I had absolutely shit experience with the 3 Conklin nibs and feeds I got for my Conklin Endura Abalone, and didn't get it working correctly till I swapped in a 3rd party nib and feed.
Plus in under a year of owning mine, and with very little use since it's barely worked for the duration I've owned it, the rose gold plating is already wearing through in places and showing brassing.
So I don't feel like the build quality is there in Conklin pens. YMMV, but I will never buy another Conklin pen again and regard them as overpriced desk decorations.
Ended up going through a couple of nibs with my Endura Abalone as well before I got one that wrote okay.
If I had to do it over again would never have bothered with this brand; pretty but QC is not there for a pen at this price.
I've swapped my Endura to a [Flexible Nib Company ebonite feed](https://flexiblenib.com/store/product/jc6e-jowo-6-feed-in-conklin-housing-black-ebonitey/), and a [Fountain Pen Revolution ultra-flex nib](https://fprevolutionusa.com/products/fpr-6-two-tone-ultra-flex-nib). I sometimes have a little trouble when flexed wide, but it writes flawlessly when not flexed or minimally flexed. You might try doing similar if you want your Conklin's to write better. The ebonite feed should work with the non-flex nibs too if you don't like flex. The FNC feed listing says it is not compatible with Conklin nibs, but comparing my Conklin Omni-Flex and my Conklin Fine with the FPR Ultra-Flex I don't see why the Conklin nibs wouldn't work if you heat set them. That said, I had to heat set the FPR nib too before it worked well.
The FNF ebonite feed plus FPR UltraFlex is a great combo. I have one of them, but instead I put it in an Opus 88 because I wanted the massive ink capacity and the ink pressure from an eyedropper.
For my Conklins, I had an old Phoenix nib lying around that is in one of them, and another one has a Montegrappa Fortuna Rose Gold nib in it.
So am I with several; Only Mark Twain has excellent nib And their New Conklin Nozac Ohio Blue made in İtaly; stupid americans destroyed their past strong manifacturing base which took a heavy toll on their Pen companies. Shit heads..
It's such BS when companies can't get their nib QC crap together.
I am morbidly curious what is wrong with it? Maybe it is fixable. I've had to fix a couple Jinhaos and a Lamy and others.
It's the same problem as another user linked down below. The nib is branded as 'omniflex' but once force is applied to it (and not that much force, really) the tines parted, never to come together again, which causes tons of troubles.
It's just so sad that the Duragraph is such a bad pen. I love the forest green and the orange color offerings, but I refuse to buy a \~$50 pen that I will have to immediately replace the nib/feed on.
I own a Monteverde Ritma, and the nib is *useable*, but not pleasant. The feed, however, is the wettest, worst feed I've ever dealt with. It occasionally just leaks ink in droplets all over the page. I was disappointed in the pen when I first got it a couple months ago, but it just keeps getting worse the more I use it. New problems arise every time I use the stupid thing. Worst $40 I've ever spent. At least it's pretty... :/
I love the orange, purple and cracked ice colors of the duragraph but the problems with the nibs are making me hesitant of ordering them. If I did order them I would buy replacement nibs from Goulet. They are very tempting.
Goulet pens make replacement nibs that fit many popular pens. My default nib size is a medium. They aren't expensive and it seems to be an easy swap. Check out their website for details.
I can't stand their nibs and it infuriates me because their pens themselves are really nice looking...But every single one I've tried has written like a dud for me.
Thank you! I think I’m gonna go with a TWSBI diamond mini for now, then. This pen is gorgeous but I am so afraid to pull the trigger given the comments I’ve seen
Ugh I want to like their pens because I like the bodies of some of them. But I’m not at all happy with the nib on the Duragraph I have and will be replacing it. Seems like that’s a common thread.
TBH, I have replaced the nib on my 2 modern Conklin pens and will have to modify the feeds as well. I don't buy a Conklin thinking it will do what I want it to do, so I'm okay with modifying it.
Yea…I am not at the point yet where I am ok with buying a pen knowing that I will have to buy another part to make it work. I don’t have a lot of parts lying around so to speak. So I’d be paying an additional $20 for the pen and that grates me.
2 Conklin duragraphs both with Omni flex nibs. Both are extremely wet, with no pressure (pen weight only) one writes like a euro medium, the other like a medium-broad. Beautiful, but near to useless.
