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Hello everyone. I am new to this forum and this is my first review of a fountain pen. So, if I inadvertently commit any mistakes, kindly overlook those. Today I am going to review one Indian ebonite fountain pen with a special kind of nib. Many of us have heard about Butterline Stub nibs, but little information is available online, except that Mr. Pendleton Brown grinds those speciality nibs. It is from his site that I came across the definition of Butterline Stub nibs, which he states as “…….a hybrid between a Stub (very smooth with some variation) and a Cursive Italic (maximum line variation with crisper edge).” This pen is from Krishna pens, behind which there is Dr. Sreekumar, a one man army. He is an anesthesiologist by profession, an experienced nibmaster by passion- fountain pens remain his devotion despite all his busy schedules. As this is mostly a passionate endeavor rather than a commercial one, his products are not available online readily. He doesn’t maintain a separate website and produces one pen per week, so you are lucky if you can get hold of them. The specialty in most of his pens is the grinding of perfectly ordinary nibs into something extraordinary. His recent muse has been the butterline stub nibs and I was fortunate enough to be able to buy two pens from eBay from Krishnapens, where he lists his items from time to time. 1. Appearance & Design (8/10): His pens are rather well built and beautiful. The design varies from model to model, and mostly they are traditional cigar shaped pens with tapering at both ends. The nib is fitted rather healthily into the section and the nib-feed unit looks solid. The material is good quality ebonite. The colours vary according to the model, but they are bright and vibrant. The polish is good. Overall I would give the pen 8/10 for looks, considering the common traits of ebonite pens. They are large pens, but relatively light weight and well balanced. No pungent smell from any of the pens. Unfortunately I would be posting pics of only one pen as I have sent the other to him for tuning to my choice. The fountain pen The clip 2. Construction & Quality (8/10): These are solid pens. They feel compact in hand and the material looks impressive. I wouldn’t say the ebonite can compete with some 200$ custom made ebonite pen, but it’s not shabby at all. A decent looking pen available at a throwaway price. The clip is unlike something you have ever seen on any pen, it’s special. It is flat, broad piece of metal, very sturdy and effective. Dr Sreekumar states that these pens are made of Export quality ebonite. On close inspection, though there are impurities in the ebonite, that doesn’t diminish the impression of the pen at all. No company names embossed on my pens. 3. Weight & Dimensions (8/10): It’s a light weight pen. I don’t have a machine to tell the exact value. The dimensions are as follows Length Capped: 130 mm Length uncapped with nib: 120 mm Length posted: 165 mm Length of cap: 60 mm Cap Diameter: 14 mm Section diameter: 11 mm This pen feels very comfortable to hold; it slips easily into hand and writes right away. The balance is great unposted. Posted, this becomes uncomfortable as the cap doesn’t go much deep into the body. From left: Waterman Hemisphere deluxe, Pilot metropolitan, Krishna butterline stub, Jinhao X750 (all capped) From left: Waterman Hemisphere deluxe, Pilot metropolitan, Krishna butterline stub, Jinhao X750 (all posted) 4. Nib & Performance (9/10): The nib is the specialty of this pen. These nibs are ground by Dr. Sreekumar himself, with the help of his immense knowledge and experience about nibs. He fondly reminisces that he grinded his very first nib at class 7. It was a different time then with fountain pens being the symbol of education. Over the years his hand have become more and more adept at making different grinds, making ordinary medium or broad size nibs extraordinary in the process. Butterline stub nibs are in between a medium and true stub....line variations are there but the main attraction of these nibs are the smoothness and the experience while writing. It’s something you have to experience yourself. The writing surface is beveled upward. The nibs he uses for this conversion are Kanwrite nibs and Ambitious nibs. Both are Indian company. Kanwrite is the same company that produces nibs and body for Noodlers Company in US. Ambitious nibs are thinner than Kanwrite, but as they are grinded by same person the writing experience is much the same. The flow is appropriate, no feathering or blotting or burping, ink and paper remaining the same as other pens. The feed is made of ebonite and it maintains good flow as required by a stub nib. There is minimal flex, but its expected. The Kanwrite nib The pen with paper 5. Filling System & Maintenance (6/10): This is an eyedropper, no other systems available like ASA pens. Good seal between body and section ensures no leakage and the ebonite multi-finned feed ensures no burping. Ink amount inside body is about 2.5 ml. The pen remains light and well balanced even when fully inked. There may be some ebonite particles/ residues inside the barrel when you receive the pen, but it’s more of an outlook towards fountain pens than an error. Being such an avid pen lover, most fountain pen manufacturers from India just assume that a person would take some trouble to clean his pen before inking it. 6. Cost & Value (8/10): This pen is valued at INR 1500- 1800 (22$- 30$). It’s a good bargain considering the price of ebonite pens in general. This is a reliable fountain pen, in that you can always pick it up while going out, take it out in front of your colleagues, put it to paper and it will perform right away. The solid built and crisp line will invite awe and the writing experience will always please you. It’s not for the stylish line variations or calligraphy, but it’s a genuine daily workhorse. 7.Conclusion (Final score, 47/60): I ordered this pen just out of curiosity about butterline stub nibs, and I’m very impressed with this pen. It’s one of my daily pens these days. I would recommend this pen for anyone who come across them on ebay. The review on paper The shading. Thank you for reading. Bye.

RANGA BAMBOO FOUNTAIN PEN : PREMIUM EBONITE SMOOTH GREEN-YELLOW INTRODUCTION Ranga pens in my knowledge is a pretty popular brand here in FPN. I have only ordered one pen before,a model 2c which is one of their cheaper options to test the waters.Their bamboo design has been in my wish list for some time.I know its based on a japanese design but as far as i know to get that design in India there is only Ranga. The 2c was a mixed experience (review which i plan to post soon) mainly due to the wality nib.This time i decided to venture into their premium territory and opted for the Bamboo in premium ebonite with a Jowo medium nib. DESIGN & BUILD QUALITY The Bamboo design needs a master craftsman to make it a reality and Mr. Pandurangan is just that, a master craftsman.The pen is made of one of the premium ebonite provided by Ranga “smooth green yellow”. My first choice was “blue white” which wasn’t in stock at the time. The ebonite is really beautiful and the green and yellow {more of amber actually} is a nice combination.The finish was top notch except for a burn like mark in the barrel which irritates me a bit. Apart from that there is not a single mark ,and the barrel and cap is extremely well polished. The pens design is clipless which adds to the minimalistic design language. The pen will get a 8/10 in the build quality and design ,2 marks for the mark in the barrel. WRITING EXPERIENCE Now the most important part of the review. I chose a Jowo nib this time as the wality nib with model 2c was really bad and had to change it to kanwrite nib. The “M” two tone nib is in line with the pen’s aesthetics. The nib writes good enough and is more towards the drier side.But after a thorough wash and flush the flow improved. Its not as wet as my ASA Galactic but im satisfied with the writing experience.Ink used is Krishna Mangal. VALUE & CONCLUSION The pen cost me 5700 INR and is my most expensive pen to date. In my opinion a product is worth what the customer is willing to pay for . There will surely be cheaper pens which may write better and the design may not be for everybody. What Bamboo offers is a unique design with a great build quality. To conclude this is a pen that will take a permanent place in my collection and also be among my daily writers. It gives the unique beauty of handmade fountain pen, the pen which is made just for you,the design pattern on one pen being totally different to the next bamboo. Overall Ill give this pen a 9/10. I plan to get more pens from Ranga in near future. The range of ebonite they offer and the variety of designs in their catalogue is really amazing. The Romillo of India

