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Most pen brands can boast a rich history that covers more than a hundred years. “Manu Propria” is a remarkable new brand at the gate of a new era. Only one man, Martin Pauli, is responsible for crafting each single pen. His motto is: 'Handmade from scratch.' Pens with a powerful shape, handcrafted in ebonite, with exquisite urushi lacquer work and 18kt gold nibs. You will be the first to discover them in the Sakura Fountain Pen Gallery. Please welcome, admire and collect your own Manu Propria pens !

To get the obligatory acknowledgments out the way first of all, this pen was provided to me free of charge in return for an honest and impartial review, by Kevin of the JustWrite Pen Co (www.JustWrite.com.au). Let me confess up-front, at a going rate of AU$36.95 it’s not a pen I had considered purchasing – but I was sufficiently impressed that I went out and ordered (at my own expense!) its ‘big brother’, the Ranga Duofold. So I guess you can consider this Part 1 of a two-part review – with my evaluation of the Duofold to follow in a separate posting. http://i.imgur.com/gemsZix.jpg[From top to bottom (for size comparison): the Ranga Duofold; a TWSBI Diamond 580; and the Ranga Cruiser] According to the blurb on the JustWrite website, the Ranga Pen company has been manufacturing fountain pens for around 50 years (and counting) – crafting each pen individually in their workshop, from ebonite rods which they have also made themselves. The Cruiser I’d characterise as a small-to-medium pen, while the Duofold is a bit of a monster (in a good way). The most outstanding feature with both pens is the immaculately finished and beautifully polished ebonite, which feels wonderful in the hand; while the potential weak point (unfortunately) is the nib – but more on that later. I really like both of these pens – they won’t appeal to all fountain pen fanatics, but I’m very pleased to have them in my collection. So, without further ado, to the review proper: ______________________________________________________________________ 1. Appearance & Design (7.5/10) – A Beautiful Dark-Green Ebonite – but sadly let down by the clip. The first thing I noticed about this pen was the beautiful green-and-black swirled ebonite the entire pen is made from (i.e. cap, barrel AND grip section), polished to a high sheen. The pen is warm to the touch, and despite the high gloss surface is not at all slippery to hold. I like the contours of the pen, too: the cap just slightly wider than the barrel, thus avoiding a big step down to the grip section; the tapering of the pen towards top and bottom; the rounded-off edges, both on the cap and the end of the barrel. Under the cap, the grip section is slightly tapered, flaring out again just before the nib – while the nib in turn is a good size for the pen. http://i.imgur.com/DVIAcez.jpg The one thing that marred the appearance of the pen – sadly, because it’s really such a minor thing, and so easy to get right – is the clip. It’s twisted slightly off perpendicular – and I’m reluctant to try too (much) hard(er) to straighten it, for fear of making things worse. If it weren’t for that, this pen would get a 9/10 ranking from me (yes I am an easy marker, at least when it comes to pens – if like it, I like it!). … 2. Construction & Quality (8/10) – An impeccably machined, beautifully finished pen Having taken marks off for the clip already, I’m not going to do so again – and everything else about this pen is great. The threads on this pen are immaculate; the hand-machining of cap, barrel, grip section and feed I cannot fault; the whole thing comes together pretty well flawlessly. My one quibble is a very small one – the very small ‘breather hole’ in the cap. I understand this may be necessary, to avoid a partial vacuum being created when the cap is threaded on, that causes ink to be sucked out when the cap is removed… but in some of my other (cheaper) Indian eyedropper pens, the breather hole allows for evaporation, which in turn means inks growing darker and darker over time. http://i.imgur.com/ulDbtiO.jpg … 3. Weight & Dimensions (7.5/10) – A lightweight, small-to-medium pen If I had smaller hands, this would get a higher rating – again, that’s the subjectivity of this kind of marking system! The Cruiser is about 137mm long when capped, 118mm uncapped, and 155mm posted. Problem is, the cap doesn’t post securely on the rear of the pen (unless you want to ram it on and ruin the finish). The pen is more than long enough to clear the webbing between thumb and forefinger – it’s a more than adequate length – but I