Noodler's Konrad

[tenney]

At yesterday's pen posse I compared my ebonite Konrad to someone else's cellulose acetate Konrad. What a difference in styles. The ebonite ends are flat on mine, and the pen is maybe a half to 3/4 of an inch longer. They really seem like two very different styles. So, for me, I liked my ebonite Konrad style over the cellulose acetate style.

 

Although, the quality control was not great on mine -- the "Noodler's" name on my clip is so far off center that it's right on the edge almost cut off.

[Belles-lettres]

This review prompted me to order one... a tough choice after the problems I had with the Ahabs (of four, two were prefect from the box and two never wrote properly despite cleaning and nib position tweaking).

 

Golly, this is a great pen. For my hand, the size and balance are nearly perfect. Holds plenty of ink, I like the nib both as flex and just plain fine. Have left on the desk as long as four days with no drying out.

 

It did railroad but a change of ink seemed to remedy the issue. Perhaps it will be found as ink sensitive but thus far, it has been stellar with four of five inks used.

 

Three thumbs up for Nathan on this one. Just make some brighter colors, please!

[tdeecy]

I have a couple of Noodler's pens and I'm now finding that if they are not stored vertically with nib down they won't start unless I dip them, especially after a couple or three days of not using them.

[tenney]

And I have a couple of regular Noodler pens that can be left for a couple of weeks nib sometimes up, an they just write.

[TMac]

My Konrad is really pushing my limits. It is very hard to start. I've flushed 3 times and flossed twice. Immediately after, it's great. Within a few hours it's back to a hard start.

 

Once it starts writing, it is a great pen. Nib has nice flex, it lays down a fine to medium line, no railroading.

 

Not sure what else I should do? Any suggestions?

[USMCMom]

My Konrad is really pushing my limits. It is very hard to start. I've flushed 3 times and flossed twice. Immediately after, it's great. Within a few hours it's back to a hard start.

 

Once it starts writing, it is a great pen. Nib has nice flex, it lays down a fine to medium line, no railroading.

 

Not sure what else I should do? Any suggestions?

 

Did you clean the feed? Sometimes, there's "stuff" left from manufacturing, could be just a tee niney little "thing" left from when it was made. When I got it, I scrubbed mine with an old soft toothbrush (I always do that) and cleaned the pen with a mild soapy solution, then rinsed really really well.

[spiv]

Mine is dripping ink, BSiER and PR Naples Blue, I've had it apart after the initial fill (that was preceded by soapy water then rinse) once and lubed it after a thorough rinse and dry. I was afraid I had left some soap inside causing the issue. It's only been one day though... Maybe after it sits or another cleaning.

[Belles-lettres]

No problems with mine starting after four days laying flat on my desk... did use the pen flush before running any ink through it... railroading seems to be an issue with some papers and not at all with others. Sorry to hear others are having problems.

[JimB]

Similarly, I got my Ebonite Chestnut brown Konrad a week or so ago and also inked up with Pelikan Brown. Before getting the Konrad, I'd shrugged off that brown as not so good. Now I love it. Maybe the flex does it for me.

 

 

Haha I'm just glad we both finally found a pen to make the brown work for us!

 

But I have FOUR pens that are brown!!

[ThirdeYe]

I got my pen on the 14th and inked it yesterday. I'm happy with the fit & finish on it. I flushed it out with a 1/3 ammonia solution as per the instructions, and filled it with J. Herbin Cacao du Bresil. The flow seems good, but mine barely flexes. My first two Noodler's Flex Nib Creapers have much more flex than this nib does. It almost feels barely like a semi-flex, or just a slightly soft regular nib. If I push really hard, it starts to railroad (and that's with enough force to make my hand tired and risk bending the nib). Not too happy with it, but it writes good as a normal pen rather than a flex pen.

[Treecat]

That is a very nice looking pen. Based on looks and comments about them, the Konrad sounds like the best of the Noodler's pens that Nathan has developed so far. I kind of wished I'd held off on buying one of his pre-Ahab flex pens and gotten this instead. I like the tortoise look (and also that red finish, too) and the big ink window. I'm glad it worked well for you straight out of the box. Congratulations on the new addition to the pen drawer.

[P.A.R.]

Treecat: I agree that the Ahab and Konrad are likely the best Noodler's pen offerings to date. I have yet to use the FP, but have a Konrad Rollerball, and if the FP version has the same body with a blind cap and is able to take the Knox nibs, it sounds like a a heck of a pen for the price.

