17 replies to this topic

[ak2k5]

ASA GALACTIC REVIEW

 

 

 

INTRODUCTION

 

This is my first review here in fountain pen network. So i have decided to keep it brief. Came to know about ASA pens from FPN. Was apprehensive of placing an order mainly because i keep my online purchases limited to major players like Flipkart,amazon,snap deal. But the pen was too tempting and i placed the order. The delivery was prompt and in a neat package.

 

REVIEW

 

The pen is made of transparent frosted acrylic. Its the biggest pen in my collection but it feels great in the hands.You will get used to the bulk very quickly. Its very good even for long stretches of writing. I have to say the design is very minimalist other than the bulk. Its just pure frosted transparent acrylic and looks absolutely great.

I prefer to write un-posted and  I don't think anyone will find it comfortable to write with such a giant pen posted. The cap is also made of frosted acrylic and it has a small silver coloured clip. It doesn't fit in most of my shirt pockets though.

 

 The pen is an eyedropper and its bigger than most and holds gallons of ink. Haven't measured the ink capacity but im sure it will more than satisfy anyone.Its my first eyedropper not counting the cheap ones i used in school .I have been staying away from eyedroppers for ever because of the problems they can give like leaking ,burping. But it does have its advantages too.

 

 

NIB & PERFORMANCE

I opted for the german jowo medium nib provided by ASA pens. It writes butter smooth,just glides on the paper.

But i had problems with the ink flow which at times was too much and gushing onto the paper causing ink bleed . I initially used Krishna inks neelkurinhi {purple} and then changed to LAMY turquoise but the problems persisted. Then i browsed through the forums and got the idea of using a very dry ink like Pelikan 4001. I changed the ink to blue black by pelikan and the problems disappeared completely. Could write even on 70 gsm papers without ink bleed.

Then came the problem of ink leakage.The ink started leaking in blobs from upper side of nib near the section. I just kept the pen away for a day and from next day it wasnt leaking. There are still blobs of ink appearing after prolonged writing but its not dripping onto the paper.I dont know if it will reappear to a disabling extent. Thing is i dont want to send the pen back to ASA pens as this has almost become my daily writer along with my safari. But if it becomes a persistent problem i will have to contact ASA pens.

 

The writing experience if the pen stays free of problems is absolutely great. You wont feel like putting the pen down.I have to say it might be even better than my Charcoal black safari which is my best pen purely based on writing experience .

 

 

 

CONCLUSION

 

An absolutely great pen at a reasonable cost. If it wasnt for the nagging problems i would give it a 10/10. I know eyedroppers are notorious for leakage problems but its still kind of irritating for me when things just wont work.

I would give it a 8/10.

Will i recommend others to buy? Absolutely. In my opinion if you love fountain pens you just have to try this.

 

PS: please ignore the poor handwriting   

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Edited by ak2k5, 14 May 2016 - 07:23.

[drmukherjee]

ASA GALACTIC REVIEW

 
 
 
INTRODUCTION
 
This is my first review here in fountain pen network. So i have decided to keep it brief. Came to know about ASA pens from FPN. Was apprehensive of placing an order mainly because i keep my online purchases limited to major players like Flipkart,amazon,snap deal. But the pen was too tempting and i placed the order. The delivery was prompt and in a neat package.
 
REVIEW
 
The pen is made of transparent frosted acrylic. Its the biggest pen in my collection but it feels great in the hands.You will get used to the bulk very quickly. Its very good even for long stretches of writing. I have to say the design is very minimalist other than the bulk. Its just pure frosted transparent acrylic and looks absolutely great.
I prefer to write un-posted and  I don't think anyone will find it comfortable to write with such a giant pen posted. The cap is also made of frosted acrylic and it has a small silver coloured clip. It doesn't fit in most of my shirt pockets though.
 
 The pen is an eyedropper and its bigger than most and holds gallons of ink. Haven't measured the ink capacity but im sure it will more than satisfy anyone.Its my first eyedropper not counting the cheap ones i used in school .I have been staying away from eyedroppers for ever because of the problems they can give like leaking ,burping. But it does have its advantages too.
 
