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  1. Indian Fountain Pen market has lately seen a lot of new entrants and among them, Lotus Pens is one of them. They initially made a lot of prototypes before actually taking a plunge in the market. Lotus Pens is based out of Mumbai and they make custom pens and handpainted pens also. They caught my eye with the simple looking elegant pen, Shikhar (seems to be inspired by Sailor KOP). And I approached them for buying one of the Shikhar’s as it comes in various ebonite options. Ebonite they use is Japanese Nikko ebonite. So today I am showing the glimpse of the new pen that arrived a few days back. comes in a faux Leather cover box which is protected by the cardboard sleeve the pen comes with a velvet sleeve Shout out to Tarun Durga for letting me write with his Lotus Shikhar which actually spurred me to get this beauty. Below are the few more images of the pen and my pen comes with black JoWo Broad nib to match with the black coloured clip: Shikhar in navy blue coloured Nikko ebonite The review will be coming soon after I have had enough to say and write about this pen.
  2. visvamitra

    Glare Olive Brown Ink

    I enjoy discovering new things and hubting for hidden treasures. That's why I'm always eager to try new ink brands. Glare is an indian fountain pen and ink manufacturer. They offer a line of fifteen inks sold in plastic 60 ml bottles. As indian post office makes sending inks difficult it's not that east to try them outside India. Glare inks on the other hand can be easily ordered through ebay. Mine bottle was sent in styrofoam and described as "rubber part" I used this ink for some time and I'm ready to share plenty of scans and my thoughts on it. Packaging Ink comes in cardboard box. The label is mainly black and red and rather nice. What I find interesting is the fact that there's MSRP of the ink printed on the box (275 rupees). I haven't seen it on other inks. The bottle is made of plastic and is quite functional. Color of the lid doesn't harmonize with the color of the ink. What's pretty cool and definitely useful is the use of plastic Inner cap to stop leakage and spills. Similarly to Stipula inner lid it's quite hard to open it without getting ink on your fingers. All in all I think the packaging is rather functional but somewhat aesthetically challenged. Ink Olive Brown is in the color range that's simply mine. I like most of the inks that are somewhere between brown and green or yellow. The hue of this one is very nice but it needs wet pen to make you appreciate it. The flow is very good and consistent. I'm usually interested to see if the ink starts after I leave the pen uncapped for a while and Olive Brown starts even after two minutes (a try made with Lamy Safari). It didn't cause any feathering or bleedthrough even on cheap copy paper. That's good. It doesn't offer any useful water resistance but, on the other hand, if you accidentally spill water on the text it shouldn't blur instantly. The thing that could be much better is lubrication - it's nowhere near Sailor inks. On most papers and in wet pens you won't feel a discomfort however on bad quality or "harsh" paper you may feel too much feedback. Additionally this ink is rather subdued and subtle, the saturation is medium, especially if youe every day choice is dryish fine nib. In wider nibs the inks has enough saturation to make you reread notes comfortably in both ambient and sun light. After trying this one I'm not in awe but I like it, especially in Perun stub nib. I will be interested in trying other colors in the future. Drops of ink on kitchen towel Software ID Color range Tomoe River, Lamy Al-Star, medium nib Leuchtturm 1917, Perun, stub 1,1 Oxford paper, Lamy Al-Star, medium nib Cheap copy paper, Perun, stub 1,1 Lamy Al-Star, medium nib Maruman, Lamy Al-Star, medium nib + last two lines Perun with 1,1 stub
  3. I recently acquired an antique ink tablet made in India. As this is the first time I have laid my eyes on it, I would like to ask you how to properly use it. I know I have to add it in water but how much water do I use? Also,could it pose any threat to the pen if I use it?
  4. mehandiratta

    Daytone Olive Brown

    Daytone Olive Brown I received few Ink bottles from one of my friend in Indore which are Daytone Inks, manufactured by Daylight industries. They are into ink manufacturing since 1956. More information can be found about the company here: Daytone Webpage Apart from Inks, they manufacture a lot of other stationary items. But this review is about one of the fountain pens inks that they manufacture. The inks that they manufacture ( 15 Nos. – increased from 8 Nos.) are as follows: Blue-Black Emerald Green Brilliant Red Crimson Turquoise Blue Deep Black Royal Blue Bright Violet Havana Brown Mauve Dark Grey Dark Brown Olive Brown Rose Red Yellow Ochre Also, I would like to add that I got these inks from my friend Daman who was kind enough to lend me the additional 7 colors for review. This review is about OLIVE BROWN ink from Daytone. These come in 60 ml plastic bottles and is priced at Rs. 20 Each (Indian Rupees). I hate their ink bottles it is most of the times next to impossible to insert the pen and fill ink in the pen. I have seen that on certain online marketplaces like Amazon, they are selling 1000 ml plastic bottles too. The properties of the ink are similar to Havana Brown though the color is different. The color is exactly like Greenish Brown Olives. To me, it is quite an unusual color it writes brown when wet and dries towards the green olive color. I love the color of the ink but it ain’t that saturated and feels faded. Also, I found out that the ink is more fluidic as in more watery. INK SPLASH Daytone Olive Brown – Ink Splash on JK Cedar 100 gsm The color is exactly like green olives which are like a greenish brown color and it is more towards brown where there