I have bought "the devil's pen" - the Ahab!

[Teppanyaki]

This ought to be interesting.

Despite multiple negative reviews, I ended up purchasing an Ahab from Goulet Pens in Lapis Inferno. I did ask them to put a Goulet EF nib on it.

Exactly how much of a royal pain is this pen, with or without a replacement nib? Does anyone use the breather tube?

My understanding is that I need to scrub the feed with soap and water using a toothbrush, clean the heck out of the rest of the pen, make sure that the converter seal is the newer double-O ring (or buy the replacement), and adjust the feed/nib until I cry out to the heavens to deliver me from this evil pen.

I've also heard that they dry out easily (? hole in the cap).

I'm hoping that by cleaning it, removing the breather tube, and replacing the nib with a standard Goulet #6 that I can use this pen as a large, reliable pen and that the drying issue has been fixed.

I hope.

If anyone has any sage advice (beyond the obvious "Why the heck did you buy that @#$%@%@# pen!??!?!!??!"), please let me know.

 

[Rockminer]

I think you'll be fine. Most of the problems associated with the pen happen when you try and flex the original nib. I have a Konrad and find that it works flawlessly as a regular pen in stead of a flex pen. I wouldn't worry about removing the breather tube unless it's a last resort to try and get the pen working.

 

[brianw]

my condolences

 

[redbike]

It might work for you. These pens have their fans, though I am not among them. Good luck.

 

[syngent]

These Pens are absolutely AMAZING





















at helping you to appreciate other well made pens



​Enjoy !!!

 

[Silky Glide]

I recently bought a nib creeper, a Konrad, an ebonite Konrad and an Ahab from Goulet Pens just to see what they are all about. I also bought 3 Noodlers' brand fine/medium non-flex replacement nibs from Goulet for the 2 Konrads and the Ahab (a bargain at $2/each). I found that I was not crazy about the flex nibs that came with the pens - the were not bad but the replacement nibs work really well. I also purchased some Goulet nibs in various sizes (extra fine, medium, broad, 1.1 and 1.5). They were considerably more expensive than the Noodler nibs but I have not yet had a chance to try them out. I really like the flex nib that came in the nib creeper, which is smaller in size than the other pens, so I cannot swap it out for one of the replacement nibs I bought. One thing - the feeder on the Ahab seems to have leaked a bit into the pen cap when I had the pen in my briefcase to and from work - It could be that my particular pen does not travel well. As far as the seals and the o ring and all that, I have not had any issues. I did, however take the advice from others on this site and carefully take the pens apart and give them a good cleaning before I inked them for the first time. Cleaning them wasn't that bad and it gave me a chance to take a good look at the inner workings of the pens. The ink capacity on all the pens is pretty high and as others have commented, the materials that Noodlers uses to make the pens has a bit of an unpleasant odor, bit it seems to be dissipating. I am just a newbie with all of this, bit I am enjoying these pens, and for the money, I am glad that I picked them up.

 

[syngent]

Any pen you enjoy, is exactly the right pen for you. Glad you are liking the new gear Silky

 

[andrew98]

Despite multiple negative reviews, I ended up purchasing an Ahab from Goulet Pens in Lapis Inferno. I did ask them to put a Goulet EF nib on it.

May your luck be better than mine. You should be fine if the pen actually works, since JoWo nibs are quite nice.

-Andy

 

[SmoovD]

Don't let them bring you down, the Ahab and Konrad can be great pens. A good scrub is the best start. Hope you enjoy your new pen.

 

[Cognati Crotty]

I hated it. Used it for a month solid..every day..and gave it away.

 

[the_edski]

Can't wait for Owen to see this thread...

 

[mdevine]

I have an Ahab and like it very much. Out of the box, I found it very frustrating. It took an hour or two of playing with the nib to get it to write at all. However, once adjusted, it hasn't given me another problem since (and I bought it in December of 2012).

 

[Suzuki]

I actually like my Ahab - I gave it the standard cleaning, including scrubbing the feed with a toothbrush and it was very easy to adjust the nib/feed to get the flow I wanted.

I don't like the flex nib and I am currently using a Nemosine .6mm "calligraphy" nib, which is a cursive italic and writes pretty well. I'll likelly buy some of the other Nemosine nibs (from xfountainpens.com) - likely a fine and medium at some point. They're pretty nice nibs - a step up from the Noodlers nibs and currently on sale for $6.99 each.

Not the best pens in the world and not a pen for most newbies or folks who don't want to have to fiddle with stuff - but well worth the $20 if you have reasonable expectations. On the plus side, I really like the shape/weight and large ink capacity.

 

[oc_in_fw]

my condolences

Mine, too. Ahabs are great ink reservoirs, because they never release any.

 

[oc_in_fw]

Can't wait for Owen to see this thread...

