NOODLER'SInk Ahab Flex Nib Jade Fountain Pen - ND-15031

Not a fountain pen for beginners, noodlers pens require a thorough cleaning when you get them and often require a heat set too (dip the nib and feed in boiling water for 15 seconds, remove, then press the feed up against the nib for another 30 seconds with a paper towel to set the ebonite feed)But properly heat set, these pens are great writers. The nibs are fine-medium (closer to a western fine but very wet so overall a fine-med) and they do actually flex. You can get a good 1.5mm line from them with a fair bit of pressure. This isn't a vintage wet noodle, but it's a good semiflex nib. You can spring the tip, so don't go much beyond 1.5mm, but it's a pretty sturdy nib beyond that.You can also swap the nib with any #6 nib. So a nemosine 0.6 stub or EF nib is a great way to make this pen write more versatile.You can eyedropper it (fill the barrel with ink) if you want an absolutely ludicrous amount of ink.The piston converter is just great, one of the best in terms of getting a complete fill very quickly, two pumps and it's full. And its capacity is a good 1.5-2ml of ink, so plenty for the flex nib and a TON for a normal nib.Cap seals decently, but not spectacularly, with a large air gap, so don't leave it inked in a drawer, unused for more than a couple weeks.The cap posts securely, the clip has great tension, and the pen feels very light and well balanced in the hand (if you like a slightly thinner pen, get the noodlers konrad, and if you like REALLY thin pens, get the noodlers nib creaper)The one thing people tend to go nuts over is this pen's smell. It's made from a biodegradable, super tough vegetal resin that smells REALLY weird for a couple weeks after opening it. I personally really like the smell, but most people do not. But the smell fades. If you hate the pen's smell, take it apart (unscrew the section from the barrel and take the cap off) and leave it out somewhere, disassembled, for a week or two and the smell will fade dramatically. After a month or two, the smell is gone completely.Not compatible with ink cartridges. It does accept a cartridge in the form of the noodlers "308" refillable cartridge, since Noodlers doesn't like the idea of disposable stuff, so you can get a 5 pack of refillable cartridges with a ton of capacity that have little caps on them, making them easy and convenient to carry (and good for flying since you can remove the cartridge and recap it so it doesn't burp all its ink out on the plane)Overall, a great pen for drawing, calligraphy, etc. If you need a superflex pen, stick with dip nibs or vintage gold nibs, but this can happily do spencerian without tiring out your hand, contrary to what many snobs will say.If you're looking for an ink suggestion to use this with, I like Noodlers Black Swan in Australian Roses, a dark violet with gorgeous shading. Alternatively, sailor oku yama (dark red with gold sheen) yama dori (turquoise with red sheen) Souten (blue with red sheen) and Tokiwa Matsu (dark green with red sheen)

Nice cheap pen, great for sketching. Line variation is ok.

Okay, total fountain pen newbie here. I think it's important to note that I'm really new to fountain pens, because if I can figure this out, anyone can. The construction of the pen is very good. The seals are tight and seat well and do not leak. The manufacturing is clean and the finish of the pen is smooth and feels good in the hand. Personally, I love the jade green color and it looks very nice on my drawing desk. I've heard some horror stories from people who've not been able to get a consistent flow or no ink feed at all. Here's what I've learned. I cleaned the pen thoroughly before use. I took everything apart but the nib and feed and pulled clean, filtered water with a very mild and diluted soap solution through the piston mechanism. After letting it dry, I reassembled and actually performed the heat setting for the nib and feed. This was very easy to do and involved heating a little water to warm the feed and then pressing the nib and feed together for about 30 seconds. I could not see a visible difference, but it did seem to do the trick. I then filled the pen with Noodlers black ink and enjoyed about three solid days of sketching. The pen is wonderful. It feeds smoothly and yes, the nib is flexible! With a little practice I was able to produce lines of varying thickness and boldness. The pen feels great for it's size (it's big) and holds plenty of ink. And then.... it stopped working. No ink and I could have scratched through the paper if I wasn't careful. No problem. I expelled the remaining ink and completely disassembled the pen. I was scared to death to take the nib and feed out because I never thought I'd get them back together right, but I did it! I cleaned everything again thoroughly, put it back together, put the nib and feed in as best I could and... it's Perfect! It works even better now.And that's how this pen will work. It will simply need some "tinkering" as they say and I think that's the beauty of this guy. I look forward to tweaking it and adjusting it now and truly making it my own. The fact that this pen can be completely taken apart and cleaned is great. Don't be afraid, it's really easy and a little bit fun. I've done almost twenty line and wash pieces with this pen and I look forward to many more. I like this pen so much I purchased a second in Navajo Blue. Hmmm... what color ink should I try?

I wanted a cheaper pen that I could have as an everyday carry. This one fits the bill okay for that. Super lightweight. Weird smell. And occasionally the ink stops flowing. Will probably look elsewhere for my everyday carry, but it’s okay.

This ia a great flex pen. It handles Noodler archival ink great. I made a mistake and filled it with ink before cleaning it of its shipping grease. No biggy cause I know what the problem is in that without cleaning it it has started skipping and dragging. The solution is easy.I should have put a few drops of dish soap into a glass and washed the pen out removing what ever the shipping/manufacturing grease is on it. No biggy as I can do this now.This a a really good pen!Smell? Sure but no biggy. It fads away slowly. Kinda reminds me of the smell of a baby's milky burp. Fond memories for sure...

It was fun to write with this. I had already had a Sheaffer way more expensive than this when I bought this. The feelings I got from the two models are ― heavy vs light; soft/smooth vs sharp/rough; no smell vs pungent odor; robust vs weak; boring vs interesting.I think I had used it about 3 months before it went out of order. No problem. 3 months were enough for me to finish what I planned to finish with this pen. This had done its job very well and died a timely death. It is fairly hot in my room in summer because I don't turn on the air-conditioner. So, this summer the pen stayed at over 40°C for over 1 month at least. One day when I opened it to refill ink, the expanded cylinder didn't fit the thread any more. Period.I think I heard this pen was made bio-degradable or something like that. That also adds to my rating.