Update- so fortunately, I dropped this pen and bent the nib beyond repair ( Yes , I said fortunately. Read on to find out why.) . I reached out to Kevin and bought a new nib unit from him, screwed it in and WOW. This even writes better than my original that was about a year old. I contacted Kevin and asked if they modified it. He said they had made improvements to the feed. That is an understatement. You cannot beat this pen with anything else on the market. For the record, I have no financial relationship with FPR. I am just a raving fan!
I was impressed with the FPR Ultraflex nib! Next time, i'll get the Jaipur model, as converters aren't so reliable. Thank you for presenting it, dr. Stephen!
I just got my FPR Ultra Flex nib set up with my Noodler's Konrad and it is J U I C Y. I'd ordered it with the deeper ebonite feed but I ended up not using it because it was way too juicy. It's juicy even with my Noodler's feed so I kept that on and just heat set the nib to the feed. That helped chill out the juice immensely. I have to agree, this puppy is very similar to a vintage flex. I flippin' love it! Best purchase of the year.
Thank you for proving that I am indeed in The Matrix. I had to check the posting date and time of this video. I ordered one of these this morning, the same colour as your review item. I'm looking forward to using this pen as I bought the BlueDew flexnib pen on the strength of your review and I love it. I have a slight problem now. All my other fountain pens feel lifeless by comparison. I'm sure I'll find a use for them though. As always, great review and thanks for guiding me down this rabbit hole (that I was already some way down).
This nib knocked my socks off when I used it. I'm kind of glad it's flying under the radar, but maybe not for long. It's truly fantastic. It gives me a better writing experience than pens I've paid $400 for. The only drawback for me is that the ebonite feed is so wet that ink started getting on the section.
@@martingrunert1417 The nib that I used was the steel. Just keep in mind that it's a very wet writer. Maybe you can mitigate that with a dry ink. You don't have to press hard to use it, either. Not like some steel nibs. It behaves like an Aurora 88 semi-flex vintage, almost.
I’m so eager for a flex pen!! Just a few short years ago the market for flex pens-and the availability of a variety-limited to calligraphy nibs for the most part! Being on a fixed income now in retirement but finally with lots of time for art & writing I must be so careful about purchases. Argh-back when working I could just get 3 or 4 and likely find several goodies without all this decision anguish! Thanks for your good (reliable) reviews. Can you get the flex pen folks to give us test drives! :)
Thank you very much for the FPR Jaipur V2 Ultra Flex review! I am completing an Engrosser's Script class and want a pen with flex to practice with when away from my desk, but cannot spend a lot as I just invested in a ton of supplies and my class. I really like the you inked The End with the flex pen to really see the ultra flex capabilities. Very good review, balanced and honest! Thank you again!
Thanks for this review. I got one of these recently - same nib, just in the brown ebonite body - but it didn’t write at all straight out of the box. Yes, I cleaned it first and was careful refitting the nib and feed. In the end I needed to modify the feed, which is something I generally don’t like doing.
I bought two of the ultraflex feeds/nibs. One of them writes like a dream. Possibly the best nib/feed I have, and I have Visconti, Conid and others. However the second one barely writes. I tried for hours to get it right, heat set it again and again for hours, trying slightly different placements. Couldn't get it to write. Both feeds look screwed up underneath the nib, like they were manually ground by a trainee or something. I suspect there are quality control issues. Do you mind sharing how you modified the feed?
The first one you write with reminds me of the fountain pen of my dear grandmother so I did enjoy watching you use it. Kind regards from the south of France!
Yay! on Kevin and FPR, truly affordable, sleeper gems and with great customer service. Jaipur v2 is the way to go, I liked mine so much I got another: deep poster and fine flex. The Tanoshii line also punches above weight with that classic Dolce Vita look delivering smooth Jowo #6 writing, comes with flex upgrade too but plastic feed.
“$69” nicee Thanks for this video. I recently got the Jaipur V2 in matte black ebonite, too. I got the rollerball version, and an assortment of the nibs. Right now I have it inked-up with a FPR “Semi-Flex” nib - which I believe was an aborted experiment of a nib type (but last I checked they still have some available on their site). I really like this pen a lot. I have pretty limited means, but the price doesn’t put it out of reach, and for a full ebonite pen it’s a great deal. This was my first FPR pen, but as a longtime fan of Noodler’s pens, it was right up my alley. The Semi-Flex Nib isn’t terribly impressive, but it’s a nice change-up after having tried several other nibs (as a serial ‘tinkerer’ I like having multiple options/configurations).
