Kate's "Frankenpen," Part TWO

My converted Noodler's to a bent nib is FUN...

Here's the pen and  nibs together...

 I used to feed from the original Noodler's Creaper pen...you just gently work it out of the pen.  (While I was at it I deepened the feed groove slightly to make it feed better.)

The nib is from an M-86 Hero pen, a perfect fit.  (The feed did not, though, so voila, Frankenpen!)

A good cleaning with Goulet's pen flush put everything in the mood to work well...

Here, you can see the lines of the feed, and the approximate position...you hold the nib and feed firmly in one hand and push it into the pen.  Don't force it, but seat it well.


You can see the position and the bent nib well below...

And the pen in action!

Hero pens are available online (though the M-86 is hard to find, perhaps on eBay last time I checked); it looks as if an 8-Horses Hero might fit too, but I have yet to try one.  (And ya know, they work just fine in the pen body they come in, they're just a bit heavy for me!)

A review of the M-86 is here--you can see photos here too.  It's a bit awkward to use and the cap doesn't fit well when posted--it unbalances the pen but it has a LOVELY nib, hence my conversion!

I usually pick up my Noodler's Creapers from Gouletpens.com--they've got a huge selection of colors, too!  (No, I don't work for Goulet or get a cut from them--they're just terrific people to work with, so I like to spread the word!)

Alas, I don't know about converting any of the other pens out there--I'm so happy with this one!

Again, these two posts are in answer to correspondent Liz Steel's question about my pen hack in her wonderful series on Fountain Pens for Sketching--don't miss it!

Kate's "Frankenpen!" Part ONE

Our dear friend and book contributor Liz Steel has been doing a wonderfully helpful series on her blog on Fountain Pens for Sketching, on Tuesdays and Thursdays--don't miss it! 

She asked me about my Noodler's Creaper conversion to a bent-nib calligraphy pen, and though I've mentioned it in passing, here, I really didn't say much about it...so here's Part One, how I did it, and why!  I love that pen...lightweight, versatile, handy and fun!

The bent-nib pens are great fun , once you learn how to hold them...this is from my YouTube video that shows a number of ways to use them.

Actually, it's Chinese, in this case, but oh well...

Our community center after a fire, with my Hero pen...

NICE variation for the trees...

And oops, sorry, Blogger's being weird, so I'm having to do this in two parts...

Noodler's Flex Pens

These were done with a Noodler's Creaper flex pen, the smallest one they make; I love the varied lines, and the fact that you can tweak the pens--literally take them apart to clean and service them yourself if you wish.  (LOTS of good videos on that at http://gouletpens.com!)

I own 6 Creapers now, for use with different inks (and two I've played with replacing the factory nib with different nibs--one a Hero M-86 bent nib for calligraphy and one an antique gold Waterman--they just fit the small pen.)

At $14, I find these a fantastic bargain for a flexible-nib fountain pen!

I also own 2 Konrads and a big old Ahab--it's lovely but a bit large for my small hands.  Holds a LOT of ink, though.

Here's my review on that pen: http://artistsjournalworkshop.blogspot.com/2011/12/noodlers-new-ahab-pen.html


These are nice writing pens, too--I use them almost exclusively to write letters and to work in my written journal/daybook, though I do own other pens.  The nibs on mine are exceptionally smooth for a steel nib pen.

On the minus side, for some unknown reason ink DOES evaporate in the pens--something to do with the type of plastic-like material they're made from.  Sometimes they need a kickstart, either spraying the nib with water or giving it a quick dip. Sometimes I need to tap them on the paper to get them started.  And sometimes I just need to adjust the nib.

Of course any pen is sensitive to both the type of ink you're using and the paper you're working on. Some are a better "fit" than others.

What's been your experience?

My Everyday Journaling Supplies

It's always interesting to see what other artists consider necessary for their everyday journal work, so I thought I'd share mine...this is what survived after a recent trip to Nevada, and granted, I didn't jettison MUCH!  

This is what goes in my purse...which really ISN'T much of a purse, it's my field bag/traveling studio!  My usual retrofitted Prang box at the bottom, an old pencil case with a few tools, a sprayer that doubles as my water supply and the little collapsing bucket above it if I need more (I've never been able to find another one this small!)  Then in upper center the new Sharpie EF white, a couple of Micron Pigmas that don't mind changes in air pressure, a couple of colored pencils for sketching, and two waterbrushes.  (The flat one didn't actually go on the trip but I wished it had...)  A small vial of ink in the tiny bag and a pocket protector full of pens and one mechanical pencil...it all weighs in less than 2 lbs.

