Noodler's Ahab Or Konrad?

March 7, 2016

Have a number of Ahabs, several Konrads, vegetal, ebonite, and acrylic. Not much difference in performance, all required a bit of finessing to get to where I wanted them. But the final product is well worth the effort. The Ahabs have a faster flow and work out better if you are going for flex, in general. The Konrads work well with replacement No. 6 nibs -- be they from Goulet, Nemosine, Knox, or Conklin. Wouldn't try a TWSBI, as they are not standard-sized No. 6's. So do the Ahabs but --- I just prefer the feel of the Konrad.

Perhaps my favorite Konrad is a Noodler's Black Krakatoa Demonstrator with a Nemosine 0.8 italic nib. Keep it filled with Waterman Black and write daily with it. Two of my vegetal Konrads have R & K Scabiosa and Salix in them. Get a good, old-fashioned italic writing out to them, almost calligraphy grade. My acrylic has Montblanc Bourdeaux and the ebonite is filled with Noodler's Walnut.

Just one note: the ebonite and acrylic Konrads are about one-half inch longer than the older vegetal Konrads. Doesn't affect performance, just an interesting little note.

For Ahabs and Konrads, occasional maintenance is needed -- wash out, put a bit of silicon grease on the mechanism and o-rings, reassemble and fill. Goulet pens has the purest grease I have seen, works very well.

Enjoy,

March 8, 2016

Is the goulet nib a flex one as it's the reason why i bought ahab?

No, but Ahabs and Konrads (I think) come standard with a flex nib. You can buy the Noodler's nibs on the cheap too.

I mis-spoke before as i do have a Konrad brush pen. It may just be me but i have had nothing but problems with the filler system on this Konrad whereas i have had no problems with my Ahab filler systems.

The Ahab does come with a flex nib as does the Konrad. Sadly, that is wasted on me as my cursive writing is terrible, therefore i only print.

As several people have pointed out above, i think the biggest difference is the size and shape. Get the one that fits your hand the best.

I've got two brush Konrads and an ebonite one. The brush pens are way more finicky; ebonite has given me no issues at all.

March 8, 2016

No, but Ahabs and Konrads (I think) come standard with a flex nib. You can buy the Noodler's nibs on the cheap too.

I've got two brush Konrads and an ebonite one. The brush pens are way more finicky; ebonite has given me no issues at all.

For the brush Konrads is it the flow that is more finicky or the piston mechanism? I have problems with my piston.

March 8, 2016

For the brush Konrads is it the flow that is more finicky or the piston mechanism? I have problems with my piston.

Flow for me. If the nib is not set just right then the ink literally drips out. No problems with the piston except that it's not as smooth as other pens even with a bit of silicone.

March 8, 2016

Ebonite? The online shop i visited doesn't have ebonite, i think. ..didn't even know it exists

Try looking under hard rubber. It's a slightly larger, and rather more expensive, model that was originally released as a limited edition and gets trotted out more or less regularly now. It definitely smells better than the normal Konrads and obviously looks an awful lot better, but sadly, it doesn't work any better. Mine has an inadequetely sealed viewing window, so it can do the neat trick of covering my hand with ink leaking from the barrel, while none comes out of the nib because the inner cap isn't airtight enough to stop that from drying out in an hour or two. It's a shame, as it's a nice looking pen with a good feel in the hand, but sadly it's pretty shoddy as a writing implement.

March 8, 2016

Try looking under hard rubber. It's a slightly larger, and rather more expensive, model that was originally released as a limited edition and gets trotted out more or less regularly now. It definitely smells better than the normal Konrads and obviously looks an awful lot better, but sadly, it doesn't work any better. Mine has an inadequetely sealed viewing window, so it can do the neat trick of covering my hand with ink leaking from the barrel, while none comes out of the nib because the inner cap isn't airtight enough to stop that from drying out in an hour or two. It's a shame, as it's a nice looking pen with a good feel in the hand, but sadly it's pretty shoddy as a writing implement.

Sorry to hear about your bad leakage experiences with the Konrads. I've gotten all of my ebonite konrads from either Fountain pen Hospital, or the Goulets, and among the 8 or 9 of these that I own, I didn't experience the leaking issue on eve a single one. I've gotten several acryllic Konrads from the Andersons, and no leaking on those either.

The piston travels poorly on some of them, kind of feeling like the parts are not a good fit for eachother and are not meant to work harmoniously. But other than that, I've had no other complaints with those. Ebonite is a gorgeous material so that's a definite plus for me.

From where did you get your ebonite konrad (if you don't mind my asking).

March 8, 2016

I got the pen from the Goulets, myself. If the more recent ebonites are more carefully finished (or checked before going out to be sold), it could just be down to this being one of the earlier ones. I'd certainly hope they've improved a bit since.

March 11, 2016

Have a number of Ahabs, several Konrads, vegetal, ebonite, and acrylic. Not much difference in performance, all required a bit of finessing to get to where I wanted them. But the final product is well worth the effort. The Ahabs have a faster flow and work out better if you are going for flex, in general. The Konrads work well with replacement No. 6 nibs -- be they from Goulet, Nemosine, Knox, or Conklin. Wouldn't try a TWSBI, as they are not standard-sized No. 6's. So do the Ahabs but --- I just prefer the feel of the Konrad.

Perhaps my favorite Konrad is a Noodler's Black Krakatoa Demonstrator with a Nemosine 0.8 italic nib. Keep it filled with Waterman Black and write daily with it. Two of my vegetal Konrads have R & K Scabiosa and Salix in them. Get a good, old-fashioned italic writing out to them, almost calligraphy grade. My acrylic has Montblanc Bourdeaux and the ebonite is filled with Noodler's Walnut.

Just one note: the ebonite and acrylic Konrads are about one-half inch longer than the older vegetal Konrads. Doesn't affect performance, just an interesting little note.

For Ahabs and Konrads, occasional maintenance is needed -- wash out, put a bit of silicon grease on the mechanism and o-rings, reassemble and fill. Goulet pens has the purest grease I have seen, works very well.

Enjoy,

Thank you for the information i got! You're very helpful!

March 11, 2016

Hi all! As i said i have decided to purchase Ahab and then soon the Konrad. My Ahab just arrived today! I put all parts into a soapy water for about 15 minutes and assembled it together again.

I haven't had any problem with getting it to write, pushing the filler up and down and i also haven't had a problem yet with the ink flow. I'm very happy with it and will definitely buy other colors (i bought the black one) and also the Konrad!

Thank you for the replies and the information i got and wish you all a good weekend!

Edited March 11, 2016 by Schadenfreude