I have two Jaipur V2s and I love and use them both daily. I normally have a light touch, and the nibs write in the EF-F range with no pressure, and they do it with a nice line and smoothness. With even a bit of pressure, the tines start spreading and the graceful arcs begin, all with smooth strokes. Your review was posted two years ago and I am wondering if your FPR untraflex nib is the same as mine or if there have been any modifications since then. My nib is described as “EF-ultra flex,” and they also carry a “Fine-flex.” I am also curious about their “anti-railroading” ink additive. I haven’t had any railroading issues and haven’t tried it. Maybe an ink with a lower-than-average surface tension needs a bit of adjustment for an ultra flex nib? Or maybe it would be helpful in a pen without a juicy ebonite feed? I wonder.
.....this review was great.....I had collected pens years ago...late 90's.... and fell off.... a resurgence has happened... I acquired a rollerball (and some FP's some china some taiwan...some France (my fav)) the ball pen from another company and when seeing the outrageous price for a roller ball tip for that brand...I web searched and I landed at FPR.....and based in this review, I know a jaipur v2 in ebonite mottled blue roller with medium nib unit (they are jowo right?) Is going to be ordered... Thanks for the review
I love this. Beautiful, a stunning writer, and reasonably priced. Also like the ink window - no doubt important on a pen that can power through ink like that.
That flex is pretty impressive! I wish my penmanship justified yet another pen. Alas. Q: You didn't use a straw to spread the ink across the page, but ... will you hold an Art Auction for that page? You could pull in a half a mil with the right last name _!_
That's a very nice Noodler's Konrad... Same exact design, yes? No biggie, they are probably made in the same place, but other than the nib cutouts, it's identical. Thought it deserved a mention.
@@sbrebrown But otherwise the same? They look identical. Same clutchless piston design, blind cap, same clip and band... Similar enough to warrant a mention as in the DNA pen, I feel.
What? Must be losing my hearing. Comparing this to vintage flex favorably? When have any of us heard you do that? Hard to believe. And honestly, a true calligrapher moves methodically enough that I doubt this pen would railroad AT ALL! Really cool pen!!!
Hi Stephen, I’m curious how much ink was left on the paper in full flex mode. Was it a big mound of ink? How long would you say it would take to dry relative to a non-flex mode. Always enjoy your videos.
What would you recommend between this Jaipur v2 and the Himalaya v2? I think I'd prefer to have a pen where the nib was replaceable (rather than nib+feed unit) but the Jaipur seems really nice.
I enjoyed your Jaipur V2 Ultra Flex Nib review immensely, but sometime could list rollerballs pens that take fountain pen ink, please? I have only one rollerball: Graf von Faber-Castell in Pernambuco wood. Could it take fountain pen ink with some form of converter? Excuse any ignorance on my part, but this GvC rollerball I've had for many years.
@@PenFriends There is some tuning you can still do to the feed to improve ink flow. Check the feed for cutting debris in the channel that faces the back of the nib. The channel can look a little "fuzzy" with ebonite that was not fully cut away from the feed. One thing you can do is to trace the corners of the channel with a sharp razor blade. The objective is NOT to cut the channel deeper, just to clean up the channel of anything that may hamper ink flow. One other thing that helps is to check the nib, feed and grip section for the correct orientation with respect to each other first. Then heat-set the entire grip section in hot water for about 30 seconds. The water needs to be just off the boil. This is assuming you have an ebonite pen, if the body is acrylic, don't dip the grip section. Ebonite can be heat set as many times as you like. The sulphur that is added to make the rubber hard, sort of disconnects their bonds on the rubber matrix when it goes above about 85°C and reconnects the bonds after the ebonite cools below that critical temperature. Fussing with the nib, then heat setting the nib to the feed allows the nib and feed to have a consistent and even spacing between the two parts, which facilitates capillary action that the fountain pen requires to operate. Hope this helps you get that juicy writer we all crave.