So, my rangas are here. Happy days. Both rangas are eyedropper with 35mm ambitious nib. Model 8(skinny one) is a black matte/bakul Model 3(duofoldish) is a black polish Same lengthish around 15.4cm Love the packaging. Cloth wrapping with handwritten address. Feels like a gift from a time ago. Good protective box. Great for transportation, but if i'll be honest here, a plain simple box might look and feel better. But for the price all inclusive, I'm not gonna complain. The main dish. WOAH. A free fellowship pen. Also this free pen looks completely useable also very well made. This is going above and beyond. Nice one Ranga. Ranga Model 3 Lovely I've been playing with this pen for the last couple of days. The Model 8 is dryer that the Model 3. No big deal, probably down to doing some nib adjustment which i'm happy to. The Model 8(skinny one) feels very elegant. Its small girth makes me feel in control of the stroke(no puns here). I love the Bakul finish. No oily feeling. Feels like a wooden pen which is brilliant. I think what can be improved, is the small very noticable gap in the cap where the clip is inserted. Model 3(duofold ish) I think this might be my favourite pen. I absolutely love the fact that is so plain. I have nondescript pens like the Namisu nova and the tactile turn gist. But this just looks and feels great in a sort of down to earth simplicity way. Because of its size, slightly larger. It feels like a rod, a light wooden rod(its ebonite). A brush with a stiff point to put down your ideas, however you like. No logos and I love pens like that. It becomes 'mine', a tool that will embody my character. I'm not in love with the ledge where the pen ends and the nib start. Maybe it'll grow on me. Also I dont think the breather hole in the cap is necessary. It shows the drill mark which can be buffed out. Also I asked Ranga to reduce the turn needed to open/close the cap. 1 and a half. All in all, Ranga, fantastic job. More than reasonable price for 2 fantastic pens with minor customisation(Got it in the group buy). To get a pen with this kind of simplicity(no embellishment, no shiny cap band ) in 2016, you need to turn to japanese manufactures or custom pen makers, the simpler it gets the more expensive it becomes, the irony. I'm seriously considering another ranga model 3.

I recently bought my first Ebonite-bodied pen. It is not the first Indian-made fountain pen that I have bought, but it is the first one that I have bought that was not at the low end of the price scale. The pen is the ASA Gama Revolution (link to vendor's page; as I understand, "ASA" is the name of the vendor and "Gama" is the name of a line of fountain pens made by said vendor). I had to wait a few weeks, during which time I assume that the pen was being made, but once it was dispatched by air mail, it arrived in about a week. It came with plenty of packaging: from left to right: outer envelope, bubble wrap, plastic envelope, velvet pouch, cellophane envelope, and inside this last, the pen itself. Ordinarily, I would not have much use for a velvet pouch for a single pen, but as I have heard that Ebonite pens are bleached by exposure to light over a long period, I expect that I shall be using this one to hold the pen when it is out of use. It is a large pen. In fact, I would call it a very large pen, though I know that there are larger ones. This should be evident from the two photographs that follow, in which I have placed it between a Platinum Century 3776 and a Lamy Vista. The dimensions, as given on the vendor's Web site, are as follows: Length, capped: 148 mm Length, posted: 170 mm Average barrel diameter: 14.5 mm Average section diameter: 12 mm Average cap diameter: 16 mm I got the pen with a medium nib. The nib, according to the vendor, is made by JoWo. It is plated in two colors. To my eye, this is rather unfortunate. The photographs on the vendor's site show the pen with a uniformly chrome-colored nib, which seems to me to harmonize much better with the black body and the chrome-colored clip. The nib, as I understand, may be unscrewed from the body for easy replacement, though I have not yet removed it myself. An interesting thing about the feed is that you can actually see right through the vents to the underside of the nib. I have tried, with only partial success, to show this in the photo below. The pen is advertised as having a "3-in-1 filling system." This means that it can be used with cartridges, with a convertor, or with the barrel filled in eyedropper fashion. This option seems to add quite a bit to the price, as fountain pens of similar materials and design are offered by ASA at significantly lower prices. Having heard of the phenomenon of "burping" to which eyedropper-filled pens are prone, I chose to pay a higher price to have the option of using a convertor. The convertor (on the left in the photo below), said to be made by Schmidt, is slightly larger than a standard convertor (on the right), though I don't know if its capacity is any greater. So, how is the pen to use? I will start with the feel of it. Ebonite looks and feels on casual inspection like plastic (or perhaps I should say, like other plastics), but on closer attention seems somehow less hard to the touch than plastic, even though it is assuredly a rigid and unyielding material. To me it feels somehow more hand-friendly than most other materials. So that's one attraction. The cap is not made for quick removal: it requires two and a half turns to remove and to replace. So this pen is not well suited for jotting down short notes. The pen is fairly lightweight, weighing 24 grams with the cap on and the convertor installed and filled, 16.5 grams without the cap. The pen is not unwieldy with the cap posted. I myself tend to prefer to post, and tend to prefer a weight over 20 grams, but I find myself inclined to use this pen unposted. The grip section is wider than those of most pens. I have never yet felt a grip section to be too wide, though I have had many pens whose grip sections were too narrow for my comfort. But for me this pen is right at the limit. I can hold it comfortably enough, but at times I find myself wishing that it were just a bit narrower. Those with smaller hands (mine are of medium size as adult male hands go) will almost certainly find this pen too thick for comfortable use. I find the nib to be reasonably smooth—nothing out of the ordinary, nothing to complain about. Likewise, though not particularly springy, it yields enough to make for comfort in writing. In sum, good but not outstanding. As far as starting ability goes, I have found the pen, so far, to be fairly compliant. If I have used it previously in the day, I can count on it to start laying down ink either immediately or within a few millimeters of the first stroke of the point. If it has been unused overnight, then a stroke or two is required to get it to start. I have never yet had to shake it or tap it to get it to start, though I have not yet left it unused for days at a time. I have left the topic of the appearance of the pen for the end. The plain, nearly featureless design and polished finish are among the distinctive features of the pen. If you don't find these to be attractions, then this pen can be of no interest to you. Gama makes other Ebonite pens with a matte finish. That finish was not an option with this model, but that was fine with me. It is my impression that Ebonite never has that "spanking new" appearance that most new pens have. At least, this pen never had it, and no amount of rubbing with a soft cloth seems able to give it such an appearance. Ebonite just doesn't get that shiny: it seems to look a bit "used" by nature. This, to my mind, agrees with its peculiar feel, so that the pen can seem on very first acquaintance as if you have already had it and used it for a long time. I don't know if it is universal among Ebonite to have tiny flaws in the finish, but this pen has them. That is a feature that pushes the pen from hominess toward shabbiness. What is more, the pen lacks symmetry. This is plainly visible in the clip, which is of a shape that recalls those of Pelikan pens, but its thick part extends further to the left than to the right. What is more, the cap does not align perfectly with the body. Both asymmetries can be seen in the photograph below. In summary: The pen has a distinctive design and material and is agreeable to write with. But in consideration of the flaws in its appearance and construction, I am not convinced that it is a particularly good value,