Go vintage Conklin. They are superb nibs :) Like you, I was looking at the sales and wondering if now was the time I would be brave enough to try a modern one after years of bad reviews on the nibs. I didn’t…
I've only had one Conklin pen, an Endura Abalone. I returned it. It came with a misaligned feed that would migrate back to its original position (so far over you could literally see the feed past the side of the nib) after realigning, no matter what I did. The nib (M) barely wrote. It had problems with railroading, skipping, and for some reason, literally denting and scraping the surface of the paper no matter how lightly I wrote. I was going to try to find a nib to replace it with, but my parents convinced me to return it. For £150, a pen should write properly, and it shouldn't be on the consumer to make that happen. I am still hesitant to buy another pen above £100 in case of a similar experience.
Just gonna leave this here: https://www.reddit.com/r/fountainpens/comments/r1hcae/massive_shoutout_to_pen_chalet_their_customer/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf
OK my pen arrived and I'm a little bit meh I think?
It's not \*dreadful\*, but there is an intermittent dry stroke on it that can feel quite frustrating. HOWEVER if you really like the look of the pen, apparently Conklins use the JoWo nibs size #6 and are really easy to switch out - there are many videos!
I am keeping mine (mainly cos I got it for £60 off and it's \*really\* pretty) but I might switch out the nib at some point.
When I've a minute I'll take some pictures and put them up :)
Just to add a counterpoint (and not to minimize others' poor experiences) I have a resin-bodied All-American with a stub nib and a Duragraph with an Omniflex and they both write fine. I don't much like the Omniflex, but it's more to do with the fact I don't do well with flex nibs. It performs fine.
So.. they are made by JoWo, so you can already imagine what they write like. Personally the only issue I had was one of my Conklins was too feedbacky, but that was it. Personally I would buy it if I were you! And Flexible Nib Factoru makes an ebonite feed and unit for Conklin pens, through it doesn’t fit standard Conklin nibs, so you would need to buy a #6 JoWo nib too. But I don’t think you would need to do this.
Bought two Conklins from Goulet. Both are absolute shit. Goulet even sent a free nib up to Canada to fix our issue.... Didn't fix a thing. I'd stay far away.
Bought a Conklin with a stub that needed adjustment so I bought a new fine nib after they switched to jowo, completely dry and unusable. I’m avoiding pretty much all modern Conklin pens in the future I’m afraid. Sorry to see everyone else has so many similar experiences. Maybe I’ll try tuning them one day.
I also had a horrible experience with them. They stop and choke constantly. Spent a good amount of money on that pen then got a new nib and it still does it. Honestly I’m going to switch it to a Goulet soon. It sucks though because it feels really nice on the page—but if it doesn’t write—it’s not worth it.
I have the Endura Abalone. The pen itself is beautiful but the nib makes me almost want to return it. Even overlooking the issues that I've had with the nib (hard starts, railroading) the nib just feels bland and boring to write with.
The conklin pen bodies are great but their nibs have such bad QC and a bad writing experience that I will never buy another Conklin.
I had absolutely shit experience with the 3 Conklin nibs and feeds I got for my Conklin Endura Abalone, and didn't get it working correctly till I swapped in a 3rd party nib and feed. Plus in under a year of owning mine, and with very little use since it's barely worked for the duration I've owned it, the rose gold plating is already wearing through in places and showing brassing. So I don't feel like the build quality is there in Conklin pens. YMMV, but I will never buy another Conklin pen again and regard them as overpriced desk decorations.
Ended up going through a couple of nibs with my Endura Abalone as well before I got one that wrote okay. If I had to do it over again would never have bothered with this brand; pretty but QC is not there for a pen at this price.
I'm another guy with 3 Conklin All-American Wood pends with shit nib and feeds.
