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Hello everyone. I am a young fountain pen user from Mumbai, India, and this is my first post. Being in Mumbai, my first encounter was with the Airmail pen company, already well documented here, especially by Hari317. Their factory is my second home-I am there every week, looking at how stuff is made and going through all the pens they have. Although I now know everyone there, I am closest to Mr. Nirmal, who humbly tells me he knows less than half of what his brother does! Very often, we talk for hours over 'chaai'. Recently, while we were discussing Deccan pens, he removed a very old box of ebonite pens made by them, and I am going to document this pen. It was made entirely on a lathe machine in two colours-brown and green. The pen has been out of production for many years, and I got what were the last few pieces. I have requested Mr. Nirmal to make these pens again, and it should be available to everyone soon(but in very small quantities). If not, I have the last few models and will consider myself very lucky! These pens have the standard monotone yellow wality nibs, tipped fine. They are average nibs, and usually require minor adjustments. After scraping the feed channels with a pocket knife, and aligning the tines, this pen writes decently well, putting down a wet, fine line. It does have a fair amount of feedback, which, to be honest, I do enjoy sometimes. Whenever I want a buttery smooth pen, I always have my Deccan and Kim Jumbo! As compared to other Indian pens(Gama, Deccan and Kim), this is actually a small pen. I like the size, and find it to be perfect, comparable to the medium sized pen by Prasad Pens(Tenali-documented by shrujaya) Along with this, I have a few other wality pens that are quite rare, and I will document them soon. I hope you enjoyed this post. Please excuse my horrible photography and any other mistakes I have made, as I am fairly new to this forum. Do take time out to appreciate the effort that has gone into making this pen-it was made ENTIRELY on the lathe, by hand. I have seen the making of the 69A(documented by Hari), and boy, it is a time consuming process.

I plan on buying pens from fountain pen revolution soon for the second semester. I know that some of the nibs will be scratchy. I know they can be fixed by smoothing but I don't have the time. I plan on buying FPR nibs. The problem is that I don't know what size nib to get. The pens I am looking are nib sizes are : Airmail 90 Camlin 47

The Wality 69T fountain pen I’m reviewing in this post came to me along with a number of other pens, ranging in price and quality, that were provided to me free of charge by Kevin of www.JustWrite.com.au, in return for an impartial review. If I understand this correctly, Wality pens are made by the Airmail Pen Company, based in Mumbai India. Founded in 1951,Airmail are one of the oldest pen manufacturers in India. I’ve been keen to try this pen out since it arrived – but only grabbed it out and inked it up in the last couple of days. I have to say, it’s a pretty simple pen – but even so, it’s nice to look at, and a pleasure to write with. ______________________________________________________________________ 1. Appearance & Design – Swirled acrylic and chrome accents – a nice combination The first thing I noticed about the Wality 69T was the cap, which is made of an attractive orange-swirled acrylic. Removing the cap reveals a sturdy grip section made of the same material.. The chrome accents on the cap (the clip and finial, and the ring near the base of the cap) are of a much higher quality than the Serwex 101 pens that provided my first introduction to Indian eyedropper pens, while the barrel is significantly larger in diameter. I was also quite impressed by the barrel of the pen: machined from a solid piece of clear acrylic, and hollowed out to create the ink reservoir, any scratches or scrapes from the machining process would be hard to miss – but the interior and exterior surfaces seem nice and smooth. http://i.imgur.com/RfH4qx3.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/v52JVDy.jpg … 2. Construction & Quality – Very solidly constructed – won’t break easily Though made entirely of acrylic, this is a sturdy pen. The thickness of the barrel walls mean you’d have to stomp on the pen pretty hard to get it to crack – and though the pen cap might not stand up so well to that kind of treatment, it’s certainly not fragile. The cap threads are well-machined to avoid discomfort. The clip is nice and springy, well suited to grip tightly to a shirt or jacket pocket. All in all, I was pretty impressed – everything about the 69T says that though the materials aren’t pricey, the workmanship is solid. … 3. Weight & Dimensions – Comfortable dimensions for a medium-to-large hand The Wality 69T weighs 22g uninked – substantial enough that you know you’re holding a pen (!), but light enough to be comfortable for longer writing sessions. At 130mm uncapped (146mm capped), the pen is a good length for writing with unposted – which is just as well, as the cap looks VERY awkward sitting on the end of the barrel. The diameter of the grip section is around 11mm (substantial without being too large!) – all of which adds up to a very pleasant feel in the hand. http://i.imgur.com/nmbC9fx.jpg … 4. Nib & Performance – A fine, smooth nib with a hint of feedback This is not the first time I’ve encountered a Wality nib – it’s my second! – but in all honesty, I have to say so far so good! The nib is pretty firm, laying down a fine line with a minimum of line variation. I’d probably like it to be just a little wetter – and maybe just a little smoother – but even without adjustment this nib is pretty good. http://i.imgur.com/3zZYfxW.jpg http://i.imgur.com/eeUrU0y.jpg … 5. Filling System & Maintenance – An Eyedropper pen, with generous ink capacity If I wanted to fill the ink reservoir to the base of the threads, I reckon I could fit about 2-2.5ml of ink into the 69T – which by any standard is fairly impressive. The grip section threads a fair way into the barrel (~1cm), and the tolerances on the threads are tight, meaning that silicone grease is an optional (though advisable) extra when it comes to avoiding leakage. Piston converters might have a greater market appeal – but are a heck of a lot fiddlier to clean and maintain! http://i.imgur.com/kjruW6A.jpg … 6. Cost & Value – Pretty good bang for your buck At AU$17.95, the Wality 69T is starting to get up there a bit in price – towards the upper end of the lower range, if you know what I mean! Even so, I think it’s pretty good value for money: Wality seem to know what they’re doing with their nibs, and though the design of the pen is fairly straightforward, it’s very well made. http://i.imgur.com/5G423oS.jpg … 7. Conclusion I’d be more than happy to recommend this pen to anyone wanting to dip their toes into the Indian pen market. It’s not as elegant and refined as the Ranga Duofold I’ve reviewed recently (now THAT’S a beautiful pen!), but it’s less than half the price, and took a lot less ‘fiddling’ (actually, no fiddling at all!) to get it writing well. There are cheaper Indian pens out there – I should know, I’ve got several in my collection! – but I’d rank this above the Serwex and Camlin eyedroppers I’m comparing it to, especially when it comes to the quality of the nib. …

