Noodler's Ahab Flex Pen

[breaker]

excellent review and pics!

thanks!

[JimB]

Whatever it smells like - I really like it. I like the tool box analogy. So old motor oil, burnt transmission fluids, axle grease, and dirt. Just perfect.

+1 with liking the smell. But it has a sweet factor to it. Like Play Doh candy, maybe. I don't get the motor oil or metal smell at all. Maybe different colors smell different. I have a Demo and an Ivory Darkness.

[equill]

Dagnabbit! I've been perfectly happy with my Italix Original for months now, only just recently started writing in a more cursive style, and now I run across this post.

So, two black Ahabs are on their way to me as of tonight - one for me, and one for my partner. She's been talking about trying fountain-pens again for a while...

 

If nothing else, I can't help but want to support an initiative to get quality, user-serviceable equipment into the hands of the masses at a reasonable price. And this has a flex-nib that starts at extra-fine, and costs little more than I pay for a clutch pencil! How can you miss?

[Soundsider]

Hey you guys, what could be causing this:

 

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f226/Caifanito/02012012230.jpg

 

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f226/Caifanito/02012012229.jpg

 

 

I was using my blue ahab as usual and when I was drawing a line across some numbers I saw this SPRAY of ink....i really never had this happen before so I was surpriced. It happens mainly when I draw long lines across the page (and because of that I usually put a tad more pressure on the nib). The pictures show two lines, but the "spray" happened on the first horizonal line, I tried to reproduce the spray with the second line but didn't happen. All I've done on the Ahab is clean with JB penflush about two weeks ago. Is this normal?

It happens sometimes when you're flexing the pen and the sharp inside edge of the nib tine catches the paper like the toe pick on an ice skate and skitters across just enough to shake free a little spray (or drop) of ink and fling it as the time springs back. Mine usually happen when I'm finishing a loop or flourish with just a bit too much downforce and get a little spray as the angle hits just so.

 

/Soundsider

[robofkent]

Just sitting here reading this thread and getting high on the smell of my Ahabs!

[Drone]

Hey you guys, what could be causing this:

 

I have no idea what could be causing that spray effect - looks kind of cool though.

 

Just thank your luck stars ANY ink comes out of your Ahab!

[fncll]

The manufacturing quality control does seem a bit spotty. I have two Ahabs. The first wrote great right out of the box with only my normal rinse and nib flossing. It's one of the best writers I have (I have no expensive flex nibbed pens, but it is reasonably flexible for me) and one of the wettest.

 

The second had to be disassembled and cleaned, including the feed, before it worked well!

[robofkent]

Having watched some videos on Youtube and liked the Noodler's Ink page on Facebook, I now realise that there is only one person, Nathan behind this company and that makes me like the pens even more. The fact that one person is working so hard on our behalf is very humbling and he deserves our support. I already have 2 Ahabs and with a bit of cleaning, they are excellent writers and I have just ordered some more.

[P.A.R.]

Having watched some videos on Youtube and liked the Noodler's Ink page on Facebook, I now realise that there is only one person, Nathan behind this company and that makes me like the pens even more. The fact that one person is working so hard on our behalf is very humbling and he deserves our support. I already have 2 Ahabs and with a bit of cleaning, they are excellent writers and I have just ordered some more.

Yep.

 

I just got a bunch of gift money at my Eagle Scout Court of Honor, and decided to spend about fifty bucks on stuff and put the rest in savings. I've been wanting a Medieval Lapis Ahab for a while since they're so pretty looking (and blue, my favorite color) so I ordered one this morning. I've also been wanting to get one of the Noodler's Konrad Rollerballs, since they look pretty nice and are reportedly pretty good (also got 8 replacement tips.)

 

The Goulets only have about 15 of those Konrads left! Glad I got mine.

Edited April 8, 2012 by P.A.R.

[robofkent]

Having watched some videos on Youtube and liked the Noodler's Ink page on Facebook, I now realise that there is only one person, Nathan behind this company and that makes me like the pens even more. The fact that one person is working so hard on our behalf is very humbling and he deserves our support. I already have 2 Ahabs and with a bit of cleaning, they are excellent writers and I have just ordered some more.

Yep.

 

I just got a bunch of gift money at my Eagle Scout Court of Honor, and decided to spend about fifty bucks on stuff and put the rest in savings. I've been wanting a Medieval Lapis Ahab for a while since they're so pretty looking (and blue, my favorite color) so I ordered one this morning. I've also been wanting to get one of the Noodler's Konrad Rollerballs, since they look pretty nice and are reportedly pretty good (also got 8 replacement tips.)

 

That's great. Congrats. I would have really liked one of the Honey coloured Ahabs but I was too late! I currently have a mandarin yellow (very striking) and a clear demonstrator (as I wanted to see the mechanism). Today I went a little loopy and ordered a December 25th, Arizona, Black and a Pumpkin....which means I will shortly have 6.

[robofkent]

Here is my small collection of Noodler's flex pens - 2 Ahabs and a Flex. I have a further 4 Ahabs and a Flex on order though!