is ink pooling. INK DROPS IN WATER Daytone Olive Brown – Ink when dropped in Water Daytone Olive Brown – Color of Water after dropping and stirring ink COLOR MATCH Daytone Olive Brown – Color Range INK SWABS Daytone Olive Brown – Ink swabs with cotton ear buds Daytone Olive Brown – Ink Swab (From top to bottom – 3 swabs, 2 swabs, and 1 swab) WRITING SAMPLES Daytone Olive Brown – Writing Sample on JK Cedar 100 gsm The ink Performs best in Bold and wet medium nibs and looks faded in stub and fine nibs. I believe wetter stub nibs will suit this ink better. Ink also subtle shading. BLOW-UP WRITING SAMPLES Daytone Olive Brown – Blow Up writing Sample – 1 Daytone Olive Brown – Blow Up writing Sample – 2 WATERPROOF TEST Daytone Olive Brown – Waterproof Test (Drip Test on Left and Rub Test on Right) Ink is not at all waterproof or resistant almost everything gets washed out but yes there are still some lines visible. It also fades away if continuously exposed to sunlight for a longer duration. COMPARISON WITH SIMILAR COLORS Daytone Olive Brown vs Daytone Havana Brown vs Sheaffer Skrip Brown vs Waterman Absolute Brown From above samples, it is evident that the green is more towards the green side like green bottled olives which have certain brown tinge. CONCLUSION The color is beautiful. It has no feathering (barring the closeup with medium nib) and has lovely flow. Lubrication is okay. There is not much shading which is visible. Ink drying times are around 12 seconds. Following are the summation of ink properties: Feathering: NoSheen: NoShading: LittleLubrication: ModerateFlow: Very GoodWater Resistance: BadDrying Times: Very GoodNib Creep: NoClogging: NoneOdor: None The ink can be bought from Amazon and Snapdeal. One of the links is given below. LINK 1: AMAZON My other ink reviews can be checked here: link
  5. Dear fellow FP users After successful group buys of BAMBOO MODEL & RANGA MODEL 4C & Model 3 & Model 5 & Zeal & Model 8 & BAMBOO MODEL (ROUND 2) & DESIGNER. This is a group buy effort for - RANGA MODEL 3 and RANGA MODEL 3-C. This is the second time for Model 3 and the first time for Model 3-C. The Group Buy will be available until Dec 25, 2016, i.e. until Christmas only. Model 3 is with Flat top & Bottom (as per the image at top) whereas Model 3C is with Rounded Top and Bottom (as per the image below). Pen is approx 152 mm in length and Barrel Dia is 14 mm and Cap Dia is 16mm. Available Colours are as follows: A. SpecialRegular Ebonite Colours (SE Series) Solid Forest GreenForest Green - Black RippleForest Green - Honey RippleForest Green - Khaki RippleForest Green - Mustard Yellow RippleForest Green - Teal Blue RippleTeal Blue - Black RippleTeal Blue - Khaki RippleMustard Yellow - Black RippleKhaki - Black RippleSolid Cherry RedRose Red - Black RippleRose Red - Mauve RippleRose Red - Blue RippleRose Red - Forest Green RippleRose Red - Bottle Green RippleRose Red - Mustard Yellow RippleBrick Red - Khaki RippleBrick Red - Black RippleTeal Blue - Orange Ripple B. Regular Colours (RE Series) Ref 1 : Link Ref 2 : Link Solid Black MatteBrown RippleOlive RippleGreen RippleMottled BrownMottled GreenMottled Olive Brown C. Premium Ebonite Colours (PE Series) Solid BlueBlack Yellow SwirlBlue Pink SwirlSolid Pale GreenWhite Blue SwirlPale Pink Black SwirlGreen Yellow SwirlSolid PinkBlue Green Orange SwirlSolid Orange Prices are as follows: RANGA Model 3 & 3C (ED Version)REGULAR or SPECIAL EBONITE : US $28PREMIUM EBONITE : US $40RANGA Model 3 & 3C (CC Mechanism)REGULAR or SPECIAL EBONITE : US $55REGULAR or SPECIAL EBONITE without nib threaded to take JoWo/Schmidt : US $41PREMIUM EBONITE : US $70PREMIUM EBONITE without nib but threaded to take JoWo/Schmidt : US $56 Finish - Polished or Matte (Bakul) Clip Option - Clip-less or Gold Clip or Silver Clip Nib Option : For EyedropperWality F Gold Coloured (included in price)Bock (With Conklin imprinted) M or B is available (extra @ 8 USD)Ambitious Nib 35 mm - Fine Nib - Dual Tone ( extra @ 3 USD)Kanwrite Nib 35 mm Flex - Chrome Tone ( extra @ 5 USD) Nib Option : For C/C mechanism (with Schmidt K5 Converter)#6 Nib Options (included in price) Fine Nib - Gold ToneMedium Nib - Gold ToneBroad Nib - Gold ToneFine Nib - Chrome ToneMedium Nib - Chrome ToneBroad Nib - Chrome ToneNo Nib - Threaded for Schmidt #6 No Nib - Threaded for JoWo #6 Shipping : Via Registered Post which is included in Price and takes 2 -4 Weeks.Making Time: 4 Weeks after payment In order to participate in the group buy just fill the Google Form (Link Below) and Reply in the thread with "Form Submitted". Link : https://goo.gl/forms/MmEqeNToJhVMSf0q1 Edit: now giving option for pen without Nib but threaded for Bock #6 Nib unit
  6. Ranga Pen Company (Ranga Handmade Pens) founded by MS Pandurangan in 1970 in Thiruvallur has been producing quality fountain pens, rollerball pens, and ball pens. They use ebonite, acrylic, and also used to make pens from cellulose nitrate in past. There were recently a lot of group buys on Fountain Pen Network where new ebonite rods were introduced which I took an opportunity to photograph. Available Colours are as follows: New Regular Ebonite Colours (SE Series) Solid Forest Green Forest Green - Black Ripple Forest Green - Honey Ripple Forest Green - Khaki Ripple Forest Green - Mustard Yellow Ripple Forest Green - Teal Blue Ripple Teal Blue - Black Ripple Teal Blue - Khaki Ripple Mustard Yellow - Black Ripple Khaki - Black Ripple Solid Cherry Red Rose Red - Black Ripple Rose Red - Mauve Ripple Rose Red - Blue Ripple Rose Red - Forest Green Ripple Rose Red - Bottle Green Ripple Rose Red - Mustard Yellow Ripple Brick Red - Khaki Ripple Brick Red - Black Ripple Teal Blue - Orange Ripple New Regular Ebonite Rods – Top View New Regular Ebonite Rods – Lateral View Following are the youtube video links: Hope this post helps you in making an informed decision while purchasing fountain pens from Ranga Pen Company.
