain pen and messed about with some of my friends flex pens, which pen would be better. I am looking mainly at either a modified fountain pen with a zebra g nib, a cheep calligraphy set or a vintage Conway Stewart 759. Any help would be appreciated.

Hi, I've recently got into fountain pens and just bought a cheep one to see if I could write with them. I am just wondering as I like to do copperplate what would be the best pen to get? I am looking for a fountain pen rather than a dip and my price range is under £200 ($260 ish). Any help would be much appreciated.

Hey there, I'm offering flex nib units for sale which are designed to hold the Zebra G dip nib. Over the last year or so, I've been experimenting with nib units and now nearly all of my pens will be JoWo #6 nib unit compatible. (JoWo nibs are a pen industry standard, and JoWo the company is one of the biggest names worldwide in fountain pen nibs.) Essentially, if you have a pen that holds #6 JoWo nibs (ask the manufacturer if you're not sure) that you want to try out my flex pens with buy a nib unit (the nib unit is the nib, the feed, and the black collar you see in the attached photo), unscrew yours from your pen and screw in mine. Also, all of my upcoming pens will be compatible with JoWo #6 nib units so if you have a nib you like (a specially modified nib, for example), you will be able to screw out the nib unit I provide, and screw in your own. They are for sale on the Nib Units button at this page of DesiderataPens.comThey can also be purchased on Etsy.comDisclaimer: Obviously, because I can't see where the nib unit is going, I can't guarantee that it will work as well in your pen as it will work in my pens, but purchasing a separate nib unit is an option I want you to have. Pierre

The two minute guys have posted a review video of yet another Indian flex pen, once again made by Kanwrite, which is called the Kanwrite Standard Flex Fountain Pen. First things first, here is the review: Now, like last time, i don't know if this pen is sold by Noodlers (under its brand name) in USA or not. But it looks like a great flex pen.. I have done some research on the pen - it was manufactured by Kanwrite in 2009 and is the companies most compact fountain pen. And its very cheap for a flex pen, and the guy claims it is as good as Noodlers Ahab. Even if it is not, i think it is going to be a great introduction to the world of flex pens. Does anyone own this pen? Is it good? Please share your experience here. I am getting it from the seller and hoping to get a discount on the price and great review by the guy, btw. Kudos to him

Hello Everyone, I don't announce this kind of thing very much, but I wanted to share it with you kind people because this is one of my favorite places to go on the internet, and the FPN community is what makes it so for me. I am coming out with my latest production pens since the Icarus. I am very pleased with how they both are coming out. Those of you who know me personally know that I am not very easily pleased. It's been a long time since I used a pen that felt as comfortable as these. 1: As some of you know, I love wood. I think it's beautiful, has an unsurpassed feel, and makes an excellent construction material for many things, but it poses unique challenges when used for a fountain pen. I've been struggling with that problem for years, but now, I've finally gotten good enough that I can work with tolerances tight enough to make the dream a reality. For years I've wanted an all-wooden pen, and now I have one. Wooden cap, wooden barrel, wooden grip. Hands down, this is the most comfortable pen I've ever made. Wood can stain, and that's been accounted for in the design. When you get your hands on this, I think the pen will disappear into the experience of writing with it. I want to use it all the time, but for the work I do, I often need a clip for my pens. This pen will come with the option to install a functional, designed steel clip. My first release of this pen is just about 8 units, but I'll be making more in the future. They all fill with a simple, reliable aerometric sac. The beauty of an aerometric sac is how easy it is to fill and clean, but the ink capacity (around 2.5ml) isn't as voluminous as you might get with an eyedropper filled pen, so to prevent you from getting caught with an empty pen, some of these will have an ink window. Three, to be exact. 2. The first run you'll have available are made from highly patterned fancypantz german ebonite. The material has a black base color and has green, red or blue ripples in it. The big problem with this material (besides it being very expensive) is that it's so dark that it really doesn't photograph well, and even in person, it's hard to get a clear fix on what's going on with the color pattern. Well, I've solved that problem through faceting. The way the light glints off the sides attracts the eye in a way that's hard to describe. The pen has 12 gently tapered, faceted, painstakingly-finished-by-hand sides on the cap and on the barrel. Ink windows are optional, as are clips with this model. So, I've been talking about how these pens feel while writing. What nibs can you use? Jowo F (more of a "Western fine"/medium; .4-.5mm)Pilot XF (a true extra fine .2mm)Zebra G flex nib units (with my usual, handmade, purpose-designed ebonite feeds)Nemosine .6mm italicAll these pens come with interchangeable nib units, so you can switch nibs within one and the same pen. Just unscrew (or, if you want, just use a simple hex/Allen wrench you probably have at home). These will come out this week. I think "Black Friday" is stupid, but if you want to be the first to know when these pens will be available for sale, please consider signing up for my mailing at the top of this FAQ page here. Price? I can't speak to that right now, but I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on that subject. Please email me at DesiderataPens <<<AT>>> JEE-MALE <<<DOT>>> com., or leave a comment.

