New Ranga Pen Arrived

[JimB]

After looking at the Ranga pen line up, and having had my eye on the Duofold, I special ordered on in black, rough finish, silver furniture, medium nib. It arrived less than a month after my initial email to Kandan (Mr. Kandan?), wrapped in a linen bag/envelope and sewn closed. Inside was a hard case with a snap closure. Opening the box, there was a very attractive matte black ebonite pen, simple, largish and just what I had hoped for! Included was a second nib/feed in gold (plate, I assume) that might be the fine nib I had asked about. I haven't yet gotten out any magnifying glass to see.

 

Wonderful pen. Period. Eyedropper filler, with silicon grease pre-applied to the threads. I filled it with Heart of Darkness before I had time to think and suddenly feared that it, like my Noodler's Konrad, would need a flushing and brushing to remove oils and debris from the feed. But the fear was groundless! I wrote immediately (I needed to dip the nib in the ink bottle to get it started, since it's filled via the barrel, not a nib-dipping procedure.

 

The nib writes like a fine, or a medium-fine, rather than the medium I'm used to seeing. This worked out perfectly, as I was looking for a fine nib anyway! Smooth as any costly pen I ever splurged on, and no skipping, scratching, drying out. The cap screws on tightly and keeps everything in ready to write shape.

 

I'm so impressed, I'm asking about a nice green ebonite bamboo pen, clip-less for my desk at work. This man makes some seriously good pens for ridiculously low prices, and staying in constant contact with you throughout the process. If you like big pens and don't fear eyedroppers, you need to try one of these!

 

(not affiliated with the Ranga Pen Co., just a VERY happy customer.)

[Lorna Reed]

Photos?

[muskets]

I had a good experience with Ranga pens too - and with some ambitious requests! I got him to recase a Koh-I-Noor 2mm clutch pencil in mottled green ebonite, and it's a gorgeous, eyecatching little thing. I ordered a pen at the same time, which came with an extra nib and feed as spares, which is IMO going above and beyond the call to make sure everything is good for the customer. As I had to ship him the clutch pencil, the process took a couple of weeks extra for it to arrive in India, but the whole process was excellent. My query email with photos of a breakdown of the pencil was promptly followed by a reply with a very reasonable quote for the set, and I received regular status updates until the well-packaged box was in my hands.

[tomgartin]

Glad you're enjoying your Ranga!

[rwilsonedn]

Congratulations! It sounds like a beautiful pen.

You can avoid the dipping step by a small change to your filling procedure. After you have filled the pen and screwed the section most of the way onto the barrel, turn the pen nib-down over the ink bottle. Then screw then section in the last turn or turn and a half. This will force ink into the feed and nib as you compress the little bit of remaining air in the barrel, and maybe force a drop or two into the ink bottle. Presto! You are ready to write.

ron

[JimB]

Photos?

As soon as I get my camera back.

[JimB]

Congratulations! It sounds like a beautiful pen.

You can avoid the dipping step by a small change to your filling procedure. After you have filled the pen and screwed the section most of the way onto the barrel, turn the pen nib-down over the ink bottle. Then screw then section in the last turn or turn and a half. This will force ink into the feed and nib as you compress the little bit of remaining air in the barrel, and maybe force a drop or two into the ink bottle. Presto! You are ready to write.

ron

Ah ha! Great tip. Thank you much.

[mpkandan]

Thanks Mr.Januaryman for the post.

Thanks Mr.Muskets and Mr.Rwilsonedn for your words.

Dear Mr.Lorna Reed,

Please find the photos of this pen(Black Duofold Matt Finish with White clip and nib)in the below link

Mr.JanuaryMan's Ranga Pen Photo Link

 

Thanks again for all your continuous support.

 

Thanks,

Kandan.M.P

Ranga Pen company

[JimB]

Two weeks on and time for an update.

 

I still like the pen a lot and the nib is one of my smoothest, non- nib-meisterized. But. After letting it set around unused for several days, it was a dry start. I dipped it in a water drop and it wrote, then stopped. After a great deal of fiddling, it began writing again, but was skipping. I wiped the nib & feed down and it worked.

 

Next day, same issue! Not sure what's up, but the ink, Heart of Darkness, never had this issue in any previous pens. I guess this is a pen that needs constant use or it will seize up.

Edited September 25, 2012 by januaryman

[skipwilliams]

Most of my Indian eyedropper pens exhibit the dry-starting behavior after sitting for a few hours. It's solved by keeping the pen either upside down or at an angle (nib-down). This can result in cap flooding if you jostle the pen around too much, but in general, it addresses the issue.

 

Skip

 

 

Two weeks on and time for an update.

 

I still like the pen a lot and the nib is one of my smoothest, non- nib-meisterized. But. After letting it set around unused for several days, it was a dry start. I dipped it in a water drop and it wrote, then stopped. After a great deal of fiddling, it began writing again, but was skipping. I wiped the nib & feed down and it worked.