 
NIB & PERFORMANCE
I opted for the german jowo medium nib provided by ASA pens. It writes butter smooth,just glides on the paper.
But i had problems with the ink flow which at times was too much and gushing onto the paper causing ink bleed . I initially used Krishna inks neelkurinhi {purple} and then changed to LAMY turquoise but the problems persisted. Then i browsed through the forums and got the idea of using a very dry ink like Pelikan 4001. I changed the ink to blue black by pelikan and the problems disappeared completely. Could write even on 70 gsm papers without ink bleed.
Then came the problem of ink leakage.The ink started leaking in blobs from upper side of nib near the section. I just kept the pen away for a day and from next day it wasnt leaking. There are still blobs of ink appearing after prolonged writing but its not dripping onto the paper.I dont know if it will reappear to a disabling extent. Thing is i dont want to send the pen back to ASA pens as this has almost become my daily writer along with my safari. But if it becomes a persistent problem i will have to contact ASA pens.
 
The writing experience if the pen stays free of problems is absolutely great. You wont feel like putting the pen down.I have to say it might be even better than my Charcoal black safari which is my best pen purely based on writing experience .
 
 
 
CONCLUSION
 
An absolutely great pen at a reasonable cost. If it wasnt for the nagging problems i would give it a 10/10. I know eyedroppers are notorious for leakage problems but its still kind of irritating for me when things just wont work.
I would give it a 8/10.
Will i recommend others to buy? Absolutely. In my opinion if you love fountain pens you just have to try this.
 
PS: please ignore the poor handwriting   

Bought the matter in light to subbu sir, he said he will solve your problem

[jay.is.here]

Nice review

[Ichiro]

I ordered one a week ago. Can't wait to ink it up. Thanks for the review😀

[Leeuwenhoek]

Nice fair review, I know you've had problems with the ink flow bit don't give up, my galactic (and ranga, guider etc) write brilliantly with no burping from full to empty and make great workhorse desk pens. The pen does still look wet in your photo The eyedropper filling system may be the simplest (invented first) but it has stood the test of time and is still being made today whereas other supposedly more advanced filling systems (like lever fillers) have disappeared. I reckon a 100yr old NOS eyedropper which hasnt corroded would start straight away whereas anything with seals (such as piston fillers) wouldn't. Hopefully you'll get the quirks of the pen sorted. Thanks for sharing and the concise review.

[ak2k5]

Nice review

 

thanks...

[ak2k5]

Nice fair review, I know you've had problems with the ink flow bit don't give up, my galactic (and ranga, guider etc) write brilliantly with no burping from full to empty and make great workhorse desk pens. The pen does still look wet in your photo The eyedropper filling system may be the simplest (invented first) but it has stood the test of time and is still being made today whereas other supposedly more advanced filling systems (like lever fillers) have disappeared. I reckon a 100yr old NOS eyedropper which hasnt corroded would start straight away whereas anything with seals (such as piston fillers) wouldn't. Hopefully you'll get the quirks of the pen sorted. Thanks for sharing and the concise review.

thanks...yea based on pure writing experience its better than my favourite lamy safari ..and i never thought ill say that about any pen because that pen has been used very much and has been so used to my hands( my first major FP).i like wet pens and its optimal flow now imo...hoping that leak gets solved too.

eyedropper has its advantages i agree..but u have to be lucky to get a faultless one.. 

Edited by ak2k5, 15 May 2016 - 07:21.

[ak2k5]

Bought the matter in light to subbu sir, he said he will solve your problem

 

thanks...have contacted him.will do what he said in next inking..

[gwgtaylor]

My pen is burping when full too. What did he tell you to do? My galactic with medium nib came yesterday

[ak2k5]

I changed the ink to pelikan 4001 Blue Black which is a dryink. That solved the excess flow and ink Bleed . By advise Of some members in another post I gently adjustéd the nib & feed Which must have removed the excess space in front of the nib as the problem of blobs of ink leaking from front side of nib has stopped.
Mr. Subramanian suggested me to give a thorough wash in Soap Water & Im yet to do that as the pen is not leaking for now.
I would suggest to prime the pen too if you are filling it for first time

[Prithwijit]

Hi,

 

Just adding a few pictures of my ASA Galactic which I let go of recently. In my case, I had customized the demonstrator behemoth to accept the #9 (40mm) nib from Ambitious.
 













