The Noodler’s Konrad was my first pen from the company. I was looking for an affordable flex pen, as I’d never tried one before. Did it meet my expectations?
Well, yes.
I, like I assume you’re doing, did quite a lot of research before deciding to give it a try. I had also read the pens could be finicky, rewarded tinkering, and were easy to modify and experiment with. It actually surprised me a little when it showed up. I cleaned it out, inked it up, and had to do very little to get it writing well. Let’s jump in a bit deeper.
The good:
- Affordable
- Ebonite feed keeps up well
- Flex nib offers good line variation and is quite smooth, if a bit stiff to flex
- Fun and easy to modify
- Piston filled
- Tough material options
The less good:
- Sometimes burps up ink blobs
- Some people may not want to mess with tinkering
- Some available Noodler’s pen materials can smell weird
Noodler’s Konrad — In the hand
I’m actually really happy with the ergonomics of the Noodler’s Konrad. First, it’s a very straight pen, with only a slight taper on the grip section. The size of the pen is really comfortable for long writing sessions. I’d compare it pretty close in size with the Platinum Preppy. Next, the Konrad is offered in Noodler’s normal vegetal resin (Like my Konrad Rollerball) as well as an aircraft acrylic for certain models. Mine is the Konrad Thule, part of the collection of acrylic pens named for US Military bases.
The Konrad Thule feels nice in hand. It’s not overly heavy or light, well balanced, and somehow doesn’t feel slippery to grip. The clip on mine feels a little thin and easy to bend off-center. However, it does function well. While some details like the clip seem a little cheap, the overall build quality of the pen seems good. I’d guess that the acrylic would take some effort to damage. I also enjoy the design of the blind cap and the knob to turn the piston filler system. It works great and the knurling on the piston knob really helps grip when cleaning it out.
Writing with the Noodler’s Konrad
Writing with the Noodler’s Konrad was much the same experience as writing with the Ahab. They do use the same nib and feed, after all. However, to give a quick recap on the stock writing experience, it’s pretty good. The Noodler’s flex nib is really quite smooth for normal writing. It puts down a fine line and can flex to a somewhat broad size. The feed doesn’t have issues keeping up. Also, it can be tuned by changing how deeply into the pen the nib and feed are positioned (or by more extreme modification).
Now, you may notice my writing sample looks like a giant stub nib/ dip pen did it. That’s because I watched this video by Nathan (Noodler’s founder) about modifying his nibs. That got me excited at the prospect so I ordered a few Noodler’s nibs for next to nothing from Vanness, pulled out my sidecuts and sandpaper and went to work! Now I have a broad, flat edged nib in a fountain pen. It works great for cursive italic writing as well as blackletter/Gothic fonts. I’ve got a lot of practice to do, but it’s a ton of fun.
Notes on my modded nib:
For a quick rundown on my mod, it was actually pretty simple. I used my nice Knipex sidecuts to lop the tip of the nib off at about the width I was wanting my stub to be. Then, I used a very fine sandpaper to ensure I didn’t have any burs or sharp edges. Be careful polishing around the tine gap, you can give it the “babies bottom” effect, which will mess up your flow. That was really about all there was to it. After that, I just had to adjust the nib and feed for proper flow.
I highly recommend watching Nathan’s video linked in the paragraph above! Also, I would have preferred to have used the non-flex nib for this. However, I had some trouble finding those in stock at the time. I need to remember to buy a few next time I see them. Noodler’s replacement nibs are super affordable.
Other notable characteristics
First, I should be sure to mention a few of the negatives with my Konrad. It does sometimes burp up some ink. It seems to be less of an issue if I don’t fill it all the way. I’ve tried chasing the air out by advancing the piston as I use ink, but that’s not seemed to make much difference for me. Another potential issue for some people is the tinkering aspect. These pens are designed to be very serviceable. Sometimes, there needs to be some dialing in on the nib and feed. For mine, it was just moving them around until the flow felt about right. That said, I can understand how not everyone wants to mess with that.
On the plus side, the acrylic Noodler’s Konrad models don’t smell like anything. The regular resin ones sometimes get complaints about their smell. My rollerball had it a bit, but it was never bad enough to bother me. Also, the flip side of the tinkering aspect is the possibilities it opens up. The nib and feed are easy to remove. The ebonite feed makes it possible to heat set it to a lot of different #6 sized nibs. These are some fun pens!
Noodler’s Konrad Thule — Affordably fun
Overall, the Noodler’s Konrad is a fun fountain pen. It’s got some flaws that would be harder to forgive if it were more expensive, but for the money, I find the pens endearing. Tinkering around with them, watching videos of people trying random nibs in them, and modifying my own Konrad has made it worth the price of admission. I think that if you’re after an affordable and versatile fountain pen, you might enjoy the Noodler’s pens. They’re decent quality, should last ages, can be owner serviced, and just bring me a lot of joy.
Have you tried any Noodler’s pens? If so, what is your use case and how do you like the pens? Let me know in the comments, I’d love to nerd out about pens with you!
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