Posts filed under Flex Nib

BlueDew Flex Fountain Pen - Too Good to be True?

(Kimberly (she/her) took the express train down the fountain pen/stationery rabbit hole and doesn't want to be rescued. She can be found on Instagram @allthehobbies because there really are many, many hobbies!.)

Hang around the fountain pen hobby long enough and inevitably someone will ask about finding an inexpensive flex fountain pen option. And the answers will usually range from “it doesn’t exist”, or “nothing beats vintage flex” (with no explanation as to which vintage pens/nibs have flex), or “you can try XYZ brand but it’s not very flexy” or “cram a Zebra or Nikko G nib into a cheap pen until it rusts and you throw it out the window”. Any of these sound familiar? As someone who kinda sorta knows how to use flex (taking intro to Spencerian and Copperplate courses means I’m an expert, right? I kid, I kid.), it can be a frustrating experience trying to find something that actually is flexy and not just bouncy at best.

Before I go any further though, here’s a quick explanation of “what is flex” (which is from my article on Stylosuite Flex Nibs - Flex is what you get when applying pressure to the tines of the nib. The separation gives a wider line than what you’d normally get when unflexed. Most nibs are not meant to be flexed but they may vary in how much “bounce” you might get when applying a little bit of pressure. Releasing that pressure allows the tines to go back together and write as normal. Apply too much pressure and your tines may never fully go back to their original position and your nib is now “sprung”. As they say, every nib is a flex nib … once. So, don’t ever press your luck too far with any nib, flex, dip or otherwise.

Dip nibs require the user to dip the nib into ink before writing a few letters/words before dipping it again. Some of the drawbacks include the tedium of constant dipping, potential messiness if you knock your bottle, or inconsistent ink flow in your writing if you dip too much/too little. Some of the vintage fountain pens have varying degrees of flexibility in their nibs (note that not all vintage pens have flex nibs) but it does require a bit of knowledge as to which makers and nibs were flexible. Modern fountain pens have had some success with bouncier/softer nibs which can give some line variation. An example is the 14kt gold Pilot FA nibbed pens like the 742/912 and 743/823 (size 10 being a bit softer/flexier than size 15), or the Pilot Falcon, which are pretty good options but they aren’t inexpensive (~$150 - $300). There are also steel nibs that are a cheaper option but usually don’t have very much flex - usually somewhere between slightly bouncy and semi-flex. This is where BlueDew comes in. BlueDew Pens is a Singaporean company founded with the goal of creating an affordable, portable option for folks who wanted to work on their calligraphy without the hassle of dip nibs or the mystery of vintage. Let’s see if it measures up.

The BlueDew Flex fountain pen ships in a padded envelope with a single pen case inside. I love that there are no additional boxes or packaging that I have to deal with. The case has a magnetic flap and the bottom of the case is nicely padded so you don’t have to clip the pen to the case. I like that the branding is subtle. The textured case has since been discontinued and replaced with a smooth material instead.

The BlueDew Flex fountain pen comes equipped with a flex nib unit already installed and a converter. The BlueDew converter is not the usual standard international converter that comes with many pens, but something different. It looks similar to the converter found on old Nemosine pens but the latter will work with the usual Jowo/Bock nib units as well as with the BlueDew nib unit, but the BlueDew converter does not work with other nib units. You can also use a standard international converter with the BlueDew nib unit. I was also able to partially install the nib unit into Bock-threaded pens but not Jowo. I confirmed this on their website, where it says “the threads should match Bock pens but the length might not match.” The nib and feed are friction-fit so you can also pull them to put into another housing if the BlueDew housing doesn’t fit your Bock-threaded pen. Be careful not to lose the little o-ring on the edge of the nib unit and also make sure that the cap has enough clearance because the BlueDew nib is a bit longer than a Bock 6 nib.

BlueDew Flex Fountain Pen Nib — Lining up the nib units at the collar (the top of the housing), you can see that the BlueDew nib on the right is just a wee bit longer than the Bock 6 - take note of that if you put the nib into another pen.

