Is Airmail 69T Good?

[Pichak]

I am interesting in an India eyedropper fountain pen. I looking for an Airmail 69T cause its low price and also look nice too. Dose anyone experience with it? Should I go for it or change to be other brand/model (pls recommend).

 

Thanks.

[mehandiratta]

Yes it is for the price.. Nib can be iffy most of the times.. If u can get around that it is amazing

[Pichak]

What are problems of its nib? So should I invest or ignore?

[Seele]

Pichak,

 

The Airmail/Wality nib can be somewhat scratchy out of the box, and the sheet stock can be considered a little thin. That said, with a little bit of tuning up, it can be very satisfactory.

[Pichak]

Thank you for all responds.

[prashant.tikekar]

Pichak,

 

The Airmail/Wality nib can be somewhat scratchy out of the box, and the sheet stock can be considered a little thin. That said, with a little bit of tuning up, it can be very satisfactory.

True. These Wality / Airmail nibs need some tuning most of the times and they are very inexpensive and can be changed easily. So you can request the seller include spare nib(s). Edited January 3, 2017 by prashant.tikekar

[Pichak]

True. These Wality / Airmail nibs need some tuning most of the times and they are very inexpensive and can be changed easily. So you can request the seller include spare nib(s).

 

Do you mean I should change to the FPR nib?

[matteob]

Hi Pichak.

 

I have not used an Airmail pen so I do not know how it performs. I have a simple Indian demonstrator eyedropper pen in the Noodler Charlie which is like an Airmail and writes very well. It was free with a bottle of ink. You must make sure the feed is pushed in securely. Also fill these pens up when they get 2/3 empty otherwise the air in the barrel can expand with the heat of your hand and cause ink to rush out of the feed/nib.

 

If you can pay a little bit more I would advise getting a nice ebonite eyedropper pen. This company does nice pens and ships abroad Pichak. Ask for Mr Rao. The problem is you can only pay by bank transfer.

 

www.guiderpen.com.

 

I think FPR nibs are made by Ambitious Pen Company. I am not sure how good they are but I have ordered a Ranga eyedropper with an Ambitious nib in the group buy. I will see how it goes!

Edited January 3, 2017 by matteob

[Seele]

Matteob,

 

FPR's private label nibs are by Kanwrite, one of the top nib makers, while I have absolutely no problem with Ambitious whatsoever. Still, if a brand new nib gives problems, it has a good chance to be improved upon by a it of work anyway.

[matteob]

Ohhhhh ok I just saw a few of the nibs in the Ambitious group buy branded FPR so assumed they were Ambitious nibs.

[Seele]

Interesting, perhaps some of the first release FPR nibs (which I have a couple of examples) were by Ambitious. Originally when FPR offered nib choices, Ambitious-branded nibs were shipped, but those were the small ones.

[mehandiratta]

Some nibs are sourced from Ambitious and some from Kanwrite....

[dan in montreal]

Getting back to the 69, they are good pens for the money. In fact, although I have pens which are far more expensive, I keep reaching for these. Their size is ideal, their weight is ideal, they hold a ton of ink. The nibs are scratchy, yes. But if you can manage to smooth them using micromesh, they are not as horrible as I've seen them described. These were my first Indian pens and I recommend them.

[deepak23]

The 69t is the flagship model of Wality co. The pen is well made and is nicely proportioned. The nib is the weak link and it can often end up a bit scratchy. Opt for the Medium tipped version, these are better.

It can take most 6mm feeds and nibs. I've retrofitted these with the Kanwrite and Ambitious nibs. I've also heard that the Sheaffer NN feed and nib can be fitted in comfortably.

[Jimmy Joe]

I've also heard that the Sheaffer NN feed and nib can be fitted in comfortably.

I can vouch for that. The Sheaffer feeds also eliminate any problem with burping, at least for me. Fits in the 71 as well.

[cvk]

On 1/23/2017 at 8:08 PM, Jimmy Joe said:

I can vouch for that. The Sheaffer feeds also eliminate any problem with burping, at least for me. Fits in the 71 as well.

I second this recommendation too. Airmail pens with sheaffer feeds and kw or sheaffer nibs are much much better than pens that cost 10 times more in my opinion. No burps and very reliable. 

[Aravind_A_2310]

7 hours ago, cvk said:

I second this recommendation too. Airmail pens with sheaffer feeds and kw or sheaffer nibs are much much better than pens that cost 10 times more in my opinion. No burps and very reliable. 

I use one on my 71 jt with a kanwrite medium and it writes like a dream....

 

The only problem is availability as they're now out of stock everywhere... Now, the only way to procure them (In mu opinion atleast) is to hunt for defective/scrapped Sheaffer NN units and salvaging the feeds from it... Not an easy task as I'm not able to find even a single nib unit that isn't in good condition.

[HartGummi]

1 hour ago, Aravind_A_2310 said:

The only problem is availability as they're now out of stock everywhere.

Other than Gem & Co with other sellers used to have NN feeds?

[Aravind_A_2310]

46 minutes ago, HartGummi said:

Other than Gem & Co with other sellers used to have NN feeds?

Pens point Delhi had some stock... But now they too don't have any stock...

[hari317]

Contact ASA Subramaniam he might have some for sale.