Noodler's up in here.

[Tsuki yo]

I only wanted to share this crappy cell-phone photo with you guys because none of my friends understand. I just got my Konrad this morning, so in love with it. I'm not in a position to be purchasing vintage flex or ebonite pens, so these fill the resultant gap in my collection quite nicely. I'm a lefty, and stubs just don't jive with me, so I was despairing my lack of calligraphy options. These have made me very happy.



I will add better photos of handwriting and things later on, I've just been called away. Please share with me all your flexy flexiness, geeks! I am a mere n00b with weak penmanship skills.

[Bogon07]

Congratulations on your Ebonite Ripple.

Oddly my Noodlers pens are similar colours to yours.
Creepers in Bumble Bee (& Poltergeist Pumpkin)
Ahab in Vulcan's Coral
Konrads in California Tortoise (& Rattlesnake & Jade PineCone)

There is a cheapish book on Left Handed Calligraphy which may interest you. The production values are a bit low & reflect the price.
http://www.amazon.com/Left-Handed-Ca...ed+Calligraphy

I had big problems with stubs when I first started but found you need to play around with the angle and orientation to obtain the the effect you want.
Usually I write left handed under the line which avoids the smearing & smudging issues with fountain pens.
However with stubs I found the pen lines seemed way too thick compared with what right handers achieve with the same nib and tried the above the line hook style to obtain similar results......it is advisable to get yourself some blotting paper to rest your hand on too.

[Waski_the_Squirrel]

I'm not a lefty, but I love my Noodler's pens. I have a few pens that cost many times my most expensive Noodler's, but there is something about the Konrad especially that keeps dragging me back. They're just such fun pens!

[Jon Szanto]

Ok, I'll just blurt this out:

I'm left-handed, and I have a number of stubs and italics, and a lot of vintage flex pens. As long as you don't feel compelled to ape what you see in books and other examples, these are all tools that work just as well for us as well as those poor, sub-standard right-handed humans.

As to the Noodlers, what can I say? I'm equally happy for you, as well as still finding them butt-ugly and not worth the trouble. The problem is this: when people say "I buy Noodlers pens because I want flex but I'm on a budget", I look at my pen case and see a bunch of vintage pens that cost that much OR LESS and write and perform a hell of a lot better.

They are ok to to start with. Maybe. But someday you owe it to yourself to work with a nice, vintage gold flex nib. There is nothing quite like it, and it doesn't have to cost a king's, or queen's, ransom.

BTW: the pic is nice, you needn't apologize for it being a phone pic. Great choice of background! I found, unfortunately, that my only digital cam doesn't have a manual focus, so my macro shots of pens always TOTALLY suck. I've now gone to using a light box (cheap) and my phone to do pen photos. It's acceptable.

[AndyT]

I look at my pen case and see a bunch of vintage pens that cost that much OR LESS and write and perform a hell of a lot better.

You've had more luck than me, Jon. Yes, I have a bunch of vintage pens which trounce my Nib Creapers, but the cheapest of those cost twice as much and I thought it was a bargain. Furthermore, no worries about saturated ink with a Noodler's pen - who cares if it stains?

[Jon Szanto]

Furthermore, no worries about saturated ink with a Noodler's pen - who cares if it stains?

I certainly grant that, but since most of these are lever fillers, I'm not certain what I'd be concerned about staining. I realize some luck may have been involved for me, but in reality I just think it was being patient and keeping a lookout for the right pens. Not everyone has been spectacular, but the track record seems to be no worse than people getting Noodlers pens that aren't exactly great, either. Then again, I think I enjoy the search, rather than just ordering up a new pen. This is more than a little borne out here on FPG, which seems to lean towards new pens.

In the end, as long as people have a pen they enjoy, it's a good day.

[Tsuki yo]

The long term goal for real flex is a pen from Richard Binder, with something nice and gushy for a nib. But for now, just getting into the hobby and being the kind of person that loves to take things apart, the Noodler's brand is just wonderful for me. Don't get me wrong, I love love love vintage, but in my area shipping costs tend to be quite high (shipping from the states to Canada with insurance is over $30 in a lot of cases). And for someone who is only 3 months into the hobby, buying 4 $15-$40 dollar pens that I can freely ruin makes a lot more sense than 1 $110 dollar pen that I would be afraid to practice penmanship with (Due to my Death Grip™). And being that I WILL take things apart it's much better for me to do it to a Noodler's where I can replace the nib, hack the feed and eyedropper everything without worrying about destroying something that is no longer in production. I totally get that they are not for everyone, and that's totally cool by me. Not feeling defensive either, just wanted to offer a little insight into why I chose this brand. These aren't my only pens, but they are certainly the most conversation-worthy.

[Jon Szanto]

Not feeling defensive either, just wanted to offer a little insight into why I chose this brand. These aren't my only pens, but they are certainly the most conversation-worthy.