tend to prefer my pens just a little bit longer. At its widest point, the pen barrel is around 11mm diameter, while the grip section tapers down from ~10mm to 8mm. Again, that’s pretty comfortable for me – but I like my pens with just a little bit more girth, and tend to end up holding the pen on the cap threads (which are not at all sharp). The weight of the pen, unfilled, is around 13.5g – which in my books is pretty lightweight, ideal for long writing sessions! http://i.imgur.com/ACUciBD.jpg As I write with this pen, I find myself wishing it was just a little bigger – more like its ‘big brother’, the Duofold. To be fair, though, there’s nothing wrong with this pen in the hand – it’s longer and ‘girthier’ than most of the ballpoint pens I used to write with, back in the day. It simply boils down to personal preference – I’ve found myself gravitating towards slightly larger pens. … 4. Nib & Performance (7.5/10) – A smooth writing experience – but required a bit of ‘help’ to get there! The gold-coloured steel nib in this pen is stamped with the word ‘Fellowship’, and a logo that looks like a couple of doves in flight together. It’s not much to look at – understated would be one word for it; unimpressive another. My overall impression of Indian nibs (apart from the Fountain Pen Revolution range) has been pretty hit and miss – no, I’m being too kind, in my limited experience I’ve found Indian nibs to be pretty scratchy and horrible. This nib, though, was an exception to the rule – it may not be much to look at, but I’ve found it very pleasant to write with. http://i.imgur.com/clP1AqQ.jpg http://i.imgur.com/EUOEenM.jpg I did have a couple of problems with the nib, right out of the gate though. The nib and feed were slightly misaligned, and needed to be removed and re-seated together; and the tines required a bit of adjustment too. But all of that was fairly straightforward – and before long I was up and running with a nib that wrote surprisingly smoothly, especially given the fine line. There’s no line variation to speak of: this nib is a ‘nail’, albeit a nail with a smooth flowing tip… http://i.imgur.com/DPq4drP.jpg … 5. Filling System & Maintenance (9/10) – A straightforward eyedropper filling ‘mechanism’ Filling the Cruiser is easy – unthread the barrel from the grip section, fill to the base of the threads, and screw the section back in again. The pen is supposed to have an ink capacity of 2mL, but I think 1.5mL is more realistic – either way that’s a pretty good capacity for a small-to-medium pen. You may be wondering, though: why such a high score for such a simple filling ‘mechanism’ (if you can call it that)? Two reasons: First, because it is so simple – which makes maintenance and cleaning a breeze. Secondly, because the tolerance on the (many) threads is pretty tight – I’m not sure this pen really needs the threads to be coated with silicone grease to prevent leakage, though I won’t be taking the risk. I’ve not been a fan of eyedropper-filled pens, historically – but with this pen, I feel pretty safe keeping it in my pocket. http://i.imgur.com/jiLjGIF.jpg One caveat here: I’ve read a few complaints online to the effect that Ranga pens can be prone to ‘burping’ ink from the nib and/or feed. I haven’t experienced that personally, but can’t rule out the possibility that it could become an issue during extended writing sessions, especially as the ink levels drop and the volume of air in the barrel increases with use. … 6. Cost & Value (7.5/10) – A beautiful pen, but I’m a cheapskate! Priced at AU$36.95 (plus postage), this pen is somewhat pricier than the cheap Chinese pens I tend to gravitate towards – but given the material it’s made from (ebonite), and the very high quality of workmanship, I don’t think it’s unreasonable. I just wish a little more attention had been paid to fit-and-finish when it came to the clip – and a little more care to ensure that the nib was ready to write from the word ‘go’. … 7. Conclusion (Final score [sUM/6]: 7.8333) I’ve tried to be honest about the shortcomings of the Ranga Cruiser – at least, the particular pen I was given to review – but I hope it’s also clear that I really like this pen. True, it’s just a little small for my taste, but that’s no great failing – and it won’t dissuade me from keeping it in my regular rotation. It’s just such a shame that the ‘trim’, the metal parts of the pen (clip and nib), don’t match up to the exquisite workmanship of the ebonite cap and barrel – that’s all it would take for this to be a truly wonderful small-to-medium pen. So, thanks to JustWrite for giving me the opportunity to review it. …

