Noodler's Piston Filler's secret identity

[fiberdrunk]

 

I don't get the surprise or betrayal factor... did people seriously think that he was hand-pouring the resin, creating clips from scratch, and physically making the pens himself?

 

LOL! Good one! I don't feel betrayed either. The pens work great with his inks, and that's all that matters to me.

 

I love this quote by him, which he wrote in response to a comment to one of his YouTube videos:

 

"The rule is - the ink is the primary product and the pen is the ACCESSORY to the INK. The pen is the tool that gets the ink upon the page... and once that ink is upon the page it can make you immortal if the ink is good enough and what you have drawn or composed memorable enough." –Nathan Tardiff

 

 

That sums it up for me. I like cheap fountain pens, but I'm a connoisseur of permanent inks. The pen is merely the delivery system for me.

 

eta: typos

Edited March 16, 2011 by fiberdrunk

[Inka]

I have at least a half-dozen of the original free Preppy eyedropper pens that came with my Noodler's inks.

I've never much cared for them, even when they didn't dribble ink all over from not being completely filled.

Another issue with the Preppy is the cap, tends to crack with repeated use and that keeps them from staying put.

If having ink blob out onto what you're writing wasn't bad enough, imagine the mess to shirt pockets when the pen barrel pops out of the cap and ink soaks into the fabric!

Don't get me wrong; for a free pen the Preppy was a great deal, worked semi-OK for ink testing since ink trapped in the collector fins was wasted when cleaning the pens for an ink changeover.

The Preppy was easy to maintain, otherwise, as long as you had some silicone grease on-hand for the o-rings and I usually used some food-grade plumbers' silicone found at Home Depot since it was cheaper than those greases marked for fountain pen/ Scuba/ or underwater camera housing applications.

I personally don't care for the Preppy pens, ED or cartridge, no matter where they are made, but considering the reasonable cost of Noodler's inks in general they were still a decent gift-horse!

 

Feelings of betrayal, for a Noodler's branded pen made in India???

Now that I just don't understand, but don't take it personally those of you who feel betrayed as it were.

There are very few places in the U.S. that could manufacture such pens on such a large scale, making them affordable notwithstanding.

I say "Good job, Nathan, thanks again for thinking of us!", for giving us a better pen than the old EDs given out with 4.5oz bottles of certain Noodler's inks too!

The couple of Dollar pens I have, they've never let me down, they've never leaked, and once I figured out how to soften the sealant on the piston assembly for R&R they are now easy for me to take apart/ re-assemble.

The pens I have and have seen that are made in India are usually some of the best [for the money that is] I've ever used.

Now if I could only return all the crappy [um... Preppy] EDs I have in exchange for the newer India-made EDs I'd be thrilled!

 

@ kethiemann:

Thank you for taking the time to investigate this so thoroughly, for the time I know it takes for the photography/ editing/ posting of same.

Good job to you as well as I know how long it takes to do what you've done and that it often goes un-appreciated, just wanted to let you know I [as have others mentioned] appreciate it too!

[El Mocho]

I was similarly disheartened by Carroll Shelby's meddling with the AC Ace, but I got over it.

[amyx231]

i felt betrayed because i thought it was an original design. that's why.

I knew they werent handmade, i thought it was commissioned though, in a factory, from original designs. But he hand-sets the nibs? WOW! I didnt know that. that is so cool! no wonder they are in short supply!

[Spector]

I thought the whole point of the pens were for value, not to have some original design or anything...

[jaqcp]

I always thought he whittled them out of old toothbrush handles while he sat by the fire in the cabin he built with his own two hands before he was born. I'll never trust Nathan again!

[akrishna59]

friends,

 

anyway it is nice that everyone is aware of the origins of the pen now. the truth will always come out. i can understand the feelings of some friends here when they say they feel a little surprised. but since mr. tardiff has never claimed that it was his manufactured product, perhaps there is nothing much that we need to hold against him.

 

wont it be better that we appreciate mr. tardiff for doing his bit for the expansion of the fp community? after all, from what i know about the gentleman he seems to have done a lot in the fp and ink world.

 

rgds.

 

krishna.

[Rilke]

I thought it was common knowledge that the Noodler's pens were made in India and modeled on Indian models - I don't think betrayal is what anyone should be feeling. Noodler's, at the very least, is making these inexpensive Indian pens easily available in the US without much of a markup. Plus, Nathan's flex-nibbed pens offer a major difference in nib, as does his creaper nib, as do all his little innovations.

 

+1

 

It wasn't a "secret".

 

Well, I'm probably too new to the FP community, but I had no idea it was an Indian model and not Nathan's own creation (like the TWSBI to Speedy's). I thought it was Noodler's attempt at making a pen with a flexible nib, as i've read in previous posts about how Nathan himself set the nibs onto the pens, one by one. I haven't kept up with their previous pens, neither. So, I do feel betrayed in this sense.

 

I think it is great that i can get 14 dollar pen and swap out the nib for almost anything i want. I could care less where it is made. Nathan at Noodlers has never misrepresented his products, and when i received my Noodlers pen in the mail from Goulet pens, it had a piece of paper in the box explaining that the pen is made in India.

[amyx231]

there are different nibs? cool!

i want one even more now!

(i wonder if it will ever be offered as a kit/set, with all the nibs and one or two pen bodies - and maybe spare feeds?)