[tdeecy]

I filled my new Ahab with Diamine Chocolate Brown and sat down to write my journal. After a few desultory railroad tracks, nothing. Zero. Nada. Ran the nib and feed under the hot water tap for a minute; Nichts!

Pretty disappointing. Now it's full of brown ink and I have to clean it. so tomorrow I'll empty it and soak the guts in water fortified with ammonia and dish washing liquid (cuts grease). I think, given what I read in this thread, that I'll soak it for a day or more. If the plastic gets destroyed, so be it. I'll chuck it at the dart board. No lesson is ever free. It's kind of a clumsy pen anyway. Can't even post it. Makes me think that pen design ought to be left to pen designers, and oh yeah, that cheap is expensive.

My Parkers, idle for thirty years, are writing like gang-busters with cartridges of blue-black Quink. In fact they feed a little too energetically - they skate around on the page like ice skates. Makes my handwriting even worse, if that is possible.

If a modest cleaning doesn't help - I won't go through the rigamarole that one of the posters in this thread did - then I will chuck it. It sort of stinks anyway. Chalk it up to live and learn. And don't buy Chinese pens.

 

Cheers!

 

TC/

Edited April 12, 2012 by tdeecy

[fncll]

If you do decide to chuck it, send it to me. I'll even pay postage. Both of mine work great with nothing more than the usual rinse and floss. But it is clear that quality control is a problem...

[Phormio]

I just jumped on the Ahab bandwagon. Today a clear demo hit my mail.

 

The first thing I did was to change the O-ring. No problems, greased, assembled.

 

Then I did an overkill flushing - I took it apart, cleaning every single part with dish soap/water solution and then clear water; then I washed the nib and feed with soapy water using a toothbrush - multiple times. The feed was literally full of ebonite pieces. As I said, I paid extra attention to the feed, cleaning the fins and the channels with a hard toothbrush.

 

Then I assembled the pen and flushed it with soapy water using the piston. Then flushed again with clear water, disassembled the whole thing, dried with paper towels AND let to dry completely.

 

The whole process until I left it alone took an hour or so.

 

 

I assembled the pen again when dry and inked with Herbin Vert Empire. So far, it railroads a lot when flexed. The ink can get to the tip alright, but the flow is too slow. I tried various feed positions, and now I have the 9-fins-visible configuration. Still problems with flow. Readjusted several times, no help.

 

I'm letting it settle overnight, and if nothing helps, I'm taking it apart again tomorrow to repeat the cleaning process, and possibly running the blunt side of an xacto knife through the feed to be sure there's nothing left there. Do you have any better ideas what to do with it when the flow won't be satisfactory?

 

Oh, one more thing - I noticed that the tip of the feed is a bit asymmetrical. I mean, the tip of the feed is not centered with the central "edge" that comes down from the end of the bottom channel to the tip. So when aligning the feed, I can either position the whole feed in line with the nib (and have the tip leaning on one side), or align the tip of the feed with the nib, having the whole feed twisted a bit. What's more important when adjusting, the position of the whole feed, or of the tip itself? I guess this irregularity is not that significant and is just a result of the feeds being handmade, but I want to be sure...

 

Thanks!

 

I just got my Ahab and I am suffering similar issues. Mine feels a bit dry, and I can get it to railroad fairly easily. Tonight I am going to flush it again, possibly adjust the feed fins and re-align the feed to the nib to see if that helps. Given that I am trying it with Waterman's Florida Blue and given the feedback here, I think it is definitely a pen issue and not anink issue.

[P.A.R.]

I just jumped on the Ahab bandwagon. Today a clear demo hit my mail.

 

The first thing I did was to change the O-ring. No problems, greased, assembled.

 

Then I did an overkill flushing - I took it apart, cleaning every single part with dish soap/water solution and then clear water; then I washed the nib and feed with soapy water using a toothbrush - multiple times. The feed was literally full of ebonite pieces. As I said, I paid extra attention to the feed, cleaning the fins and the channels with a hard toothbrush.

 

Then I assembled the pen and flushed it with soapy water using the piston. Then flushed again with clear water, disassembled the whole thing, dried with paper towels AND let to dry completely.

 

The whole process until I left it alone took an hour or so.

 

 

I assembled the pen again when dry and inked with Herbin Vert Empire. So far, it railroads a lot when flexed. The ink can get to the tip alright, but the flow is too slow. I tried various feed positions, and now I have the 9-fins-visible configuration. Still problems with flow. Readjusted several times, no help.

 

I'm letting it settle overnight, and if nothing helps, I'm taking it apart again tomorrow to repeat the cleaning process, and possibly running the blunt side of an xacto knife through the feed to be sure there's nothing left there. Do you have any better ideas what to do with it when the flow won't be satisfactory?

 

Oh, one more thing - I noticed that the tip of the feed is a bit asymmetrical. I mean, the tip of the feed is not centered with the central "edge" that comes down from the end of the bottom channel to the tip. So when aligning the feed, I can either position the whole feed in line with the nib (and have the tip leaning on one side), or align the tip of the feed with the nib, having the whole feed twisted a bit. What's more important when adjusting, the position of the whole feed, or of the tip itself? I guess this irregularity is not that significant and is just a result of the feeds being handmade, but I want to be sure...