BlueDew Flex Fountain Pen Names — *I was partially successful in putting the nib unit into a Namisu Ixion, but clearly it doesn’t fit all the way in there.*

The nib itself is really where it’s at. It looks very much like a dip nib, so much so that I looked through the dip nib section of John Neal Books (which is an excellent calligraphy resource), and found something that was very similar. The Leonardt Principal EF nib has the same perpendicular “cuts” across the tines, the same B-shaped breather hole shape and similar cut on the sides of the nib. I don’t know if the BlueDew nibs were custom-made by the same maker or if they were used as a template for their nibs. Unfortunately, I don’t have any Leonardt nibs to compare the writing experience.

BlueDew Flex Nib — *The Leonardt nib on the left (PC:John Neal Books) and the BlueDew flex nib on the right.*

Speaking of writing experience, how does it write? For my initial inking, I used Waterman inks. Since I had two of them to play with, I used Waterman Inspired Blue in the Ancient Ice pen and Waterman Harmonious Green in the Emerald. Like most dip nibs, the BlueDew nib does not have any tipping, so you can get very fine lines with little pressure. This also means that the nib is pretty sharp so it can be easy to scratch the paper if you write too hard, resulting in more feathering because the ink travels through the fibers. Both of the pens wrote beautifully with the Waterman inks and didn’t have any problems with hard starts or railroading. When I used a drier ink like Robert Oster Avocado, I did get some hard starts and railroading, so be sure to use an ink with at least average flow, though you don’t need to use a super wet or lubricated ink to get good results. You do need to write somewhat slowly if you are going to use it like a flex pen, but it kept up nicely with regular speed cursive and printing.

BlueDew Flex Nib Writing — *Up close, you can see the feathering.*

Over the course of four months, I reinked the Emerald pen three times and used it about 20 times to do a lot of flex writing. Pro tip: using a flex nib can help you use up ink quickly! I left the pen unused for 1-3 weeks at a time and didn’t have any problems with it starting right up. I also didn’t notice any degradation of the nib quality or ability to bounce back from being flexed. I asked several friends who use dip nibs how long it took for them to replace the nibs due to corrosion or getting worn down and they said anywhere from 1-4 weeks depending on usage. Considering I had the Emerald inked for about four months, I would say this is a huge improvement over using dip nibs!

Since inking up these pens, I traveled quite a bit and the Emerald one had leaked inside the barrel. Thankfully, it did not leak into the cap or onto the nib. On a few occasions, the pen didn’t write after being uncapped so I unscrewed the barrel to check the ink levels when I discovered there were drops of ink all over the converter and in the barrel. I did not have this problem with the Ancient Ice pen, which was inked up for two months and was taken on many of the same trips. I will probably try a different converter in the Emerald next time I ink it up.

The BlueDew Flex fountain pens sell for $88 USD which I think is a good price for an acrylic pen with flex nib unit and converter. Replacement nib units are available for $35 for a pair (nib units are not sold individually). The flex nib unit also fits in the BlueDew Writer fountain pen. Shipping from Singapore was $15 to the US.

Pro:

Flex fountain pen that performs well and is affordable
Pen case is a nice touch
Replaceable flex nib units that have more longevity than usual dip nib
Pen body has a nice feel - did not feel like a cheap pen
Minimalist packaging (a pro for me)

Neutral:

The non-standard converter might be difficult to find, as they are not sold on BlueDew’s website.

Not sure:

Not sure if my leaky barrel experience is common or due to a faulty converter.
The Leonardt dip nib costs $2.50 each versus $17.50 each for the BlueDew. However, that includes the feed and housing and you are likely to get several times more use from the BlueDew, so it might be closer in price than at first glance.

In summary, the BlueDew Flex is a really good flex nib fountain pen. You get the dip nib writing experience with none of the hassle of dipping and the portability of a regular fountain pen.

(Disclaimer: Thank you to BlueDew for providing both pens for review. Prior to receiving these, I had already bought the Emerald pen and two replacement nib units.)

Posted on June 10, 2022 by Kimberly Lau and filed under BlueDew, Fountain Pens, Flex Nib, Pen Reviews.