Hello everybody, I am pretty new to this site and don't post very often so please forgive me if this is a topic that has come up a time or two. I recently discovered Fountain Pen Revolution's website and with it the world of Indian ebonite pens. To say they intrigue me would be an understatement. I have been wanting an Ebonite pen forever and the prices really seem right on these. I was wondering if you had any particular recommendations, or warnings on picking a first pen. So far I have been looking at the Triveni by FPR, the Guider, and the Gama pens. The mottled ebonite really appeals to me. I have never owned an eyedropper, but have read that they like to burp out ink when not all the way full and I was wondering if this is a common problem? I would appreciate any feedback, thank you! -tleek

I've been a happy repeat customer of Fountain Pen Revolution for a couple of years now, and wanted to post a quick 'first-look' review of their latest new release: a 2-pen case made of leather. These are currently for sale on their website (www.fountainpenrevolution) for US$24 plus postage. In honor of the launch, they're including a FPR 'Indus' fountain pen, valued at US$17, for free - in a randomly-selected colour and nib size. I purchased two - one to keep, and one to give away. Onto the case itself, though - which conforms to a fairly standard design. The front of the pouch is made of fairly stiff, double-layered leather, with some kind of stiffening material inserted between the layers. The back of the pouch is roughly twice the length of the front - with a sizeable flap that folds over and tucks into the loop that holds the case closed. The sides of the pouch are thinner - just a single layer of leather, allowing the case to expand slightly as needed to accommodate larger-diameter pens. http://i.imgur.com/rQLI2MU.jpg The leather is a warm, chocolatey-brown colour, with the FPR logo prominently emblazoned on the front of the flap: http://i.imgur.com/2czaglp.jpg http://i.imgur.com/pfWZTnb.jpg The dimensions of the pen case are roughly 15cm tall x 4.5cm wide x 2cm deep - though the flap is long enough to accommodate taller pens. I found that my Diplomat pens (the Aero and the Diplomat Excellence A) were a very good fit; my 'girthiest' pen, a black Jinhao 159, took up a little more than half the width of the pouch, but could also be accommodated. The interior of the pouch has a 'divider' running down the middle, that ensures the two pens inside don't bump or scrape in transit: http://i.imgur.com/14v5kgk.jpg I have to say I'm very impressed with these cases: they look great, the stitching is neat and even, and they seem very sturdily constructed. I'm looking forward to carrying one around with me - and am pretty sure that the recipient of the second case will appreciate the gift. That's about all I can think to say - feel free to ask any questions if you'd like to know more!

HI FOLLOWING IS MY REVIEW OF ASA SPEAR.... THE NIB IS A VERY SMOOTH WRITER , INK FLOW IS WET. TOP OF THE CAP CAN HAVE LOGO ALSO.

SOME MORE PEN STORIES ( and models) Hi friends, Pen makers experiences and stories I find always interesting. When ever I go to Calicut town, I have a tendency to go to Kim and Co and Krishna to see what all are happening there. As the shops are always busy, I stick up there either buying some pens, or as a silent bystander or if lucky I can find some senior pen collectors and share their experiences. One fine morning, as usual I found myself ended at Kim shop. Asked for any new model pen, one man in the shop ( around 25 years old) say to my surprise say yes. Delighted! New model! Then one customer comes to the shop with a Kim Big pen, says this is not writing properly ( I think he have bought it recently) Shop man takes the pen and writes it. I stood there , silently observing both customer and the shopman. To his and my surprise, the pen is writing with a beautiful fine line! sir, this has no problem no, I like to write it thicker ( it seems he dont know the word medium,calligraphy etc) Now the man goes inside. After 5 or ten minutes he comes back with the pen. Now its writing in a thicker line. Still our customer not happy. this is not the real way he says. Shop man asks are you an artist? yes pen is for drawing? both writing and drawing Now he goes inside and comes back in 10 or 15 minutes. And pen writing with a good line variation and have more flow also. A calligraphy nib! This is what exactly I want! He Exclaimed . Another happy ending story! Coming to the second part of the story, Of the many prototype models made in the workshop of Kim pens, only very few models hit the market after extensive testing . Even after that, if response from people is negative, they are stopped very soon. So what was that new modeloffered to me?. After successful completion of many years of production, Kim now feels that its time for its Small pen to retire and replaced by another model. I think now people prefer bigger pens. The New Small is dimensionally equal to Small, but looks and feels bigger. I think Small should be compared to Sachin Tendulkar, as both are retiring at the same time after many years of service! http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7418/10770156183_aa2580cfaa.jpg 20131109_170300 by mohancv, on Flickr THE NEW MODEL PEN FROM KIM. They are planning for yellow, lighter green, pink, black, rippled green finishes for this. Coming to the third part of the story, http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2882/10769946566_14212932a4.jpg 20131109_221144 by mohancv, on Flickr KIM LADY PEN This Lady pen is an answer to Kims own Lady pen of the past. Made by Sreekumar, the student of veteran pen maker Ramachandran, this pen do not go to production if I assume right. http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7313/10769947406_d8bd108ec8.jpg 20131109_221551 by mohancv, on Flickr KIMLADY- OPEN. This is a small pen, well suited to small purses of ladies and is clipless. An eyedropper, and made of ebonite. ( earlier Lady pens were made of Celuloid).Cap opens in less than a turn. http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7345/10770004094_342b5ef16b.jpg 20131109_221438 by mohancv, on Flickr Ink capacity only less than 1cc. May be due to its small size, or may be to reduce burping? http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7324/10769902525_e6dd6d5468.jpg 20131109_221456 by mohancv, on Flickr THE JEWELS http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2878/10769902085_76010bd80d.jpg 20131109_221528 by mohancv, on Flickr NIB. Nib is RITE SHARP, Made in Japan.( As far as I know, Ritesharp was an Indian Pen Maker, yet the nib does nt look Indian). http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7342/10770002364_5aa290624d.jpg 20131109_221725 by mohancv, on Flickr COMPARED TO A VECTOR. This is a phone conversation with me- why you want this? This is scrap( he have already sold me some antique Kim Lady pens) my wifes birthday, this should be my gift but its not finished I have no problem..I want a medium nib Medium? NoNonsense Nib, Wearever Nib,. both costs 150rs That I already have.. Townsend Nib is there costs 800rs .... is it too much? ( after few more discussions, I settled for a Ritesharp Japan nib for a 100 rs). After 2 days, I got this pen. One more happy ending story! Thanks for reading, Mohan.