 

Next day, same issue! Not sure what's up, but the ink, Heart of Darkness, never had this issue in any previous pens. I guess this is a pen that needs constant use or it will seize up.

[hari317]

Most of my Indian eyedropper pens exhibit the dry-starting behavior after sitting for a few hours. It's solved by keeping the pen either upside down or at an angle (nib-down). This can result in cap flooding if you jostle the pen around too much, but in general, it addresses the issue.

 

Skip

 

 

Two weeks on and time for an update.

 

I still like the pen a lot and the nib is one of my smoothest, non- nib-meisterized. But. After letting it set around unused for several days, it was a dry start. I dipped it in a water drop and it wrote, then stopped. After a great deal of fiddling, it began writing again, but was skipping. I wiped the nib & feed down and it worked.

 

Next day, same issue! Not sure what's up, but the ink, Heart of Darkness, never had this issue in any previous pens. I guess this is a pen that needs constant use or it will seize up.

 

or maybe the cap is not airtight. Try sealing the cap breather holes, if any, with candle wax(just rub a candle over the hole, the wax will plug it). Some of the pens might have an inadvertent vent underneath/around the notch made to accommodate the clip, sealing that will also help. You can confirm sealing, just suck the cap end, it should stick to the tongue due to vacuum created, gross test, but works!

 

Hari

[bk123]

Most of my Indian eyedropper pens exhibit the dry-starting behavior after sitting for a few hours. It's solved by keeping the pen either upside down or at an angle (nib-down). This can result in cap flooding if you jostle the pen around too much, but in general, it addresses the issue.

 

Skip

 

 

Two weeks on and time for an update.

 

I still like the pen a lot and the nib is one of my smoothest, non- nib-meisterized. But. After letting it set around unused for several days, it was a dry start. I dipped it in a water drop and it wrote, then stopped. After a great deal of fiddling, it began writing again, but was skipping. I wiped the nib & feed down and it worked.

 

Next day, same issue! Not sure what's up, but the ink, Heart of Darkness, never had this issue in any previous pens. I guess this is a pen that needs constant use or it will seize up.

 

or maybe the cap is not airtight. Try sealing the cap breather holes, if any, with candle wax(just rub a candle over the hole, the wax will plug it). Some of the pens might have an inadvertent vent underneath/around the notch made to accommodate the clip, sealing that will also help. You can confirm sealing, just suck the cap end, it should stick to the tongue due to vacuum created, gross test, but works!

 

Hari

 

I had a similar problem of dry start with my Ratnam pens. I followed the suggestion of sealing the breather hole of cap from our Senior Pen Surgeon Honorable Dr. Hari and everything is just fine since then. My Ratnam starts instantly even after 45 days of not being used.

[JimB]

Hari nailed it! The cap air leak is there! Since it's because of the clip, I can't fill it, I guess, as I could a breather hole. Any suggestions that don't involve molten metal or blow torches?

 

 

Most of my Indian eyedropper pens exhibit the dry-starting behavior after sitting for a few hours. It's solved by keeping the pen either upside down or at an angle (nib-down). This can result in cap flooding if you jostle the pen around too much, but in general, it addresses the issue.

 

Skip

 

 

Two weeks on and time for an update.

 

I still like the pen a lot and the nib is one of my smoothest, non- nib-meisterized. But. After letting it set around unused for several days, it was a dry start. I dipped it in a water drop and it wrote, then stopped. After a great deal of fiddling, it began writing again, but was skipping. I wiped the nib & feed down and it worked.

 

Next day, same issue! Not sure what's up, but the ink, Heart of Darkness, never had this issue in any previous pens. I guess this is a pen that needs constant use or it will seize up.

 

or maybe the cap is not airtight. Try sealing the cap breather holes, if any, with candle wax(just rub a candle over the hole, the wax will plug it). Some of the pens might have an inadvertent vent underneath/around the notch made to accommodate the clip, sealing that will also help. You can confirm sealing, just suck the cap end, it should stick to the tongue due to vacuum created, gross test, but works!

 

Hari

[Sagar_C]

I also have nice experience with Ranga pens. However, I strongly feel they should improve on the default nibs that come with the pens; and they should provide more options with nib type and quality.

[hari317]

Hari nailed it! The cap air leak is there! Since it's because of the clip, I can't fill it, I guess, as I could a breather hole. Any suggestions that don't involve molten metal or blow torches?

Very simple. Just melt some candle wax in a suitable container, with the wax still nicely molten, dip the end of the cap in the molten wax so that it will fill all crevices. Withdraw quickly, heat will tend to distort ebonite.

 

Now wipe the excess wax off with a cloth.

 

Take the usual precautions that the wax should not catch fire while you melt it, do not burn your self by spilling the molten wax, take care that the ebonite does not distort. it is simple and can be done easily.

 

Hari