You can really cut an Ahab feed in two ways: 1. Chip away some of the fin wall to make the channel wider, or: 2. Cut the fins that do not open into the center channel so that they do reach the center channel. I have a supply of feeds to experiment on coming soon. I'm curious if folks have more success with approach #1, #2, or combining both ways. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this already well-hashed topic. I've read loads of posts including SamCapote's detailed Opening Up Fin Vents, but SamCapote seems to focus only on #1, which is more difficult to do than #2, so I dared to open the subject yet again, focusing on those specific points. I am aware of the need to clean the feeds, etc., before use. Again, thanks for sharing your experience with me. These feeds are not expensive, but I would like to ruin as few as possible (and yes, I have ruined a few). Ben

I don't normally write up pen reviews, but since this is one that's a little more unusual than my other pens, thought I would take the time to do so. I had the urge in January 2014 to try another Indian-made pen. I have two Wality 59s which are pleasant to use, but are made of rather regular black and burgundy plastic. The colored ebonite pens are so beautiful and there are so many interesting small manufacturers in India. I liked the Wality nibs, they are nothing fancy but write well on a variety of papers and are a nice even F size, which is pretty much my speed. After poking around a bit, chiefly via FPN member Hari's posts and reviews, and a few others, I pretty much settled on trying a Kim and Company pen from Calicut, India. They have been around since the 1950s making hand-made pens through several generations. There's a very good write-up here on FPN if you want to learn more about the pen industry in Calicut. Hari led me to FPN member Mesu for ordering from Kim, and it turned out that she had recently added a number of Kim & Co pens to her stock. Mesu was extremely helpful and sent lots of great photos to let me winnow down to a pen that would be right for me. MANY choices but finally decided the Jumbos, although impressive and not much more expensive, would be too big for me for daily use. So I settled on a nice brown rippled ebonite, medium size, cigar-shape. It took about 2 ½ weeks to get to the US (Iowa) from India, not too long a wait. Mesu packed the pen well in a child's plastic pen case and also included silicone section sealant, a small eyedropper and another low-cost plastic eyedropper pen as a bonus. I've used the pen now for about four months off and on – here are some overall impressions and notes – (while I'm impressed by the formality of some reviews by fellow FPNers, that's too structured for me)... Well, one bit of formality, the basic measurements I realize are useful – the pen measures 5 ½” length capped, 6 ¾” uncapped and posted, 5” body to nib (uncapped and unposted), 1.3 cm wide at body middle and 1 cm wide at the section (there is a little dedent in the section that makes for good hand control). The ebonite material is lovely in the hand. This size is perfect for my hand, posted or unposted and has perfect balance either way. The black ebonite section is comfortable to hold and the ridge at the end keeps your fingers from slipping down and getting inky (one of my fusses with Esterbrooks, I have several that have “wet noses”). The grip area for me also includes the cap threads, but they are comfortable to grip, do not cut your fingers at all. The ebonite is polished but not super-glossy, which I like. The turning of the pen body and cap is nicely done. Some very small traces of turning and smoothing are still visible, contributing to a “hand made” quality. The pen has a good solid weight. Most importantly, the threading on both the cap threads and the section threads is excellent, nice and tight. The cap takes about three turns to close, a lot, but when it is closed you know that cap is not going to loosen in your pocket (another little problem I sometimes have with Esterbrooks). I have only had one instance of a small section leak, very small, and that was because I had skimped a bit on sealant the last time I'd filled it, now I've got it down. The ink chamber holds quite a fair amount of ink, I've not measured it, but definitely more than the Wality 59 piston fillers. I can write for about a work week with one fill. The pen is even easier to fill than I thought it would be. The eyedropper is easy to use and allows you to get down to the bottom of a bottle if you want to. You do have to apply the section sealant a bit every time and I have found that it helps to wipe off the old a bit and then apply fresh. Your fingers can get a little inky doing this but I've often gotten as much or more ink on fingers using a piston filler and touching the rim of the ink bottle as I fill. The nib is a lot like the Wality, basic F, a nail, gold wash plated to steel, nothing fancy. The nib slit is just slightly off center. It's only decoration is the inscription IRIDIUM POINT and a little scrollwork, all very small to the naked eye. The ebonite feed performs well, just the right amount of ink, never too much, never to little. Ink flow is generally excellent. The pen starts easily even after many days of non-use. The pen is comfortable to write with for a long period of time. As it's a fairly wide body for me, I find it's more comfortable if I write just a little bit slower than my normal speed. The clip is very basic plated metal but is very tight and secure. The metalwork bends in the ball are just slightly evident, which again contributes to the hand-made feeling of the pen. Plating looks good and like it's going to be durable under normal use and conditions. The clip is nice and simple, which is to my taste. There is one very tiny “flaw” – the breather hole in the cap, which is positioned under the clip, is irregular when you inspect it under a loupe. Hard to see with the naked eye, but it looks like when they drill the hole, a bit of “puckering” of the ebonite is created. It kind of looks like a small crater edge, rather than a smooth hole. You can't really see this without a loupe and it is right under the clip, so it is a very minor flaw and does not bother me. It would be one very small quality control step I would point out to the maker, if I was standing in the shop. The pen I feel was a very good value, at $25 US shipped from India. Just a little more than the Walitys but a much more personalized, warm material and finish. In short, I would recommend this pen to anyone who has been thinking about trying out an eyedropper style pen from India. There are cheaper ones, there are more expensive ones, but I think this is in a sweet spot for finish, price and ease of use. I love learning about the past and current history of pens in India and throughout Asia as well, there are still so many more per capita users than in the US (I believe) and so much passion and thought goes into these “small batch” fountain pen products. Mesu was very helpful with the Kim & Co. pen purchase and I enjoyed our correspondence over the selection process. Later this summer, I plan to get one more eyedropper, a rough-finish black Gem GAMA Kyuil (“Cookoo Bird”). The simplicity and beauty of this model appeal to me as well, it's a little more expensive than the Kim but also looks to be an excellent pen. Hari and others have already written about this one, and I'm sure others will too. It will be interesting to compare it with the Kim later on. Thanks for reading! Here are a few shots of the pen. Sorry for the low quality, just have my tablet with me today, but I really wanted to get this up before I procrastinated again.