Kim Nova fountain pen. The barrel does not have threads. The cap slips on. Made of ebonite, so the 'slip on' isn't as good as with regular plastic barrel pens. I didn't think that a thread less barrel would make any difference, but I must say, it has a really good feel. The nib was modified as per my request by the ebay seller (krishnapens). Broad, wet and buttery smooth http://i1262.photobucket.com/albums/ii616/rakshitpai/20140426_122558.jpg http://i1262.photobucket.com/albums/ii616/rakshitpai/20140426_122747.jpg

The ASA popsicle is the first non-eye dropper Indian handmade pen in my collection. Made in Chennai! It is a lot of fun, as the name suggests! [A copy of this here: https://fpensnme.wordpress.com/2016/02/14/the-asa-popsicle/]

Hi All I have reviewed a custom made pen from ASA Pens on my blog. Below is an excerpt of the same _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ One fine day we, a group of fountain pen enthusiasts Vaibhav, Tervinder, Rakshit, Sulagno, Pradeep, Prithwijit, Kapil and myself were engaged in discussions to design a pen. The design was going through numerous iterations and me and a fellow fountain pen lover Sulagno liked one of the design prototypes very much. We approached ASA pens with the design and asked for help to make the design a reality. ASA pens took up the task and also procured the last pieces of a vintage acrylic material to be used to create the pen. Thus the ASA royal was born. The pen is based on the evergreen and classy cigar shaped design. The barrel and section are flush with each other and follow a straight line which is only disturbed by the treads for the cap and a flare at the end of section to aid the grip. Apart from the exquisite design of gold coloured clip the pen has a very minimalistic design. It follows the philosophy "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication" and this worked very well in the pen's design. The construction of the pen is top class and there are no imperfections in the pen. As a result the pen is sheer beauty to look at. The quality of the finish of the pen is awesome too. It’s polished very well and speaks well for the workmanship carried out on the pen. This is large a pen. It is 16cm 6.23") when capped, 14.5cm(5.71") uncapped and 18.8cm(7.4’’) when posted. For my relatively smaller sized hands (17cm from top of index finger to the base of hand) I prefer to use it unposted. The section has a diameter of 12mm and its is very comfortable to hold The weight distribution of the pen also spot on and it’s easy to use the pen for long writing sessions at a stretch. I chose for the pen to be fitted with a gold coloured Medium grind No. 6 Schmidt Steel Nib unit. The nib is a very smooth writer and writes line width of around 0.5mm. The nib though not a flex one has a bit of give under pressure and gives line width of 1mm. The nib lays down a wet medium line. Writing Sample: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Head over to my blog for a detailed review and more pictures. Link This is my first review for a pen so do let me know the feedback.

Kim and Co. hand-make fountain pens in Calicut in God’s Own Country, the South Indian state of Kerala. This is a brief review of a stunner from their stables. [A copy here: https://fpensnme.wordpress.com/2016/02/21/a-handmade-fp-from-gods-own-country/]

Well we have an interesting review today. It is a review of a pen brand unheard of by me at least. But before beginning, i would like to mention that I Have Uploaded a VIDEO REVIEW for the same pen, on YouTube. And as it is usually, Videos are always better! So CLICK for the video review HERE. http://youtu.be/jp8LG1BUhd0 P.S: It is also more detailed. Okay so that out of the way. Lets start with the review here. K-Nine is a new Indian company which, it claims, specializes in manufacturing of high precision writing instruments. Their product range includes Ball points, Roller Balls, Fountain pens and Mechanical pencils. And i must say, i am very impressed by the brand! The quality of the fountain pen i got is really really great! So, lets get started The pen comes in a beautiful tin box with a shimmering gold colour! Upon opening. It contains the usual stuff. 1 Year warranty, filling instructions and product range. The pen itself rests firmly in a velvety plastic holder. The box itself, screams quality quality quality! The pen is made up fully of steel and the gold accents are REAL GOLD PLATED. The overall construction of the pen is superb as well. Although it is relatively slim, the pen feels solid in hand and has a decent amount of weight to it. The section has Gold Plating on it as well! And what i really like about the design is that the grip area is roughened to just the right amount and it doe not impinge in your fingers while providing excellent grip! The nib performs nicely. Not exactly butter smooth but far from scratchy. The Filling mechanism is just a "standard international long" type, which is practical and easy to use and holds decent amount of ink. CONCLUSION: Well, this company, K-Nine has really impressed me! The built quality the packaging, everything is up to the mark and value for money! So i say that if you can lend your hands on one of these! Just buy it! You will not be disappointed!!!

Moderators- if this post is in the wrong forum, please move it to the correct one. Thank you! After using my Gama Raja for a little over a day, I've formed some tentative opinions of it. With the somewhat scarce information on this pen here on FPN, I'm hoping that my thoughts will help someone that's undecided about it. First off, I'll comment about the seller and experience I had with them. I ordered from ASA Pens, and being new to the Indian pen game I didn't know what to expect with my order (again, not too terribly much information that I could find). I couldn't be happier. The order took just under three weeks from ordering to receipt, including having Mr. Subramaniam test the pen before dispatch. It was very well packaged. I don't think that the pen would have been harmed if someone jumped on it (but I'm not willing to try ). I'm in the U.S. by the way. Upon opening the package and taking the pen out of its velvet slip and excessive (not that I'm complaining) bubble wrap, my impressions were very good. The pen is large (prior to this, the largest pen I owned was a Jinhao X-750), deep matte black, the trim is nice and shiny and golden, the pen has simple, clean, elegant looks that remind me of the Parker Duofold and other 30s-40s American pen designs. It's a very nice looking pen to my eye. Pros- -The fit and finish of this pen is superb, especially for the price. The threads, though single start, are well cut and mesh smoothly, the finish is even and well done, the polished ends are also well done, the trim is well set, the nib is set as it should be for a #6/35mm nib, and the Gama logo is nicely engraved. -The feel in hand (I have a medium mens' glove size according to Mechanix) is very good. The section is large to be sure, but it's comfortably cut with a nice, abrupt flare to keep your fingers off the nib. The pen itself, while long, is very well balanced and actually very light. It honestly doesn't feel any heavier in hand than a featherweight Lamy Safari. The ebonite feels good in the hand; it really is a warm feeling material. It doesn't feel like a plastic or metal or wood... it's unique. While the pen can be posted, the cap doesn't post very deeply, leaves marks on the barrel, makes the pen very long, and throws off the balance of the pen. -The writing, when the feed is saturated sufficiently and you're in the sweet spot, is superb. As I stated before, I had the pen tested before shipping and it paid off. After a little alignment (I was probably the cause of the issue to be honest) the pen (with the stock nib and feed) is wet, starts well with zero pressure (and I mean ZERO pressure), is very smooth with a TINY touch of feedback and the stock IPG duotone EF/Indian fine (I've seen it called both) writes a good, firm extra fine (compared to a Lamy fine). -The ink capacity is HUGE. As someone that's used to C/C pens, I was blown away by the ink capacity. I haven't measured it, but I wouldn't doubt an estimate of 3-3.5ml. As you may be able to tell, I quite like this pen already Cons- -The stock, unmodified nib on my pen (one example) has a fairly small sweet spot. When you're in the sweet spot, it's as smooth as I've felt as of yet, about on par if maybe a little under a JoWo (which costs, by itself, more than half of the asking price of this pen), but the moment you get out of the sweet spot there's a fairly significant amount of feedback. -If the pen is agitated and warm, say in a gesticulating hand or in a shirt pocket, a little ink seems to want to burp into the cap and get on the nib. It isn't a big deal, but it is slightly annoying. This issue could probably be fixed with a new feed. -When the pen was in my shirt pocket for a while, the feed dried up somewhat. It took a bit of tapping on the page to get it started again. -It smells like tires, which doesn't bother me and will dissipate, but the smell may offend some people. -There's some minor scratching on the very shiny clip and one of the cap bands is a teensy tiny bit wonky (I'm picking at nits at this point) Overall, this pen is an amazing pen, especially for what you pay for it. I'm in love already, and I'm hooked on Indian eyedroppers now. ETA- Sorry for the long post! I tried to make everything as detailed as possible to make up for the lack of pictures.

