Noodler's Konrad Fans

Knowing the pitfalls of Noodlers flex pens ahead of time, I just could not stay away and ordered a Konrad. Reviewing the Goulet website I came to realize that there are at least three variations (not color schemes) of these pens. There are the slimmer, shorter, cheaper resin bodied pens, the nicer acrylic pens and the less often encountered ebonite bodied pens. I was wondering if anyone had used all three versions and if they thought one was significantly better than the others. I did not realize until after I placed my order that I had ordered one of the resin pens, which has yet to arrive.

I have no restraint, placed an order for an ebonite model as well!

I have the resin model and it can be time consuming and difficult to adjust the pen to your liking so plan on adjusting it. Once I found the way I liked it, I heat set the nib/feed. The Goulet site has a video on how to do this, although I believe he warns about doing this with an ebonite pen body. I have not had a problem with the pen since I did that.

nortac said:

I have no restraint, placed an order for an ebonite model as well!

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If you really had no restraint, you'd have an acrylic on the way as well.

Doc4 said:

If you really had no restraint, you'd have an acrylic on the way as well.

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True enough, but none of the acrylics that appealed to me were currently available, otherwise it would have been a trifecta of economic irresponsibility in true B&B fashion!

Make sure you have back up pens at the ready if you attempt to carry yours.

No, I'm not a fan and I wish I'd spent the $20 on tacos.

Mine (Red Mesa Tortoise) wrote very nicely right after the box. Flushed it and not much else. Gave the flex a chance. Decided it wasn't my cup of tea - so I dropped $15 at Goulet for one of their nibs (a broad). It gets so much more use now. There is an odor to the resin pens when you first get them. After a while it fades. I can barely smell it when I put it to my nose. I never found it unpleasant although some people do.

I have a Goulet nib ordered as well anticipating a change if the flex nib doesn't work out.

The ebonite is a much better performer than resin, in my experience. Both are wet, but the ebonite is a gusher and never has issues with any ink. It's also bigger and more comfortable.

I got in both the Ebonite and Resin Konrads. The resin Copernican Pearl proved problematic almost immediately with a major splooge of ink just when I thought it would be OK. The Ebonite Konrad is much better behaved so far, but have only played with it briefly. I haven't had enough time with either to adjust flow, avoid leaks or heat set anything yet. The Resin pen looks pretty cheap, the Ebonite much better at twice the price, but not as good as it looked on the Goulet site.

I have a few each of the resin and the acrylic and use them regularly. I use a great deal of iron-gall ink so I can appreciate the ability to disassemble the pen for cleaning. Only one Konrad has ever given me fits in the initial set-up phase. The problem was solved by heat setting the feed. Must be lucky, I guess. My only other issue is the semi-flex nib....hate it. Fortunately, #6 nibs can be found readily.

I don't get along with flex nibs, either. I modified the nib to make it flex really easiy, but I just can't write with it. Mine most often have italic nibs in them now.

I've been using the Ebonite Konrad at work this week for routine note taking and it has worked fine out of the box without flow issues or leaking. However, it does not flex easily and just writes like a scratchy fine point. So it doesn't provide pretty line variation with normal writing pressures.

Noodler's flex nibs are indeed quite stiff. There is a modification that can be done to make it super flexible, though. I did it with one of my pens and decided I hated it because it was too flexible. Alternatively, you can easily swap out for an italic nib or any other nib you like.

nortac said:

I've been using the Ebonite Konrad at work this week for routine note taking and it has worked fine out of the box without flow issues or leaking. However, it does not flex easily and just writes like a scratchy fine point. So it doesn't provide pretty line variation with normal writing pressures.

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I think that with flex pens ... truly flexy ... you find it hard to do 'routine note taking'. They are more for 'take your time and be fancy'.

Doc4 said:

I think that with flex pens ... truly flexy ... you find it hard to do 'routine note taking'. They are more for 'take your time and be fancy'.

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Of course my initial intention was to do just that, take my time and be fancy. But then I saw a colleague at work using a Konrad for routine writing, nothing fancy and not trying to write with any particular flair, but a page that would be read by others, and it was this event that got me off the fence with my internal debate on whether to get a Noodler's flex pen or not. I will continue to use the Ebonite Konrad at work for my routine note taking for a while at least. I usually carry a few pens in my pocket and several more in my bag, just to play with. I may play with nib adjustments later to try and take advantage of the potential flex abilities. I will probably use the cheaper resin Konrad to experiment with initially.

TheRealScubaSteve said:

Noodler's flex nibs are indeed quite stiff. There is a modification that can be done to make it super flexible, though. I did it with one of my pens and decided I hated it because it was too flexible. Alternatively, you can easily swap out for an italic nib or any other nib you like.

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Thanks Steve for the link. I may definitely try this as I have an extra Noodler's flex nib that I bought to try in other pens that accept #6 nibs, so I have nothing to loose if I screw it up or otherwise don't care for it.

Post pictures if you end up trying it out!

TheRealScubaSteve said:

Post pictures if you end up trying it out!

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Roger Wilco

I wonder if anyone has tried to change the temper of the steel by heating it. I suppose the real challenge would to be able to maintain the alignment of the nib tines, rather than have them warp all willy-nilly. If I do the Dremel mod and it doesn't work out, I may see if the tines can be heated without warping. Of course the nibs themselves are only $6.00, so no great loss in any event.