Hi all, After reading a lot about the Gama pens on here, I visited the ASAPens site and found a nice desk pen by Gama called Ezhuthani. It's the Tamil word for Stylus or Desk pen It looked like a dip pen but is an eyedropper filling pen. My other purchases from ASA (no affiliation) were the regular Gama fountain pens, reviews of which are plentiful on this forum. As always, excellent service from Mr. Subramaniam and I received the pen in 3 days time. It came packed in a lovely velvety pouch. I ordered a Light Brown and black mottled shade. Absolutely gorgeous to look at. The stock nib with the pen was a steel fine nib Gama FIVE. I pulled the pen apart and was immediately taken back with the size of the feed. This pen has a LONG LONG feed. I am not sure about the design aspect of this but in all the Gama pens I have, the feed sticks out of the section and into the barrel. Cleaned out the parts and inked it up with some Camel Black Ink. I had a dip pen made by Ranga before to take a Nikko G nib. I wanted to try a flex nib on this pen too. The only nib that fit without any modifications to the nib or pen was a Gillot 303. I didn't do any writing with the standard nib that came with the pen, so I can't really comment on the way it writes. A few pictures: http://i.imgur.com/dIesEoJ.jpg The pouch packing http://i.imgur.com/Wl07M4D.jpg http://i.imgur.com/u0kCLfA.jpg The pen with the stock nib http://i.imgur.com/qajXPQa.jpg The humongous feed http://i.imgur.com/nh0tZJd.jpg Fitted with the Gillot 303 nib http://i.imgur.com/nNXDLzF.jpg This is a Wonderful pen and works beautifully with a Gillot nib.

The Gem and Company in Chennai, India is a pen shop in business for over 80 years now. In addition to selling third party pens, this shop manufactures and sells their in house fountain pens under the brand name Gama. Previously, I have documented their following models: Supreme part 1 Supreme Part 2 Kuyil Padpad/Raja Kambar part 1 Kambar part 2 In addition, some information about the shop itself can be found in the following links: Visit report 2008 Visit report 2014 This Gama "Gundu pena" (fat pen) was always popular among the FP user folks of Chennai, in recent times the owner of gem and co and their dealer ASApens.in have been very active in bringing out a slew of new models to fit varying hands, tastes and sizes. The Saral is, I think, their latest offering. Saral means "easy" in Hindi. It also can mean "simple" depending on the usage. I think translated into English, the Saral would be called "The Gama Simpleton". My first impression was "simple form, functional pen". Cylindrical cap, functional spring steel ball clip, simple tapered barrel to allow the cap to be posted, barrel length is sufficient to use unposted, ebonite for keeping the weight light, and hard wearing brushed finish. The dimensions of the pen are as under: Capped: 148mm Uncapped: 132mm(including nib length) Barrel dia:14mm Cap dia: 15.6mm Section dia: 12.5mm at barrel threads tapering to 11mm just before the nib base flare. Posted: 177mm The pens came to me without the nib and feed fitted, I wanted to do my own fitting to it since I rarely use the stock nibs anyway. Closed http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/jj582/hari-317/GamaSaral/IMG_9887.jpg Opened http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/jj582/hari-317/GamaSaral/IMG_9888.jpg Section removed:The ends of the cap and barrel are polished. http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/jj582/hari-317/GamaSaral/IMG_9889.jpg 800 and JoWo nib units installed: http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/jj582/hari-317/GamaSaral/IMG_9890.jpg http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/jj582/hari-317/GamaSaral/IMG_9891.jpg Size comparison with an old M800: http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/jj582/hari-317/GamaSaral/IMG_9892.jpg Finally a group photo of the all Gama models in my collection: http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/jj582/hari-317/GamaSaral/IMG_9886.jpg L-R: Kambar Mk-II, Kambar Mk-I, Postable Kambar, Supreme Flattop, Supreme Cigar, Kuyil, Hawk, Eyas, Raja, Saral and Popular. I did not know what will arrive in the post, when the Saral was described to me. However when I received these pens on Friday, I found that I like the simple lines of this pen very much, enough to consider making me carry one as the sole carry on the two day out of town trip that I will go on Monday morning. Cheers! Hari

