Favorite Flex Pen

[max dog]

In your collection of flex pens, which is your favorite?

 

My best flex writer is the vintage Waterman 52V with the Waterman's Ideal no 2 flex nib. It's not a wet noodle, but is firm enough for reliable normal writing and can flex fully. It's patented Spoon feed system ensures a healthy ink flow as you flex the nib. A characteristic modern nibs touted as flexible lacks.

 

After acquiring a series of modern pens with flex like the Pilot Falcon Elabo, Pelikan M250 semi-flex customized by Mottishaw, Pilot Custom 74 SFM, Stipula Model T with Titanium T-Flex nib, my favorite became the Pilot Custom 912 FA. The FA nib offered the most softness/flex next to the Waterman and did not feel as mushy as the Pilot Custom 74 SFM, Pelikan M250 semi flex and the Stipula T-Flex. The Pilot Falcon Elabo had a good spring back like the FA, but lacked the ultra softness of the FA. It yielded line varation, but not to the extent of a flex nib. The problem with the FA is the feed could not keep up with the increased ink flow the flex demands resulting in easy railroading and ink starvation if you pushed the line variation. It was also very finicky with inks, and hard starts were always an issue. With the right inks and holding the pen at high angle, you could minimize the hard starts and skipping. The responsiveness of the FA nib was great providing great subtle line variation just from the slight pressure variances from your normal hand writing pressure to yield some nice unique character in your hand writing. It was my favorite flex pen until now.

 

My latest favorite flex pen is the new special edition Montblanc 149 Calligraphy flex pen. It has the generous ink flow of the vintage Waterman 52V, to ensure you don't get any railroading when doing continuous flex theatrics, while being absent of all the hard start and reliable ink flow issues of the FA nib. It arches between the vintage 52V and modern FA giving the best of both worlds. It offers the practicality of an every day writer with a moderate enough ink flow when normal writing so that you can use on regular paper without bleeding all the time, and opens up like a fire hose to keep up with the increased ink flow demands of a vintage flex nib. While it's snap back is not as crisp as the vintage Waterman no 2 flex nib, it performs very well and is hardly noticeable in the writing. It's now my reliable everyday work horse writer with vintage like flex on tap when you want it.

 

Vintage (circa 1917) Waterman 52V flex pen. Montblanc Corn Poppy Red.

 

Stipula Model T with T-Flex nib

 

Pelikan M200 with modified semi-flex F nib (MB Lavender Purple)

 

 

Pilot Custom 912 FA

This image demonstrates how well the FA nib performs with any ink when the feed is saturated by dipping into a bottle of ink. No railroading like a vintage flex nib.

 

Pilot FA vs Falcon Elabo line variation comparison (Montblanc Lucky Orange, and Permanent Blue)

 

Pilot Custom 912 FA

 

Waterman 52V and Pilot Custom 74 SFM (Montblanc Lavender Purple, and Waterman Inspired Blue)

 

Montblanc 149 Special Edition Calligraphy Flex pen (Montblanc Burgundy Red)

Edited March 22, 2020 by max dog

[max dog]

Here is some more info on Waterman's "Spoon" feed system.

Some deliberate effort and design went into vintage flex nibs. A good feed to ensure adequate increased ink flow as a nib flexes is a critical factor that modern flex nibs lack.

Edited March 22, 2020 by max dog

[WLSpec]

In your collection of flex pens, which is your favorite?

 

My best flex writer is the vintage Waterman 52V with the Waterman's Ideal no 2 flex nib. It's not a wet noodle, but is firm enough for reliable normal writing and can flex fully. It's patented Spoon feed system ensures a healthy ink flow as you flex the nib. A characteristic modern nibs touted as flexible lacks.

 

After acquiring a series of modern pens with flex like the Pilot Falcon Elabo, Pelikan M250 semi-flex customized by Mottishaw, Pilot Custom 74 SFM, Stipula Model T with Titanium T-Flex nib, my favorite became the Pilot Custom 912 FA. The FA nib offered the most softness/flex next to the Waterman and did not feel as mushy as the Pilot Custom 74 SFM, Pelikan M250 semi flex and the Stipula T-Flex. The Pilot Falcon Elabo had a good spring back like the FA, but lacked the ultra softness of the FA. It yielded line varation, but not to the extent of a flex nib. The problem with the FA is the feed could not keep up with the increased ink flow the flex demands resulting in easy railroading and ink starvation if you pushed the line variation. It was also very finicky with inks, and hard starts were always an issue. With the right inks and holding the pen at high angle, you could minimize the hard starts and skipping. The responsiveness of the FA nib was great providing great subtle line variation just from the slight pressure variances from your normal hand writing pressure to yield some nice unique character in your hand writing. It was my favorite flex pen until now.

