Search the Community

Everybody knows that TWSBI 580 is sporting a #5 nib screw unit, so I'm thinking to make it easy by posting pictures of modified ones, maybe a little explanation as well. So, I have a TWSBI 580 AL and my first modification being with an Inoxcrom golden fine nib from a model that looks like a Parker Vector. The second mod is with Schmidt® PRS rollerball cartridge system, using a bit of duct tape and O-ring:

Hello all, i wanted to try a flex nib, so i orderd some Zebra-G nibs and modified them to fit on my Jinhao x450. The writing experience was horrible, but the shading was awesome. Until now i thought extreme shading is just possible with M or B nibs, even with JoWo Stubs i was not happy with the shading. But this Zebra-G Nib taught me a better understanding. Now i know that the writing pressure can make a huge difference, and i CAN get shading on my prefered nib size EF! So I tried to dremel a standard Jinhao nib, but the writing experienc was horrible again, though it flexes xD. (looks like a Stealth Bomber or something ) Finally I orderd a standard #6 Flex Steel nib from FPR and was able to fit it perfectly with some bending and grinding. I dremeled again (EMF-Mod) and grinded the M-Nib to something finer. The writing experience is good now, I`m just not totally happy with my EF-Grind- I have to do more research on this. Getting this much shading feels like a new universe to me. I can now test all my old inks with a new experience and the full color spectrum! (Noodlers Apache Sunset) If you have hints, suggestions or questions you are very welcome

Hi everyone. I searched here at the FPN and didn't come up with anything on the "Uni-Ball Air" rollerball. I just ran across this rollerball while at a book store here in Jakarta, Indonesia (Gunung Agung in Senayan City Mall). This roller is amazing! The flow is incredible while the ball writes like you're on wet ice. The experience is almost fountain-pen like. The black version is fairly saturated. The blue version on the other hand really pops, and even shades a bit. This thing lays down a lot of ink if you let it. So on certain papers expect some feathering and/or show-through. I suggest you take a look at this review to get a feel for this pen. http://clickypost.com/blog/2015/5/14/uni-ball-air-rollerball-pen-new See the Amazon Customer Reviews here: https://www.amazon.com/uni-ball-Rollerball-Point-Assorted-Colors/dp/B00UHJBUF8 In Jakarta, these pens go for 22,500 Rupiah ea. after 10% tax; today that equals $1.55 ea. before the 10% tax, a fair price IMO. But in the U.S., these seem to go up to around $2.50-$3.00 ea. and often come in packs of 3 assorted colors only. In a box of 12 they cost around $2.25 ea. in the U.S. (This high pricing sounds like the work of Sanford, the exclusive U.S./Canada Distributor for Mitsubishi Pencil Company, Japan.) Here's the problem, and my question... AFAIK, these pens are not refillable I want to put FP ink in these pens. And at around $2.50 a pen, these pens being single-use make them more than just ecologically insulting. However, where the barrel meets the section you can easily rotate the parts. Unfortunately, the barrel and section don't unscrew, and I have not been able to pull them apart yet. (Yup, that's one inky disaster just waiting to happen!) I'd like to know if anyone has any experience with this interesting pen, especially if you know some way to open or refill it. This pen is crying out for a modification of some sort.