Well-replied, thanks for the background. I, too, hope my post didn't seem antagonistic or anything, just my viewpoint on the entry into all this flex business. You raise great points and I think you've chosen a very good path for yourself. I swear, if I end up with even one or two more good flex purchases I'll be able to sell a few of them to newcomers at no profit. At this point, they are all so fun that I don't know which I'd give up!

I love that flex nibs allow me to pretend that my handwriting is anything but dreadful. It is, but ignorance - and flex - is bliss.

[Tsuki yo]

I didn't feel like you were being antagonistic at all, I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't coming off as angry or defensive in my reply, since I know that tone of voice is hard to convey in text format.



I had a quick moment to jump some quick brown foxes today. The eyedropper pen is filled with a mix of Dragons Napalm and Red-Black, I quite like how it turned out.

This was more of a hand relaxing exercise than penmanship practice, gives you guys an idea of the kind of "penmanship" I'm starting out with.

[earthdawn]

I found this quick video by Brian Goulet to be helpful in learning how to more easily heat sink the feeds on the Noodlers flex pens...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rhfXcBoM_Q

[AndyT]

[QUOTE=Jon Szanto;72715]

In the end, as long as people have a pen they enjoy, it's a good day.

Agree wholeheartedly. Heat setting feeds, carving ebonite and getting covered in ink aren't everybody's idea of fun activities, but tinkering with Noodler's pens has kept me amused from time to time. Right now I'm vaguely on the lookout for a donor Waterman with an Ideal no.2 to transplant into a Creaper, the idea being to have a nice vintage nib in a pen which is easily stripped down ... flushing lever fillers really isn't the best bit about fountain pens, after all.

[Tsuki yo]

Right now I'm vaguely on the lookout for a donor Waterman with an Ideal no.2 to transplant into a Creaper, the idea being to have a nice vintage nib in a pen which is easily stripped down ... flushing lever fillers really isn't the best bit about fountain pens, after all.

I hear that, I have the same idea, especially since I have an eyedropper with a Creaper nib, and the piston fill Creaper, I'd like to put a vintage nib on one of them in the future.

[dannzeman]

Love that ebonite ripple! When I'm in the mood to tinker there's nothing better than those Noodler's!

[snedwos]

Can I ask what the dice in the photo are for?

[Wile E Coyote]

Can I ask what the dice in the photo are for?

To provide a random number between one and six.

[LagNut]

I found, unfortunately, that my only digital cam doesn't have a manual focus, so my macro shots of pens always TOTALLY suck. I've now gone to using a light box (cheap) and my phone to do pen photos. It's acceptable.

Off topic, but the light box is to provide enough illumination that the camera goes to f64 rather than f8?

If this is right, my hats off to you for an elegant solution.

[Jon Szanto]

I found, unfortunately, that my only digital cam doesn't have a manual focus, so my macro shots of pens always TOTALLY suck. I've now gone to using a light box (cheap) and my phone to do pen photos. It's acceptable.

Off topic, but the light box is to provide enough illumination that the camera goes to f64 rather than f8?

If this is right, my hats off to you for an elegant solution.

Not really (I don't think!). It is just an attempt to get better lighting overall, without glare spots, uneven lighting, bad shadows, etc. See pics in this thread.

[LagNut]

Those are nice photos, but I'm assuming they're not from real close. I've heard of macro adapters for cell phones, but if a if a light box would get me part way there, that would be great, and I'd love to have a light box for it's own sake.

Critical question, could you focus closer with the light box?

[Jon Szanto]

Those are nice photos, but I'm assuming they're not from real close. I've heard of macro adapters for cell phones, but if a if a light box would get me part way there, that would be great, and I'd love to have a light box for it's own sake.

Critical question, could you focus closer with the light box?

Man, I hope no one gets pissed for a thread hijacking, so I'll keep this brief:

1. No, not too close, maybe 3 feet? 2 feet? I picked up a holder for my phone (Galaxy S4) that also mounts on a standard camera tripod. More below...
2. Well, I originally went down another road by buying an add-on macro lense for my point and shoot Canon, and then realized I had no manual focus. It sucked.
3. At least with the light box the items are well-enough lit, evenly, that it focuses pretty well (for a phone).

However, I had a related question over at FPB that Hugh Cordingley came up with what may be a good suggestion for both that question (close up viewing during nib work) AND shooting macros with the camera: noted Sheaffer guy and pen restorer Daniel K sells an add-on for phones that he calls the iCroScope. You can read all about it here. The following will give you an idea, but check out that link:

[Tsuki yo]

Oh if only I had an iphone. My actual camera is much nicer than my cell phone camera, but the memory card needs cleared out and the battery charged. The dice is because all of the pens kept rolling away (they were just what was at hand), as I was on an unstable surface, the Konrad was actually rolling towards me in that pick because I accidently shifted the pad while taking the photo.

I love the lightbox idea, and will definitely be making one in the future.