I didn't scroll down, but I made my feelings known. A certain other FP website may praise these to high heaven, but burning a $20 bill with my zippo holds more satisfaction than buying a Noodler's pen.

 

[Teppanyaki]

burning a $20 bill with my zippo holds more satisfaction than buying a Noodler's pen.

Ouch! I'm actually decently happy with my Nib Creaper - I enjoy the flex, it writes well, and I like the coloring of the material. Having said that, when I try to unscrew the cap the metal clip rotates so I can't use that to push off of (which annoys me) and the end cap working the piston is annoying as when I unpost it I have to remember to not twist. I'd really like a Konrad in acrylic (Baikal), which fixes the end cap issue and hopefully the cap issue as well. Plus, the acrylic looks beautiful to me.

 

[SmoovD]

Ouch! I'm actually decently happy with my Nib Creaper - I enjoy the flex, it writes well, and I like the coloring of the material. Having said that, when I try to unscrew the cap the metal clip rotates so I can't use that to push off of (which annoys me) and the end cap working the piston is annoying as when I unpost it I have to remember to not twist. I'd really like a Konrad in acrylic (Baikal), which fixes the end cap issue and hopefully the cap issue as well. Plus, the acrylic looks beautiful to me.

The acrylic Konrads are nice. I scored a few and have been pleased with them. The material, fit and finish are a step up from its resin brethren. I have not had an issue with either of them so far.

If I may add on to Chris's comment on replacement nibs. I would absolutely recommend that the semi-flex nibs be replaced. The stock nibs are fine. They can be used for daily writing but can be abused to display flex but I have found them to be middle of the road. I would much rather replace the nib and not have to mess with the flex. The Knox 35 nibs from xfountainpens are cheap and above average. Well worth the effort IMHO.

 

[Teppanyaki]

The Ahab is here!



It took a bit to get it going - I scrubbed the feed with soapy water a bunch of times and used soapy water for the rest of the pen. Then, a tap water rinse followed by Goulet's Pen Flush a bunch of times through the feed/piston. Finally, dried the whole thing off and loaded the piston (ink syringe) with Diamine Ancient Copper.

It took a bit for the ink to get to the nib - is there a fast way to get the feed and nib to fill with ink? I tried the "push the plunger down a bit" trick, but that just made a bit of a blob near the neck and under the nib rather than filling the channels only.

It does have the dreaded Noodler's smell. I expect that to go away with a week or two.

Aesthetics - I . . . actually like it! The weird curvatures near the cap and post (?) give it some visual interest, the Lapis Inferno color is darn cool, and the "whale tail" clip is growing on me. I also like the thickness of the pen and lack of a "step" like my Pilot Metros.

The Goulet EF nib writes very nicely, although not really noticeably thinner than the F (can't really tell much of a difference), but the nibs are not as smooth as my Pilot Metro. Mildly disappointed in that.

Overall, I actually really like this pen so far. I'm not going to eyedropper it (paranoid about leaks), and I still don't quite get how the piston is supposed to fill (either with ink syringe or the piston itself). I'll have to watch a few videos. It is a nice pen so far, and unless it does something screwy I'm pretty content. I don't consider the pen demonic so far . . . but this is night #1 with some doodling on a Clairefontaine notebook.

I should clarify that my most expensive pen is a $20 Ahab, unless you count a $30 Jinhao with a neat wooden box. I aspire to an acrylic Konrad when they get my color in stock.

If the pen spontaneously combusts if I walk near holy ground or evil spirits start flying out from under the cap chanting things in alien tongues, I'll let you know.

 

[Aristeros]

Have a Nib Creaper and a Konrad. Got them as an experiment.

They arrived smelling weird on the inside, and with normal writing the nib moves a little here and there in a way I haven't seen with my other pens. The parts are all friction-fit, and require a little doing and some silicone grease to put back together just right; wouldn't recommend it to someone who hasn't been messing with fountain pens for a little while.

Creaper seems to have a pretty small ink reservoir but that doesn't bother me. Niether filling system game me trouble. As for the stock nib, never had a real flex pen, but as described by others, this one doesn't flex a whole lot, and it requires a fair bit of pressure. All it did is make me want a real semi-flex. I'll chop the nib on one with a Dremel as recommended once I'm back from overseas to see if that does anything. The $2 Noodler non-flex nib from Goulet is okay and, perhaps, a bit less scratchy.

They are okay as "use this until I lose it," but there are cheaper options available for that than the Konrad that just seem to work better. YMMV.

 

[nemo]

It took a bit for the ink to get to the nib - is there a fast way to get the feed and nib to fill with ink? I tried the "push the plunger down a bit" trick, but that just made a bit of a blob near the neck and under the nib rather than filling the channels only.

While filling the nib and feed should become fully saturated with ink from being dipped in the bottle, no? How exactly did you fill it?