  7. ASA TranNauka - JoWo 1.1 Nib The review is simultaneously posted on my blog here : Link The pen I am about to review has sold in huge nos. and probably one of the best-selling pen of ASA. There was a time when I was after Mr. Subramaniam to make a demonstrator pen with screw in nib units from JoWo/Schmidt but somehow he was not able to procure the good material which could withstand the threading to be done for those units and then we gave up. Then one fine day he informed me that he had procured a new material and will be launching an already successful Nauka in the demonstrator version (which was named TransNauka) and I was too excited for the pen and I told Mr. Subramaniam it would sell in huge nos. and therefore I convinced him that we should do a group buy for the same on FPN (TransNauka Group Buy) and believe me, it was immensely successful. ASA TranNauka – In love with Rains The group buy was so successful that he had to stop taking orders on his website for a fortnight even after the Group Buy was closed because of his limited production capability. I have already reviewed a few pens from ASA as below: ASA Rainbow : LINK ASA Viraat : LINK (Absolutely love this fat pen) ASA Spear : LINK ASA Porus : LINK ASA Patriot : LINK ASA I-Can : LINK ASA Galactic : LINK It’s been three months since I have got this TransNauka and further below is my effort to do a detailed review of the pen. Design : 4.5/05 There is an old age saying: “Beauty lies in the eye of beholder” And to my eyes, this pen is the just pure aesthetic pleasure. It’s a beauty. TransNauka inspires awe when it is inked and I believe it one-ups the already existing Nauka. It’s simple, classic, sublime and is on the lines of Bauhaus Design movement which is a unification of art, craft, and technology. The design of Nauka was inspired by famousMORA STYLOS OLDWIN CLASSIC and in fact, one of the fellow fountain pen connoisseur Prithwijit was the force behind the development of Nauka. ASA TransNauka – Uncapped The pen without cap looks like it’s just one piece as the grip section merges with the barrel in such a form that there is no step down which is generally prevalent in many pens. The pen gradually tapers towards the bottom to an almost pointed end. Similarly, the pen tapers towards the grip section till it meets the threads at the top which holds the cap. ASA TransNauka – Comparative pic when pen uncapped and capped The pen comes only in the brushed matte finish and personally prefer the brushed version better than the polished version as the polished version tends to develop micro abrasions and smudges and also looses shine over the period of time. The cap of the pen unlike the bottom of the barrel is not torpedoed shape at the top rather it is like a hemispherical dome. The pen I bought comes with chrome finish ball-end clip and it also comes sans the clip. The cap is almost 3/4th the size of pen making it a very large pen. ASA TransNauka – Cap and Barrel ASA TransNauka – Cap is 3/4th of Pen when uncapped I found the pen very minimalist with no branding. One thing I believe can be improved is to reduce the gap between the cap finial and nib unit when the pen is closed. The pen is beautiful and is bang for the buck at the price and yeah this beauty is handmade. Built & Construction : 04/05 One look at the pen and you won’t actually believe that this pen completely hand-turned. It’s almost perfectly shaped and finished from the exterior. ASA TransNauka – Lovely Finish One thing I found that as much as the exterior is well finished and shaped, the interior of the barrel was not paid much attention. There are certain undulations in interior (1 or 2 places) of the barrel which result in the formation of O-rings like shape inside the barrel with ink. I received two pens, matte brushed finish and the clear polished one. The clear polished one was all over the places with regards to finish and thus it was not launched officially. This brushed finish is superb barring one area with regards to barrel interior area. The brushed finish is also better because of the fact that it hides the lathe marks and also is not smudge-prone. The quality of material used is quite good but is brittle in nature and thus one has to be careful with regards to handling (against falls). The acrylic used is the hard non-modified PMMA and apt thickness of the material are used in pen and is quite better compared to ones used in TWSBI. ASA TransNauka – Cap View showing material thickness and finish ASA TransNauka – Material thickness in Barrel and Grip Section The pen is quality finished one which needs to be handled carefully and if proper care is taken it will last you ages. I love my TranNauka but I care for every pen that I own. If you are the one who keeps throwing his/her pen here and there then I suggest you go for the ebonite version. Balance & Size : 04/05 The cap of the pen doesn’t post securely and that’s because of the design. But.. But… But… the pen is so big even uncapped @ 135 mm that there is no need for posting. The pen is little heavy towards the nib and I believe this could have been countered by providing solid crystal end at bottom of barrel. Nevertheless, this was no issue for me, it’s a minute difference and some of you won’t even notice. ASA TransNauka – Writing with it – Unposted and Posted Initially, I had trouble adapting to the grip of the pen because of gradual slope of grip section from barrel to top of nib unit but now that I am using the pen since 3 months I have gotten used to it. The grip might also be fat for some because of the design and might not be so good for people with small hands. Now for me, it was okay because I prefer big pens with good girth. The pen is big yet light in weight but one thing I noticed is that when uncapped it is lighter than Ranga Bamboo Demonstrator but almost 4 gms heavier when capped and both are equal in length when uncapped but when capped the TransNauka is larger of the two. ASA TransNauka – Weight – Capped and Uncapped Few specification of the pen are as follows: Length of pen (closed) – 160 mmLength of pen (open and unposted) – 135 mm (including nib)Length of pen (open and posted) – 176 mmLength of Cap – 78 mmMaximum Dia of Cap – 21 mmMaximum Dia of Barrel – 14 mmDia of Barrel ( Near Barrel Bottom) – 8 mmMaximum Dia of Grip Section – 13.5 mmMinimum Dia of Grip Section – 11 mmWeight of Pen with Cap – 27.9 gms (inked)Weight of Pen without Cap – 17.13 gms (inked) Below are the pictures of the pen in comparison with others : ASA TransNauka vs Pilot Custom 823 vs ASA Patriot vs Lamy Safari – Capped ASA TransNauka vs Pilot Custom 823 vs ASA Patriot vs Lamy Safari – Uncapped As clear from above pics its a bit fat compared to others. Nib : 3.5/05 The pen can be bought in a variety of #6 sized nib options from JoWo or Schmidt and in various point widths. The one I have here is JoWo Steel 1.1 Stub nib in Black Oxide finish. ASA TranNauka - Nib Shot in Rain The nib is a screw in nib unit and easily replaceable. The nib that I got was a lemon and was scratchy out of the box. I had to tune it and now it performs the way I want. ASA TransNauka – JoW0 1.1 Nib in Black Oxide Finish ASA Nauka vs Pilot Custom 823 vs ASA Patriot vs Lamy Safari – Nib Comparison Advice to people if you are buying the pen from ASA do avail the option of pen/nib testing this might delay the pen delivery but pen and nib will be checked for writing before dispatch and yeah there are no extra charges for that. Ink Filling Mechanism: 05/05 It can take international long or shot cartridges, international converter and