The Ranga Pen Model 4C Spurred by the excellent reviews that FPN member Vaibhav Mehandiratta has provided of various handmade Ranga pens, Empty of Clouds took the decision to acquire at least one Indian ebonite pen, and it turned out to be a model 4C. Here is a far poorer quality review by a man with no talent for either words or photography. Please forgive. The 4C is a big pen by the standards of early to mid 20th century pens, and is a classic cigar shape. Measurements (approx.) Capped length – 15 cm Nib tip to barrel end – 13.5 cm Maximum diameter – 16 mm Most of the pens EoC has owned up until this point have been vintage, so to give a comparison an Esterbrook J is around 12.6 cm long (capped), 11.2 cm uncapped and 12 mm at the widest barrel point. The Esterbrook is unusable by EoC when uncapped. The Ranga 4C however is not! Here is an ugly picture of an ageing hand holding the Ranga. For those interested in numbers, EoC’s hand measures 21.5 cm from tip of 2nd finger to fold of wrist – so, quite a big hand really, and yet the pen is quite comfortably supported. Build Quality As many know the Ranga pens are handmade from ebonite turned on a lathe. The premium orange ebonite used for this pen, while finished well, still retains several inconsistencies in the material. Most notably these show up as dark flecks or a kind of very faint patterning. Whether this is tool artefact or a property of the material itself is hard to determine. This may be of concern to those whose experience thus far has been restricted to flawless expanses of resin or acrylic. Despite this issue on the finish the pen feels super smooth in the hand. It is light but by no means insubstantial. The threading throughout is tight and smooth. The cap takes just over 2.5 turns to remove, while the section requires just shy of 10 turns! There is a step between the barrel and the threads for the cap, but it is small enough to have not presented EoC any issues with use or comfort. The Nib Not really much to say here. This pen came fitted – by request – with a 1.5 mm Jowo #6 stub, which simply screws into the section. This is the same standard nib unit used by many of the custom pen makers (Franklin Christoph and Scriptorium spring to mind), so those who have pens from those sources can swap their nibs around with the Ranga should they so wish. The nib is very smooth, and far crisper than expected for a stub. It has thus far proven to be a joy to use. Here is EoC’s very first outing with the nib. Paper is Rhodia, Ink is Diamine Delamere Green. Fill ‘er Up! As with many Ranga models that employ the Jowo nib units, this pen comes fitted with a Schmidt converter. Fairly standard, well known to many, and so far reliable. For those going for the real Indian pen experience, the converter can be left out and the pen can be used as an eyedropper. EoC has not tried this yet, but when he spoke into the open end of the barrel there was an echo! So expect it to take a goodly amount of your favourite writing fluids. Speaking of eyedroppers, the section threads came pre-greased and those 10 turns mentioned earlier should give reassurance that leaks are probably unlikely to occur around the section threads. Value for Money and Communication As with many things in life value has a very personal aspect to it. This pen is not in the cheaper range for Ranga pens, or indeed any other Indian maker’s pens. However, it is a significantly better price than some of the established Western makers. EDIT: There was an ordering problem that has since been resolved. Concluding thoughts. This is a big pen, and a good one too. So far it has proven to be exceptionally comfortable to use. Although EoC is very partial to pointed dip pens, he has found the 1.5 mm stub on the Ranga 4C to be a joy to use in an everyday setting. The imperfections in the material, considering the way it is made, add a certain degree of character perhaps, but it is not the glossy perfect finish that others may have alluded to. The only downside was the final cost, coming in at US $100. It is early days for EoC and the Big Orange Pen, but it's looking very promising right now! The above represents an honest review. EoC has tried to fairly represent what was liked and what could have been better.

I've been a repeat customer of the Fountain Pen Revolution website for maybe a year now, and have purchased a number of their pens and nibs in that time. One of my frustrations with their earlier offerings was the #5 "Fine Stub" nib - I bought two or three pens with this nib on board, and always found it scratchy. When the new #5.5 nibs came out - a significant improvement in almost every way - my question of Kevin (the proprietor of FPR) was when he would be adding a stub nib to the line-up. I didn't get an answer at first - but in the past few weeks they've been listed as on their way, and last week (or was it the week before? - on March 26 2015), they were finally available for $7ea plus postage. I took advantage of the offer - which now seems to have disappeared from their website! - to buy a Serwex 1362 demonstrator with the new stub nib for $9. $2 extra, and you get a pen thrown in? I ordered two! The new pens arrived yesterday. I swapped the nib from one straight into a FPR Indus (burgundy coloured), inked it up with Diamine Red Dragon... and filled the other demonstrator with Noodler's Baystate Blue (it only cost me $2 - so why not?)... Appearance: Here's a picture of one of the nibs - with apologies for the lack of focus: http://i.imgur.com/CRFD5qR.jpg The first thing I noticed about these nibs was the tipping - unlike my JoWo nibs (which cost at least twice as much), these nibs are tipped with iridium. They're also, as the picture below demonstrates, somewhat smaller. The nibs shown, moving clockwise from top left: Goulet 1.1mm stub (JoWo #6), in a Jinhao 159 - inked with Pelikan 4001 Black Lamy 1.1 mm stub, in a Lamy Safari Neon Coral - inked with Diamine Hope Pink. FPR 1.0 mm stub, in a FPR Indus - inked with Diamine Red Dragon TWSBI 1.5mm stub (JoWo #5), in a TWSBI 540, inked with De Atramentis Sherlock Holmes. http://i.imgur.com/j8is7tF.jpg And here's an initial writing sample - beginning with a TWSBI M nib for comparison: http://i.imgur.com/5f9xvap.jpg Writing Experience I really enjoyed writing with these nibs. They definitely lay down a thinner down-stroke than the TWSBI 1.5mm and the Goulet 1.1mm - and marginally less than the Lamy 1.1mm. More significantly, the writing experience was much, MUCH smoother. The nibs glided over the page, and were more forgiving than their untipped counterparts. They also allowed me to write smaller - closer to my normal writing style. http://i.imgur.com/5f9xvap.jpg There was a trade-off for this improvement: not only are the downstrokes (thick lines) thinner than for my other stubs, but the side-strokes (thin lines) are just a little thicker - at least, that's the way it looks with my writing - so that the 'italic' look (line variation) is diminished. For mine, that's a very acceptable trade-off - especially given the smoothness of the writing experience - but it may not be everyone's cup of tea. Close-Up In the following two photos, I'm comparing just one FPR stub nib (left), to the TWSBI 1.5 mm nib (top), the Goulet 1.1mm (bottom) - while the nib to the right is a FPR Broad. The latter has a visibly rounder tip - gives little or no line variation when writing. http://i.imgur.com/QUSD6Yg.jpg http://i.imgur.com/ERF39t9.jpg Summing Up For the price, these stub nibs are an absolute steal - and a great pleasure to use. I'd be more than happy to recommend them. Though they're billed as a #5.5 nib (to differentiate them from the earlier #5 offerings), they'll fit onto pretty well any 5mm-diameter feed (i.e. #5 nib pens) - including (so I'm told) the TWSBI Diamond 580. The Serwex pens I ordered them on had gold-coloured furniture, so were installed with two-tone nibs to match - but you can also buy them as straight stainless steel. Standard Disclaimer: though I have previously received free review pens from FPR (the new Indus pen, in blue and Demonstrator), I purchased these nibs (and pens) with my own money - and have not been solicited or compensated in any way for this review.

