Hello, all! I've only recently jumped from dip pen calligraphy to the wonderful world of fountain pens, so I naturally found myself drawn to the Noodler's flex nibs. I've been using my Creaper for months now and figured I'd finally earned myself the next big sexy- the Triple Tail. It arrived yesterday, and it writes like a dream... mostly. I was dealing with some railroading issues, but I figured I just hadn't filled it quite right since I was filling from a sample vial.
Because it was a shimmering ink (Diamine Stargazer, if anyone's curious), I did a preliminary rinse in water before disassembling the pen for a proper clean. Once I got the nib and feed out, I noticed there was this rather large hole in my feed (see top two images)! My initial assumption was that it was defective, given that I'd already noticed the front underside had some mild imperfections (see bottom two images), but I noticed while I was washing it that the breather tube flows out of / through the hole. I've searched everything I know to search, and I cannot find a picture or even a video showing the top side of the disassembled feed in clear detail. So, owners of Triple Tails, please tell me: is this normal?
I'm not familiar with that pen in particular, but railroading may be associated with the ink rather than the pen. Try a regular ink and see if you still get railroading.
Shimmering inks carry tiny particulates that can get stuck in the feed and obstruct flow. Sheening inks can form crystals in areas where it's dried out a bit. A simple ink or even a lubricated ink may give you the flow you're looking for to keep up with the flex.
Good luck!