@@Kenjiro5775 I’ve tried all that I’m afraid. The channel appears to have been broken when they cut the feed. I know I’m not the only one with this issue, out of 40 people who partook in a group buy, only 3 people had success. No word of a lie!
Hi I have some issues with the nib. The feed gets really wet and then while writing, it happens that the nib/ feed spits out a large drop of ink. Any help to solve that is really appreciated.
I have FPR Himalaya V2 with Ultraflex nib (i guess it's the same nib). The nib alone is fantastic, great line variation and capable of very artsy writing (even if i'm a crappy writer). But the pen is not reliable, leaky, and converter smells like vomit
@@sbrebrown i have the same issue, the recorded volume is too low. i think your videos would generall benefit from a compressor +-limiter on the audiochannel.
Update- so fortunately, I dropped this pen and bent the nib beyond repair ( Yes , I said fortunately. Read on to find out why.) . I reached out to Kevin and bought a new nib unit from him, screwed it in and WOW. This even writes better than my original that was about a year old. I contacted Kevin and asked if they modified it. He said they had made improvements to the feed. That is an understatement. You cannot beat this pen with anything else on the market. For the record, I have no financial relationship with FPR. I am just a raving fan!
I was impressed with the FPR Ultraflex nib! Next time, i'll get the Jaipur model, as converters aren't so reliable. Thank you for presenting it, dr. Stephen!
I just got my FPR Ultra Flex nib set up with my Noodler's Konrad and it is J U I C Y. I'd ordered it with the deeper ebonite feed but I ended up not using it because it was way too juicy. It's juicy even with my Noodler's feed so I kept that on and just heat set the nib to the feed. That helped chill out the juice immensely.
I have to agree, this puppy is very similar to a vintage flex. I flippin' love it! Best purchase of the year.
Thank you for proving that I am indeed in The Matrix. I had to check the posting date and time of this video. I ordered one of these this morning, the same colour as your review item. I'm looking forward to using this pen as I bought the BlueDew flexnib pen on the strength of your review and I love it. I have a slight problem now. All my other fountain pens feel lifeless by comparison. I'm sure I'll find a use for them though. As always, great review and thanks for guiding me down this rabbit hole (that I was already some way down).
This nib knocked my socks off when I used it. I'm kind of glad it's flying under the radar, but maybe not for long. It's truly fantastic. It gives me a better writing experience than pens I've paid $400 for. The only drawback for me is that the ebonite feed is so wet that ink started getting on the section.
Unsure if steel or gold is the way to go and maybe ebonite feed makes it too wet? Any advice for me two years later?
@@martingrunert1417 The nib that I used was the steel. Just keep in mind that it's a very wet writer. Maybe you can mitigate that with a dry ink. You don't have to press hard to use it, either. Not like some steel nibs. It behaves like an Aurora 88 semi-flex vintage, almost.
Kevin is the best. Hands down, the best customer service I have ever received.
You can’t beat this pen for the price. I love it. It makes anyone’s handwriting look better! Kevin also provides excellent customer service.
I’m so eager for a flex pen!! Just a few short years ago the market for flex pens-and the availability of a variety-limited to calligraphy nibs for the most part! Being on a fixed income now in retirement but finally with lots of time for art & writing I must be so careful about purchases. Argh-back when working I could just get 3 or 4 and likely find several goodies without all this decision anguish! Thanks for your good (reliable) reviews. Can you get the flex pen folks to give us test drives! :)
Thank you very much for the FPR Jaipur V2 Ultra Flex review! I am completing an Engrosser's Script class and want a pen with flex to practice with when away from my desk, but cannot spend a lot as I just invested in a ton of supplies and my class.
I really like the you inked The End with the flex pen to really see the ultra flex capabilities.
Very good review, balanced and honest! Thank you again!
Thanks for this review. I got one of these recently - same nib, just in the brown ebonite body - but it didn’t write at all straight out of the box. Yes, I cleaned it first and was careful refitting the nib and feed. In the end I needed to modify the feed, which is something I generally don’t like doing.
I bought two of the ultraflex feeds/nibs. One of them writes like a dream. Possibly the best nib/feed I have, and I have Visconti, Conid and others. However the second one barely writes. I tried for hours to get it right, heat set it again and again for hours, trying slightly different placements. Couldn't get it to write. Both feeds look screwed up underneath the nib, like they were manually ground by a trainee or something. I suspect there are quality control issues.