can be used as an ED also. The pen looks best when eye dropper-ed and I applied silicone grease to the threads before using it as ED pen. ASA TransNauka – Using as an ED Pen Ink capacity as an eye dropper is 4 ml and will vary with every pen as it is handmade one. Below are the images of handwritten review of the pen sample writing: ASA TransNauka – Handwritten Review – Page 1 ASA TransNauka – Handwritten Review – Page 2 ASA TransNauka – Handwritten Review – Page 3 ASA TransNauka – Handwritten Review – Page 4 Conclusion : 21/25 The pen was bought at group buy price of Rs. 2200 and it was a steal at that price. And now the prices have increased yet it is a value for money option. Beautiful pen but I won’t recommend this to people with small hands. What I Like: Beautiful Design Handmade Quality Finish- Exterior Good Balance and Size Good Ink Capacity Well PricedWhat I don’t Like: Internal Barrel Finish Poor OTB Nib How to Buy: The pen was bought via group buy on FPN and there will be another group buy in near future for the same. Simultaneously who don’t like waiting for group buys can buy directly from ASA website : LINK. And the last I checked it's available on pre-order only with waiting for 4 weeks. For more reviews you can check my blog here : LINK
  8. RANGA DEMONSTRATOR BAMBOO - Regular size The review is simultaneously posted at my blog here : Link Ranga Handmade Pens is a brainchild of M.S. Pandurangan who himself is a master pen turner and all pens and pencils are made by him only. His son M.P. Kandan is doing great deeds by taking care of the business part of Ranga Handmade Pens. I must add that both him and his father are very humble and polite. I have organised few group buys on Fountain Pen Network for Ranga Pens and every-time the dealing with him have been very professional. He has never lapsed on the dates as far as his commitment and deliverables are concerned. But yes thats what my experience has been till date and I hope he continues do to the same. Ranga Pens make use of ebonite and acrylic for pens and in-fact they are the first and one amongst two pen makers in India to offer Premium Ebonite. They have a dedicated eBay store where they sell not just Ranga Pens but also pens from other manufacturers from India like Wality, Oliver, Fellowship etc. which are all machine turned. The pens from Ranga are also stocked by Teri of Peyton Street Pens in USA with also some exclusive models. The group buys on FPN have helped in acquiring lot of Ranga Pens. They have more than 10 models in their line-up : Model 4C Bamboo Model 3 Model 4CS Model 5 Model 6 Model 8 Model 2c Model 2d Zeal And I have already reviews one of the model which is Model 4C but this review is about one of the unique model in their line-up which is Bamboo. Ranga Bamboo – Doing Rain Dance Ranga Bamboo – Braving the Rain Design : 05/05 The pen design resembles the natural bamboo with forged joints acting as nodes and parts between the two nodes acting as inter-nodes. The pen in review is the clip-less demonstrator in brushed version with polished finials. Natural Bamboo Ranga Bamboo – In Demonstrator version Ranga Bamboo – Asymmetrical inter-nodes provides it Natural character All in all there are 5 nodes with smaller inter-nodes at cap and to me that provides it natural character. The finials, both top and bottom, are polished and are in conical dome shape. Ranga Bamboo – Polished Conical Dome Shaped Finials Once thing to be noticed is that the cap finial is smaller in length as compared to the barrel finial and the reason for that is to provide balance to the pen when writing so that it does not become top heavy. Ranga Bamboo – Different Length of finials with Barrel one being longer The inter-nodes in the cap are smaller than what is on the barrels in length. The cap also has breather hole and this version is clip-less so it looks like one bamboo rod albeit in a different material. Ranga Bamboo – Clip-less with breather hole Ranga Bamboo Cap – Inner nib look and feel when pen is capped The cap closes to form a node and it actually flushes with barrel as can be seen from picture above. There is minute drop between section and barrel as the cap flares at bottom where it meets the barrel. The grip section is polished and not in matte finish. There is no branding anywhere on this pen. Below are the images of the pen showing pen capped and uncapped. Ranga Bamboo – Capped Ranga Bamboo – Uncapped It is superbly crafted pen with a very unique bamboo style pen like no other. And I believe the pen is worth the price it commands. The pen is also available in different ebonite and acrylic materials which must be around 30 plus in nos. So one has lot of options to get the pen in his particular colour and finish liking. Kudos to Ranga for the superb design. Built & Construction : 04/05 The pen has matte finish which is executed very well and transition from matte finish to polished finials is sublime though they are not perfect but its close. Ranga Bamboo – Matte Finish barrel to Polished Finials Earlier I thought that the finials could be made symmetrical in length but part of the reason to do that was to keep the pen balanced while writing without increasing the length of cap. But then I thought otherwise, this asymmetry is what gives it natural character. The cap opens in 4 turns and threads are very well crafted and are not at all sharp. The grip section as mentioned is also very well polished. Also I must add that the polished end of the finials are highly polished and very neat without any lathe marks visible. Ranga Bamboo – Polished Section with neat threads I applied silicon grease on the nib unit which you can see from the image above as I eyedropper-ed the pen. The finish, the grooves, the material quality are all top notch. However one thing i want to mention is the the material thickness decreases at the cap lip and must be handled very well as there is no band to protect any kind of crack. This is a handmade pen completely and is a “WOW” product at this price point. Balance & Size : 4.5/05 The cap posts but only just and that too not very securely. I think it is not required as it makes the absurdly large and uncomfortable also the pen itself is very long at 135 mm when uncapped. The pen is very well balanced with just a little more weight in front end of a nib unit. Ranga Bamboo – Writing with Cap Unposted Ranga Bamboo – Writing with Cap Posted The pen is light in weight with no metal parts used anywhere on the pen. Images below show the weight of pen with cap and without cap : Ranga Bamboo – Weight of Pen (inked) with Cap Ranga Bamboo – Weight of Pen (inked) without Cap Few specification of the pen are as follows: Length of pen (closed) – 145 mmLength of pen (open and unposted) – 135 mm (including nib)Length of Grip Section – 34 mmMaximum Dia of Cap – 15 mmMaximum Dia of Barrel – 15 mmMinimum Dia of Barrel Section – 12.5 mmMaximum Dia of Grip Section – 11 mmMinimum Dia of Grip Section – 10 mmWeight of Pen with Cap – 24 gms (inked)Weight of Pen without Cap – 18.75 gms (inked) Below pictures show the comparison of pen with other pens: Pen Comparison – Capped (Top View) : Pilot 78G vs Lamy Safari vs Ranga Bamboo Pen Comparison – Uncapped and Posted (Top View) : Pilot 78G vs Lamy Safari vs Ranga Bamboo Pen Comparison – Capped (Lateral View) : Pilot 78G vs Lamy Safari vs Ranga Bamboo Pen Comparison – Uncapped & Posted (Lateral View) : Pilot 78G vs Lamy Safari vs Ranga Bamboo One thing of worthy mention here is that the grip section long and comfortable and makes this pen as gem of a writer for long