I received my Noodler's Flex pen in Apache Tortoise the other day from Pure Pens. Not had a flex pen before and wasn't sure quite what to expect. I'd read here and elsewhere varying opinions of these, some good, some bad - smelly! Though mine actually smells quite pleasant, a rather sweet, heady smell. And mine came with a spare non-flex nib as well. My other concern was the setup as after buying first then reading about them in more depth, they seemed to be problematic to get going with and I was concerned I had wasted my money. I did have a few issues as I have noted in my review but generally it writes well. There is a good setup tutorial here on FPN I found: Noodler's Ahab Beginner Guide and Goulet Pens has some really helpful videos as well. As my written review says - apologies for the awful writing my excuse being it is a flex pen ... - it is quite a different experience writing with it compared to FPs I am used to - Parkers, Lamy, various Chinese pens, etc - and I wasn't sure what to expect or if my experiences are similar to other users, I'd be interested to know what other people's experiences are.

Laying in bed, procrastinating, knowing I ought to be putting my pens and paper into boxes to be packed up for the new house, instead I chose to write out the attached review of the Noodler's Konrad Ebonite flex fountain pen. This is my first review so please be gentle. And remember, my handwriting is lousy but particularly so today because the paper's balanced on my knee, as I'm writing in bed. Having had and lost a couple of fountain pens a couple decades ago, my collection really started with this pen. Aside from a couple of inexpensive Jinhao pens, I didn't have any fountain pens until this Noodler's Konrad. And not knocking the Jinhaos, this was the first pen I bought with the intention of holding onto it, using it, and eventually passing it along to one of my children one day. A very, very long time from now. The ebonite Konrad, in my mind, is refined, elegant, with a restricted, pulled-in beauty. It's not glittery nor dazzling, it's completely unflamboyant, yet entirely gorgeous to me. The Dixie #10 Jade has a medium to dark green- about a Sherwood green, and black ebonite swirled together in a pretty rippled pattern on the barrel. It's got a black blind cap and black section. The section sits about 3/4 cm below the barrel, between which, a clear acrylic window sits, with which one can view the ink swishing around inside the pen. When one has shimmery gold particles swirling about amidst the ink, each time one catches a glimpse of the sparkle, it's a little bit of a day brightener. Even without the glitter, seeing ink ebb and flow across the window is an awesome sight. I guess that's why I like demonstrators so much. That's just not something normal people see everyday - inky pools rollicking about inside their pens. Unless one happens to be a member of The Fountain Pen Network, of course. The black ebonite cap has a silver clip with a little teardrop shaped ball on the end, kinda like if you took the quintessential Parker ball and smooshed it with your finger a little. It's proportioned nicely against the cap and the bottom silver cap ring. Under the blind cap is the knob you twist to fill the pen. Directly below the knob, flush against the distal end of the barrel, is the part where the piston unscrews from the rest of the pen. In theory, the pen can be taken apart and the inner workings of the piston given a full cleaning and lubricating if necessary. (I swear! I've seen it on YouTube so it must be true) But I have not been able to remove it, and am not interested enough to risk scratching my pen to try using more force than just my fingers. Perhaps one day, I'll grab a pair of section pliers from the spark plug aisle of the auto repair store, and give it a go. But cleaning the pen by removing the nib and feed has worked plenty well for me thusfar. And being able to remove the nib and feed is the best thing about the Noodler's Konrad. I am a tinkerer by nature and truly appreciate that Nathan Tardiff, the sole proprietor of Noodler's Inks (and pens) has released this pen with that in mind. The feed, being made of ebonite, can be carved for greater ink flow, heat set against the nib, for optimal flow, and replacement feeds can be easily and inexpensively purchased. The nib is a #6 size, which is also #35 by some manufacturer's nib sizing code, which means there's a plethora of other manufacturer's nibs available for experimenting. So far, I have only put in a dip pen nib, as that's actually what had drawn me back to fountain pens this time around, and it fits a Zebra G nib nicely, and because the feeds are available, I have a dedicated feed for when the pointed pen flex nib is installed, and for most other times, I have the regular #6 nib and regular feed in it. Since the section is also made of ebonite, that can be heated to really tighten down the nib and feed if necessary, but I'd say that's something for more advanced users, unlike playing around with carving the feed- anybody with the will to do it, can do. The only reason being is that replacement feeds are readily available. If the section gets really screwed up, well, that pen owner is also screwed. Speaking of being screwed, the price point does not screw you. It's a fantastic price, especially for a piston fill, especially for an ebonite piston fill. Did I miss anything? It's getting late and I should go pack at least 1 box up before getting up to start my day in ummmm, 2 hours. This accounts for the gradual drop in writing quality in this review, mind. Oh yes, the Konrad Ebonite fountain pen is 140mm capped, about 160mm posted and weighs a total of 18gm with the cap on and about 1/3 filled with ink. The paper used in the review is my favorite, Tomoe River 54gsm, and the wonderful ink is DeAtrementis Pearlescent in Heliogen Green with Gold sparkly bits. In my written review, I flexed the bleep out of the pen so the ink would really gush out for you guys. And in hindsight, I probably should have written in larger letters for that because the broad letters are terrible to read at that size. My apologies, but I did warn you, this is my first review. The second half of the review, I wrote more like I normally do, and the writing is a little bit more legible, if not very pretty. My new year's resolution this year is to improve my handwriting, and god willing, let us hope i don't have to make that same resolution next year, although at this rate, i may have to. Editorializing aside, i think I'm done. And I'll sign off with something I've been telling myself and rarely ever heed (do as i say, not as i do, hmm? Alrighty) ciao Choose your words wisely, because they are powerful and your word matters. EagleLobes Edited for ease of reading and some grammarly stuff