Do you mind sharing how you modified the feed?
What did you have to do to the feed? If it didn't write out of the box you bought a defective pen.
The first one you write with reminds me of the fountain pen of my dear grandmother so I did enjoy watching you use it. Kind regards from the south of France!
Yay! on Kevin and FPR, truly affordable, sleeper gems and with great customer service. Jaipur v2 is the way to go, I liked mine so much I got another: deep poster and fine flex. The Tanoshii line also punches above weight with that classic Dolce Vita look delivering smooth Jowo #6 writing, comes with flex upgrade too but plastic feed.
Up the voice volume a bit, it's been weak lately.
“$69” nicee
Thanks for this video. I recently got the Jaipur V2 in matte black ebonite, too. I got the rollerball version, and an assortment of the nibs. Right now I have it inked-up with a FPR “Semi-Flex” nib - which I believe was an aborted experiment of a nib type (but last I checked they still have some available on their site).
I really like this pen a lot. I have pretty limited means, but the price doesn’t put it out of reach, and for a full ebonite pen it’s a great deal. This was my first FPR pen, but as a longtime fan of Noodler’s pens, it was right up my alley.
The Semi-Flex Nib isn’t terribly impressive, but it’s a nice change-up after having tried several other nibs (as a serial ‘tinkerer’ I like having multiple options/configurations).
You're having better luck than me. Mine hardly wrote and never kept up. It's just sitting there clean and empty right now.
Just bought the black matte a few days ago
Eagerly waiting for FPR - Bangalore !
I have two Jaipur V2s and I love and use them both daily. I normally have a light touch, and the nibs write in the EF-F range with no pressure, and they do it with a nice line and smoothness. With even a bit of pressure, the tines start spreading and the graceful arcs begin, all with smooth strokes.
Your review was posted two years ago and I am wondering if your FPR untraflex nib is the same as mine or if there have been any modifications since then. My nib is described as “EF-ultra flex,” and they also carry a “Fine-flex.”
I am also curious about their “anti-railroading” ink additive. I haven’t had any railroading issues and haven’t tried it. Maybe an ink with a lower-than-average surface tension needs a bit of adjustment for an ultra flex nib? Or maybe it would be helpful in a pen without a juicy ebonite feed? I wonder.
Great review, I wish they had sent a gold nib for you to try.
.....this review was great.....I had collected pens years ago...late 90's.... and fell off.... a resurgence has happened... I acquired a rollerball (and some FP's some china some taiwan...some France (my fav)) the ball pen from another company and when seeing the outrageous price for a roller ball tip for that brand...I web searched and I landed at FPR.....and based in this review, I know a jaipur v2 in ebonite mottled blue roller with medium nib unit (they are jowo right?) Is going to be ordered... Thanks for the review
I love this. Beautiful, a stunning writer, and reasonably priced. Also like the ink window - no doubt important on a pen that can power through ink like that.
You pronounced Jaipur very well. Although its a hindi word. Loved your pronunciation.
I have the same nib but on a FPR Triveni. It compares to the Pilot FA nib. But I prefer the FA nib over the FPR ultra flex nib.
Wowzas, nice pen! And i love the ink tooooo (hulk colors :P green and purple... Ive always liked them together)
That is a wow nib! Thanks for the interesting review.
That flex is pretty impressive! I wish my penmanship justified yet another pen. Alas.
Q: You didn't use a straw to spread the ink across the page, but ... will you hold an Art Auction for that page? You could pull in a half a mil with the right last name _!_
Great! thanks.
That's a very nice Noodler's Konrad... Same exact design, yes? No biggie, they are probably made in the same place, but other than the nib cutouts, it's identical. Thought it deserved a mention.
No, this is a different pen. I've owned a Konrad and this is slimmer and slightly longer.
@@sbrebrown But otherwise the same? They look identical. Same clutchless piston design, blind cap, same clip and band... Similar enough to warrant a mention as in the DNA pen, I feel.