 

My latest favorite flex pen is the new special edition Montblanc 149 Calligraphy flex pen. It has the generous ink flow of the vintage Waterman 52V, to ensure you don't get any railroading when doing continuous flex theatrics, while being absent of all the hard start and reliable ink flow issues of the FA nib. It arches between the vintage 52V and modern FA giving the best of both worlds. It offers the practicality of an every day writer with a moderate enough ink flow when normal writing so that you can use on regular paper without bleeding all the time, and opens up like a fire hose to keep up with the increased ink flow demands of a vintage flex nib. While it's snap back is not as crisp as the vintage Waterman no 2 flex nib, it performs very well and is hardly noticeable in the writing. It's now my reliable everyday work horse writer with vintage like flex on tap when you want it.

 

Vintage (circa 1917) Waterman 52V flex pen. Montblanc Corn Poppy Red.

 

Stipula Model T with T-Flex nib

 

Pelikan M200 with modified semi-flex F nib (MB Lavender Purple)

 

 

Pilot Custom 912 FA

This image demonstrates how well the FA nib performs with any ink when the feed is saturated by dipping into a bottle of ink. No railroading like a vintage flex nib.

 

Pilot FA vs Falcon Elabo line variation comparison (Montblanc Lucky Orange, and Permanent Blue)

 

Pilot Custom 912 FA

 

Waterman 52V and Pilot Custom 74 SFM (Montblanc Lavender Purple, and Waterman Inspired Blue)

 

Montblanc 149 Special Edition Calligraphy Flex pen (Montblanc Burgundy Red)

Nice pictures!

 

I am not a huge flex fan - I prefer stubs and italics for line variation - but I do have a nice Carter Pearltex Pearl ring top (as identified by Penhero recently) with a very soft semi flex nib. I love the nib (although I can only dip it as the pen needs restoration). Otherwise my experience with flex has not been amazing.

 

Maybe I need to try again with flex... these Images make me want to try it!

[max dog]

Thanks WLSpec. For a good flex pen these days it seems the options are going vintage like a Waterman 52 (or Mabie Todd Swan), Pilot FA with aftermarket spencerian nib modification with ebonite feed, or the MB 149 Calligraphy flex which are hard to acquire because of the demand and it's limited special edition run.

[TheDutchGuy]

I wish I had enough flex pens to be able to pick my favourite one . My workhorse flex pen is basically my only ‘real’ flex pen: a ‘47 Parker Vacumatic Jr. Small enough to fit in my shirt pocket so I can take it anywhere, writes like a dream. It’s giving me joy every day when I use it to practice Spencerian. Then I’ve got a few Dutch-made pens from the ‘40s and ‘50s with small 14k needlepoint semi-flex nibs (you can see one of those in my avatar, before it was repaired). These small nibs are very elastic and soft, they’re great writers and the ebonite feeds guarantee really good ink flow.

[Honeybadgers]

Probably my unbelievably mint 1910's sheaffer BCHR wet noodle needlepoint, and my wahl doric with the 14 way adjustable XXF.

 

I use the sheaffer more because it's not worth a thousand dollars and the lever fill is less of a hassle to use regularly than the vac fill of the doric, but I think I like the doric more.

 

Closely followed by my absurd wet noodle (softest/flexiest nib I've ever touched, it beats out a brause rose) custom TWSBI vac700R. But that nib is HARD to use because it's so absurdly soft.

[Addertooth]

My current favorites are (in no particular order):

 

Waterman Ink-Vue Silver Ray with a #7 Red Keyhole nib. It has a nice amount of easy to control flex. It flexes nicely, but does not flex unintentionally.

Waterman 552 1/2V Solid Gold Basketweave with an exceptionally soft #2 nib. It requires a modest amount of thought to Keep from flexing it, especially if writing fast.

Eversharp Skyline Standard 1/10th 14k Gold filled, machine turned longitudal stripes. The nib is "round nosed" and tolerates being flexed on horizontal strokes without any snagging. A pleasure to use.

Wahl/Eversharp Jewelry Shop Half Coronet with adjustable Self-Fitting point. Adjustable from Stiff to very flexy by moving the silver sliding block.

Waterman Ink-Vue Copper Ray with a #5 Red Keyhole nib Desk Pen. Not quite as flexible as the Silver-Ray above, but quite nice.

 

All of the ones listed above support flex of 2 mm or more.

 

I would love to get my hands on a Pink #7 nib, but the lowest I have seen one of those sell for is $450, with many selling for $1000 or more.

A Piston filled Doric is incoming, and it will get a spare Self-Fitting point installed while I am repairing the piston seal; I suspect it will become a favorite too.

A runner up is a Waterman 0552 LEC hand engraved Vines pattern, but it's nib flexes so easily, it makes consistent line width an excessive challenge.