Introduction This is a review of the Desiderata Mercury flex pen. After seeing a couple of photos on FPN about a year ago, I knew I’d be getting one someday. When I saw that only one or two pieces were available on the website and no new products were in the works, I decided now was the time. After just a few days with the pen, I am really happy with it. Hopefully you’ll find this useful if you’ve considered one of these great pens. http://i900.photobucket.com/albums/ac209/jasonchickerson/_FUJ6507.jpg Desiderata Mercury pen, Purple Heart and Cherry woods First Impressions I’m sorry to start off on a low note, but here we are. Customer service and product presentation are definitely the low point in what is ultimately a great buy. Pierre ships once per week on Fridays, which I understood when I made my order. Pierre emailed me a week later stating he was unable to ship my pen until the next Tuesday as he was preparing for a pen show. When Wednesday rolled around, I emailed Pierre for an update. He responded that he was too busy to ship it and would send it as soon as he could. It suffices to say I was not impressed. In the end, it took two delays and 16 days to receive my order, though it was sent Priority 2-Day Mail. When the package arrived I (mostly) forgot about all that, so you’ll forgive the lack of a proper unboxing photo. Product presentation is a divisive subject. Some people like lots of heavy packaging, wrapped in tape and plastic. Personally I don’t see the need for a pricey box I’m going to stick in a closet or throw away. Still, while not necessarily indicative of high quality, great packaging suggests such. My pen arrived unceremoniously wrapped in brown kraft paper. I’m glad Pierre didn’t go overboard with the packaging, but some people might prefer some kind of presentation. Design and Construction What Pierre has done here is to construct a feed/section assembly that makes it possible to use (disposable) calligraphic dip nibs in a fountain pen body. His design works very well, and in normal (slow) flexed writing, performance is very good. Occasional railroading will occur when writing too fast or at the wrong angle. This is not a fault of the pen, however. Calligraphy is meant to be written slowly. http://i900.photobucket.com/albums/ac209/jasonchickerson/_FUJ6512.jpg Desiderata Mercury pen, parts exposed The Desiderata Mercury fills with a simple but effective sac. To fill, one must remove the body from the section, exposing the sac. Depressing the sac to create a vacuum, submerging in ink, then releasing will give a 3/4 fill. Pierre provides instructions via a YouTube link on how to get a complete fill, if that is important to you. The pen holds about 3.0ml of ink. Overall, I find that the relatively crude filling system does not detract from the experience of using the pen. While I would balk at any other pen filling in this way, in a calligraphy-cum-fountain-pen, I find it more than appropriate and actually prefer it over a converter setup. Although Pierre does pens of other materials, the Mercury turned from wood. Mine is Purple Heart and Cherry wood with (I believe) an ebonite feed and section. The quality of the wood is very nice. While the color combination of Purple Heart and Cherry would not be my first pick (it was the only option when I purchased mine), woodwork is well done and the pen is beautiful in its simplicity. If scrutinized, I can see the lathing marks, but for me, this says handmade and not low quality. The wood is well-sealed against staining and the hand-cut feed on my pen looks the part and keeps up with the high flow requirement of the Zebra G nib. The nib/feed fits precisely into the section with high tolerance. As another reviewer pointed out, the major failing of the Mercury is in the finishing. When unscrewing the pen for the first time, the threads between the cap and the body showed fine curls of ebonite left over from the cutting of the threads. This causes resistance when replacing the cap. The same is true of the threads between the