writing sessions. Nib : 05/05 The pen comes with variety of #6 size nib options like JoWo EF, F, M , B, 1.1, & 1.5 and Schmidt F, M, & B for CC mechanism which is a threaded screw in one and also can be used as an eyedropper too and other nib options are Ambitious and Bock (conklin imprinted) but these are only for eye dropper version of pens. The nib that I took was the dual tone Bold point JoWo nib which is screw in nib unit with plastic high finned nib and it performed flawless out of the box with welcome feedback. It is a juicy firm nib and writes wet. Ranga Bamboo – JoWo Nib – Bold Point Ranga Bamboo – Nib with Rain droplets I sometimes wonder why I need gold nib when this nib performs so well. Ink Filling Mechanism: 05/05 The ink is filled via converter and cartridge can be also used. But real fun lies in using this pen as a eyedropper and seeing the ink sloshing inside. Ranga Bamboo – Used as eyedropper Ink capacity around 4ml if used as an eyedropper. The converter that comes with pen is Schmidt K5 and has capacity of 0.6 ml. One thing to be noted is that before you use it as an eye dropper do apply silicone grease on threads of barrel and also on nib unit threads. Below is the handwritten sample and review of the pen : Ranga Bamboo – Handwritten Review – Page 01 Ranga Bamboo – Handwritten Review – Page 02 Ranga Bamboo – Handwritten Review – Page 03 Ranga Bamboo – Handwritten Review – Page 04 Conclusion : 23.5/25 I pen is available in group buy at FPN for US$85 which is a steal considering it is handmade pen and it is a unique design. The pen is more of an artefact from India and is recommended to users who want something more from a pen. What I Like: Unique Design Handmade Quality Finish Good Balance and Size Good Ink Capacity Nib Options Material OptionsWhat I don’t Like: Cap Material is thin at Lip Little expensive HOW TO BUYThe pen can be bought via occasional group buys organised at group buy and at the moment when I am writing this review the Group Buy is Active. LINK Pen can also be bought from following places : E-Bay : LINKAmazon : LINKPeyton Street Pens : LINKE-Mail : mpkandan@yahoo.co.in For more reviews you can check my blog here : LINK
  9. ANOKHI'S - BAHI KHATA NOTEBOOK The review is simultaneously posted at my blog here : LINK Well there are someday when you are shopping with your wife with not so much interest. Going from one store to another and yet she has not been able to find her perfect match for clothing. And you are dragged like anything and there is nothing which interests you and all you keep thinking in mind is : “I wish it was a stationary shop”. Certain such instance almost happened when I was moving from one Retail store to another but hey I was not bored this time. The store that we went to was “ANOKHI“to shop for traditional Indian ethnic wear. It had notebooks made out of traditional block printed cloth cover and hand sewn. I was happy but not my wife as she did not like anything to her liking there that day. Anokhi Bahi Khata Notebook – So this is what I came out with ANOKHI’s origins can be traced to Jaipur and is traditional craft based Apparel brand. Jaipur is famous for many crafts among which two famous crafts are Blue Pottery and Hand Block Printing. The brand has essentially revived the traditional hand block printing craft and they use vegetable dyes only. The first Anokhi store was opened in 1984 and have grown manifolds with not just stores in India but also stores in USA and also many distributors in Europe. Hand Block Printing So this review is about the Notebook from Anokhi which they call “Bahi-Khata” which actually means Ledger – Book in Hindi Language. DESIGN & BUILD : Here it is all about Design. The notebook is beautifully designed has a sewn cloth cover over a paper board. First the cloth is pasted and then sewn for giving it strength. Anokhi Bahi Khata Notebook – Front Cover The notebook comes with different cloth covers and patterns and has string which makes the perfect case for Journal as sometimes lot of loose paper are kept inside notebook and string takes care of that when you close it. This notebook is medium size which is equal to B5 size. Though I also saw lot of other smaller sizes also. Anokhi Bahi Khata Notebook – Rear Cover The front and rear cover are made of same cloth and finishing is quite nice apart from the certain niggles at the centre sewn part inside. Anokhi Bahi Khata Notebook – Paper Torn at Joint. I will probably paste a cloth here also. Anokhi Bahi Khata Notebook – Corner Detail – Very Neat Anokhi Bahi Khata Notebook – String Sew and and same string extends for wrapping around Anokhi Bahi Khata Notebook – Bottom View I picked this from store and it was all in display and thus there was no packing. Thus nothing much to say here. PERFORMANCE / QUALITY : Now the real part. As I have mentioned earlier and I believe most of us all know that the quality of paper as far as using with fountain pen is concerned is dependent on lot of parameters like ink resistance, shading, sheen, feathering, bleed-through, paper colour, smoothness or texture and few others. Few properties are also dependent with ink properties like shading and sheen. There is a bright white thick paper when you open the notebook with Lord Ganesha imprinted. Anokhi Bahi Khata Notebook – First Page The writing paper inside is not super white, and is just leaning a little towards grey. There is no mention of quality of paper so I have no Idea of gsm of the paper. Anokhi Bahi Khata Notebook – Writing Paper leaning towards grey colour The paper is quite smooth and is has no texture. Love the feeling when pen touches the paper it is quite smooth. The paper is lined and also comes in blank page format. Really love the feel of those top two green line at top as a Header. All pens and inks performed really well, whether be it Italic nib or fine point nib. Anokhi Bahi Khata Notebook – Writing on it – Front side Anokhi Bahi Khata Notebook – Writing on it – Rear side Anokhi Bahi Khata Notebook – Writing on it – Close Up – 1 Anokhi Bahi Khata Notebook – Writing on it – Close Up 2 Anokhi Bahi Khata Notebook – Writing on it – Close Up – Rear Side As visible from above images it is quite clear that the paper has performed surprisingly really well. There is no feathering and bleed-through and even some inks like Diamine Majestic and Iroshizuku Yama Budo showed Sheen which my camera was not able to capture. It has performed really really well. I though still feel the sewing and punching of notebook could be improved. Performance summary is as follows: Ink Resistance : HighPaper Texture : SmoothFeathering : NoneBleed-through : NoneShading : HighSheen : Medium VALUE : The B5 – Medium Size notebook with 100 pages was bought by me at MRP of Rs. 150 ( US $ 2.22 at today’s exchange rate of 1 USD = Rs. 67.47). There is no mention of paper quality or no. of pages, though there are 100 leaves after my count. Anokhi Bahi Khata Notebook – No mention of Paper Quality and Nos. Though date and place of manufacturing are clearly mentioned. CONCLUSION : I was on lookout for the Journal for a long time and this has fulfilled all my desires. Both sides of paper can be used for writing. And all the inks and pens have performed flawlessly. I wish the paper could have been a bit brighter though and the quality of thread stitching can be improved but @Rs. 150 I should not be complaining much. I will recommend this to all Journal lovers to at-least try one. Trust me you wont be disappointed with the paper. Oh by the way it is not available online, only in their Retail stores.
