Conklin Duraflex 120Th Anniversary Fountain Pen

[PenChalet]

Just in... The Conklin Duraflex 120th Anniversary Fountain Pen. This is a limited edition pen with only 1898 made. Each pen has been individually numbered on the barrel. Made with a blue and black marbled resin and rose gold trim. Each pen comes in a gift box and a 30ml bottle of Conklin blue fountain pen ink.

 

Edited November 9, 2018 by PenChalet

[Gloucesterman]

Okay, it's your fault! I went and bought another pen (or two)! Even after sleeping on it the answer was till "yes"!

 

Hope I thank you later!

[Honeybadgers]

I wish the nib wasn't absolutely awful. I'd like to hear if and when they decided to start making the nibs from proper metal that won't spring instantaneously.

[Kevan]

That's what I was going to say. It's pretty, but I won't touch any of these Duraflex pens until they fix that nib.

[ErrantSmudge]

The pen is a quite pretty marbled dark blue. You could buy one and swap out the Omniflex nib.

Edited November 11, 2018 by ErrantSmudge

[Gloucesterman]

You people are giving me a lot of "confidence" with my most recent purchase. I have several of the Black LE Duraflex from Goulet that I have had reasonably good success with, so wish me luck here too.

 

I will keep "you" updated when I receive and use the pen. Also, I feel pretty confident that Pen Chalet will make it good if there are any problems.

[TSherbs]

Beautiful pen. But I have no interest in flex nibs.

[ErrantSmudge]

I don't think anyone is casting aspersions on the pen body, but with the nib specifically. I have a Conklin Duragraph pen (same pen, non-flex nib) and I think it's a great value.

 

If you look on these forums you'll find several reports from people who have had problems with the Omniflex nib springing when used well within reasonable range for a flex nib.

 

Pen Chalet gave me excellent customer service when I returned a defective pen to them. I would buy from them in confidence that if a problem arose they would address it to satisfaction.

Edited November 12, 2018 by ErrantSmudge

[BlueJ]

I seem to recall that the modern Conklin pens are compatible with Bock screw-in nib units; can anyone confirm? As Smudge says, at the price of the pen and ink one could certainly afford to swap in a conventional (non-flex steel) nib.

[ErrantSmudge]

I seem to recall that the modern Conklin pens are compatible with Bock screw-in nib units; can anyone confirm? As Smudge says, at the price of the pen and ink one could certainly afford to swap in a conventional (non-flex steel) nib.

 

I don't know if the Conklins take an entire Bock screw-in nib unit, but they will accept Bock nibs - my Duragraph is outfitted with a Bock nib (#6 I think). I'm not sure what parts are supplied by Bock other than the nib itself.

 

Also, you could simply treat the Omniflex nib as if it were a conventional nib, and not flex it.

Edited November 12, 2018 by ErrantSmudge

[Honeybadgers]

You people are giving me a lot of "confidence" with my most recent purchase. I have several of the Black LE Duraflex from Goulet that I have had reasonably good success with, so wish me luck here too.

 

I will keep "you" updated when I receive and use the pen. Also, I feel pretty confident that Pen Chalet will make it good if there are any problems.

 

 

I pulled the duraflex nib and put a normal conklin nib in both of my conklins. The nib is a turd and nothing can be done about it. Don't waste Pen Chalet's time, just drop a few more bucks on a proper #6 nib by conklin (the standard nibs are fine) or JoWo or knox.

[Driften]

I seem to recall that the modern Conklin pens are compatible with Bock screw-in nib units; can anyone confirm? As Smudge says, at the price of the pen and ink one could certainly afford to swap in a conventional (non-flex steel) nib.

 

 

No only Conklin screw in nib units work, but like others have said you can pull the nib and use a Jowo or Bock nib in the Conklin unit.

[Gloucesterman]

Thank you for the advice.

 

The pen is expected either today or tomorrow.

 

I am not looking for "another" Conklin nib for two reasons. First, I think the nib (and furniture) is rose gold and I am looking for the flex nib specifically with the blue pen. If it doesn't work out well, it's going back to Pen Chalet for repair or refund. I have some nice flex pens, including a lovely Waterman 7 and an excellent orange Eclipse.

 

I do appreciate your comment though. BTW, I have several vintage gold nibs (with some flex) which I may or may not think about "transplanting.

 

Will update this thread when I have something worth sharing.

 

 

I pulled the duraflex nib and put a normal conklin nib in both of my conklins. The nib is a turd and nothing can be done about it. Don't waste Pen Chalet's time, just drop a few more bucks on a proper #6 nib by conklin (the standard nibs are fine) or JoWo or knox.

[Gloucesterman]

Well, the pen arrived today just before I left for work. Opened it tonight, when I got home to do an initial check - out!

 

First impression was very positive with the blue acrylic and rose gold furniture. Nice presentation as well - different from the somewhat bland one with the black Duraflex from Goulet. (Quick aside - the presentation of this one was what the other one SHOULD have been - IMHO).

 

Anyway, did a quick dip test using Diamine Sapphire Blue and wrote with it. A little feedback and a little line variation. After loading the (screw-in) converter I wrote a few lines and applied some more pressure. Nothing sprang or disassembled that I experienced. At least not so far!

 

This is NOT anywhere near a vintage flex nib, also imho.Nor did I expet it to be. It offers some line variation and may deliver more with additional use and "loosening up" over time. I may do a more complete review if there seems to be enough interest.

