NOODLER'SInk Ahab Flex Nib Ivory Darkness Fountain Pen - ND-15028

Everyone said that this pen was really finnicky, not for beginners, would need a lot of tuning, etc. None of that was true for me. I'm a total pen noob. Bought two Pilot Metropolitans since everyone told me to, wasn't a fan, and took a chance on the super unreliable, hard to get writing, only good for true masters of the pen, flexy Noodler's boy. I mean, it's only twenty dollars. I just spent forty dollars on two entry level Pilots which scratch, don't start, and slip around in my hand - all the things people SAID the Ahab would do! What do I have to lose? Twenty more dollars and my budding interest in fountain pens? Screw it, I'm hopping between extremes all the way! And this pen is a dream. The ink just glides out of there, looks beautiful when it flexes, and is just about as satisfying and relaxing as anything. It railroads from time to time, but it's no big deal. I don't know if this has anything to do with my Pen's stellar performance, but I cleaned the nib and feed with soap and water before inking up, so maybe try that. Anyway, one warning: this thing GUSHES ink. I personally like the super wet writing and don't mind waiting for it to dry, but it is REALLY wet. This pen bleeds and feathers a little even on my rhodia pad. Didn't know that was possible. I guess that counts as a con? But I view it as a pro with a price. So to all those who warn beginners away from this pen, I say that I regret buying it as my third pen and wish it was my first! But clean the nib and feed and use REALLY nice paper.

the piston converter is so low quality it cracked.

I've got a weird soft spot for Noodler's pens and inks. They're delightfully quirky and fun. I also like all the unique properties of the pens and inks for the most part. The Ahab is no different. It's somewhat of a cigar shaped pen, or whale shaped going by the name. In my hand, it's a comfortable pen to write with. I love the filling system. It makes cleaning and refilling a breeze. It also holds a TON of ink for a system of this style.This pen is one of 4 Noodler's pens I have, and has been the most finicky of them. My others have been pretty low fuss writers and quite reliable out of the box. The Ahab nib was a bit scratchy and needed a touch of tuning. 1 out of 4 pens, not bad, and it is a super smooth writer now. The bounce in the nib is fun and gives me some good line variation.However, while I was able to get my Konrad Acrylic tuned to keep up on ink pretty easily, I still sometimes have issues with my Ahab. I think it may just be that it doesn't seal quite as well and might be drying up a bit if it goes a while without use. That said, pulling out the nib and feed for a quick clean is super easy and it generally goes back to writing without fanfare.If you like vintage style pens, want a little flex, a classy look, and a cool ink filling system but also don't mind doing a bit of tinkering and tuning, I can definitely recommend these pens. If you want it to work perfectly out of the box and never need any maintenance, this may not be the pen for you.

I am a big fan of Noodler's inks and thought I'd try their fountain pens also. The "Charlie" pen that comes "free" with certain bottles of Noodler's ink belched ink out the front of the pen. It ended up in the trash. Then I purchased a Noodler's Konrad Acrylic and it also leaked ink out the front and had several other issues rendering it unusable. Returned for a refund. As a last chance, I bought the Ahab and BINGO it's one of my favorite pens. Third time ended up being a charm for me.The pull piston (as opposed to a twist piston) ink filler is some awesome engineering. It can be challenging if you're filling from a sample vial, but it's much more pleasant and rather fun to see it all work when filling from the wider mouth found on an ink bottle. This pen has a large ink capacity, which you'll need if you're into flexing the nib a lot. Another option is to configure the Ahab as an eye dropper with the ridiculous ink capacity of 6 ml. The utility of the Ahab is amazing. It's up to you.I found that I don't care for the fact that the nib is flexible. If I want line variation I use an italic stub nib. But flexing isn't what makes or breaks this pen for me. I love the 1950s era design of the pen. Despite it's size, it's quite light in weight. I haven't quite decided whether I like that or not. I could use a little more heft. However, for lengthy writing sessions, it's very comfortable.The fit and finish could be better. The clip spins around the barrel if you nudge it.I cleaned the pen out entirely prior to use with a water/10 % ammonia/Dawn solution. I also took a small brush and scrubbed the ebonite feed. Next, I took a guess at how to position the nib and feed by copying what I usually see in my fountain pens. It wrote great, but a bit more wet than I would like. I tried a new feed and nib position, keeping the nib out a bit more than I usually see. That helped some. The ebonite feed swells with ink, which is desirable for flexing, but I didn't need such a wet writer. The flex nib that comes with the pen also has a long groove on top, and no breather hole, which was also making the nib a fire hose. So I turned to some nib alternatives.The Ahab uses a standard #6 nib. I first tried a $15 Goulet #6 fine steel tipped nib. It fit great, and the wetness of the ink flow was slowed somewhat. This setup worked quite nicely with no further fidgeting necessary.Being curious, and this is the pen to have if you're curious, I next tried a $3 Noodler's non-flex untipped nib (way less expensive than the Goulet), using about the same feed and nib positioning as I did with the Goulet. BINGO. This made the ink flow less wet yet, and having no tip gives a tiny bit of line variation. The non-flex nib still has a wee bit of flex to it. Applying very little pressure, the nib writes as an extra fine. It is reasonably smooth, giving some feedback without heavy scratching sounds or digging into the paper. I don't usually like extra fine nibs, but this setup I am not going to experiment with further. I'm afraid I could never go back to this point of perfection! I can write fine, controlled lines without lots of scratch.I do however, have a bag full of Noodler's nibs (standard flex tipped, non flex untipped, non flex tipped) to mess with, and I'd like to get a stub nib working on an Ahab. So off I go to buy another one. Love the color choices!I have tried moving the feed in and out to help slow down the ink flow, but no positioning has kept the Ahab from being a rather wet writer. That's not necessarily a bad thing.And finally, the smell. Never has such a fuss been made of so small an issue. Yes, it has a unique aroma. Yes, it does diminish. No, not entirely. A complete non-issue for me.I do not recommend the Ahab be your first fountain pen experience. There is a little fussing to do, not much, but the concepts behind what you're tweaking would bewilder a beginner, who most likely wants to take the pen out of the box, add ink, and write.