section and the body. These could have been easily removed and this finishing would improve the apparent value of the pen. Nibs The Mercury is designed around the Zebra G comic nib, which is a good, solid nib that is well-suited for calligraphy and drawing. The standard nib is chrome-coated and a titanium-coated nib is available. If you are unfamiliar with calligraphy dip nibs, I suggest you buy a few G nibs and a suitable straight holder and see if this is something you are interested in before you purchase a Desiderata pen. The experience is very different from using a standard, modern fountain pen nib or even a vintage super flex nib. Fountain pen nibs, even those capable of a great deal of flex, are much, much smoother than writing with a true calligraphy nib. The Zebra G, like all other nibs of this type, will seem very scratchy to the uninitiated. Some tinkering with the nib/feed assembly and insertion depth may be required before you get the perfect flow for flexed writing. The pen is compatible with a number of other nibs, including the Goulet, Pilot and Nemosine nibs. I purchased a Nemosine Broad nib with my pen and it wrote a very wet line when tested with a notably dry ink, Rohrer und Klingner’s Scabiosa. http://i900.photobucket.com/albums/ac209/jasonchickerson/_FUJ6514%20copy.jpg Desiderata Mercury pen with titanium Zebra G (left) and Nemosine broad (right) nibs Cost and Availability I purchased my pen at www.desideratapens.com. Pierre is a one-man show and his website is the only place you can get his pens. My pen cost $100 and was a “second.” The regular price for these pens is $120. That is, when you can get one. Like any hand-made item, manufacturing is slow and these sell out fast. Ask Pierre when he’ll be making new pens and he’ll happily point you to his extensive FAQ, which basically states, “who knows.” At the time of this writing, there are no pens available. However, you can sign up for the mailing list if you want to be apprised of new stock availability in the future. http://i900.photobucket.com/albums/ac209/jasonchickerson/_FUJ6519.jpg Copperplate sample with Rohrer and Klingner Scabiosa ink Conclusion Aside from initial hiccups with the ordering process, I’m very impressed. The pen does exactly what it is supposed to do, which is provide a dip-free calligraphy experience. This will not be a pen for everybody, or even for most people. It is finicky, requiring a precise positioning of nib/feed for proper flow, and I’m not sure I’d trust it in my pocket. But for carrying in a bag to the coffee shop for a little copperplate practice, I could not be happier. http://i900.photobucket.com/albums/ac209/jasonchickerson/_FUJ6520-1.jpg Get Well Card, drawn with Desiderata Mercury pen, Parker Quink Black and Iroshizuku Chiku-rin inks on Original Crown Mill Pure Cotton paper

I just bought the last available Desiderata Mercury flex pen. It's purple heart and cherry wood, not my ideal combination, but I didn't want to miss out on owning of these beauties. I also threw in a tin-coated zebra G and Nemosine B nibs. There is very little on FPN about these pens. What should I know? BTW, I've been using a dip pen for the past month or so, just long enough to know it's something I want to pursue. My other pens are a Lamy 2000 EF/F, a Conklin Crescent-Filler 25 and a soon-to-arrive (hopefully) Sheaffer Balance .40 stub.

I'm selling affordable, high performance, "modern vintage" flex fountain pens. Designed, engineered and handmade with American labor in the USA. The website is here: www.DesiderataPens.com Please check it out!

This isn't really a formal review, just a few minutes of video where I play around with this PHENOMENAL new ink. If this stuff doesn't change your life (once you can get your hands on it; this stuff is as hard to come by as asparagus during christmastime), you need a therapist. It's AMAZING. It's like, "why use any other ink?"

I heard about "Flex Pens" often. What exactly is a flex pen? Thank you in advance, William S. Park P.S. I'm really bad at pen vocab.