Noodler's Ahab Setup For Beginners

[thesolaris]

Thanks for the excellent post. This solved my problem with my Ahab. Now writing perfect!

[GimbalLocker]

Excellent post. As with many others here, this has cleared up my issues with the Ahab. I was really excited to get this pen, and when it was new it was terribly stingy with the ink when writing normally, unless I flexed it. After opening a couple more vents, and seeing that Indeed my feed was asymmetrical, I lined it up properly and it now writes like a champ. I almost gave up on this pen, and now it is a joy to use. Thank you.

[Thier.]

I've just ordered mine .......

 

In a few weeks, I'll try to enhance his quality reading this topic ......

 

[rlaska]

I'm having a problem with false starts.

I got my Ahab a couple days ago, and the first thing I did was pump distilled water through it many times with the piston. It wrote very dry, and had tons of false starts.

After reading the guide here, I disassembled it, washed off the section under a running faucet, and put it back together.

Now it writes much wetter, and railroads far less, but I still get false starts.

I don't just mean a false start when you first uncap it (or leave it out). I mean a false start on nearly. every. word.

I took some notes with it by holding the nib down onto the paper for a second before writing each word.

Obviously, that's not going to fly as my daily driver.

 

Any suggestions? The tines seem decently aligned, but I don't have a true loupe to get a really good look.

 

Thanks!

[lynxcat]

I'm having a problem with false starts.

I got my Ahab a couple days ago, and the first thing I did was pump distilled water through it many times with the piston. It wrote very dry, and had tons of false starts.

After reading the guide here, I disassembled it, washed off the section under a running faucet, and put it back together.

Now it writes much wetter, and railroads far less, but I still get false starts.

I don't just mean a false start when you first uncap it (or leave it out). I mean a false start on nearly. every. word.

I took some notes with it by holding the nib down onto the paper for a second before writing each word.

Obviously, that's not going to fly as my daily driver.

 

Any suggestions? The tines seem decently aligned, but I don't have a true loupe to get a really good look.

 

firstly, i'll have to suggest that you really can't tell very much about tine alignment without a loupe. the detail involved there is too fine for most everyone's unaided eye to grasp, i'm afraid.

 

secondly, the flow changing after you disassembled and reassembled it seems like a hint at something you may have changed in that process; namely, how much of the nib's underside is covered by the feed. the nib is mounted into the section at a fairly fixed position, it's supposed to be shoved in about as far back as it'll go, but the feed is adjustable --- you can mount it a bit further in or out, as appropriate, and the exact mounting will influence how much ink it provides to the nib. try pulling it out a millimetre or a fraction of one further?

 

thirdly, the shape of the feed might not be a very good match to the curve of the nib's underside, making bad contact and so feeding badly. this can be helped by heat-setting the feed to the nib, and there are excellent instructional videos you can find to show you how this is done. since the process is reversible, it's worth trying.

[TSherbs]

 

**Thirdly, the shape of the feed might not be a very good match to the curve of the nib's underside, making bad contact and so feeding badly. this can be helped by heat-setting the feed to the nib, and there are excellent instructional videos you can find to show you how this is done. since the process is reversible, it's worth trying.**

 

This was the case with my Ahab.

[rlaska]

Thanks so much for the advice, lynxcat and TSherbs.

Can you guys recommend an affordable Loupe, like on amazon or at a nationwide store?

The one that sbrebrown recommends is like $60 -- way too much for this student.

After I do a proper examination of the shape of the nib (I suspect it may be bent in such a way as to create too large a void under the tipping material), I will try the heat setting.

 

Thanks guys!!!

[TSherbs]

I own a 10x loupe with a light (the light is important, I think). You can buy all sorts of loupes for under $20, even under $10, on Amazon with accompanying ratings. The more the magnification, the smaller the focused sweetspot, so be careful how high up in power you go. 10x is enough for me. Others like more. I can't see what I am looking at unless there is strong focused light on the nib, which means I bought one with its own light. You have many options.

[rlaska]

Thanks Antique!

[rlaska]

Hey guys,

 

I got my loupe, and I *think* I see what the problem is.

 

The tipping material has a pretty severe case of what SBREBrown calls "Baby's Bottom" https://youtu.be/l5VOKFXEvL8

 

This is what I was suspecting all along, but I'm not 100% sure of my diagnosis.