 

One thing additional. One of the reasons that the pen caught my attention was that it reminded me of the blue Aurora Optima "Auraloid(?)" that I owned sometime ago. In hand, the color is not as distinctive or bright although still quite nice. I do expect to put this pen into my somewhat regular rotation to determine its longer term durability and performance. One thing that I may encounter (as I have with my Goulet Duraflex) is that will longer writing periods the converter needs to be advanced to keep the feed "under pressure" and providing the supply of ink needed for extended periods of line variation writing.

 

Unless something happens to change my current positive experience with this pen, it's a Keeper in my pen larder.

[Honeybadgers]

Well, fingers crossed it works out for you!

[Drone]

Well, the pen arrived today just before I left for work. Opened it tonight, when I got home to do an initial check - out!

 

First impression was very positive with the blue acrylic and rose gold furniture. Nice presentation as well - different from the somewhat bland one with the black Duraflex from Goulet. (Quick aside - the presentation of this one was what the other one SHOULD have been - IMHO).

 

Anyway, did a quick dip test using Diamine Sapphire Blue and wrote with it. A little feedback and a little line variation. After loading the (screw-in) converter I wrote a few lines and applied some more pressure. Nothing sprang or disassembled that I experienced. At least not so far!

 

This is NOT anywhere near a vintage flex nib, also imho.Nor did I expet it to be. It offers some line variation and may deliver more with additional use and "loosening up" over time. I may do a more complete review if there seems to be enough interest.

 

One thing additional. One of the reasons that the pen caught my attention was that it reminded me of the blue Aurora Optima "Auraloid(?)" that I owned sometime ago. In hand, the color is not as distinctive or bright although still quite nice. I do expect to put this pen into my somewhat regular rotation to determine its longer term durability and performance. One thing that I may encounter (as I have with my Goulet Duraflex) is that will longer writing periods the converter needs to be advanced to keep the feed "under pressure" and providing the supply of ink needed for extended periods of line variation writing.

 

Unless something happens to change my current positive experience with this pen, it's a Keeper in my pen larder.

 

What's your opinion on this pen when it's posted? I remember hearing this pen posts to the black finial part and as a result it's long and top-heavy. I always write posted and don't like unbalanced pens.

 

I heard Yafa/Conklin swapped over to Bock from JOWO recently. If that's the case there's a good chance the Bock Titanium semi-flex nib will drop into this pen (the nib itself will but probably not the plastic collar). But the Ti nibs are fifty-bucks each and they're a matte gray color. Then there's the question of not enough ink to keep up with the Ti nib when flexed since the feed is plastic.

 

Too bad these "Omni-Flex" nibs came out so bad. All they had to do is copy what Tardif did with the cheap Ahab nibs then make the cut-outs like in the EMF thread here on the FPN

Edited November 15, 2018 by Drone

[Gloucesterman]

 

What's your opinion on this pen when it's posted? I remember hearing this pen posts to the black finial part and as a result it's long and top-heavy. I always write posted and don't like unbalanced pens.

 

I heard Yafa/Conklin swapped over to Bock from JOWO recently. If that's the case there's a good chance the Bock Titanium semi-flex nib will drop into this pen (the nib itself will but probably not the plastic collar). But the Ti nibs are fifty-bucks each and they're a matte gray color. Then there's the question of not enough ink to keep up with the Ti nib when flexed since the feed is plastic.

 

Too bad these "Omni-Flex" nibs came out so bad. All they had to do is copy what Tardif did with the cheap Ahab nibs then make the cut-outs like in the EMF thread here on the FPN

Good question.

 

Personally, I don't usually post a pen like this so I just did to determine how it felt. Yes, it feels top heavy and I would not post it myself.

 

Re: the Bock/Jowo issue, I have no knowledge of it. AND as for the titanium nib thing, if I were going to spend $50. for a titanium semi-flex nib, I would probably find a vintage gold flex nib and spend a few more bucks with a nibsmith to create a really nice "franken pen".

 

Which actually gives me an idea. As I have a number of nice vintage flex/semi-flex gold nibs, I may just carry out that adventure with the 120th Anniversary Blue Conklin.

 

As for your final comment about learning from other manufacturers' experience I often wonder if pen manufacturers ever use their own off-the-shelf products. Yes, supposedly there is something call "QC" quality control but many of the threads and comments here on FPN dispute the general effectiveness of their efforts - imo.

 

One other comment though to close. My most recent experience (shared by a good number of acquaintances) with Chinese made pens, the $2.00 - $10.00+ kind, show that good quality nib experiences need not require major (or even minor) tweaking by the purchaser or a nibsmith. ... or a big investment.

[Eric2018]

The Omniflex nib of the last LE black version gave me nothing but a nightmare.....

Hope they had a great improvement on the nib this time...

[Gloucesterman]

Have continued to use this pen and find that it works well for me. bear in mind that I am not putting a huge amount of pressure on this nib to achieve line variation. personally I am easy-going on my writing instruments. Unless I KNOW that a nib is super flexible it will not be over-stressed. Nothing to prove from my perspective. I simply enjoy the physical act of writing nicely and savoring the results that appear.

 

Ongoing updates will be posted as things progress.

 

What have other people's experience been? I can't be the only one here to purchase one of these!

[sundragon]

Just a heads up: The #6 Duraflex feed starves the nib. If you swap it for a standard Bock nib, you'll find that the feed keeps up with the nib's flex.

 

That being said, I had a bad nib unit when I first got my Duraflex so I sent it back to Yaffa and they sent me a replacement that works. Their QC isn't good but they will swap a crappy nib.

Edited December 24, 2018 by sundragon