How To Fit A Manga G Nib Into A Noodler's Ahab

[TeaHive]

Oh noes! Sorry to hear about your car (I got mine towed twice in one day in college.. because my herpidy-derpity friend told me it was okay to park in each of these spots, and not knowing any better, I parked there. Let's just say I don't trust anything he says anymore concerning cars and parking.)

 

But I am glad you liked the comparison! It was fun to sit down and test them all against each other. Such fleeexxxxxxx.. I love it. Perhaps a bit too much, hah!

Edited January 11, 2015 by TeaHive

[Miz Black Crow]

I don't think there's such a thing as loving flex too much. If there is, I'm going to stick my head in the sand.

 

The towing issue: The tow was $135, and the ticket was another $95, plus the $30 cab fare to get to the middle-of-nowhere place they actually towed the car to. Plus, the precinct didn't notify the citywide system, so before I called the precinct directly, I thought my car was stolen. Friggin.... grr. I thought they were doing a work stoppage on (bleep) like this.

 

Then again, if I didn't want my car towed, I shouldn't have parked in someone's driveway by accident....

 

Anyway, since I've now been set back the cost of 5 Delrin Daedaluses (Daedali? Pierre, what's the plural of Daedalus?), I have to put on hold my Desiderata Desires and my plan to acquire 4 or 5 nibs for the Safaris. Grrrrrrrrrrrrr.

[PrestoTenebroso]

I'm really REALLY sorry to hear about the towing. That sucks.

Daedalae sounds good to me, but when I'm talking about my own inventory, I call them Daedalus. I make it its own plural.

[TeaHive]

Holy schmoly! At least I'm not the only one who has experienced parking in the wrong place. *virtual shoulder pat* Just think of the flex.. it will make you feel warm and relaxed inside. Possibly filled with yearning.

 

More on topic to the thread (gotta reign it in before we get in trouble), has anyone else tried to hack their Noodler's feed yet? If so, what are your results? Do share! Share ALL THE PHOTOS. I know of one person who did so, through one of the Facebook FPN pages (why there are two, I'm not sure), and was successful. I'm trying to find the post, but there's quite a backlog to scroll through.

[TeaHive]

Ah, here we go. Hope my sharing just the photo is fine. I'm not sure if the person wants their real name (as displayed on Facebook) connected with it or not.

 

https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/p180x540/10858346_798241843547180_7972192539109526051_n.jpg?oh=96ae2abafb9a96bc84fc449672a340aa&oe=5526E851&__gda__=1428405175_6ec6e9cd572af64d1ce7bcfab556cfc4

[Limner]

BRAVO, TeaHive! I'm impressed that you managed to get that Ackerman Atrocity to write at all! Stuck nib, that doesn't surprise me.

 

I'm waiting till I get my Desiderata WoodGlass to do some comparisons as well...it'll look mighty fine with a Titanium nib, 'cause they're golden...

 

And the only tickets I've got are the ones I need to get on public transit (baddabumtish!)

[TeaHive]

Mmm, golden-colored G nibs..

[Miz Black Crow]

Oooooh, shiny hematite! Also SBRE Brown has a video in which he uses a Brause Rose nib on an Ahab, though it seems like your hack was much more successful than his.

 

Personally, I am bereft of dremel, otherwise my Ahabs would all be EMF-modded and possibly feed-hacked. Grr on not having things. Stupid New York apartments being "cozy"....

[TeaHive]

The Brause Rose nib doesn't need a hack per se, you just shove it in there. But I found that it doesn't sit flush with the feed, even after heat-setting, so I wound clear tape tightly around both nib and feed to get it to work. It'll work nicely for a day or two, but it corrodes very quickly. So definitely don't leave the nib in the pen.

 

I actually still have that corroded nib. I should take a picture of that with the corroded Zebra G nib when we get another sunny day.

 

You could probably do this hack with a nail file. The ebonite really isn't that hard to grind. But you'll likely ruin the file in the process, clogging it up with rubber, hah! Sanding paper would work as well. The dremel is just faster. (As in, you can make your grind in 1-2 seconds per side of the feed. >_> )

 

The EMF modification takes a bit longer, the nib being steel and all. And boy, that nib will get HOT if you grind too long between dips in water.

 

Ah, tinkering. <3 I love it.

[Zhooom]

I'd been looking all over the place for a How-To on this, and I finally wound up here. I registered just to give you a huge Thank You! (But I'll certainly look around given Fountain Pens are quickly becoming a hobby of mine.)

 

I purchased a brand new Noodler's Flex Ahab just to try and mount the G nib, since I love the versatility of the Nib but I'm not a big fan of Dip pens. I managed to successfully heat set my Ebonite to fit the Nib (although I didn't know it for sure until I used my Dremel tool to shape the ebonite to fit the Nib). I wasn't sure what to do about the nib still not sitting flat however until I saw your post here -- and I figured I'd give it a try.

 

Long story short, it only took a few minutes with the dremel tool to get the G nib to fit properly - I spent more time recutting some of the shallow fins with a X-acto knife. By cutting just a tiny more material off the back I managed to fit the nib flat - so for me it's working perfectly with no tape, with the friction feed secure yet easy to slide in and out for cleaning / nib replacement. I can upload some pics if desired, but essentially it's what you already have. I did put the nib on top of the ebonite first though and mentally mark exactly where the nib touched as the area to specifically reshape.

