Varuna nib question

[Namo]

Hello, FPNers.

 

I consider ordering a Varuna pen. I like the shape, I like ebonite and I confess a growing curiosity and admiration for ED filling systems. I red the excellent and useful reviews of the various Varunas on the site and I contacted allwritenow and I must say they kindly and quickly answered my questions.

 

I still have one question: is it worth to pay for a gold (14k or 18k) nib? How do they feel? How do they compare to the steel nibs? Are they more flexible, smoother...? Does anyone have any exprience with them?

 

Thank you for reading.

[Bo Bo Olson]

Hello, FPNers.

 

I consider ordering a Varuna pen. I like the shape, I like ebonite and I confess a growing curiosity and admiration for ED filling systems. I red the excellent and useful reviews of the various Varunas on the site and I contacted allwritenow and I must say they kindly and quickly answered my questions.

 

I still have one question: is it worth to pay for a gold (14k or 18k) nib? How do they feel? How do they compare to the steel nibs? Are they more flexible, smoother...? Does anyone have any exprience with them?

 

Thank you for reading.

 

 

With a 14 K nib you can get it adjusted to be more flexible. You can not do that with an 18 K nib. There are many steel nibs that are as good as gold.

I don't know about your pen though....but I'd stay away from 18K...you can not get it adjusted.

[PatientType]

Varunas are inexpensive. Adding a gold nib will probably double the cost of the pen. I'd suggest purchasing one with the standard steel nib and using it for awhile. If you find the pen to be one of your "go to" daily users, you can purchase another with gold nib.

 

Another issue ... the Varuna comes standard as an eye dropper. As do most eye droppers, it has a huge ink capacity in that mode. Mine, however, had the habit of occasionally and without any notice or predictability blurping a drop of ink as it wrote. It can be a little tedious to write an entire page and then have the pen belch a big driplet onto the paper right near the end. After having had to re write five or six documents because of the blurping, I asked the dealer what could be done about it. He explained that the only way to be sure that never happened would be to switch the pen over to a converter. The dealer upgraded my Varuna to converter and the problem did, indeed, disappear for good. You might want to order yours with a converter unless you are of a very patient and long-suffering disposition.

Edited December 3, 2009 by PatientType

[cheekhiong]

A Varuna pen is a value buy and Steve's customer service is great with really swift response.

 

I have a Varuna Gajendra with a steel nib. It writes really well... far better than I expected. You won't regret choosing a steel nib from the website... plus a gold nib would be quite expensive now considering the record high price of gold nowadays.

 

About the eyedropper issue, the blurping does happen. Good thing I ordered it with a Pilot Con-70.

[vans4444]

I have a number of Varuna and Guider EDs.

 

Steve put a semi flexible warranted nib in one that made it a joy to use. However, the steel nibs are already very good. I still use the steel nibed pens so I suppose the gold cannot be that much better than the steel in everyday use.

 

Unless you want a more flexible nib, I would put the money towards another pen or a few bottles of ink.

[majorworks]

I've got a Varuna Rajan that I've had for only a few weeks. I went with the JoWo steel upgrade nib in medium and am very happy with it. You might be also.

 

By the way, I'm using mine as intended -- an ED -- and haven't yet seen a true "blurp." I have seen the occasional abrupt flow increase, though. I have Noodler's standard black in the pen.

[Lloyd]

The eyedropper's burp is a signal that the pen needs to be refilled. When there is too high a ratio of air to ink in the chamber, the ink will burp when the air is heated by your hand due and the air expanding.

[Namo]

Thank you everybody for the useful information. I thing I might go for the upgrade steel nib, ore maybe ask for a nib transformation insted olf going for the gold ones. Still, I wonder if there is a difference in the behavior of the nibs. My only valuable experience about that is the 14k nibs of the Lamy Stuido vs the steel nibs of the very same model, and I must say that the difference is hudge. I woudn't write with the steel nib, but the 14k is a wonder... Well, I'll give it a few day of reflexion.

[significantpass]

 

With a 14 K nib you can get it adjusted to be more flexible. You can not do that with an 18 K nib. There are many steel nibs that are as good as gold.

I don't know about your pen though....but I'd stay away from 18K...you can not get it adjusted.

 

I second Bo Bo Olson's opinion