Stylosuite Flex Nib Review

I was using one of my Leonardo Momento Zeros that had a flex nib from Les Sheely of Stylosuite and just inked up another, which got me channeling my inner Right Said Fred and singing “I’m Too Flexy For My Car”, except it’s NOT too flexy by far! I first met Les 4 years ago at the Chicago Pen Show (omg, the Chicago Pen Show is next week already!) but I never got around to spending much time at his table because people were always there! I finally made a point to check out his table at last fall’s Chicago Pen Show and now I know why people spend so much time there.

Les is known for his flex modifications - just check out his Stylosuite IG account to see examples of what his pens/nibs can do - but he also does italics, cursive italics and other grinds too. When you sit down at his table, Les will hand you several pens and asks you to write with them and tell him what you like or dislike about them. Is the pen too big/small? Too fine or too broad? Flexy enough? Not enough? Too sharp, scratchy or smooth? Based on those answers, he will take away certain pens and replace them with different ones for you to try, and this goes on for however long it takes the customer to figure out what they want. Les says that it’s common that a customer says they start out wanting something specific but ends up realizing it’s something totally different.

Before I go any further though, here’s a quick intro to “what is flex”. Flex is what you get when applying pressure to the tines of the nib. The separation gives a wider line than what you’d normally get when unflexed. Most nibs are not meant to be flexed but they may vary in how much “bounce” you might get when applying a little bit of pressure. Releasing that pressure allows the tines to go back together and write as normal. Apply too much pressure and your tines may never fully go back to their original position and your nib is now “sprung”. As they say, every nib is a flex nib…once. So, don’t ever press your luck too far with any nib, flex, dip or otherwise.

Leonardo Nib — *This is what a regular Leonardo nib looks like with no pressure (Leonardo uses Jowo 6 nibs for many of their pens.)*

*Same nib with almost too much pressure, and there’s still barely a gap between the tines.*

Stylosuite x-wing flex — *EF X-Wing Harpoon, flexed with a lot less pressure than I applied with the first nib. (I wrote the pen dry during this review so there is no ink between the tines.)*

Alright, back to Les/Stylosuite. I knew what I wanted ahead of time and that was flex. And I wanted it in a Leonardo Momento Zero body (he also sells other brands like Opus88), after I told him which model I wanted, he proceeded to hand me several pens (I wish I took pictures of the pens I was playing with). The first one I picked out was a Fine Cursive Italic Flex, so he then pulled 3 more pens (along with the one I picked) and then asked me which of those I liked best. They all had FCI Flex nibs, but they all felt slightly different. Les likes to say it’s like children, they all have Mom and Dad’s DNA and they may look similar but they all have different personalities. One was slightly stiffer (more of a semi-flex), another one was a bit more flexy, another one was a “crispier” italic, while the other was slightly smoother. So I sat there and made figure 8s and wrote random words until I picked out which “kid” had the personality I liked the most. I also ended up liking the “Extra Fine X-Wing Harpoon” and did the same trial and error with a few other nibs until I picked what worked for me.

*My scribbles from the Chicago Pen Show last year.*

So after paying the bill, which I genuinely do not remember, but it was something like $350 for the Leonardo Momento Zero with the FCI flex nib. I also gave him another Leonardo and had him modify that nib to be an EF X-Wing Harpoon. He usually doesn’t offer nib-only as an option but since I was also buying a pen, he did it this time.

*Leonardo Momento Zero Iride with the EF X-Wing Harpoon (Left) and Figboot on Pens LMZ with the FCI Flex.*

Unlike most pen show purchases, you won’t get to walk away with a new flexy pen. Instead, you fill out a form with your address (and he includes notes about what you liked/disliked) and then you wait for 2-3 weeks. Les goes back to his workshop where he cuts and grinds your nib/ feed so that it behaves the way you want it to. He replaces the plastic feed with an ebonite one; this is important because ebonite feeds channel ink better than plastic feeds, ensuring you don’t experience railroading when flexing. He may make other feed modifications to produce the desired flow before heat setting the nib and feed into your pen. Because of this, he does not recommend pulling the nib/feed from the housing because it can cause the nib to not perform properly.