Bought this from JK Pen stores in Abids, Hyderabad. He had a bunch of fountain pens in a box. Many were missing sections, nibs.. among them were few pens which looked in good shape, this being one of them. The nib was, at first, very scratchy. It felt like a shard of glass or sand being stuck between the nib tines. I washed it throughly and that made it a little less scratchy. Then one day, when scribbling, I heard a crack and then... buttery smooth writing http://i1262.photobucket.com/albums/ii616/rakshitpai/20140426_180156.jpg http://i1262.photobucket.com/albums/ii616/rakshitpai/20140426_180321.jpg

I bought this from JK Pen stores located in Abids, Hyderabad. He had a bunch of them in medium and jumbo size. This one is a jumbo. The nib has "Ambitious" engraved on it. http://i1262.photobucket.com/albums/ii616/rakshitpai/20140426_122204-1.jpg http://i1262.photobucket.com/albums/ii616/rakshitpai/swarna-nib.jpg

Dear All, My Father M.S.Pandurangan has crafted this Ebonite pen on last week This is Model 5 Pen with Customer supplied Nib and converter. We are introducing this new Ebonite colour Yellowished Olive with Pink Ripple. This is similar to old waterman pen colours. The capped length is 7 inches and the dia is 18.75mm I'm sharing it for All FPN'ers. Comments are welcome Thanks, Kandan.M.P Ranga Pen Company http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/mpkandan/CUSTOM%20PENS-2014/DSC02366-1_zps6ad31feb.jpghttp://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/mpkandan/CUSTOM%20PENS-2014/DSC02394-1_zps6678c3a6.jpghttp://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/mpkandan/CUSTOM%20PENS-2014/DSC02392-1_zpsf262c217.jpghttp://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/mpkandan/CUSTOM%20PENS-2014/DSC02378-1_zps16543cfd.jpghttp://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/mpkandan/CUSTOM%20PENS-2014/DSC02385-1_zps51bdaca4.jpghttp://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/mpkandan/CUSTOM%20PENS-2014/DSC02374-1_zps28560d4e.jpghttp://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/mpkandan/CUSTOM%20PENS-2014/DSC02377-1_zpsc1d4f71c.jpghttp://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/mpkandan/CUSTOM%20PENS-2014/DSC02388-1_zps56a50e93.jpghttp://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/mpkandan/CUSTOM%20PENS-2014/DSC02391-1_zps432429d8.jpg

Dear FPN'ers, Good Morning!! My Father has crafted these 3 Custom Ebonite Bamboo pens last week!! It is Blue Ripple Handcarved Special Designer Pen, Blue Cracked Ice Acrylic Clipless pen and Olive Ripple Thick Aerometric Pen . All are in Polished finish 1st and 2nd are Eyedroppers and the 3 rd is Aerometric Filling Mechanism. The nib is fine & Medium and the feeder is ebonite. Sharing the pictures for FPN'ers . Comments are welcome. BLUE RIPPLE EBONITE HANCARVED SPECIAL DESIGNER EYEDROPPER PEN: http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/mpkandan/CUSTOM%20PENS-2014/DSC02341-1_zpscf571bc1.jpghttp://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/mpkandan/CUSTOM%20PENS-2014/DSC02342-1_zpsf5a2f83f.jpghttp://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/mpkandan/CUSTOM%20PENS-2014/DSC02338-1_zps0ae040c2.jpghttp://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/mpkandan/CUSTOM%20PENS-2014/DSC02340-1_zps2eb7bc4c.jpg BLUE CRACKED ICE ACRYLIC EYEDROPPER PEN: http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/mpkandan/CUSTOM%20PENS-2014/DSC02345-1_zps95076c22.jpghttp://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/mpkandan/CUSTOM%20PENS-2014/DSC02350-1_zps1902afbd.jpghttp://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/mpkandan/CUSTOM%20PENS-2014/DSC02349-1_zpsc38f98d1.jpghttp://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/mpkandan/CUSTOM%20PENS-2014/DSC02343-1_zpsb948f335.jpg OLIVE RIPPLE EBONITE MODEL 5 AEROMETRIC FILLER PEN: http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/mpkandan/CUSTOM%20PENS-2014/DSC02354-1_zps93cbefe2.jpghttp://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/mpkandan/CUSTOM%20PENS-2014/DSC02357-1_zps9a03aa53.jpghttp://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/mpkandan/CUSTOM%20PENS-2014/DSC02360-1_zps6993ccfe.jpghttp://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/mpkandan/CUSTOM%20PENS-2014/DSC02356-1_zps810c5c71.jpghttp://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/mpkandan/CUSTOM%20PENS-2014/DSC02361-1_zpsad2ace03.jpg Thanks, Kandan.M.P Ranga Pen Company