Hello FPN members and guests! Today i will be reviewing the pen(Wality/Airmail 70AM) that i received just today through asapens.in. But before i start the review i would like to give a "thumbs up!" to ASA pens and Mr. L.Subramaniam! It was my 1st purchase from their site and i must say i am quite pleased with their service and the quality of the product and also the FP collection that they have. Okay, so that aside lets start with the pen itself. Airmail Pen Company was established in 1951 by Late Shri. Mohan L. Mirchandani and is one of the oldest of its kind in India. It produces two brands of Writing Instruments, Wality and Airmail. The pen, along with the usual packaging and bubble wrap came in a transparent and sturdy Zip-lock pen pouch. The pouch also contained a little eyedropper as it is an eyedropper pen. The pen itself has this beautiful Pinkish orange and purple acrylic body which shimmers in light and is very pleasing to the eye. The material also displays quite a depth to it. The cap is all metal with a beautiful texture, a dome shaped pointed top and an acrylic bottom that matches the pen body quite nicely. I also like the short clip, which has enough tension to it that it can secure the pen firmly in the pocket. Upon unscrewing the cap, you find a matching coloured semi-transparent grip section with a gold coloured airmail nib. The nib that i received was Fine-Medium in writing width and Very Very Wet! And i mean a GUSHER! It wrote quite pleasantly with some feedback. Also, it has some spring to it which offers a marginal line variation. WRITING SAMPLE: Conclusion: It is a simple no-nonsense beautiful looking pen which performs quite nicely. I am looking forward to writing with it regularly and enjoying the shimmery acrylic which is sure to be an eye candy in bright sunlight! If you are looking for a beautiful economical everyday pen this one might add a feather to your collection!

While going through one of my pen storage folders, I came across this pen. I was overcome by a wave of memories and was carried back nearly a decade... My first meeting with the Late Mr. Raju Mirchandani (we used to call him Rajubhai), how he had warmly welcomed me, an ordinary pen enthusiast, to his factory and offices just because I had expressed a desire to see how the pens are made. He was a true gentleman, respected by all he came in contact with and a treasure trove of knowledge about pens and the industry, he was the driving and thinking force behind Airmail/Wality in those days. The Wality 52OD was one of their premier piston filled export pens in those days and I got the chance to buy one. Here is the pen. The 52OD(Overlay design) is a piston pen that was injection molded, with a satin gold plated finish over the trims and a gold plated cast overlay over the cap tube. It looks lovely and very Indian. http://i1313.photobucket.com/albums/t543/hari_317/Wality52OD/IMG_8933.jpg http://i1313.photobucket.com/albums/t543/hari_317/Wality52OD/IMG_8934.jpg http://i1313.photobucket.com/albums/t543/hari_317/Wality52OD/IMG_8938.jpg http://i1313.photobucket.com/albums/t543/hari_317/Wality52OD/IMG_8939.jpg http://i1313.photobucket.com/albums/t543/hari_317/Wality52OD/IMG_8940.jpg http://i1313.photobucket.com/albums/t543/hari_317/Wality52OD/IMG_8941.jpg http://i1313.photobucket.com/albums/t543/hari_317/Wality52OD/IMG_8942.jpg http://i1313.photobucket.com/albums/t543/hari_317/Wality52OD/IMG_8943.jpg The special 2 tone medium nib: http://i1313.photobucket.com/albums/t543/hari_317/Wality52OD/IMG_8944.jpg http://i1313.photobucket.com/albums/t543/hari_317/Wality52OD/IMG_8945.jpg http://i1313.photobucket.com/albums/t543/hari_317/Wality52OD/IMG_8946.jpg http://i1313.photobucket.com/albums/t543/hari_317/Wality52OD/IMG_8947.jpg Cheers! Hari

Reading all these paper reviews here make me feel dizzy... Maybe some of you more experienced members can point me to the short way to solve my problem: I'm residing in Indonesia and just cannot buy FP-friendly paper here. The only high quality paper is a DinA4 loose leaf by Kokuyo and comes in 100g/sqm with 30 holes. Not really a suitable paper for letters. Indonesia is actually a paper producing country, but it seems it's all for export - like the good tobacco for fine cigars. So to justify the high shipping cost and probably applied custom fees, I am going to order quite a lot of paper online to get what I want. As this is a costly endeavor I would like to make sure, I will not make a mistake in ordering: A rather lightweight FP-friendly DinA 4 paper to snail mail letters to my friends abroad. I like to have lines on it which accomodate my large writing with big wet nibs but which do not offend the eyes of the readers as the ones on elementary school paper. And I wish to enjoy writing on it like on a silky, glassy, ...(put in your word, you know what I mean)... surface. Maybe you can even point me to a trustworthy online source - I don't mind your commission . I would ask the seller to put into the package to me as many such notepads as possible in a certain freight class, so the shipping cost would be distributed most economically onto the amount of paper - so I wonder, if there is an online seller who would care to show some cooperation here, since I cannot calculate the weight of the wrapping material used. Thank you for any suggestions! Tom (apologies for my English, which is not my mother's tongue)