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To followers of Ahab threads, Over the past two days, I have turned two unusable dogs into excellent writers. Because I did three things, I can't say that all three are essential, but two of the three definitely are. However, it has raised a question I would love to kick around with you. Here is what I did, which all came from advice from Drone and Brian Goulet: 1. Cleaned the channel with the BACK, not the blade, of an Exacto knife. 2. Cleaned the entire feed with a grease cutting dish soap (blue Dawn). 3. Heat set the nib (thanks to Brian Goulet for his excellent how-to video). 4. Tested with a well behaved ink (Waterman Mysterious Blue). I've actually done three, but I have not yet inked up the third. The first two write perfectly. One has the Ahab stock nib, the other has a Goulet nib. Here is my issue: The Goulet nib is a #6 nail, but is beautiful to look at. The stock Ahab nib is at best plain, possibly ugly as sin. The Goulet also has a hole in it which allows using a straightened paper clip to make sure the slit in the nib is perfectly aligned with the channel. The Ahab nib does not. The Ahab with the Goulet nib went from a $20 waste of money to a $35 dollar pen that writes perfectly and is stunning to look at. But it is not a flex nib. But is the Ahab a flex nib? Yes, you can flex it, but it takes plenty of pressure to get real line variation. My best pen has a JinHo semi- flex Binderized nib, and it is far more flexible that the Ahab nib. The experience of using the Ahab nib is far closer to writing with a nail, unless you really bear down to get some flex. So, is the Ahab nib a flex nib, or is it an nib that can be flexed, given enough effort? The Ahab I have not yet inked in now set up with the stock nib. I'll probably try it that way first. The second Ahab I did is not particularly beautiful, and I'll leave the stock nib in it. But I am seriously thinking about that third Ahab, which is also gorgeous, topping it off with another Goulet nib I have, and giving up the ability to flex it in favor of a truly striking pen that really performs. So I'm curious about other's opinions on the designation of the Ahab as a flex pen. To me, that means I should get a bit of flex as I write, not have to decide "now I want it to flex" and bear down to make it do so. So what say you? Is "flex pen" an apt description of the Ahab, or a bit of a stretch? Ben