I figure there are a million "show your pen" threads, so what could one more hurt. Post here and show your Waterman collections, segregated by material, age, era, or however you see. But they do have to be grouped with similar Watermans. Here are my hard rubber and HR-derived Watermans, not counting a 15 PSF and a Paisley pattern 0552½V I received in the mail today. http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/21/lho6.jpg Share yours!

SHORT EBONITE PEN. Please see my latest ebonite pen. Inspired by the shape of an old Indian pen – Oliver Bauna – A short stout “ egg “ shaped pen. http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3700/12379095953_f834886640.jpg http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7317/12379096453_4976d543c3.jpg http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3718/12378939415_f4ae263a5f.jpg http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2888/12379383544_3350290899.jpg http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3681/12379383184_f85a43fc00.jpg Ambitious Medium nib kindly contributed by Kevin of Fountain Pen Revolution. Filling - Tank. http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7406/12378941505_06dbb11a20.jpg OLIVER BAUNA. Comments/ Suggestions highly appreciated. Sreekumar.

I have Ranga Model #4 with the "Bakul" finish that I'd love to love more than I currently do. The Wality nib and I have never gotten along. Has anybody ever yanked a nib on a Ranga or other ebonite Indian eyedropper. I'm considering putting a Goulet B in it. Thoughts?

The gama kuyil is an ebonite pen from Gem and co. based from Chennai, India. The deccan ambassador and the gama kuyil. A minor diversion: Among the deccan pens I prefer the Deccan Advocate Sr. and Jr. models. My wife prefers the Deccan Bullet Sr. My wife trying out the Kuyil From left to right: Deccan Advocate, Deccan Ambassador, Gama Kuyil, Gama Acrylic Demonstrator, Gama Ebonite Jr. A note on the Indian Ebonite pens I own: Since these pens are hand-made and the quality control is not supreme the same model can vary in quality across pens. If one reads the above review it is clear that I am not satisfied with my Deccan Ambassador. The reason why I have openly expressed my distaste for the brand is because I used a Deccan Ambassador of another fellow pen collector and found similar issues while using it. I know of a few people who use Deccan pens who have a similar opinion and I thought I could voice it. I purchased other pens from the company before coming to the following conclusion (Please bear in mind these conclusions are from using the pens that I have encountered from Deccan and are entirely personal): The deccan pens are in general over-priced. I have no problem with the price if the quality is good. I bought a white deccan masterpiece and sold it to my friend because I hated the aerometric converter and because the nib was OK at best (I admit it looked pretty and that was the only reason he bought it off me). I have no problems with the Advocate pens. Although I still think the pens are over-priced. I don't use my deccan pens as much as, say, my Wality or my Gama pens. Whenever I give these pens a try I just end being disappointed. I prefer the Wality Jumbo to the Deccan Advocates (don't get me wrong the ebonite is nice to touch). Again, these are my personal experiences

I thought it would a good idea if I wrote the review and posted the picture. I remember another member do this although I don't remember his name, I liked the concept. Cheers. I used an online picture optimizer to get a smaller size. Let me know if anyone wants a high quality picture.

RANGA MODELS WITH GERMAN NIBS ON SALE IN DECEMBER! Models 3 (Flat Top) and 4c (oversized rounded) ~ previously $80, sale price $72 Bamboo model ~ previously $95, sale price $89 Model 5 (the huge one) ~ previously $90, sale price $82 Your choice of fine, medium or broad JoWo steel nibs. Ships with a converter in a Peyton Street Pens gift box. Also on sale is our flat top model with the Targa nib .... previously $70, now $62 Shipping is free to US addresses, and around $12 for first class insured shipping. http://www.peytonstreet.com/pens/ranga/model4c_200.jpghttp://www.peytonstreet.com/pens/ranga/bamboo_200.jpghttp://www.peytonstreet.com/pens/ranga/model3_200.jpg http://www.peytonstreet.com/pens/ranga/model_5_gabriola_200.jpghttp://www.peytonstreet.com/pens/ranga/ebonite_targa_gabriola_250.jpg Sale ends Dec 31st or whenever I remember to change the prices back. Sign up for our newsletter (see link below), where you will find a coupon to save a few dollars. Thanks! TERI