Thanks for the review. Is it possible to completely take apart the nib and feed for cleaning, or is it a single unit?
my favorite nib on one of my least favorite pens (himalaya v2). that thing constantly leaked but this looks like it might solve that problem
What? Must be losing my hearing. Comparing this to vintage flex favorably? When have any of us heard you do that? Hard to believe.
And honestly, a true calligrapher moves methodically enough that I doubt this pen would railroad AT ALL! Really cool pen!!!
You look absolutely mortified in the thumbnail 😂🤣💀
Hi Stephen, I’m curious how much ink was left on the paper in full flex mode. Was it a big mound of ink? How long would you say it would take to dry relative to a non-flex mode. Always enjoy your videos.
how does this compare to the bluedew pens? in particular drying time/feathering/overwetness/railroading?
Another great review pal 👍
Very impressive!
i really want the himalaya (this too pricey for me!) but the nib feels tooo wet!
i can maybe make it drier hmm
What would you recommend between this Jaipur v2 and the Himalaya v2? I think I'd prefer to have a pen where the nib was replaceable (rather than nib+feed unit) but the Jaipur seems really nice.
I enjoyed your Jaipur V2 Ultra Flex Nib review immensely, but sometime could list rollerballs pens that take fountain pen ink, please? I have only one rollerball: Graf von Faber-Castell in Pernambuco wood. Could it take fountain pen ink with some form of converter? Excuse any ignorance on my part, but this GvC rollerball I've had for many years.
www.sbrebrown.com/2019/07/fountain-pen-shootout-rollerballs-that-use-fountain-pen-ink/
@@sbrebrown Thanks very much!
I wish my fpr was better :( it was a disappointment:( the feed wouldn’t keep up and it just wouldn’t write at all at times.
Ebonite feed option might help
@@caseym890 it was ebonite :(
@@PenFriends There is some tuning you can still do to the feed to improve ink flow. Check the feed for cutting debris in the channel that faces the back of the nib. The channel can look a little "fuzzy" with ebonite that was not fully cut away from the feed. One thing you can do is to trace the corners of the channel with a sharp razor blade. The objective is NOT to cut the channel deeper, just to clean up the channel of anything that may hamper ink flow.
One other thing that helps is to check the nib, feed and grip section for the correct orientation with respect to each other first. Then heat-set the entire grip section in hot water for about 30 seconds. The water needs to be just off the boil. This is assuming you have an ebonite pen, if the body is acrylic, don't dip the grip section.
Ebonite can be heat set as many times as you like. The sulphur that is added to make the rubber hard, sort of disconnects their bonds on the rubber matrix when it goes above about 85°C and reconnects the bonds after the ebonite cools below that critical temperature. Fussing with the nib, then heat setting the nib to the feed allows the nib and feed to have a consistent and even spacing between the two parts, which facilitates capillary action that the fountain pen requires to operate.
Hope this helps you get that juicy writer we all crave.
@@Kenjiro5775 I’ve tried all that I’m afraid. The channel appears to have been broken when they cut the feed. I know I’m not the only one with this issue, out of 40 people who partook in a group buy, only 3 people had success. No word of a lie!
@@PenFriends if you have a defective product, isn't there any option for you to claim it and get a replacement?
Hi I have some issues with the nib. The feed gets really wet and then while writing, it happens that the nib/ feed spits out a large drop of ink. Any help to solve that is really appreciated.
Too bad nobody has as yet responded to your important (and deal-breaking) issue. Have you contacted Kevin?
I have FPR Himalaya V2 with Ultraflex nib (i guess it's the same nib). The nib alone is fantastic, great line variation and capable of very artsy writing (even if i'm a crappy writer). But the pen is not reliable, leaky, and converter smells like vomit
I live near Jaipur. It's amazing these pens are not available in jaipur 😂
Kanwrite Heritage is quite similar and is available
@@paradoxmo yeah I ordered that that was good pen(not best but ok)
sept 2021 where can i purchase a pocket inventery pen??? Louis Ottawa Canada
They appear to be sold out.
Seriously, what's with the volume? I've cranked it all the way up and your voice is still tiny.
I don't know: my phone volume is at 20% and I can hear every word clearly.
@@sbrebrown i have the same issue, the recorded volume is too low. i think your videos would generall benefit from a compressor +-limiter on the audiochannel.