Noodler´s Ahab - Ease My Flex Mod

[CloaknDagr]

The Nib Creaper was, as I understand it, designed, amongst other things, to accept vintage #2 nibs. #5s don't fit as far as I can recall, but Kaweco nibs will. A Creaper with a Kaweco Double Broad is pretty good fun if you like your ink to flow!

I like a wet line but I'm not personally familiar with the Kaweco nibs. So I did a search and found them on jetpens.com, along with a product compatibility list. The Kaweco nibs all were the nib and feed integrated as one unit and there was nothing there about using them in or compatibility with a Nib Creaper pen.

 

Where did you get a Kaweco nib that works in a Nib Creaper? Is it a flex nib? Could it be improved by an EMF mod?

[CloaknDagr]

@ dogpoet ...

 

Now I get what you meant by "not being allowed to have your say" btw. My apologies for contradicting you.

[dogpoet]

No worries.

[grainweevil]

I like a wet line but I'm not personally familiar with the Kaweco nibs. So I did a search and found them on jetpens.com, along with a product compatibility list. The Kaweco nibs all were the nib and feed integrated as one unit and there was nothing there about using them in or compatibility with a Nib Creaper pen.

 

Where did you get a Kaweco nib that works in a Nib Creaper? Is it a flex nib? Could it be improved by an EMF mod?

 

You yank the nib (and feed) out of the Kaweco unit (either the one marketed for the Classic Sport etc with the section included or the screw-in unit for the AL-Sport etc) and use the nib with the Creaper's feed. (Retailers are lousy at listing off piste nib uses; they're such sticklers for the rules and warranties and suchlike. ) And it's not a flex nib, I'm afraid. Kaweco nibs are pretty darn firm to the point where it has never even occurred to me to try to make one flex. But it does at least give an option to keep using the Creaper as a pen and not just a decorative stick should the EMF mod go sideways.

[Inky.Fingers]

Adding flex can be lots of fun. Following steel nib designs is the way to go:

 

Speedballs'

 

Smiley

[Pterodactylus]

Inky, interesting, but now we want to,see a writing sample and the nib mounted on a body.

[Inky.Fingers]

This was a PIF that I did. Rach31 is the owner of the nib.

 

 

 

Original PIF:

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/292838-nib-grinding-adding-flex-and-add-ink-flow-for-free/

[thibault]

Finally found a solution for my inconsistent flow problem. It was a combination of heat setting the feed a few times and adding a few drops of water to the ink(parker quink blue black) in the piston . I think the latter will be the most important to help with the surface tension.

[CloaknDagr]

Finally found a solution for my inconsistent flow problem. It was a combination of heat setting the feed a few times and adding a few drops of water to the ink(parker quink blue black) in the piston . I think the latter will be the most important to help with the surface tension.

What kind of water did you use? Tap water or something more esoteric (distilled, de-ionized, filtered, softened, etc.)?

 

I've done the heat setting and my pen is EMF modded. Even with the EMF mod the flex is unimpressive but I'm willing to try dilution in combination with the other efforts. I don't have much of a flow problem though, if I don't get too enthusiastic about writing too much too quick it's not generally an issue. Still, I'd like to try dilution and it would be helpful to know if you've done anything special regarding the water so that I don't make mistakes that have already been made by someone else.

Edited January 13, 2016 by CloaknDagr

[Brooks MT]

Most consistent results with adding water to ink are achieved by useing water with the ions removed, i.e distilled or deionized. Distilled water and deionized water are the same, chemically speaking. The only difference is the method of manufacture: Distilled uses heat: steam rises, leaving behind the ions, so when the steam is condensed, you get water w/o ions. Deionized uses reverse osmosis: dirty water is forced through a permeable membrane; the water molecules are smaller than the salt (ion) molecules, so they pass through, leaving the ions behind. I've heard lots of arguments that distilled is different than deionized. Talk to a chemist, don't take my word for it.