  10. Dear All After successful group buys of BAMBOO MODEL & RANGA MODEL 4C & Model 3 & Model 5 & Zeal & Model 8. This is a second round of group buy effort for the Ranga Bamboo Model for year 2016. This is the best opportunity to get Ranga Bamboo at discounted price in 2016. This Group buy will be available till 07th August 2016. The manufacturer has been kind enough to give best possible prices. Regular Size - Barrel has 16 mm dia & Length is 5.75 inches when capped Giant Size - Barrel has 17 mm to 18.75 mm (depends on ebonite rod colour) dia & Length is 7 inches when capped Details of the pen in 4 options are as below: RANGA BAMBOO REGULAR (ED Version) REGULAR EBONITE : US $45PREMIUM EBONITE : US $60DEMONSTRATOR : US $50RANGA BAMBOO REGULAR (3-in-1 Filling Mechanism) REGULAR EBONITE : US $80PREMIUM EBONITE : US $90DEMONSTRATOR : US $85RANGA BAMBOO GIANT (ED Version) REGULAR EBONITE : US $55PREMIUM EBONITE : US $80DEMONSTRATOR : US $70RANGA BAMBOO GIANT (3-in-1 Filling Mechanism) REGULAR EBONITE : US $90PREMIUM EBONITE : US $110DEMONSTRATOR : US $100 Finish - Polished or Matte (Bakul)Clip Option - Clip-less or Gold Clip or Silver ClipNib Option : For EyedropperWality F Gold Coloured (included in price)Two Tone M Nib (included in price) Bock (With Conklin imprinted) M or B is available (extra @ 9 USD)Ambitious Nib 35 mm - Fine Nib - Dual Tone ( extra @ 3 USD)Ambitious Nib 40 mm - Wet Medium Nib - Gold Tone ( extra @ 4 USD)Ambitious Nib 35 mm Flex - Chrome Tone ( extra @ 5 USD)Nib Option : For 3 in 1 filling Mechanism (with Schmidt K5 Converter)JoWo #6 Nib Options (included in price)Fine Nib - Gold ToneFine Nib - Silver ToneFine Nib - Dual ToneMedium Nib - Gold ToneMedium Nib - Silver ToneMedium Nib - Dual ToneBroad Nib - Gold ToneBroad Nib - Silver ToneBroad Nib - Dual ToneExtra Fine Nib - Dual Tone1.1 Stub Nib - Dual Tone1.5 Stub Nib - Dual ToneSchmidt #6 Nib Options (included in price)​Fine Nib - Gold ToneMedium Nib - Gold ToneBroad Nib - Gold ToneShipping : Via Registered Post which is included in Price and takes 2 -4 Weeks. COLOURS AVAILABILITY: Ebonite Colours for Regular Size (Images below are only for colour reference) Special New Ebonite Colours (SR Series) Pink Dark Green Ripple (not available)Green Pale Yellow RippleBlue Orange RippleBlue Red Ripple (Not Available)Yellow Black RippleBlue Yellow RipplePink Yellow RippleBlue Olive RippleRed Black RippleGreen Yellow RipplePink Olive Ripple (Not Available)Green Pink Ripple (Not Available)Blue Black Ripple Regular Rippled Ebonite Colours ( RR Series) Brown RippleGreen RippleSolid Black PolishedOlive RippleBright Green Ripple Burgundy Pink RippleYellow RippleBlue Ripple Regular Mottled Ebonite Colours (RM Series) Mottled BrownMottled GreenPolished BlackMottled Olive BrownBlack Bakul (Matte) Clear Acrylic Demonstartor (AC Series) Matte Finish with Polished Finials Complete Matte Finish Imported Premium Ebonite Colours Solid Pale GreenSolid OrangeSolid BlueSolid PinkWhite Blue SwirlBlue Pink SwirlBlack Yellow SwirlBlue Green Orange SwirlPale Pink Black Swirl (Not Available)Green Yellow Swirl Ebonite Colours for Giant Size (Images below are only for colour reference) Special New Ebonite Colours (SR Series) Pink Dark Green Ripple Green Pale Yellow RippleBlue Orange RippleBlue Red RippleYellow Black RippleBlue Yellow RipplePink Yellow RippleBlue Olive RippleRed Black RippleGreen Yellow RipplePink Olive RippleGreen Pink RippleBlue Black RipplePlain MaroonPlain Green Regular Rippled Ebonite Colours ( RR Series) Brown RippleGreen RippleSolid Black PolishedOlive RippleBright Green Ripple (Not Available)Burgundy Pink RippleYellow RippleBlue Ripple Regular Mottled Ebonite Colours (RM Series) Mottled BrownMottled GreenPolished BlackMottled Olive Brown (Not Available)Black Bakul (Matte) Clear Acrylic Demonstartor (AC Series) Matte Finish with Polished Finials Complete Matte Finish Imported Premium Ebonite Colours Solid Pale GreenSolid OrangeSolid BlueSolid PinkWhite Blue SwirlBlue Pink SwirlBlack Yellow SwirlBlue Green Orange SwirlPale Pink Black Swirl (Not Available)Green Yellow Swirl Please pm me for shipping within India.