Last night I spent a ton of time looking for a suitable, inexpensive flex pen. My first stop was, of course, Noodler's Pens, but there were just too many statements about these pens being difficult to flex properly. Coming from a dip pen background I really wanted a flexy pen, and Noodler's just didn't seem to fit the bill. My next stop was Fountain Pen Revolution. I came close to pulling the trigger on a Guru or a #6 flex nib and ebonite feed combo, but the Guru just didn't appeal to me and I wasn't sure if the offered nib and feed would properly fit into any of my pens, so I kept looking. That's when I found internet gold. It seems that several people have successfully managed to pair up Jinhao X450s and X750s with Zebra G nibs. I have a Jinhao X750 and several G nibs, so I was super excited to give it a try. Now, I have attempted to pair a Zebra G with a fountain pen in the past, but with no success (it did not fit into my Monteverde Invincia or my Regal Andrew). With past failures to point to, and several folks unable to make this mod work properly, I was a bit skeptical as to how well this process might work...but I was hopeful. This morning, as I was about to empty and flush my Jinhao X750 I thought of my Aldo Domani two tone. The Aldo Domani was a cheap pen that could be purchased from Office Depot for around $15 or $20, and while it is a nice enough pen, I never really used it much. It has a huge nib and is a fairly wet writer, so I figured that I would give it a try. I didn't particularly want to go through all of the trouble of draining my Jinhao anyway (I actually have it earmarked to receive a 0.8 stub tomorrow, so it works out well this way). I did a quick detour from my desk to my pen storage and grabbed my Aldo Domani, as I had just cleaned out this pen last week I knew that it was good to go. A quick tug on the nib and feed and I was ready to experiment. I carefully mated a Zebra G with the Aldo Domani's feed, mimicking the placement of folks who have successfully paired the Zebra G with a Jinhao. The nib stuck up in the back (which seems to be how it sits in successful pairings with Jinhaos as well), but the feed seemed to conform to the overall shape of the nib. I mentally crossed my fingers and slid the unholy union home. It seems that I had chosen wisely, as there was little difficulty in seating the pairing into the pen. I fiddled with the overall placement, and then dipped my new frankenpen into a bottle of Pelikan 4001 Brilliant black, sucking up ink with a converter. My first concern occurred after I had the pen inked, but not clean. A couple of drops of ink began to fall from the tip. Normally this would mean that the pen was leaking, and I thought that this was an indication of failure. As it turned out, once the pen was cleaned there was no further spillage. I shook the pen a bit to encourage flow, took a deep breath, and began to write. It had worked! I had successfully paired a Zebra G nib with an Aldo Domani fountain pen! I have been playing with the pen for the last hour and have discovered a number of pros and cons to this pairing. In spite of the draw backs, I do consider this experiment to have been a success. I managed to pair a flexible dip pen nib to a fountain pen and found an inexpensive way to get a good, flex pen, but it is not without its issues. I have found that this pen and nib combo eats ink like crazy. I had to advance the converter several times, and went from a full converter of ink to 1/4 full in the space of two A5 pages. I also found that the nib dries out quickly when not in use, even when capped, and can require a couple of shakes to get going. In terms of performance, I discovered that the constant ink flow made the Zebra G nib less able to return from flex to hairline. This last bit is to be expected when using fountain pen ink on a dip pen nib, and may also be a result of my relatively poor penmanship, but it is still worth noting. Some words of caution: dip pen nibs are meant to be disposable. They are used and abused before being tossed away. They have no tipping and are not resistant to corrosion. In other words, they are not meant to be used as permanent or even semi-permanent nibs. If you try this, keep that in mind. I would suggest emptying and flushing the pen at the end of the day to help preserve the nib. Also, if you do try this on your Aldo Domani, or any other fountain pen for that matter, you may end up killing the feed, or the nib, or even the pen. As with any modification, try this at your own risk. Pros: Cons: --Good, easy flex --Eats ink like a starving teenager eats junk food --Easy to pair --Dries out quickly when not in use --Inexpensive --Poor return to hairline --Tons of line variation --Dip pen nibs are not meant to be in constant contact with ink Here are some pictures of the mod (my phone did not want to focus, and the lighting is poor, but you get the idea), as well as a writing sample to show line variation (my broad edge handwriting is pretty good, but my pointed pen handwriting is not. So, please forgive this handwriting. I am a naturally left handed person forced by poor teachers to use my right hand at an early age...and I worked in medicine for many years, but I am working on it):

As someone who has dabbled with modifying watches with after-sale parts--what people often call "modding"--I thought of doing the same to some of my fountain pens that may benefit from a mod or two. I'm unlikely to sell any of my pens for a profit anyway and have a preference for personal touches. The one I picked was a pastel green Esterbrook purse pen. As many have said, the plastic on these are very fragile, and the cap lip on this one was very problematic for me. About 4-5 cracks had appeared and every time I used the pen I was afraid a piece would fall off. Solvent welding did its job, to a point but the cracks would reappear. There was also an unsightly chip that I feared would enlarge into a larger crack. I had used black epoxy paint to fill in cracks for some other pens and so an idea came to me to paint the cap lip with it. I was able to even fill in the gap where the chip had been, after a few layers had dried. It doesn't totally seem out of place, don't you think? It's not a crazy change at all, more like a stabilizing repair, but i'll count it as a mod because it's not part of the original design. Has anyone else done other Esterbrook mods of sorts? I remember seeing a few pens here that have been put together using parts other than Esterbrooks' and they seem really cool. I'm sure it drives the purists nuts but I don't find the term Frankenpen derogatory at all. They are often wonderful unique creations.

Inspired by a post on instagram by fpgeeks (http://instagram.com/p/vbuDA_PvwT/?modal=true) about fitting a Nikko G nib on a TWSBI 540, I decided to try it out with my TWSBI 580. Here are the steps: 1) procure Nikko G nibs Easy enough, just ordered them on ebay and received them in about a week time. 2) fitting the nib on the TWSBI Nikko G nibs are not designed for fountain pens. So, in its origina shape, it will not fit the TWSBI 580. In order to be able to mount it, it is necessary to make the nib shorter and thinner. The picture below (from left to right) shows the original nib, the nib shortened and finally thinned (by grinding). Each square in the background has sides 5 mm long (for reference). http://i722.photobucket.com/albums/ww229/ugopvn/TWSBI%20580%20Superflex/TWBSIFlex2_zps7a0f8379.jpg Shortening the nib is quickly done with a file. What takes a lot of time and patience is the thinning. However, if you persevere, results are very satisfactory as shown below: http://i722.photobucket.com/albums/ww229/ugopvn/TWSBI%20580%20Superflex/TWBSIFlex1_zpse5351be6.jpg Once you manage to fit the Nikko G nib on the TWSBI you have a superflex pen. Railroading is not an issue (unless you want to write real fast) and it is quite enjoyable to use.

Sorry if this has been done to death before, but I did a search and couldn't bring anything up on it. Has anyone tried the custom 823 with the flex mod? I've seen them for sale on ebay and they tend to be the same price as the normal ones. The mod looks like it is the same as that recommended for the Noodler's Ahab, done with a dremel. If anyone has tried it I would appreciate hearing of your experience and possibly some writing samples if possible.