 

This was after squeezing the heck out of it trying to get it to get it to fit via heat setting it alone, which didn't work by itself (hey, I thought I might get lucky!), but at least it meant I only had a little grinding and recutting the fins to go before everything worked.

 

While I mainly ink illustrations/comics with a brush, I wanted a pen for areas I needed more accuracy (and easier crosshatching than the brush) and this fit the bill perfectly. As I said, Dip pens aren't my thing - Just too finicky and having to re-ink constantly interrupts my work too much. I've only spent an hour or so with my new G nib fountain pen, but other than some railroading when I draw too fast or too heavy a line (as you already mentioned) it's working perfectly. I'm in Heaven.

 

I'm currently using Noodler's Heart of Darkness ink which works perfectly, although I have a number of other sample inks to try, as well as a bottle of Sailor's Kira-Guro that I use for my Kuretake Sable Hair brush pen. (As far as Waterproof Blacks go that is).

 

I can see myself doing this modification to several Ahab's I'll get in the near future though to hold my favorite inks... one for Noodler's Apache Sunset, Diamine Red Dragon, Pilot Iroshizuku Kon-Peki, etc.

[TeaHive]

Welcome to the Forums!! You'll find lots and lots of useful information here. It's a bit overwhelming sometimes. And everyone is very friendly (and enabling of the addiction hobby).

 

And thank YOU for sharing your experience, and the kind words! Glad my tinkering could help someone out. I too put the nib on top of the feed at first, and used a pencil to lightly mark how far in I wanted to grind the sides. And carving the fins back out definitely takes more time than shaving the sides, haha! But my hacked Ahabs get a lot of use, so the effort is well worth it.

 

Do share some pictures! Everyone loves to oogle and pens, nibs, and ink!!

[Zhooom]

Yup, it was a huge help. There was another post here with a How-To on cutting the feed fins at the top/tip for better ink flow that I had to add as well. There weren't a huge number of skips or stops, but it was enough to be annoying, lol. It works as close to perfect as I could ask for now - other than watching out for a drop of ink if I have to tap it in order to start.

 

I'll take some pics of my setup and post them, hopefully tomorrow. I'll have to dig out my camera and make a handwriting / drawing sample without my inky fingerprints, drips, and smudges on the page! lol

[foureight84]

Thank you for posting this!

 

As someone who recently became addicted to fountain pen, I went a little crazy in a matter of just two weeks. I started with a Lamy Safari, then a Pilot Metropolitan, Pilot Custom Heritage 91, and just a few days ago I came across the Noodler's Ahab.

 

After getting the pen I was really disappointed since the stock nib isn't as flexible as I thought it would be. I have not done any flex writing prior so I really don't have good pen control when it comes to flexing. Coming across this thread was super helpful. I ended up buying the Zebra comic G (chrome version) on Amazon for $6 (10 pack).

 

At first I was going to do the same thing but as I read through the updates I came up with a different idea. I wrapped the nib body in tissue paper up to the side slits near the tines. Took a pair of pliers and squeezed the body to flatten it a bit. I did this about 2 or 3 times with medium pressure (subjective), but checked the fit frequently. I did ruin the first nib because I applied to much pressure in the middle of the body, causing the tines to split. The second one fits perfectly and tines seem fine. When fitting the nib and feed to the pen, it's a really tight squeeze, but the pen loosens up a bit after one or two repeated fittings. Make sure you line up the side slits on the nib with the last slit on the feed. I found that this position maximizes ink flow.

 

I did run dry a few times while flexing, but I found that ink still flows if you turn the nib upside-down. So a trick I found to get the ink flowing again is to write upside-down (draw a line) while you slowly turn the nib back to normal position and apply slight pressure to flex the tines. Flexing at the end really seems to keep the nib wet.

 

 

Here's a writing sample (I don't have experience with flex writing, so it may not look that great):

 

http://i.imgur.com/fyZiNRS.jpg

Edited September 17, 2015 by foureight84

[TeaHive]

Glad to have inspired and helped you! And congrats on finding another method that suits you.

 

Personally, I'd rather alter a feed once than have to alter each nib after one corrodes.

[foureight84]

I'm definitely going to alter the feed this weekend though. There is a slight problem of running dry after writing for a few hours yesterday. I think excessive flex with this method separates the nib away from the feed just enough to stop the ink flow. Altering the feed keeps it snug. I can imagine that it would be easier to friction fit the two pieces to the pen.

[TeaHive]

I'm definitely going to alter the feed this weekend though. There is a slight problem of running dry after writing for a few hours yesterday. I think excessive flex with this method separates the nib away from the feed just enough to stop the ink flow. Altering the feed keeps it snug. I can imagine that it would be easier to friction fit the two pieces to the pen.

 

 

Good to know! Not with the G nib, but a vintage Esterbrook nib--I could never get it to sit flush with the feed, so I tightly wound some clear tape around them both. It worked, but that nib corroded very quickly. For a short term fix for the nib you already altered, you could try winding tape around it like so.

[TeaHive]

Bunch of flexies here, but I modified another Noodler's Ahab (Carniolan Honey) with a G nib. The writing for that pen is done with the dark orange ink, Diamine Autumn Oak.

 

 

The others are a Serwex Flex pen, and a Jinhao 159 with another G nib shoved in it.

[TeaHive]

Decided to see if the modified feed and G nib would fit into an acrylic Konrad. The answer is yes--with some muscle.