By golly...it worked! (Housing-air mod for flex pens)

[Detman101]

The "housing mod" from FPNetwork works!! I couldn't find any confirmation there that anyone tried it but I figured I had nothing to lose...AND IT WORKED!

I have FULL FLEX with NO railroading and NO PRIMING!! Drained my half full converter empty in half a page...but IT WORKS!!

Now I need that stinking penbbs-456 to hurry up and get here so I can mod it work these flex parts and have a large ink reservoir flex pen!

I used my dremel bit that looks like a little orb sanding bit. I'll post a pic of it. I set the dremel on "2" speed, inserted the bit into the housing and butted the head of the bit into the hole leading from the nipple that the converter attaches to. Then I turned the dremel on and let it wear down the flat surface at the hole into a rounded surface.
This lets the air flow through the feed easier so that the ink flow meets the demand of the user. I also went a step further and rounded off the face of the rear of the feed that butts up against the rear inner wall of the housing so that air passes by it easier. (Round corner vs sharp/flat corner)

I'll post pics of the "housing mod" from FPNetwork in the following reply to this thread.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200821/75529cb98b30dc0a7416eea379e32c93.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200821/f3f22adcc87a86325064cb7876e457e1.jpg

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[Detman101]

These are the captures I took of the "Housing-Mod" thread from the other site...
55702
55703

Hopefully this helps someone else...

I had tried everything prior to this. I widened the feed channel on this #5 acrylic nib to the recommended depth everyone mentions as a start after outfitting it with a flex nib and then an ultra-flex nib.
I would always get one to two words out of the pen before it started railroading. I couldn't figure out what the problem was for at least the last month or so...
Then after reading up on the "Fountain Pen Design" website that someone linked me to on here...I learned that it's not just INK that makes the pens work...but AIR too!!
You can add all the ink you want...but if your pen can't suck up the same amount of air into the converter/chamber...you can't dump any more ink! The system literally comes to a dead standstill til it all balances out....slower than needed.

The only way to get more INK to flow...is to get more AIR to flow!

Amazing...these pens are such tricky and technical balances of simple abundance!

[Detman101]

Well, it still writes in a great thin line size on good paper! Yet gives gushes of ink when asked to flex out wide.
I tested it out on crappy absorbative printer paper and this was the result.
Very little fade! (Using iroshizuku tsukushi) it faded out in two spots but they was my fault, I tipped the pen up and drained the feed partially while composing my thoughts.

Omg...I'm soooooooo elated that this mod worked for me. I was at the end of my rope. [emoji1488][emoji1474][emoji4]https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200821/59e0fa970de0c0c705d0776471f435f6.jpg

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[azkid]

Nice work!! That mod is really fascinating. Thanks for including the diagram too. I will have to look at one of my Bock nib assemblies to understand completely.

But I mean wow. Full flex with full ink flow is kind of a huge deal and you could easily sell these modded nib units for a nice price. I suspect lots of people would be interested.

From what I understand, there are new flex pens out there, sure, but my impression is that they don't *really* give full flex or they suffer from flow limitations or both.

[catbert]

Thanks for sharing this.
Take care pulling the feed on the PenBBS 456 — the fins are quite delicate.

[Detman101]

Thanks for sharing this.
Take care pulling the feed on the PenBBS 456 — the fins are quite delicate.

Oh I yanked the stock feed and nib out already as soon as it arrived today hehe.
Tried putting a random #6 ebonite feed and FPR ultra flex nib in it...no go.
But it was AMAZING as a dip pen.
If and when the FNF housing and matching ebonite feed arrive I can put it back together and use it how it's supposed to be used.
Til then, it sits in parts in my parts bin.
I really REALLY hate the mail nowadays.
Everything takes 10 to 30 days to arrive. :mad2:

[Detman101]

Nice work!! That mod is really fascinating. Thanks for including the diagram too. I will have to look at one of my Bock nib assemblies to understand completely.

But I mean wow. Full flex with full ink flow is kind of a huge deal and you could easily sell these modded nib units for a nice price. I suspect lots of people would be interested.

From what I understand, there are new flex pens out there, sure, but my impression is that they don't *really* give full flex or they suffer from flow limitations or both.

Yeah, it's amazing!
I made a video of the mod in use. This pen is now what I always dreamed of having.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPYX_qOedno

But honestly, it's going to be superceded by the PENBBS-456 with the same mods once my parts come in. The #6 nib flexes even wider than the #5 nib that's on my brass pen.

[Jon Szanto]

From what I understand, there are new flex pens out there, sure, but my impression is that they don't *really* give full flex or they suffer from flow limitations or both.

I think you need to check out the Desiderata Pen Co. (https://www.desideratapens.com/) (assuming you haven't, that is) and exclude them from the last part of the statement. Remarkable writing instruments, excellent craftsmanship.

[Empty_of_Clouds]

Pens that are adapted - pre or post market - to employ a steel dip pen such as the popular Zebra G, all run afoul of the simple fact that the nib will corrode. When used as intended these nibs are cleaned and dried between uses, thus mitigating the time to failure due to corrosion. This is not the case when they are fitted to a fountain pen body, as there is then constant exposure to water-based ink. While it is true that Zebra G nibs are relatively cheap (approx. USD$2.50 each), it will be an ongoing cost.

Also of note, the Zebra G nibs are generally not as smooth as vintage tipped fountain pen nibs, and require a bit of upskilling in the writing department. Rewarding in the end, but still a path to travel.

[Detman101]

Hmmm...They're selling a pen with a zebra-G for hundreds?
I completed that mod on my first week of my flex pen journey and figured out that wasn't a sustainable solution.
The Zebra-G nib is like writing with a needle. It sticks into the page and flings ink everywhere!
You can basically only do downstrokes with it, as soon as you go to do an upstroke...it's a complete mess.
Unless they put some kind of tipping on the zebra-g nib, it's not a real sustainable option for fountain pen users.
Well, and they'd have to put some kind of corrosion-stopping coating on the nib too...Even the chromed ones corrode after time goes by.

[Detman101]

From what I understand, there are new flex pens out there, sure, but my impression is that they don't *really* give full flex or they suffer from flow limitations or both.

I think you need to check out the Desiderata Pen Co. (https://www.desideratapens.com/) (assuming you haven't, that is) and exclude them from the last part of the statement. Remarkable writing instruments, excellent craftsmanship.

Actually, their "Daedalus" pen looks to be a good flex-pen candidate if you replace that crappy zebra-G with a proper flex nib like the ones for FPR or FNF.
I'd still hedge my bets and get the ultra-flex Jaipur V2 from FPR and save 20 dollars.