A few weeks ago ASA's Mr. Subramaniam [NAYY] sent me and few other FPN members a picture of a pen that was made of acrylic. Upon seeing those pictures, a land grab style blood bath ensued with fellow fountain pen lovers trying to get their ink stained fingers on as many pens as possible. I came away with 4 pieces which I want to share with you today. I got these a few days ago and so I am still in the process of reviewing them, I will be updating this review in the coming weeks. Every fountain pen user has that one pen that he/she wants, that one pen which is their 'grail'. An acrylic of this type was on my list but I had given up any hopes of acquiring it given their prices. Finally ASA has come up with these beautiful models which were affordable. The pens are a joy to hold. I haven't inked them up yet as I've been busy admiring their looks. Watching them glisten in sunlight. The acrylic is of the highest quality and has very beautiful swirls!!! I wanted to bust out the callipers and come with detailed measurements and other nerdy details... but heck!!! look at these pictures, this is by far the most beautiful fountain pen I've ever laid my eyes on. The pen fits snuggly in my large hands, is very nicely balanced. The nib is Ambitious 35mm chrome. There were couple other colors I couldn't get my hands on - yellow and red. These were grabbed by other FPN members.

I finally received my FPR Guru Flex today in the mail and it is a very interesting pen. Interesting in the sense that I can't make up my mind about it. Here are my thoughts from the first time using it. http://i.imgur.com/kWKuieKl.jpg Aesthetics: 5/10 I don't think this is an ugly pen, however, it isn't pretty. I like demonstrators, especially when they are well done. This, unfortunately, isn't the most refined of demonstrators. The points where the plastic is joined looks very sloppy and the threads suffer from the same problem. The pocket clip works well, but looks very very cheap. This pen comes in at about 5 inches, pretty similar in length to the Noodler's Ahab, but much thinner. I would have preferred if it were a bit thicker, both for aesthetics and ergonomics. http://i.imgur.com/FBUAUAgl.jpg http://i.imgur.com/k8HZHTvl.jpg http://i.imgur.com/ePawEAll.jpg Ergonomics: 7/10 Despite being a bit thin for my taste, it is actually very comfortable to use. The grip section appears smooth, but it is not slippery. The cap threads aren't sharp and don't interfere with writing. Filling System: 7/10 Piston filler. The piston knob is a little stubborn at first but it works smoothly and it fills up with ease. Hold a good amount of ink, I haven't measured this but it is pretty close to the Ahab. Nib and feed: 7/10 Here is where the pen gets interesting. I took out of the box and I was underwhelmed. I handled it, and it felt cheap. I filled it and the piston mechanism left something to be desired. And then I wrote with it. This nib is smooth. Very smooth. The feed keeps up with fast writing and this thing flexes with ease. No railroading whatsoever, and I can get it to flex just as much as my Ahab. Granted, I have no tinkered with my Ahab much at all, but as far as out of the box performance goes, I have to say the Guru impressed. http://i.imgur.com/9hJ8wlZl.jpg http://i.imgur.com/TeTki0ol.jpg Value: 7/10 This pen costs $12 from fountainpenrevolution.com. With shipping it is $15 and you get a free Serwex pen with it (at least I did, not sure if this is still the case). http://i.imgur.com/qJxSGGgl.jpg Overall: 33/50 I won't compare this to a Hero type pen because the Chinese companies don't offer a flex version. In terms of value I would compare it to the Noodler's Nib Creaper and Ahab. The Nib Creaper costs $14 without shipping and the Ahab costs about $20. If you can get a Nib Creaper for ~$15, I think that would be the best option. The Ahab is more ergonomic and better built, but more expensive. Overall I would say that I like the Guru. It is an interesting pen with a very nice flex nib. The shipping is a little long (I waited 11 days iirc) but it is a pen that not many people have and which writes very well for the price.

As you all know Dr. Sreekumar is a nibmeister extraordinaire from Kerala, India. I saw some of his works here in FPN and was introduced to him by an Indian FPNer. I had bought a bunch of pens from him earlier. S-K generally sells Kim pens with tuned nibs, but occasionally turns some beauties. I had already reviewed one of them- the vaib pen (https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/293684-sreekumars-vaib-pen/) This is another one of his creations, which he calls the EVO . The Evo pen is a minimalistic design in Black ebonite. It is a ED pen, fitted with a Bock/Conklin B nib. The design is almost Lamyesque. DESIGN: The pen is a minimal cylinder design. It has a tapered section, which is small for the size of this pen. It has a screw-on cap which opens in 4-5 turns. The threads have a tight tolerance and they are not sharp at all. The pen can be posted, but not recommended. It is a decent size pen and has perfect balance. NIB AND FEED: The pen is fitted with an ebonite feed and a Bock/Conklin B nib. The Kim feeds are modelled on Sheaffer NNS feeds, so the burping problem is almost nil. The nib is one of the smoothest I have ever used and is a pleasure to write with. The B nib writes a wet line, giving a fat medium/ thin broad width. WRITING SAMPLE: COMPARABLE PENS One of the designs that is most similar to the Evo is another great pen from ASA, I can. The I can is a larger pen with a hourglass section which is the most comfortable for me. The I can is also similarly priced to the Evo. One another pen of the same size is the Fosfor Bombay. CONCLUSION If one wants a no-fuss pen which can get the job done, consider the Evo. It has been reasonably priced and finishing is good. And you get a nib tuned by a nibmesiter.

More like, Red-black derived from Camel. I have used fountain pens all my life, but never once did I change my Ink. Have always been using Camel's Royal Blue and it is my favourite. Recently, I started wondering what it would be to use a different ink. But I was stunned to see the prices of the inks. I love Camel, and thought that I should get their Scarlet Red. But that red was a bit too bold for me (plus it reminded me of errors (as it is a colour my teachers used to correct.)). I wanted something like Oxblood or Havana brown that could be used for writing, and not just editing. Thanks to recipe by @madzaxmax (https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/241111-ink-mixing-experiment/) and using *almost* same proportions, I got this. This was my first attempt at mixing inks. And sorry for my handwriting!