[georges zaslavsky]

French made Parker Vacumatic Maxima with Spencerian Italic nib Black Celluloid

French made Parker Vacumatic Maxima with Fine Medium nib Burgundy Celluloid

French made Parker Oversized Button Filler Stub nib

Canadian made Parker Duofold Senior Flat Top Single band fine nib

Sheaffer PFM I and II fine and Medium nib

Stipula Etruria & Stipula Brunelleschi

Omas 360 Extra Lucens Mottishawed Oblique nib

Pelikan M800 medium nib

Pelikan m1000 fine nib

Pelikan m1000 medium nib

MB 149 1966-1979 nibs

[sidthecat]

I favor a Conklin Crescent ringtop these days; but I vary it with a W-E Doric ringtop with a busted Adjustable nib, which is WONDERFULLY flexy, and a Waterman 52 1/2 V ringtop that I bought from Greg Minuskin, who knows flex when he sees it.

[Marcwithac]

My favorite is a New Postal pen, made by Gate City Pen Company. The pen has a very flexy “Binder-ized” nib that holds its own against most vintage flex nibs. My favorite vintage flex nib is a Waterman 54 lever filler, with a Conklin #5 crescent filler coming in a close second.

[Addertooth]

Sidthecat,

 

Yesterday I got around to replacing the #2 Waterman nib which was in my Conklin Crescent Ringtop Engraved Floral Gold pen. I had found an actual Crescent Toledo number 3 Nib online (which is the correct nib for this pen). I did a quick writing test with it. I must admit it is a rather good and controllable writer. I can understand why you like this type of pen.

 

 

 

Edited April 25, 2020 by Addertooth

[OMASsimo]

Any of my Osmia Supras, particularly the 34G, a 44, and one of my 74 models. And two other favourites are an early OMAS Lucens Stantuffo Tuffante and an OMAS Extra desk pen. I absolutely love to write with those, though I don't do any calligraphy with them.

[WLSpec]

Thanks WLSpec. For a good flex pen these days it seems the options are going vintage like a Waterman 52 (or Mabie Todd Swan), Pilot FA with aftermarket spencerian nib modification with ebonite feed, or the MB 149 Calligraphy flex which are hard to acquire because of the demand and it's limited special edition run.

Replying a month too late! Whoops

 

Thank for the suggestions - Just started thinking about a Eversharp skyline to try flex once more - seems like a vintage pen well loved by the fountain pen community that I can get for not [too] expensive. I also appreciate the design and have yet to really use an Eversharp pen.

 

If I did opt for that pen, I wouldn't flex it very much, though - the only pens I would be comfortable flexing out very far are true flex nibs. (Or now, maybe none at all, judging by that fact that I got too comfortable with that Pilot falcon nib )

[DrDebG]

Great thread! It is fun to see what everyone likes.

 

Unfortunately, I don't use flex nibs. Until recently, my only experience was with a Noodler's flex nib and I didn't care for it at all. But I recently had the chance to try a vintage flex nib on a Parker 51. Even though the nib was considered "soft" by the pen owner, I still had to put a lot more pressure on the nib than I usually do. I am just not comfortable with that.

 

I am now very at ease with saying that flex nibs aren't for me. I am very satisfied with my stub and italic nibs.

[Addertooth]

5Cavaliers,

 

If your original flex experience is a stock Noodler's Ahab, your lack of positive feelings for flex is likely merited. The Ahab was the first flex I bought. I had to go vintage flex to figure out what all the buzz was about.

[sansenri]

my favourite is this little thing here (Omas Extra 555F)

 

 

 

[Freddy]

XVII

 

 

Fred

[penwash]

Flex nibs are my focus in this hobby. I just love them.

To pick one favorite is impossible given how many of them had passed through my hands, coming in broken, going out restored.

 

But among my favorites. This one stood out:

 

 

also this old Pilot:

 

 

and many, many more...

[GlenV]

Since Ive been persistently working on my handwriting with pens, Ive altered some more common nibs so I dont worry about writing with them daily. My main practice pen nib is the warranted nib here. The Sheaffer 3 turned out nice to practice with too, and for letters Ive been using the 2a lately. The most modified required thinning the metal a bit and enlarging the vent hole too, easier to start with a

nib that already fine or xfine and has a bit of flex even a little right from the start. I dont always have them in these pens but this is what I use now.

My favorite nibs out of the box are Waterman 2 and Conklin 2 that I find tough to beat. Not all Waterman 2 New York nibs are flexible of course but some are incredible. Many others are out there though ...

[txomsy]

My favorite, so far, is an old Salz Bros. Peter Pan ring-top eyedropper. I still have a few old pens that I want to try, but I discover myself going back to the Peter Pan over and over again preferentially.

 

Other than that, I have an Astra button filler that is also an addictive joy.

 

Now, that's not to diminish the merits of many other excellent pens, but for some reason, despite any other merits of those other pens, these two have become addictive for me.

 

Edited for typos.

Edited May 3, 2020 by txomsy