 

I was wondering if I should go ahead and try the heat setting, or find some super-fine grit sandpaper and try to sand the bottom of the tip smooth.

[TSherbs]

Heat setting won't cure baby's bottom.

 

I've never heard of a Noodler's nib having baby's bottom, though...But of course, it is possible. Which Noodler's nib is it?

[rlaska]

Whichever came with the Ahab.

I might be misdiagnosing it, but it seems pretty pronounced, compared to other pens I have.

I'll see if I can get a picture of it, but no guarantee... very fidgety thing to do

[wallylynn]

Check alignment again. Lacking a loupe, I look from the left, then from the right. If I can see both tines i bend one of them until I can only see one. No it's not 100% perfect, but the soft nib and my poor grip doesn't need 100%.

Also check the slit. Is the nib slit too narrow? Spread the tines. http://noodlersink.com/adjusting-nibs/

Do the slits line up? Don't match point to point. Match nib slit to feed slit. One of my pens had the feed point off center, I shaved it a bit to line up. Not a functional modification, but a OCD/practical one.

[eharriett]

Resurrecting after seeing if my problem has been answered in an earlier post. Doesn’t look it, but this one is close.

 

My Ahab stopped writing after a bit. Unusual. Still ink in there. I emptied and cleaned it. When I went to refill it, I realized I could no longer suck ink up by drawing it through the piston like before. I checked and I still have a tight seal between the converter and the section. O ring still in place. But I pull on the piston and nothing comes in. When I push, no bubbles come out in the ink.

 

And if I just fill the converter, ink does not travel through the feed.

 

Again, I disassembled and thoroughly cleaned in case there was a blockage.

 

I have nothing. Any ideas?

[wallylynn]

That's very strange. I mean the pen is about as basic as you can get. Can you blow through it?

 

I'm pretty sure you know what you're doing, but could the feed be so utterly and completely clogged that they look like part of the feed and you missed cleaning it? Or a miscut feed that QC didn't catch?

[eharriett]

Well, I definitely can blow through it. And there is only one way the feed and nib can go in. And I know I have it aligned properly. If I can put a vintage Waterman back together I can put this one.

 

As far as being miscut, you have me on that.

[BaronWulfraed]

What happens if you take off the converter, fill it with water, then screw it back onto the pen...

 

And then try to expel the water by pushing the end of the converter in. If there is a leak point, that should reveal it.

 

My first Ahab wouldn't draw ink either -- I had to replace the plunger ring with an o-ring from Ace hardware. (Don't know about QC, but that converter looked like it had been soaked in motor oil and then degreased; it was not a clean looking plastic)

[eharriett]

What happens if you take off the converter, fill it with water, then screw it back onto the pen...

 

And then try to expel the water by pushing the end of the converter in. If there is a leak point, that should reveal it.

 

My first Ahab wouldn't draw ink either -- I had to replace the plunger ring with an o-ring from Ace hardware. (Don't know about QC, but that converter looked like it had been soaked in motor oil and then degreased; it was not a clean looking plastic)

Ooh, two things I have not tried. I shall report back on the first shortly.

 

I can't speak for the second yet, however, I do have several other of his piston converters. I shall swap and see.

[wallylynn]

(Just in case) The feed has the top slit for the ink, and the bottom slit for air. But you said you can blow through it, so I presume ink should flow through the same gaps.

 

you said you filled the converter, ala eyedropper?, but still couldn't write. If the piston had a leak, I'd expect dribbles.

 

This case is very perplexing.

 

As an aside, my piston converter is loose. The opening flared, stretched. It no longer catches all the threads, just the last. The same happened with the non-piston cartridge.

[Cassotto]

Resurrecting after seeing if my problem has been answered in an earlier post. Doesn’t look it, but this one is close.

 

My Ahab stopped writing after a bit. Unusual. Still ink in there. I emptied and cleaned it. When I went to refill it, I realized I could no longer suck ink up by drawing it through the piston like before. I checked and I still have a tight seal between the converter and the section. O ring still in place. But I pull on the piston and nothing comes in. When I push, no bubbles come out in the ink.

 

And if I just fill the converter, ink does not travel through the feed.

 

Again, I disassembled and thoroughly cleaned in case there was a blockage.

 

I have nothing. Any ideas?

How many times did you try? I filled my Ahab yesterday, and when I was wondering whether I had assembled it the wrong way, up came the ink into the converter. It took about ten attempts with the piston to do so.