  11. Oliver pens is one of the prominent manufacturer/distributor of pens in India. The name though is not known to all people. I am in love with my Olivers. I hereby give shout to all people to show their Oliver Pens
  12. JK CEDAR - 100 GSM The search for that elusive paper which is good for fountain pen brought me to one of the paper which I was using to print handout for the design presentation, the paper was JK Cedar. While printing, I realised the quality of paper is good and its super white bright and then I decided to give it a shot with few of my fountain pen and inks. J.K. Paper is exporter of Branded Copier Paper to over 35 countries. They are the market leader in India in Branded Copier Paper segment. Apart from Office Paper, they also have manufacture in Packaging Boards, Printing and Writing Paper, and Speciality Paper like MICR Cheque Paper. They have two paper mill in India in Odisha and Gujarat. This review is about one of the copy paper from J.K. Paper Ltd. called J.K. Cedar. DESIGN & BUILD :Well there is nothing much to talk about as far as design or build is concerned as this is a copier paper which comes in Ream of 500 sheets. The paper is marketed for colour copying and printing purpose. JK Cedar – Premium Colour Copying and Printing Paper JK Cedars – Ream’s Rear Side The packaging is done in nice glossy coated paper which just serves the purpose right. As you can see the paper size is A4 and it is 100 gsm and the whole ream weighs around 3.12 kg. JK Cedar – A4 size – 500 Sheets Ream As far as packaging and cover is concerned it is how all the papers are packed in reams and supplied all over. So nothing much to say here. PERFORMANCE : As I have mentioned earlier and I believe most of us all know that the quality of paper as far as using with fountain pen is concerned is dependent on lot of parameters like ink resistance, shading, sheen, feathering, bleed-through, paper colour, smoothness or texture and few others. Few properties are also dependent with ink properties like shading and sheen. The paper is super bright white paper. And the quality of paper is 100 gsm. JK Cedar – Bright White Paper The paper is quite smooth and has no texture. The fountain pen actually glides over the paper. It is very smooth to write on and most of the Italic pens, which used to pick fibres in other low quality copier paper, also performed amazingly well. JK Cedar – Writing on it JK Cedar – Writing on it – Rear Side JK Cedar – Written Samples with Different Ink – Close-up 1 JK Cedar – Written Samples with Different Ink – Close-up 2 As visible from above samples and even the close-ups, it is clear that there is no feathering and bleed-through in most of the ink except the Chelpark Black which shows some bleed-through on rear side and I believe the ink is not good. The paper is quite good when it comes to resisting inks (non absorbing) and provides decent amount of shading also. I see some sheen (mostly with Iroshizuku and sailor inks) which was difficult to capture as the sheen was on lower side. It has performed extremely well with most of the inks. Performance summary is as follows: Ink Resistance : HighPaper Texture : Very SmoothFeathering : NoneBleed-through : Very LowShading : HighSheen : Low VALUE : This ream of 500 sheets was bought by me at discounted price at Rs. 250 ( US $3.75) The paper can be used to print different patterns like I do before start writing ans you can also get the paper notebook bind. JK CEDAR – Plain Paper, Grid Pattern, & Dott Pattern At Rs. 0.50 per sheet ( US $ 0.01 per sheet) and that too such an amazing performance its a steal. It has fabulous value for money. CONCLUSION : If someone asks me what is best paper for fountain pens manufactured in India, I would say JK Cedar. I recommend this to all the users of fountain pen community. Its easily available on Flipkart and Amazon.
  13. RATNAM TARPODA Ratnam Tarpoda Ratnam Tarpoda (Big Size) was one amongst my mass-order purchase through my dear friend Pradeep who was travelling to Rajahmundry last year. I have bought lot of pens from different manufacturers and I have varied experiences across the three brands of Rajahmundry. For those who don’t know, Rajahmundry is one of the major city of Andhra Pradesh in India. And city consists of few of the oldest fountain pen manufacturers in India like Ratnam, Ratnamson, and Guider. Ratnam Pen Works ( KV Brahmam & Brothers) is the first “Swadeshi” Fountain Pen Company of India and was established in 1932. It was started by Kosuri Venkat Ratnamand is currently being run by one of his two sons, Siva Ratnam. They also manufacture handmade gold nibs including conical shape gold nib. Most of their pens are made of ebonite, however they also make silver metal pens and also gold plated silver pens. I have yet to see acrylic pen from them. The review is about their big size ebonite pen , Ratnam Tarpoda. DESIGN : 3.5/5 Here the pen is in simple, classic shaped design with rounded finials. The pen tapers down down to rounded bottom, while the cap also tapers but just slightly to finial which is shaped like parabolic dome. It bears lot of resemblance to one of my previously reviewed pen Ratnamson 302, which is a pen from different manufacturer, though in this case the cap finials tapers more towards top. Ratnam Tarpoda – Uncapped Ratnam Tarpoda – Dome Shaped Top and Rounded Bottom The grip section is made in black ebonite unlike the body which is made in olive ripple ebonite which is famous by name of White Tiger because of the resemblance to skin of white tiger. Ratnam Tarpoda – Capped Ratnam Tarpoda – Uncapped and Unposted Ratnam Tarpoda – Uncapped and Posted The barrel is cylindrical and tapers both ways, towards the grip section and also towards the bottom end. The grip section in black ebonite gradually tapers towards the top with flared end at the top. The grip section is short and I end up gripping threads which actually are not sharp and rather they are smooth and provide good grip. The cap is adorned with dual bands and has a stiff ball end type clip. The trims used are gold and I believe they match with the ebonite. And it opens in 4 1/2 turns. Ratnam Tarpoda – Cap with Ball end Clip and Dual Centerbands The barrel is engraved with the branding which reads “RATNAM PEN, MADE IN RJY, INDIA”. And it is filled some sort of gold paint which I believe is not neatly done as their is spillage of gold paint on barrel which eventually will wear off with time. Ratnam Tarpoda – Branding Overall it is a classic, no nonsense, elegant cigar shaped design and you cant go wrong