 

If you still have any of your piston flex/nib creapers/aerometric ebonite pens, however, they can be made much more pleasant to use with a Knox K26 nib from xfountainpens.com. I have a broad K26 in my Lapis Inferno piston flex and it works beautifully as my new black ink guzzler. I have to use black ink in a very fun to use pen in order for it to be interesting, and a wet broad nib should drain the three bottles of black I have much faster.

Edited May 16, 2012 by P.A.R.

[ThirdeYe]

I've been using my Konrad Flex Pen more lately and I'm beginning to like it less and less. It's beginning to railroad whenever I flex it, and it's skipping during normal writing. I'm using J. Herbin Cacao du Bresil in it, from a brand new fresh bottle. I've never used the ink before, so I'm not sure if it's the ink or the pen. However, I am very disappointed at the lack of flexibility in my pen.

[P.A.R.]

I've been using my Konrad Flex Pen more lately and I'm beginning to like it less and less. It's beginning to railroad whenever I flex it, and it's skipping during normal writing. I'm using J. Herbin Cacao du Bresil in it, from a brand new fresh bottle. I've never used the ink before, so I'm not sure if it's the ink or the pen. However, I am very disappointed at the lack of flexibility in my pen.

If it's anything like the Ahab, which I would imagine it would be since they have the same feed, you can make it wetter if you have a need for more intensive flexing. You can move the nib and feed out of the section farther, or cut vents on the feed to speed up air-ink exchange. For skipping, you might need to clean the feed using a toothbrush and ammonia or soap.

 

It's supposed to be the same nib as the Ahab - which has been widely reported to *not* be very flexible in comparison to almost any other flex nib.

[tenney]

I'm told that Nathan hand tweaked the ebonites. I'm not sure that's true, but on mine the nib is substantially more out than on another chap's regular Konrad. So, maybe Nathan did that.

[nostalgic]

I've been using my Konrad Flex Pen more lately and I'm beginning to like it less and less. It's beginning to railroad whenever I flex it, and it's skipping during normal writing. I'm using J. Herbin Cacao du Bresil in it, from a brand new fresh bottle. I've never used the ink before, so I'm not sure if it's the ink or the pen. However, I am very disappointed at the lack of flexibility in my pen.

 

Agree with you about the flex, but otherwise I'm liking my Konrad more and more as an everyday pen. Starts every time with good ink flow on various types of paper, and just the right size for my hands. Hasn't skipped yet. Fairly smooth writer and it's a dream to fill.

 

Maybe it's the ink/pen combination. Have used both Iroshizuku Tsuki-yo and R&K Salix iron-gall ink with roughly the same good results. Or it could be the variance between pens that is not unusual in less expensive pens. Maybe yours could be tweaked for better performance.

[ThirdeYe]

I've been using my Konrad Flex Pen more lately and I'm beginning to like it less and less. It's beginning to railroad whenever I flex it, and it's skipping during normal writing. I'm using J. Herbin Cacao du Bresil in it, from a brand new fresh bottle. I've never used the ink before, so I'm not sure if it's the ink or the pen. However, I am very disappointed at the lack of flexibility in my pen.

 

Agree with you about the flex, but otherwise I'm liking my Konrad more and more as an everyday pen. Starts every time with good ink flow on various types of paper, and just the right size for my hands. Hasn't skipped yet. Fairly smooth writer and it's a dream to fill.

 

Maybe it's the ink/pen combination. Have used both Iroshizuku Tsuki-yo and R&K Salix iron-gall ink with roughly the same good results. Or it could be the variance between pens that is not unusual in less expensive pens. Maybe yours could be tweaked for better performance.

 

I'll have to give it a try with a different ink, as it is un-useable with J. Herbin Cacao du Bresil. It skips almost every other letter, and railroads every time I try to flex it.

[breaker]

nice review!

thanks!

[USMCMom]

To date, my Konrad has been inked with Noodler's, Diamine, Waterman and PR. I think I've also inked it them with Callifolio also, but I'm not positive. I've had no skipping or railroading, except when I'm in too big a hurry, which is my fault and one I'm trying to remedy.

[djpyle]

I caved and got one of the Roaring 20's Tortoise Brown Konrads from the Goulets. I'm hoping it's better than my original Flex Nib Creapers. I could hardly use them because of the excessive evaporation. Can't wait!

 

How has this worked for you evaporation wise? I also pretty much stopped using my original Flex because of the disappearing ink, but I'd love to get a Konrad if they don't have the same problem.