My old retrofitted Prang box makes me feel like a kid!  I've replaced the round brush with a better one from Black Gold, and that's a bamboo skewer for drawing with, like a pen.  These are my usual colors, except I've taken out the green: https://www.flickr.com/photos/cathy-johnson/8126242177/in/set-72157604173444404

Here's what goes in the pencil box, from the top...a 1" flat with the end sharpened, a #8 travel brush, a small bristle brush (also sharpened) I use for painting, spatter, or lifting; a toothpick and another skewer, a piece of credit card for scraping and the lightest possible pencil sharpener for those colored pencils, a piece of sharpened dowel rod and a small dip pen we found on eBay.  It's an antique!  (Sometimes a little piece of white vinyl eraser, too...)

Pocket protectors work great to corral my pens and a pencil!

A lovely array of pens and points...from left, my ancient Sheaffer, a Noodler's Creaper, a Creaper body with a Hero bent nib in it, another old Sheaffer for smoooooth writing (ok, I could leave it home), my Platinum Carbon Desk Pen cut short so it will cap, and my favorite Pentel Forte mechanical pencil.  (Here's the post in which I tell how I cut the Carbon Desk Pen: http://artistsjournalworkshop.blogspot.com/2011/06/yet-another-new-pen.html)

Yum.  Even if they DID leak in the plane...

It all fits in here...

And the front zipper pocket is all that actually acts as a purse!  Drivers' license and credit cards (and our wedding picture!), pills, salt and pepper, cell phone, mirror, comb, nail clipper...and when I'm not flying, a TINY Swiss Army knife...

Could I do with less?  Of course.  Am I likely to?  Um...not till the arthritis gets worse!  I might leave out that one pen...

I'll share some of my sketches in another post!

Noodler's new Ahab pen...

For me, it's a winner!  After watching Brian Goulet's videos on how to clean, disassemble, and tweak your Noodler's pens, I LOVE my regular flex pens too, but the only drawback was how quickly I ran out of ink when sketching.  Flex nibs just DO use more ink, that's the nature of the beast...and the smaller Creaper Flex pens don't hold much...



Ahab DOES.  I filled it before I left home, spent 5 days in Nevada sketching, and still have a pen that's over half full (I got the clear demonstrator model so I could keep track of that!)

It has a pump action, and when you fill it, both sections fill up.  You can see I didn't use very much of the main section, only the ink in the pump itself.

Brian Goulet  gives excellent customer service and answers questions promptly...he's made a number of videos that clearly explain all the details.  Check out their site HERE.

I love being able to take these pens apart, tweak them, completely clean them, etc.--I'm delighted not to be afraid of my pen!  They're inexpensive enough that this is a real boon, as well.  (With some of my other pens, the Namiki, for instance, I'm afraid to take it out in the field, and the antique pens I send out to an expert to be serviced.  SO nice to save $40 or so and just be able to do it myself.

I'll admit I wasn't sold on these pens at first...once I learned to clean and adjust them, I couldn't be happier.  And they're $14 and $20 pens!

These are only a few of the sketches I did, by the way!

I test drove it for flex against several of my other pens...the Namiki Falcon at top, my antique-but-temperamental Waterman 52, the original Noodler's Flex, and the Ahab at the bottom...they're all pretty comparable (though the Namiki doesn't go as fine), and I don't have to push too hard to flex.

You DO have to slow down a bit on the Noodler's pens when fully flexed or you bet some railroading (double lines), but they're very versatile and so far very dependable!

Both the paper and the ink you're using make a difference in how these pens perform...or ANY pen, as far as that goes.  I've found Noodler's Lexington Grey to work best for me.  I bought the new brown formula ink, and was disappointed that my Ahab wasn't pleased with it...it didn't want to feed well.  I cleaned the pen thoroughly, loaded it with Lexy Grey and it performs like a champ.

Pool Party Birthday!

This was the new Noodler's Flex nib pen with watercolor...Platinum Carbon Black ink.

You do need to wait a minute or so when you're using a heavy application of ink, on this paper (Fabriano HP) to let it dry thoroughly, because it doesn't sink into the paper.

 

I do love those lines!  

Here's a comparison with my beloved old vintage Waterman 152, from the 1920s...it was almost out of ink, so the lines are lighter, but you can see almost the same variation in line is possible...

Overall, very happy with the pen, as well as with that ink!

Noodler's Flex Pens on Amazon

Noodler's Flex on Amazon




Yep, someone just said they've got these on Amazon now...maybe more easily available, now that a new shipment is out! This is the color I got...quite nice.

They are smaller than a lot of pens, but I like that...fits my hand, and my need to lighten up!