First Impressions Tyler, from Organic Studio, had posed on Facebook, a few weeks back, that the was trying a line of pens and was offering them to beta testers for a reduced price. In the post, he showed a group of five ebonite pens of varying sizes and of four different colors. The smallest was the Mendeleev. It looked too small and thin. The next two were the same size, the Boyle and the Alchemist, the later having a hooded nib. The next size was the Lavoisier, which looked too big fro my small hands, and the final looked like a large cigar, the Special. The colors were black, red, brown, and green. I found the green most attractive and the Boyle most desirable. When I pulled it out of the wrapper, I thought it was of rather cheap or poor quality. It was light, the fittings weren't terribly shiny. The white embossed name on the pen was unique in my experience and seemed poorly done. This impression would prove to be false. Appearance and Design I'm a sucker for the look of ebonite pens. This one delivers that, very well, especially in the cap. It looks like black ink flowed into the fabric of a healthy leaf. This, along with the excitement of owning one early on in production, attracted me most to the pen. Embossed on one side is "OS Boyle" in white stamping. At first this attributed to my impression of it being cheap, but as I held it and looked at it and wrote with it, I felt like I returned to the 1920's (why? I have no clue). The white lettering gives it an old-timey feel. The fittings seem to be made of plastic or a dull metal. There is a band at the bottom of the cap. The clip starts at the black finial and comes down. On the clip is Organic Studio's Indian manufacturer, Ratnamson Construction and Quality The pen is light. At first, I chalked it up to cheap, but then I got the idea that it was intentionally made light. This is the kind of pen with which a book could be written. Your hand can use it for long periods of time without fatigue. That makes the pen a serious though the extended writer. The clip looks weak but again looks are deceiving. I can withstand a bit a beating. It's solidly build and yet has enough give to be put in and taken out of pockets without much difficulty. The grip section is very comfortable especially for my small hands. Larger hands and fingers might find themselves on the top part of the threads. The little lip disallows slippage. Speaking of the threads, there are 9-11 threads for the cap, so ... there is a worry that this cap will 'accidentally' fall off. It secures itself on there like a child to his father's leg. This isn't a quick draw pen for sure, not one fore mere signatures or quick notes. It expects you to sit down and write. Also, there is no need to worry that ink from the body will leak out. There are the same if not more threads to detach the body from the grip sections. It thoroughly seals the body to the grip section. It doesn't have the rugged feel of a Lamy Al-Star, but it isn't a fragile pen either. It might, in certain conditions, crack. So I wouldn't take this on a hunting trip despite its camaflouge-esque look. It would keep on the desk or in a case. if being carried around. Weight and Dimensions As I've mentioned previous, this is a light pen. It feels about the weight of a Pilot Prera, or another similar build small pen. I have a picture here of its comparative size to a Prera and a Safari. It posts well without any difficulty and remains there solidly. It is the perfect size for my hands but will still work well in larger, hands when posted. It also remains balanced when posted. The cap doesn't make it top heavy. Nib and Performance Before I go into its performance, the facts: 1) its a two tone German-made iridium nib 2) its only made in medium at this time This is where, originally, the pen failed miserably. I filled it with an Italian scented ink that smelled like Pine and had decent color. Because there was a small space for the ink to flow to the feed I wanted to use an ink I didn't care about that much, just in case in wouldn't work. I filled the body, flooded the feed by turning it nib down for a few minutes and then set it aside to let it move more naturally. About 10 minutes later, I took it up to write. It scratched and nothing came out. I pushed down hope to open it up and it finally flowed. "Great! It wrote!" I thought. So I set it aside on my desk to do something else and picked it up an hour or so later. 30 seconds of scratching and I had to unscrew it to make sure there was ink in the body. I wet the nib and it started again. Then, I put is aside for when I had time to write this review. A week later, again it was dry. I wetted the nib, but this time nothing came out. The body was full of ink! I cleared out the ink. Cleaned the pen as best I could and refilled it the next ink in my rotation, Chesterfield Ruby. This became a whole new pen. It flowed much more evenly and didn't even dry up after sitting for periods. With that said, the nib started scratchy with the Ruby, but as the ink flowed, the smoother the nib got. It's not a gold nib, but it doesn't feel like chalk on a chalkboard anymore. It does take two or three strokes to get started, if you've let it sit for longer the a few hours, but after that it doesn't need anymore. It hasn't skipped at all. It does seem to work better with some inks, or it could've been that there were manufacturing gunk in the feed. As for the line itself, it maintains a good consistent line. It holds the size of line between a Lamy M and F. I prepared this review in a paperblanks notebook and it handled well. It writes well on Rhodia as well. The nib seems to be form fitted into the grip section but I couldn't pull it out barehanded. Filling System and Maintenance I received the eyedropper version. There is also a version with a sack, but, to me, the sack is superfluous. This baby holds a good amount of ink. (Exact quantities I don't know, but at least a half of a syringe purchased from Goulet). What's very different from any other pen that I've seen is the channel were ink flows from the body into the feed. It about the size of a needle. It's tiny. I originally though I received a defective pen because it looks like there's a plug in there. That being said, thick high pigmented inks might have trouble flowing through it. This pen isn't easy to clean either for the same reason. You can't flush the pen out very well because the hole is so small and if you do, you'll need a larger space for excess water spillage. It doesn't have the east of a cartridge/converter. Cost and Value It's sold at most retailers for $25 USD, which I think is a fair price for the pen. It give the student an option for a cheap ebonite and the eyedropper experience/benefit. In that way, has found a niche with very few comparable competitors. Conclusion I'm glad I didn't judge this book by its cover. The more I wrote with it the more I liked it. The scratch has greatly decrease after extended writing, making it a joy to write with. It would definitely be an option in my mind as "the pen" for my next work of fiction because of its light weight and high ink capacity. Well, worth your $25.