Introduction and History. When it comes to handmade pens, there is always a "human vibe" attached to them that i cherish. There is so much history behind each pen you purchase. History; Because anything handmade requires art, requires skills and an eye for detail to be consistent in each product that is put out in the market. And those qualities do not come overnight. It requires years of experience. The companies that manufacture hand-crafted items are usually small-scale and the people who are involved in running such companies have to go through many ups and downs contantly to keep the company functioning. The struggle to survive in a world of speed and mass production is ever lasting for these small scale manufacturers. So, when you buy a pen or any hand-made product for that matter, not only do you support these small companies, but also, you give an ode to the skills and craftsmanship (which are usually passed down through generations in a family) of the makers of such products. The Gama "Forever" pen is one such product. Here is the description of the Gama brand I took from the ASApens website.http://asapens.in/eshop/fountain-pen/gama-ebonite-pens "Gama is the inhouse brand of Gem & Co, pen specialists since 1920's. Gem & Co is part and parcel of pen manufacturing heritage of Chennai, India. Started by Mr. M.C. Cunnan and Mr.Venkatrangam, the present owner Mr.Pratap Kumar is the 3rd generation in the family business house. Five decades, back they were sole importers of pen spares from Great Britain. Independent India saw the birth of brand Gama, Over years Gem & Co has remained true to their core business, i.e. Pen Specialists." Pen Review. I purchased the pen about a week ago from http://asapens.in/eshop and recieved it this morning. I usually buy my fountain pens from them. And no, they do not give me any commission or additional service to say that. It's just that the customer service of Mr. Subaramaniam (The owner of the e-shop) is impeccable. Usually the whole process of purchase is smooth, but if there is any problem, you can be sure that he will take care of it. Now, if you are still here and reading, and not bored to a yawn, let's start the pen review! The Gama "Forever" Fountain Pen. The review is divided into following sections. 1.) The packaging / presentation 2.) The material and finish. 3.) The Nib and the Section. 4.) The Filling Mechanism. 5.) Measurements and size comparision. 6.) Writing Sample 7.) CONCLUSION Note: This is a full ebonite bodied, medium sized hand-made fountain pen with a classic square design profile. I chose the "Shiny Black" finish, but it comes in 3 other finishes at the time of this review.(As listed on the ASApens site.) 1. Green-Black mottled. 2.Light brown-black mottled 3.Dark Blue-Black Rippled. The packaging / presentation: Apart from the usual Mail packing, the pen comes in a branded velvety pen pouch which i liked. It is a relatively thin pouch but the pen was in a plastic sleeve which was bubble wrapped and the whole pouch itself was bubble wrapped too. As for the usual daily carry or storage, i think the pouch can provide a decent amount of protection from scratches from normal rubbing against other items in a bag or a drawer. However, it may not stand against sharp or pointy objects. Overall i like this minimalistic yet elegant presentation. The material and finish. As i said, the whole pen is made of hard rubber/ebonite (except the metal fittings of course. Says captain obvious) and hand-made. The ebonite on this pen really feels and appears decent in quality and is quite thick. The polish however, I think could have been a little better. It is "shiny" no doubt, and maybe i am being nit picky, but a little more bling could not hurt anyone. I really like ebonite as a pen material because it is a semi-natural material unlike acrylic or "precious resin" (which is still plastic). It feels smooth and warm to touch. It is something you really have to touch to know how exactly it feels like. It is smooth yet offers a very nice grip. It kind of "absorbs" oil/sweat off of the fingers during long writing sessions. As for the finish, I will start with the cap of the pen because it has all the accents and fittings really. The barrel is all ebonite. I will come to that later. As for the cap the finishing is quite nice overall. However, as you will observe, the finial, clip ring and the actual cap body are not flush. Although the difference is really visible only on close observation, it is still there. On the other hand, the two metal bands on the lower part of the cap are nicely set in and even. Which I really like. Gives a classic and vintage aura to the pen. The finial can be unscrewed and clip can be removed easily for those who might like that kind of configuration. The Barrel in this particular finish is turned from a single piece of black ebonite. However, the other finishes of the same model have "dual-tone" setting. Which means, they have the finial and the end cap made of black ebonite, and the cap and pen body are of whichever available finish that you choose. The Brand logo is embossed in the barrel as you can see. If you were to observe closely, you will find that the logo is not eactly centred. On uncapping the pen (which takes quite some number of turns to be honest!) you find a very symmetrical design which is pleasing to the eye. The N.o. 10 sized nib balances the bulky pen body quite nicely. The Nib and the Section. The nib on this pen came as a pleasant surprise. I did expect it to be smooth, but for a fine nib it is really very smooth and the flow is excellent. Wet and generous. Just perfect. Though some may prefer a bit drier flow, personally i love the wet flow. I can say they chose their nib well. It is an IPG nib. And, unlike what many people say, they are really not that bad. In my experience, i found IPG nibs to be good writers more often than not. Design-wise, one can find minimal scroll design on the nib. There is a circle in the centre which is devoid of any design or markings, which i think should have contained the nib grade. The section The section is elegantly tapered and decently big. It provides a nice and comfortable grip. Although, those with smaller hands may find it too big for long writing sessions. The threads are not sharp. However, the there is a slight step where the threads ends on the section. So, people with higher grip might find it a little in the way during long periods of writing. But it is not a deal breaker. The Filling Mechanism. The pen is an eyedropper filler. Personally, i really like this method of filling as it is very very easy to clean, there are no mechanical parts that if damaged, may render the pen unusable and in need of immediate service because the pen body itself acts as the reservoir of ink. And also, it has a very significant amount of ink capacity (2.5 to 2.7 ml as measured by me.) As for the common eyedropper problems that people talk about, like burping and leakage, those issues are not that frequent even when the ink is low in the barrel and i feel it is just over hyped. Measurements and size comparision. (approx.) 1.) Capped length: 140mm 2.) Uncapped: 130-132 mm 3.) Posted : 170 mm (thats huge!) 4.) Section diameter: 14 mm tapers to 12mm 5.) Barrel diameter at the widest: 15mm Here is the size comparision: The Jinhao X450 (left) Gama Forever (middle) Sheaffer 100 (right). Uncapped comparision. Uncapped it is quite bigger than the other two. Writing Sample: I inked the pen up with Parker Quink Black. Here is how it writes. CONCLUSION: I like this pen a lot. The "flaws" that i pointed out are really small and by no means a deal breaker. This is a solidly built pen made by a company over 80 years old, from ebonite, which is a material whose History stretches over more than 100 years of pen maufacturing period the world over. With the craftsmanship and experience of the pen makers of Gama, a nib that provides a writing experience worthy of this rich fountain pen culture, a simple hassel-free filling mechanism. This pen is a great buy if you like that vintage and classic look. The pen has such simple design features that there is virtually nothing that can go wrong. No complicated filling mechanism, easy to clean, easy to maintain. I think the simplicity of this pen is its strongest point. It is a classic, timeless, understated design with a powerful prescence. When you take this pen out of your pocket, it says "I am not an attention grabber, but my persona does it for me anyway. I am like The Beatles or Kishore Kumar, my era never really ends."

ASA Pens from India seem to have launched a new product, the ASA Swan! Its a smart pocket sized white acrylic pen with a 3-in-1 filler system sporting a Schmidt M Nib available in two variants, a Flat ended option and a rounded one. Seems to be based on their ASA Genius line. Available currently at a limited period introductory price of $31 for International Customers and ₹ 950/- for Indian Customers, quite a good price for a 3-in-1 system pen with a German nib, IMHO. Check out the ASA Swan at http://asapens.in/eshop/asa-swan-3-in-1-filling-fully-handmade-acylic-fountain-pen-india Eagerly awaiting mine! Will post a few pics once i receive mine.