Regards,

Prithwijit


 

[AndWhoDisguisedAs]

I just came across this pen. Question, where did you purchase it? 

Earlier this week, I contacted: http://asapens.in/es...or-fountain-pen

but have not heard back.

 

Is there another place to buy the Asa Galactic?

 

Also, I have a couple of questions.

 

1. Why is there an option to have Asa test the fountain pen before shipping?

2. I'm opting for yes, unless there's a reason to say no.

3. I generally write with a F or EF. Can anyone tell me how the ASA's nibs compare, to say a Jin Hao, Waterman, or Lamy F or Kaweco Sport EF?

 

Thank you, fountainpenners!

[Aditkamath26]

I just came across this pen. Question, where did you purchase it? 

Earlier this week, I contacted: http://asapens.in/es...or-fountain-pen

but have not heard back.

 

Is there another place to buy the Asa Galactic?

 

Also, I have a couple of questions.

 

1. Why is there an option to have Asa test the fountain pen before shipping?

2. I'm opting for yes, unless there's a reason to say no.

3. I generally write with a F or EF. Can anyone tell me how the ASA's nibs compare, to say a Jin Hao, Waterman, or Lamy F or Kaweco Sport EF?

 

Thank you, fountainpenners!

 

1)ASA will dip test your pen as far as I know, before shipping it if you opt for that option. So that should help you avoid tine alignment issues. But this won't be of much a help for ink flow. 

2)There is no reason to say no. Have it done. You should get a smooth pen.

3)The ASA branded stock nibs are known to be nice and smooth with slight feedback. They slightly border on the broader side and are also nice ad wet. So a fine ASA nib should write more like a fine-medium. I haven't tried one yet, but I am going by many of the reviews found here. If you do want really fine, ask a JoWo extra fine nib or ship custom ground JoWo nibs from FPnibs to ASA pens.

 

Hope this helps.

[ASCIIaardvark]

I just came across this pen. Question, where did you purchase it? 

Earlier this week, I contacted: http://asapens.in/es...or-fountain-pen

but have not heard back.

 

Is there another place to buy the Asa Galactic?

 

1. Why is there an option to have Asa test the fountain pen before shipping?

3. I generally write with a F or EF. Can anyone tell me how the ASA's nibs compare, to say a Jin Hao, Waterman, or Lamy F or Kaweco Sport EF?

 

I got mine at asapens.in as well. They're not great about email communication -- taking time to reply, forgetting to follow-up, not monitoring all their email addresses. I think it's a small operation of about one person making & selling and he's not the best at time management. The site says 4 weeks to deliver, but my experience has been 8+ is more common.

 

I think the testing option is for those who want a "pristine" pen, which I've never understood. I have them test before shipping.

 

ASA & Gama use pretty similar nibs, it's roughly a western Fine, maybe Medium-Fine... it's also #6, so none of mine have original nibs -- they're all flex or italic now

[ASCIIaardvark]

I gently adjustéd the nib & feed Which must have removed the excess space in front of the nib as the problem of blobs of ink leaking from front side of nib has stopped.
Mr. Subramanian suggested me to give a thorough wash in Soap Water & Im yet to do that as the pen is not leaking for now.
I would suggest to prime the pen too if you are filling it for first time

 

Priming: The quickest/easiest method I've found is filling the pen, screwing the grip-section on most of the way, then flip it nib side down and screw it in the rest of the way. That compresses the air and forces the ink into the feed -- just be careful of drips if you over-prime it.

 

The feed is ebonite, so you can heat-set it for optimal nib contact. But mine came with a little debris in the ink channel and flowed much better after brushing those out.

 

 

If you have issues with burping or ink starvation that you think are related to pressure, just un-screw the section to equalize pressure.

[AndWhoDisguisedAs]

It's been more than three months since I've contacted asapens.com and no reply.

I've given up and turning my attention to the Opus 88 Koloro Demonstrator. Anyone have any experience with that ink dropper?

[Karmachanic]

I've also given up on ASA after a series of empty promises.

I have the regular Koloro which is well built and performs flawlessly. I've read several positive reviews of the demonstrator, and have not come across a negative one.

[AndWhoDisguisedAs]

Thanks Karmachanic!

Shame about the Asa Galactic.

 

Though, now I can concentrate on getting my hands on the Opus!