 

Thanks!

 

I just got my Ahab and I am suffering similar issues. Mine feels a bit dry, and I can get it to railroad fairly easily. Tonight I am going to flush it again, possibly adjust the feed fins and re-align the feed to the nib to see if that helps. Given that I am trying it with Waterman's Florida Blue and given the feedback here, I think it is definitely a pen issue and not anink issue.

To both of you: don't forget that you can cut a couple of feed channels to get a nice wet writing Ahab. With three channels cut, I've had trouble getting it to railroad.

Edited April 13, 2012 by P.A.R.

[fncll]

To both of you: don't forget that you can cut a couple of feed channels to get a nice wet writing Ahab. With three channels cut, I've had trouble getting it to railroad.

 

Wow... if I cut more channels in my Ahab's feed I'd have to write the way Jackson Pollock used to paint!

[danahn17]

I filled my new Ahab with Diamine Chocolate Brown and sat down to write my journal. After a few desultory railroad tracks, nothing. Zero. Nada. Ran the nib and feed under the hot water tap for a minute; Nichts!

Pretty disappointing. Now it's full of brown ink and I have to clean it. so tomorrow I'll empty it and soak the guts in water fortified with ammonia and dish washing liquid (cuts grease). I think, given what I read in this thread, that I'll soak it for a day or more. If the plastic gets destroyed, so be it. I'll chuck it at the dart board. No lesson is ever free. It's kind of a clumsy pen anyway. Can't even post it. Makes me think that pen design ought to be left to pen designers, and oh yeah, that cheap is expensive.

My Parkers, idle for thirty years, are writing like gang-busters with cartridges of blue-black Quink. In fact they feed a little too energetically - they skate around on the page like ice skates. Makes my handwriting even worse, if that is possible.

If a modest cleaning doesn't help - I won't go through the rigamarole that one of the posters in this thread did - then I will chuck it. It sort of stinks anyway. Chalk it up to live and learn. And don't buy Chinese pens.

 

Cheers!

 

TC/

 

There was also a thread about lighting the nib briefly with a cigarette lighter to burn off any residual oils. Might be worth a shot if all else fails.

[Drone]

I filled my new Ahab with Diamine Chocolate Brown and sat down to write my journal. After a few desultory railroad tracks, nothing. Zero. Nada. Ran the nib and feed under the hot water tap for a minute; Nichts!

Pretty disappointing. Now it's full of brown ink and I have to clean it. so tomorrow I'll empty it and soak the guts in water fortified with ammonia and dish washing liquid (cuts grease). I think, given what I read in this thread, that I'll soak it for a day or more. If the plastic gets destroyed, so be it. I'll chuck it at the dart board. No lesson is ever free. It's kind of a clumsy pen anyway. Can't even post it. Makes me think that pen design ought to be left to pen designers, and oh yeah, that cheap is expensive.

My Parkers, idle for thirty years, are writing like gang-busters with cartridges of blue-black Quink. In fact they feed a little too energetically - they skate around on the page like ice skates. Makes my handwriting even worse, if that is possible.

If a modest cleaning doesn't help - I won't go through the rigamarole that one of the posters in this thread did - then I will chuck it. It sort of stinks anyway. Chalk it up to live and learn. And don't buy Chinese pens.

 

Cheers!

 

TC/

 

There was also a thread about lighting the nib briefly with a cigarette lighter to burn off any residual oils. Might be worth a shot if all else fails.

 

I have the same problems with my Ahab. I cut rib channels, ran the Xacto down the main channel, tried seating the feed all the way up the nib, re-aligned the feed with the slit, cleaned, cleaned , cleaned - scrubbed - ultrasonic again and again. Ahab will still not flow properly.

 

I think putting a flame to the nib may melt the feed a bit allowing it to seat against the nib as it should from the factory. Tried that - no change.

 

Nice pen - if it would only write :-(

 

I wish you could by spare nib/feed sets for this pen instead of having to buy a whole new pen to start over - what a waste.

 

I've worked on my share of pens over the years. I've never seen one so hard to fix.

[P.A.R.]

I wish you could by spare nib/feed sets for this pen instead of having to buy a whole new pen to start over - what a waste.

I can't help you with the feeds, but see the thread linked in my signature regarding alternative nibs.

 

Or, if you're tired of it, I can't get enough of these pens

Edited April 13, 2012 by P.A.R.

[Drone]

I wish you could by spare nib/feed sets for this pen instead of having to buy a whole new pen to start over - what a waste.

I can't help you with the feeds, but see the thread linked in my signature regarding alternative nibs.

 

Or, if you're tired of it, I can't get enough of these pens

Thank P.A.R., it was kind of you to point out the link to the interesting post on alternate nibs for the Ahab. However, one of the attractions of the Ahab is the semi-flex nib. Also, I'm beginning to think there's something else wrong with my Ahab. Perhaps the way the nib and feed sit in the section. I'll keep at it; but I'm running out of ideas.