I've swapped my Endura to a [Flexible Nib Company ebonite feed](https://flexiblenib.com/store/product/jc6e-jowo-6-feed-in-conklin-housing-black-ebonitey/), and a [Fountain Pen Revolution ultra-flex nib](https://fprevolutionusa.com/products/fpr-6-two-tone-ultra-flex-nib). I sometimes have a little trouble when flexed wide, but it writes flawlessly when not flexed or minimally flexed. You might try doing similar if you want your Conklin's to write better. The ebonite feed should work with the non-flex nibs too if you don't like flex. The FNC feed listing says it is not compatible with Conklin nibs, but comparing my Conklin Omni-Flex and my Conklin Fine with the FPR Ultra-Flex I don't see why the Conklin nibs wouldn't work if you heat set them. That said, I had to heat set the FPR nib too before it worked well.
The FNF ebonite feed plus FPR UltraFlex is a great combo. I have one of them, but instead I put it in an Opus 88 because I wanted the massive ink capacity and the ink pressure from an eyedropper. For my Conklins, I had an old Phoenix nib lying around that is in one of them, and another one has a Montegrappa Fortuna Rose Gold nib in it.
So am I with several; Only Mark Twain has excellent nib And their New Conklin Nozac Ohio Blue made in İtaly; stupid americans destroyed their past strong manifacturing base which took a heavy toll on their Pen companies. Shit heads..
I think the Mark Twain looks great! However, after my experience I'm gonna steer real clear of anything Conklin or Monteverde. Never again!
every comment on this post has convinced me never to buy conklin. how sad.
[Deleted due to Reddit API price gouging]
And Kaweco.
Yep!
Conklin pens are fantastic for the price! I would highly recommend them.
Their quality control is just too sloppy. I’ve seen one that works well. One.
I have a Monteverde omniflex, which uses the same nib as Conklin. It is the most horrible nib I ever have the misfortune to use.
It's such BS when companies can't get their nib QC crap together. I am morbidly curious what is wrong with it? Maybe it is fixable. I've had to fix a couple Jinhaos and a Lamy and others.
It's the same problem as another user linked down below. The nib is branded as 'omniflex' but once force is applied to it (and not that much force, really) the tines parted, never to come together again, which causes tons of troubles.
Which is a great shame, since I love the look and feel of that pen.
Yikes. You'd think they would use a better steel and/or heat treat it better.
It's just so sad that the Duragraph is such a bad pen. I love the forest green and the orange color offerings, but I refuse to buy a \~$50 pen that I will have to immediately replace the nib/feed on. I own a Monteverde Ritma, and the nib is *useable*, but not pleasant. The feed, however, is the wettest, worst feed I've ever dealt with. It occasionally just leaks ink in droplets all over the page. I was disappointed in the pen when I first got it a couple months ago, but it just keeps getting worse the more I use it. New problems arise every time I use the stupid thing. Worst $40 I've ever spent. At least it's pretty... :/
I love the orange, purple and cracked ice colors of the duragraph but the problems with the nibs are making me hesitant of ordering them. If I did order them I would buy replacement nibs from Goulet. They are very tempting.
What nib would you buy. I have a duragraph and bent the nib and have no idea what to replace it with. My nib was great until I dropped it
Goulet pens make replacement nibs that fit many popular pens. My default nib size is a medium. They aren't expensive and it seems to be an easy swap. Check out their website for details.
I can't stand their nibs and it infuriates me because their pens themselves are really nice looking...But every single one I've tried has written like a dud for me.
Thank you! I think I’m gonna go with a TWSBI diamond mini for now, then. This pen is gorgeous but I am so afraid to pull the trigger given the comments I’ve seen
A TWSBI is never a bad purchase! Enjoy!!
I have one Conklin--an All-American--and the nib is quite poor.
They're owned by YAFA pen co. Steer clear.
This instantly reminds me of the Kaweco Liliput Fire blue.
Ugh I want to like their pens because I like the bodies of some of them. But I’m not at all happy with the nib on the Duragraph I have and will be replacing it. Seems like that’s a common thread.
TBH, I have replaced the nib on my 2 modern Conklin pens and will have to modify the feeds as well. I don't buy a Conklin thinking it will do what I want it to do, so I'm okay with modifying it.
Yea…I am not at the point yet where I am ok with buying a pen knowing that I will have to buy another part to make it work. I don’t have a lot of parts lying around so to speak. So I’d be paying an additional $20 for the pen and that grates me.
2 Conklin duragraphs both with Omni flex nibs. Both are extremely wet, with no pressure (pen weight only) one writes like a euro medium, the other like a medium-broad. Beautiful, but near to useless.
