Saintpaulia
September 29th, 2013, 10:44 PM
Flexible nibbed pens seem to be the Flavor of the Month these days. Prices on the Bay are really high. But you can have a really decent, well-restored flex nib pen without spending over a $100. I have for sale this little lever-fill pen made by Wahl. It was outfitted (retro-fitted?) by a professional restorer with a flex Waterman nib.
Now before we go any further maybe we should define just what is meant by "a flex pen". I've found a helpful standard developed by Mauricio at his wonderful pen site, http://www.vintagepen.net/ In his section entitled "Grading Flex Pens" the meister sets up this schemata:
FIRM (Flexibility scale = Zero): Rigid nib with no springiness or flexibility at all. Also known as a “nail”.
SLIGHT FLEX (Flexibility scale ranging from 1 to 30) : The nib tines flex modestly with substantial pressure applied.
MEDIUM FLEX (Flexibility scale from 31 to 60): The nib tines flex significantly with substantial pressure applied. Also known as “semi-flex”.
SUPER FLEX (Flexibility scale from 61 to 80): The nib tines flex tremendously with moderate to substantial pressure applied.
WET NOODLE (Flexibility scale from 81 to 100): The nib tines flex tremendously even with very little to moderate pressure applied. This nib resembles a paint brush.
My Wahl-Waterman would be called a medium flex by Mauricio's system.
This is a neat little pen. It writes reminiscent of a Noodler flex pen only of course alot better since the nib is 14kt gold, not steel. That's where it parts company with a Noodler. But it does take about the same amount of pressure to get the flex to function. The flow keeps up better as well with less rail-roading.
Capped the pen is 110 mm. (like a Kaweco Sport). Posted it is 140 mm. A very comfortable writing size for smaller hands. When not in flex mode the nib is a fine and you have to be able to enjoy writing with a fine nibbed pen in normal writing. Pen is as shown in the photos, a lovely brown patina that developed from the original black hard rubber material. Oh and the ring etc is missing from the top of the cap.
I am looking to sell it for $55.00, postpaid. Any questions please feel free to contact me via Private Messaging here or via email. And thanks for looking.
Now before we go any further maybe we should define just what is meant by "a flex pen". I've found a helpful standard developed by Mauricio at his wonderful pen site, http://www.vintagepen.net/ In his section entitled "Grading Flex Pens" the meister sets up this schemata:
FIRM (Flexibility scale = Zero): Rigid nib with no springiness or flexibility at all. Also known as a “nail”.
SLIGHT FLEX (Flexibility scale ranging from 1 to 30) : The nib tines flex modestly with substantial pressure applied.
MEDIUM FLEX (Flexibility scale from 31 to 60): The nib tines flex significantly with substantial pressure applied. Also known as “semi-flex”.
SUPER FLEX (Flexibility scale from 61 to 80): The nib tines flex tremendously with moderate to substantial pressure applied.
WET NOODLE (Flexibility scale from 81 to 100): The nib tines flex tremendously even with very little to moderate pressure applied. This nib resembles a paint brush.
My Wahl-Waterman would be called a medium flex by Mauricio's system.
This is a neat little pen. It writes reminiscent of a Noodler flex pen only of course alot better since the nib is 14kt gold, not steel. That's where it parts company with a Noodler. But it does take about the same amount of pressure to get the flex to function. The flow keeps up better as well with less rail-roading.
Capped the pen is 110 mm. (like a Kaweco Sport). Posted it is 140 mm. A very comfortable writing size for smaller hands. When not in flex mode the nib is a fine and you have to be able to enjoy writing with a fine nibbed pen in normal writing. Pen is as shown in the photos, a lovely brown patina that developed from the original black hard rubber material. Oh and the ring etc is missing from the top of the cap.
I am looking to sell it for $55.00, postpaid. Any questions please feel free to contact me via Private Messaging here or via email. And thanks for looking.