Stylosuite flex — *Regular plastic feed (L) vs ebonite feed.*

In my experience, Leonardo’s don’t always pull ink very well with the converter attached, so I usually ink up the converter separately, then screw in the converter and saturate the feed before using it. After saturating the feed (including dipping it into the bottle of ink), the nibs wrote great. I generally use an ink that has average to slightly wet flow and I haven’t had problems with flexing either nib, even if I haven’t used the pen for several days, even up to 2 weeks later.

I just finished my first fill of the EF X-Wing Harpoon and am on my second fill of the FCI Flex (I couldn’t resist re-inking it again). I enjoy writing with both nibs but find that the FCI is a bit more versatile as I can get the line variation from the cursive italic without doing any flexing. Neither nibs were so flexy as to be uncontrollable while flexing or too bouncy when not flexing. If you write too quickly while flexing, you may experience a little bit of railroading (where there are parallel lines with no ink in the middle) near the bottom of the stroke, but I don’t usually write very fast when I’m flexing so this hasn’t been an issue for me.

Stylosuite flex nib — *Unflexed and flexed writing samples.*

I really like both of these nibs and plan to make a stop to see Les at the Chicago show next week to see if there’s anything else I should try. If you see him next week or at any other pen show, consider stopping at his table and check out what he has to offer; just wait until after I finish my order! :-)

Posted on April 22, 2022 by Kimberly Lau and filed under Stylosuite, Flex Nib, Nibs.

Franklin-Christoph Steel Flex Nib Review

My flex nib writing style will never be confused for the glorious strokes of Azizah at Gourmet Pens, or the frolicking fun of Ana at The Well-Appointed Desk. But my style is my style, and I love the flair that flex nibs add to my block print writing style.

The latest flex nib to cross my path is the Franklin-Christoph #6 Steel Extra Fine, and it’s a good one. Now, you know my stance on nearly all modern flex nibs - they should be classified as soft nibs, not flex, for the most part - and this F-C nib is no different. But, as with other modern flex nibs I’ve tested, that doesn’t mean it isn’t excellent in it’s own right.

The F-C steel flex nib is characterized by the lengthy slit running up almost 90% of the exposed nib, along with slight scallops carved out of the wings. This type of steel nib is not new to the market, but it is the first time one has crossed my desk.

From strictly a flex perspective, there is a good amount of line variation, but not a massive range like you get from vintage flex nibs or dip nibs. Nor should there be. That’s the expectation from those nibs - not this one. And that is the expectation you should have going into any modern flex nib purchase.

For my handwriting style, this nib helps my letters pop off the page. My heavy hand spreads the tines on the downstroke for wide lines, then relaxes for thinner lines from side to side. For a nib marked as EF I would like to see a finer fine line, but that’s a minor complaint for a nib that writes so well.

I compared this nib to two other soft nibs in my collection - the Aurora Optima Flex, and the Pilot Falcon - to get a feel for how similar or different they are. I assumed the Falcon would be an outlier, and it was. It has a much finer fine line, and a narrow wide line, but it might have the widest range if you know how to use it properly.

The other two are shockingly similar. I’ve talked about how much I enjoy writing with the Aurora flex nib due to how cool it makes my handwriting look, and the Franklin-Christoph is similar to that. Shockingly similar I’d say. They both begin with a fine line and expand to a broad line. There is definitely a good amount of variation - you just begin from a wider place than with a nib like the Falcon.

I added a Sailor King of Pen stock medium nib to the comparison to show a baseline of how these soft nibs make my handwriting appear. It’s noticeable to me in person, but may not translate as well in pictures.

So what’s my verdict on the Franklin-Christoph #6 Steel Extra Fine nib, from a non-flex friendly writer? It’s pretty great. I think I’ve already convinced myself to pick up one or two more and have them ground even finer to see what I can really do with the nib. Do I have a flexy future?

(Franklin-Christoph provided this product at a discount to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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