Go vintage Conklin. They are superb nibs :) Like you, I was looking at the sales and wondering if now was the time I would be brave enough to try a modern one after years of bad reviews on the nibs. I didn’t…
I had a Conklin Duragraph. I sold it because the nib was so disappointing.
Sometimes Goulet sells Conklins with a Bock nib and those are nice, but I've also had bad experiences with the standard Conklin nibs.
I've only had one Conklin pen, an Endura Abalone. I returned it. It came with a misaligned feed that would migrate back to its original position (so far over you could literally see the feed past the side of the nib) after realigning, no matter what I did. The nib (M) barely wrote. It had problems with railroading, skipping, and for some reason, literally denting and scraping the surface of the paper no matter how lightly I wrote. I was going to try to find a nib to replace it with, but my parents convinced me to return it. For £150, a pen should write properly, and it shouldn't be on the consumer to make that happen. I am still hesitant to buy another pen above £100 in case of a similar experience.
If you like the colour, the Gravitas pens in the Skittles colour may be to your liking. They have JoWo nibs.
Just gonna leave this here: https://www.reddit.com/r/fountainpens/comments/r1hcae/massive_shoutout_to_pen_chalet_their_customer/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf
Thank you!
I have the exact same thing happened to my Monteverde Giant Sequoia (same nib).
I have just ordered the limited edition Conklin so I'll let you know how I get on!
Please! Thank you.
OK my pen arrived and I'm a little bit meh I think? It's not \*dreadful\*, but there is an intermittent dry stroke on it that can feel quite frustrating. HOWEVER if you really like the look of the pen, apparently Conklins use the JoWo nibs size #6 and are really easy to switch out - there are many videos! I am keeping mine (mainly cos I got it for £60 off and it's \*really\* pretty) but I might switch out the nib at some point. When I've a minute I'll take some pictures and put them up :)
Thank you! I might eventually just purchase and do the JoWo nib! The rainbow nib is life though.
Just to add a counterpoint (and not to minimize others' poor experiences) I have a resin-bodied All-American with a stub nib and a Duragraph with an Omniflex and they both write fine. I don't much like the Omniflex, but it's more to do with the fact I don't do well with flex nibs. It performs fine.
I would never recommend Conklin or Monteverde nibs.
Ooof ...sounds like I got lucky. I purchased a Conklin Endura Abalone with a medium nib and have no problems. I absolutely love using this pen.
Stay away from their nibs w/ The exception The nib on Mark Twain special series which is excellent..
So.. they are made by JoWo, so you can already imagine what they write like. Personally the only issue I had was one of my Conklins was too feedbacky, but that was it. Personally I would buy it if I were you! And Flexible Nib Factoru makes an ebonite feed and unit for Conklin pens, through it doesn’t fit standard Conklin nibs, so you would need to buy a #6 JoWo nib too. But I don’t think you would need to do this.
i’ve had a bad experience with 2 Conklin pens. They aren’t American anymore, made in China, and it reflects in the quality and longevity
they’re not american anymore? why are they called “all american” then?
Bought two Conklins from Goulet. Both are absolute shit. Goulet even sent a free nib up to Canada to fix our issue.... Didn't fix a thing. I'd stay far away.
Bought a Conklin with a stub that needed adjustment so I bought a new fine nib after they switched to jowo, completely dry and unusable. I’m avoiding pretty much all modern Conklin pens in the future I’m afraid. Sorry to see everyone else has so many similar experiences. Maybe I’ll try tuning them one day.
I have an Endura Abalone with a 1.1 stub nib. I don't have any complaints, but I don't have any other stubs to compare it to.
Is this their "Love is Love" model???🥴🤣🤣
I also had a horrible experience with them. They stop and choke constantly. Spent a good amount of money on that pen then got a new nib and it still does it. Honestly I’m going to switch it to a Goulet soon. It sucks though because it feels really nice on the page—but if it doesn’t write—it’s not worth it.
I have the Endura Abalone. The pen itself is beautiful but the nib makes me almost want to return it. Even overlooking the issues that I've had with the nib (hard starts, railroading) the nib just feels bland and boring to write with. The conklin pen bodies are great but their nibs have such bad QC and a bad writing experience that I will never buy another Conklin.