Before I start this review, let me say that I am unable to post pictures, but my Raja looks just the same as the one that ASA sells, so you aren't missing anything super different. Also, I'm no professional reviewer, just a hobbyist. There are relatively few reviews on this pen aside from Hari's excellent posts, so I'm hoping to help someone that is interested in Indian pens, particularly Gamas, decide whether or not to take the plunge (or, given the price, the dip). I have, for full transparency, posted a thread on this pen after a few days of use in the India forum, but I've used this pen extensively since then, so my perspective should be different. I hope you enjoy the review, and I welcome constructive criticism First Impressions I bought this pen from ASA Pens, which is based in Chennai, India. I didn't have any need to e-mail Mr. Subramaniam or anyone else, so I can't comment on that aspect of the customer service, but the buying process was painless and the pen showed up on my doorstep three weeks or so after I ordered it. Considering the shipping was free (and the pen was competitively priced to boot) and it had to literally make its way to the other side of the world- I'm in the U.S.- I consider that pretty good. If I recall correctly, the pen was packaged in a mylar bag (I might be wrong on that) with a LOT of bubble wrap. This thing could probably have been kicked across the room by a professional football kicker with no ill effects, though I wouldn't try it. The pen comes in a velvet pouch with the Gama logo in white ink. Along with my pen, I got a spare Indian single-tone nib and a disposable plastic pipette- nice additions, though I haven't used them. The pen seemed really large to me on first feel- I was used to a Safari- but it seemed well made and very nice. Feel in Hand This pen is large. The section is about 12 mm, the barrel is 13, the cap 14 (all according to the ASA site). It's 14.8cm long (ASA). However, due to the ebonite construction, it is very light and well balanced. The common saying that ebonite feels weightless holds true with this pen. It all but disappears in the hand. While the pen is very light, it is noticeably heavier when you fill it with ink- I'll explain why in a bit. Nib and Feed(s) This pen comes with a two-tone steel Indian made fine nib, which is the rough equivalent of a Western extra-fine in line width. Quality seems to be notoriously inconsistent with these, so keep that in mind when I comment about mine. Mine wrote smoothly enough, provided you were in the very narrow sweet spot. When you got out of that sweet spot, it got pretty scratchy pretty quick. I took a few moments with a fingernail buffer (bought for this purpose, not shared with anyone- that probably wouldn't go over well) and smoothed it out. Now it writes like a dream and the sweet spot issues are alleviated. The steel the nib is made of is very thin, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. In normal writing, it adds a little bit of pleasant springiness to cushion your hand, and it gets interesting when you put some pressure on it. This thing flexes better than the Ahab I tried from a buddy. Mind you, it's NOT a flex nib. It's not marketed as one, nor is it marketed as a semi-flex, so flex at your own risk. BUT... this thing goes from extra fine to a solid medium, maybe even a broad (I usually stick to fines so I have no broad experience) and can resume its extra fine state well enough. I have bent the nib enough that it contacted the inside of the cap, but it was easily fixable and I was pushing the nib farther than I had pushed it before or since. It isn't going to even keep up with your vintage semi-flexes, but there's definitely enough flexibility to add some nice expression to your writing with a little care. I replaced the stock feed with a Sheaffer No Nonsense feed from a Viewpoint. There was nothing wrong with the stock feed- it kept up well and flowed great- I just wanted something to keep my papers clean when the pen got low- the Viewpoint feed can buffer the ink that would have otherwise been burped onto the page quite well. Comfort The pen is superbly balanced and light. With a smooth nib, I've written for long stretches with no issues. If you like larger sections, you won't have an issue. Posting makes the pen back heavy, too long and scratches the barrel. Quality When you think about the quality, keep the price in mind. This isn't a Pelikan. It isn't a Montblanc. It's got nothing on Nakaya. But for a $25 pen, it's really quite impressive. The machining is well done and consistent. The threads, while single start on both the section and for the cap, are well machined, mesh smoothly (with a dab of silicone grease) and are tight. The finish is nicely done. The polished ends and section are nice and shiny. There is one small polished streak where there isn't supposed to be from where the clip ball rubbed during installation and one of the trim rings is a bit wonky. There was a bit of plating wear on the ball of the clip. Other than that, no issues whatsoever. Miscellaneous The ink capacity on this thing is HUGE. I measured about 4 mL last time I checked. I write a LOT and this thing lasts me two and a half weeks consistently between fillings- I do write it dry, however. Don't put an ink that you don't love in this pen. It'll be there a while. That's why there's a noticeable difference in weight between this pen empty and full- there's a ton of ink in there. This pen takes #6 nibs, should you choose to swap the stock one with another from a different maker. The clip is nice and stiff but not too bad- it can still be used easily. I hope you all liked the review. Sorry for the long windedness of it all... hopefully I made up for the lack of pictures Thanks for reading. TL;DR- Great pen for the price. Some quirks and issues, but worth a shot.

Hello dear FPNers!, Today I received my much awaited Oliver F27 Fountain Pen in the post from our trustworthy Mr. Subramaniam of ASApens.in. I had requested the Blue acrylic variant of the pen because i love the colour. It was not listed on the site but dear Mr. subramaniam arranged it for me and shipped it. Now, although our fellow FPN member, Mr Mohit has excellently reviewed the pen; I am reviewing it because mine is a different colour and I just felt like sharing.Okay, so when i opened the package, i just stared at the pen in awe...for a while! And here's why... The acrylic on this pen is Just so "fluid" and with all that shimmer, i just felt like i am holding a frozen part of the sky in my hand! Hence the title. And yes that's geeky CONSTRUCTION is bold and sturdy but on the lighter side which makes writing a pleasure for long durations. And trust me, you would want to keep on writing with this pen! Look at all that acrylic (However, the pictures don't do justice to the beauty of the pen as usual.) The Cap is solid and clicks satisfactorily and securely in place.The Clip has just the right amount of tension to fit properly in a pocket. The finial. The Section has just enough girth for me to hold comfortably. P.S. The black line on the cap in this image is an editing mistake and is not present on the pen itself. The NIB is just.... I like broader nibs and the Schmidt nib unit on this pen is just perfect! It is so smooth and wet! That's Chelpark turquoise on the nib bdw in case you were wondering The pen comes with an option to add a Schmidt converter with your purchase on ASApens.in but i did not buy it because it was a little steep for me. And a standard international converter fitted just well in my pen. The writing sample. (My instagram edit.) Conclusion. I give it a 10/10! Yes, it is that good for the price! The acrylic is surreal, the writing; Superb. It is well balanced in hand, well constructed, the filling system is well, standard but also convenient. I cannot ask for more of the pen. If you are considering buying it, the only deal breaker for some might me the nib width as it is only available in Medium size. But other than that, its a steal! As per Mr. subramaniam, the pen company is going to cease producing the pen and it will not be restocked again. So grab one if you want to!

Hi everyone, This is my first post to fpn. I found this in some old stuff from my mother's school days. Have any of you seen this before? I think the cap has Clove written on it and the nib has a Gothic c and beneath that platinum written on it. It's pretty roughed up.