[Joshua J.]

I am one of those crazy people who wants to know where every dollar goes, and what government I support by buying a product.

 

I guess the Preppy pens are the best value that puts your dollar into a stable country, but I would love to see a collaboration between Noodler's and Bexley. It doesn't need to be a $10 pen, I just want Bexley to start making a piston filler that sells for less than $100.

A dedicated eyedropper would be neat too, and would be even less expensive.

[amyx231]

i just got HoD - yes i admit it was for the pen, mostly. And the ED system is intriguing - but i keep worrying the pen'd break on me. read too many of the horror stories on here, lol.

[tfwall]

I am one of those crazy people who wants to know where every dollar goes, and what government I support by buying a product.

 

I guess the Preppy pens are the best value that puts your dollar into a stable country, but I would love to see a collaboration between Noodler's and Bexley. It doesn't need to be a $10 pen, I just want Bexley to start making a piston filler that sells for less than $100.

A dedicated eyedropper would be neat too, and would be even less expensive.

 

Yes, an American collaboration has been explored in the past. It would be a laudable thing.

 

Two strategic issues currently prevent this:

1.) The founder of the Noodler's Ink company has recently decided that ink is the principal product for the company. Everything else is supporting scaffolding, important but not worth spending significant amounts of time and money on.

2.) On a more personal level, the founder of Noodler's Inks has long been disenchanted with the government and corporate structuring in the US state of Massachusetts. Recently, this has spread to a wider disdain for American government and business.

 

For both these reasons, an all American offering of Noodler's Ink coupled with an American made fountain pen seems unlikely. Certainly distant at best.

[RayOski1]

I am one of those crazy people who wants to know where every dollar goes, and what government I support by buying a product.

 

I guess the Preppy pens are the best value that puts your dollar into a stable country, but I would love to see a collaboration between Noodler's and Bexley. It doesn't need to be a $10 pen, I just want Bexley to start making a piston filler that sells for less than $100.

A dedicated eyedropper would be neat too, and would be even less expensive.

 

Yes, an American collaboration has been explored in the past. It would be a laudable thing.

 

Two strategic issues currently prevent this:

1.) The founder of the Noodler's Ink company has recently decided that ink is the principal product for the company. Everything else is supporting scaffolding, important but not worth spending significant amounts of time and money on.

2.) On a more personal level, the founder of Noodler's Inks has long been disenchanted with the government and corporate structuring in the US state of Massachusetts. Recently, this has spread to a wider disdain for American government and business.

 

For both these reasons, an all American offering of Noodler's Ink coupled with an American made fountain pen seems unlikely. Certainly distant at best.

 

 

+1

 

It is a decent value. While I am a big fan of his bulletproof inks, I would prefer a Lamy Safari any day of the week. And otherwise, I only use Piston fillers.

[SamCapote]

I always thought he whittled them out of old toothbrush handles while he sat by the fire in the cabin he built with his own two hands before he was born. I'll never trust Nathan again!

 

So you are figuring he made them in a previous life, stashed them somewhere--planning to be reincarnated as Nathan? That makes sense, except he must be pretty high on the Karmic Wheel to be able to remember where he stashed them in this current lifetime.

[watch_art]

I always thought he whittled them out of old toothbrush handles while he sat by the fire in the cabin he built with his own two hands before he was born. I'll never trust Nathan again!

 

So you are figuring he made them in a previous life, stashed them somewhere--planning to be reincarnated as Nathan? That makes sense, except he must be pretty high on the Karmic Wheel to be able to remember where he stashed them in this current lifetime.

 

Puh-lease.

 

Everybody knows that he uses his inks to draw giant circles on the floor to have a séance so the inks can travel into the spirit world and find the pens for him. Duh! :roflmho:

[Peninkcillin]

Gosh dang it! I was under the impression that he made them in the US. That's fine though, it is what it is. I still love Nathan.

[PenFan95]

I always thought he whittled them out of old toothbrush handles while he sat by the fire in the cabin he built with his own two hands before he was born. I'll never trust Nathan again!

 

So you are figuring he made them in a previous life, stashed them somewhere--planning to be reincarnated as Nathan? That makes sense, except he must be pretty high on the Karmic Wheel to be able to remember where he stashed them in this current lifetime.

 

Puh-lease.

 

Everybody knows that he uses his inks to draw giant circles on the floor to have a séance so the inks can travel into the spirit world and find the pens for him. Duh! :roflmho:

 

What about how he makes his inks? I thought they were made by him, by creating fresh water compounds, and mixing the dyes up in huge vats! Oh, the betrayal :roflmho:

[Peninkcillin]

Wait, so now you're saying that the inks aren't created in the US??? Seriously, I've always thought that the inks were made locally.

[eds]

Wait, so now you're saying that the inks aren't created in the US??? Seriously, I've always thought that the inks were made locally.

 

The inks are made in the US! The only caveat, and the generally accepted fact, is that they are made by oompa loompas down in his basement. Some even claim the existence of a BSB waterfall!

[PenFan95]

Wait, so now you're saying that the inks aren't created in the US??? Seriously, I've always thought that the inks were made locally.

 

They are...the materials are imported, is all! It's just some fun we're having at the expense of the betrayal thingy

 

Edited to remove typo...

Edited March 25, 2011 by PenFan95