Hello all! To kickoff the weeks leading to the DC Pen Show, we are releasing the first images of our new line of ebonite pens. They can be found here! They are all eyedropper filled, as standard with many ebonite pens. They are made through an awesome partnership with an Indian based artisan. We will have the styles and colors available soon, with the Mendeleev available immediately! We will be shipping to our retailers in the coming weeks, and can accept orders through tyler@organicsstudio.com. We are offering a limited number at the moment of each style for reviews/feedback on the pens. There are very few left, so act now! We have some more cool products for all of you inkophiles coming in the next week or so, so stay tuned and like us on Facebook to keep up! Until next time, Tyler

Hi all, I was wondering if there was any difference in charicteristics provided by the modern production plastic feeds and the previous ebonite feeds fitted to the MB 146 and 149 range? Is the difference in flow etc. noticeable? Many thanks, Badger

Just saw this new video on noodler's web site about how to use speedball nibs in noodler's pens, as well as some new pens / new colors / non-flex Konrad nibs. Man I do love all the noodler's videos! I'd love to be able to get those new ebonite Konrad colors, I'm trying to get all of them and have been successful so far, but not being able to go to the Boston show may put a wrench in the works. Anywho, thought you all would wanna watch! -Nick

We just got in a large order of handmade ebonite pens from Ranga in India. These pens were designed to work with Sheaffer inlaid nibs and Sheaffer converters/cartridges. That means they will accept the same nibs found in 1960-70s Sheaffer Imperials such as the 444, 330, and 440 (steel nibs) and the high end Imperials such as the 777, 826 and 834 (long diamond inlaid 14k nibs) and the V-inlay nibs from the 550 and 440XG models. We're offering them with gold colored clips, silver colored clips, or no clip. They are the same length but slightly more slender than the regular Ranga models such as their "Duofold" model 3 and rounded-ends Model 4C. Here are some photos that show the pen in various colors. These pens are available in black (both smooth and matte "bakul" finish), mottled green, mottled brown, ripple green, ripple brown, ripple olive and ripple pink (really more like burgundy). http://www.peytonstreet.com/pens/ranga/4cs_imp_pinkrip_1.jpg http://www.peytonstreet.com/pens/ranga/4cs_imp_olirip_2.jpg http://www.peytonstreet.com/pens/ranga/4cs_imp_greenrip_1.jpg http://www.peytonstreet.com/pens/ranga/4cs_imp_greenmot_3.jpg http://www.peytonstreet.com/pens/ranga/4cs_imp_brnmot_1.jpg http://www.peytonstreet.com/pens/ranga/4cs_imp_pinkrip_3.jpg http://www.peytonstreet.com/pens/ranga/4cs_black_clips_1.jpg Our prices are very reasonable for a handmade hard rubber pen with a quality US-made nib and converter. $68 for pens with steel nibs, and $113 for pens with 14k nibs. Shipping to addresses in the US is free, and around $10 for orders outside the US. You'll find the pens on our web site here. We are having very good response to our Ranga pens offered at $80 with German (JoWo) screw-in nib units: Model 4C (rounded ends) Model 3 (aka "Duofold") Customers continue to give us very enthusiastic feedback about our collaborations with Ranga Pens of India. I hope you'll give one of these great pens a try soon. TERI