 

Water added to ink actually "thickens it". All commercial inks have surfactants added. These make the ink flow better through the pen, and also help the ink penetrate farther into the paper. So, if you want less flow through your nib, adding water will achieve this - the added water dilutes the surfactants. I will add water if I want the ink to not spread so much in the paper fibers - w/o surfactants, the ink will pool up on the paper surface, rather than spread out. This is useful when I want my thin ink lines to be thinner.

 

Once the ink is tuned to a particular paper, it may not work well with a different paper, though. The interplay of Ink+water+surfactant with the pen and with the paper is a dance. I use my pens to write the monthly checks. When the check company changed their paper slightly, I had to reformulate my inks.

 

Hope this helps

[Inky.Fingers]

[thibault]

What kind of water did you use? Tap water or something more esoteric (distilled, de-ionized, filtered, softened, etc.)?

 

I've done the heat setting and my pen is EMF modded. Even with the EMF mod the flex is unimpressive but I'm willing to try dilution in combination with the other efforts. I don't have much of a flow problem though, if I don't get too enthusiastic about writing too much too quick it's not generally an issue. Still, I'd like to try dilution and it would be helpful to know if you've done anything special regarding the water so that I don't make mistakes that have already been made by someone else.

i just used tap water, nothing fancy. it's only a 20€ pen

[Sailor Kenshin]

Probably OT, but when I first began looking for a flex pen, people in the know told me to GENTLY press the nib against my thumbnail and see whether and how easily the nib flexed. I found one at a pen show that way.

 

Just tested my Ahab and Creaper. Nearly drilled a hole in my thumb.

[dogpoet]

Probably OT, but when I first began looking for a flex pen, people in the know told me to GENTLY press the nib against my thumbnail and see whether and how easily the nib flexed. I found one at a pen show that way.

 

Just tested my Ahab and Creaper. Nearly drilled a hole in my thumb.

 

[cuttlefishinker]

awesome thread, since the ahab and konrad have the same nib i assume the mod is good for either, did anyone mod the feed in anyway? my konrad writes pretty wet, but still rail roaded when flexed too far, so i made myself an over feed from a soda can, just a prototype so far works well. i also want to give this a try, and maybe grind the tip a little smaller

[dogpoet]

Not just major surgery, then, but full-blown heroic surgery.

[CloaknDagr]

Not just major surgery, then, but full-blown heroic surgery.

Dr. Pterodactylus Von Frankenstein's monster, mutated ....

 

It's alive! It's alive!

 

... almost.

Edited January 15, 2016 by CloaknDagr

[Pterodactylus]

 

(Waterman BCHR 12 1/2 ..... Diamine Ancient Copper)

(Serwex MB flex EMF ..... ESS Registrars Blue-Black)

 

Disclaimer:

Just as clarification, the last sentence meant as proverb, not related to specific users.

[CloaknDagr]

awesome thread, since the ahab and konrad have the same nib i assume the mod is good for either, did anyone mod the feed in anyway? my konrad writes pretty wet, but still rail roaded when flexed too far, so i made myself an over feed from a soda can, just a prototype so far works well. i also want to give this a try, and maybe grind the tip a little smaller

 

I've done the whole shebang, including gouging out the feed to allow more ink to flow. The Ahab is still unimpressive as far as I'm concerned and all I have to comment on is an Ahab. I'm not buying a Konrad because it uses the same nib so I don't see any point in being underwhelmed again.

[AeronM]

Hi, I just bought my first Ahab (I already have a Nib Creeper and a Lamy Safari, both for sketching) and now I am trying to learn hand lettering.... I am pretty disappointed in the lack of flex of the Ahab nib, but I was very intrigued by this dremmel fix idea....! I don't have a dremmel, and even if I did, I don't have the confidence yet to tweek this nib... (I am just learning about fountain pens), so, I don't suppose any of you nice people would SELL me an already-tweeked nib? I would be happy to pay for it... I want to do lovely script writing with a nice big fat flex on the downstroke! TIA