with that. Ratnam Tarpoda – Classic Cigar Design Finishing can be improved a little. And most importantly the turns to open cap must be minimized. BUILT & CONSTRUCTION : 3/5 The quality of material used is good and is sturdy. There is no discolouration of material. The built quality is just at par with like of Ranga or Deccan pens if not better, especially finishing. I think Branding on barrel can still be improved. What I really liked was the alignment of cap with the barrel when it is closed in such a way that the ripple effect of ebonite carries to the cap from barrel. Ratnam Tarpoda – Ripple Pattern Continuation from Barrel to Cap Its a handmade pen and yes there are certain anomalies like cap finial doesn't align in line with the tapered profile of the cap. But again what do you expect from such an inexpensive pen. Ratnam Tarpoda – Cap Finial not aligned with cap Ratnam Tarpoda – Cap inner View As far as the quality of band is considered they are better than what I had on Ratnamson 302. But yes they still need improvement. Ratnam Tarpoda – Cap Center Bands One thing I really did not like was provision for 2 breather holes in the pen, otherwise it is well built HANDMADE pen at this price point. BALANCE & SIZE : 5/5 The pen is vary well balanced in both the scenarios when writing with cap posted or unposted. Yes, when cap is posted at back, the rear becomes heavy and will suit the one with large hands but it doesn’t becomes unbalanced at all. The cap posts securely and it post deep. Below are the 2 images showing the length till which the cap posts, outer limit shown by thumb. Ratnam Tarpoda – Cap Posts Deep Ratnam Tarpoda – Thumb shows the length till which the cap posts Below are the two images showing the length of pen when writing with cap posted and unposted. Ratnam Tarpoda – Writing Unposted Ratnam Tarpoda – Writing Posted Being ebonite it is light weigh and no metal is used here. Ratnam Tarpoda – Weight in gms including cap Ratnam Tarpoda – Weight in gms excluding cap Few Specifications are : Length of pen (closed) – 150 mmLength of pen (open and unposted) – 125 mm (including nib)Length of pen (open and posted) – 165 mm (including nib)Length of Grip Section – 15 mmMaximum Dia of Cap – 16 mmMaximum Dia of Barrel – 14 mmMaximum Dia of Grip Section – 12 mmMinimum Dia of Grip Section – 10 mmWeight of Pen with Cap – 28.24 gms (inked)Weight of Pen without Cap – 17.82 gms (inked) Below are the few images showing the comparison of pen with others: Ratnam Tarpoda vs Lamy Safari vs Pilot MR vs Jinhao X750 – Capped Ratnam Tarpoda vs Lamy Safari vs Pilot MR vs Jinhao X750 – Uncapped ans Posted Clearly it is not that much a big pen and hence it is comfortable for most of the users. NIB : 2.5/5 Nib used is #5 friction fit with ebonite feed. Nib is Dual tone and is well articulated with certain engraving which reads ” GENIUS IRIDIUM GERMANY”. The nib on this was better than what the Guider puts on their pens but yes not to my liking and thus I ended up grinding the nib to medium Italic and it was nib which got grind easily unlike Wality nibs. Ratnam Tarpoda – Nib unit View – Top Ratnam Tarpoda – Nib unit View – Side Ratnam Tarpoda – Nib unit View – Underside The problem is that the nib is available only in fine and no other choices. INK FILLING MECHANISM : 4/5 The ink filling mechanism is via an Eyedropper, well you can use syringe also. Ink capacity is around 3.5 ml which is substantial. Ratnam Tarpoda – Pen taken apart Ratnam Tarpoda – Eyedropper Filling Since its an ED pen, there is a noticeable increase in the inflow when the ink level goes below 3/4th and that is when you will have to refill otherwise it will burp. Its like it will gives you warning before it burps. This pen though has not burped on me at all and yeah I ensure when the ink level goes below I refill it. Below are the images of my handwritten review and the writing samples: Ratnam Tarpoda – Handwritten Review – Page 1 Ratnam Tarpoda – Handwritten Review – Page 2 Ratnam Tarpoda – Handwritten Review – Page 3 Ratnam Tarpoda – Handwritten Review – Page 4 CONCLUSION : 18/25 I recommend this pen to every collector. Its an handmade pen from first pen manufacturer of India. Also will recommend to the likes who love fiddling around with their pen and know how to live around and ED pen. I bought this pen for Rs. 1000 (approx US $16 ) which included shipping last year and I believe the price might have gone up. What I Like: Classic Cigar Design Handmade Very Good Quality Ebonite Good Balance and Size Good Ink Capacity A piece of History Value for MoneyWhat I don’t Like: Eyedropper only Only one nib option Branding HOW TO BUY: They can be easily approached via WhatsApp ( Mob No. +91 98489 18904). They will send you pics and prices and you can select whatever you like. Pay via bank transfer and they ship once the payment is received. You can also check out his Facebook page : https://www.facebook.com/Ratnam-pens-314421885386511/?fref=ts The review is simultaneously posted at my blog. For more reviews check my blog here : LINK
  14. Dear All After successful group buys of BAMBOO MODEL & RANGA MODEL 4C & Model 3 & Model 5 & Zeal. This is the 1st time that we are doing group buy for MODEL 8 (Torpedo Shaped) after we received lot of queries to do group buy for Model 8. This Group buy will be available till 10th June 2016. Kindly register at the earliest and minimum requirement is 15 nos. Details are as below: Length Capped - 146 mm approxCap Dia - 14 mmBarrel Dia - 12.5 mmHourglass shape Grip Section RANGA MODEL 8 (ED Version) REGULAR EBONITE : US $32 PREMIUM EBONITE : US $46 Finish - Polished or Matte (Bakul)Nib Option :Wality Gold Color - Fine NibDual Tone - Medium NibAmbitious 35 mm Fine Nib at extra US $ 3Ambitious 40 mm Gold Tone Nib at extra US $ 4Bock (With Conklin imprinted) M or B at extra US $ 8.Clip Option Finish : Gold Color or Chrome Silver Color or CliplessDefault settings: Wality Gold Colored Fine Nib with Gold Color ClipShipping: Included and is through Registered Post. Takes 2 - 4 weeks for delivery. Price includes shippingPayment: Via Paypal to paypal account mpkandan@gmail.com RANGA MODEL 8 (CC Version - German Nibs & Converter) REGULAR EBONITE : US $63 PREMIUM EBONITE : US $77 Finish - Polished or Matte (Bakul)Clip Option Finish : Gold Color or Chrome Silver Color or CliplessNib Option : JoWo Nibs ​​/ Schmidt NibsJoWo Nibs options : #6 SizeGold Color Mono tone F, M or B nibChrome (Silver) Mono Tone F, M, B NibDual Tone EF, F, M, B & 1.5 Calligraphy StubSchmidt Nib options: #6 SizeGold Color monotone F, M, or BChrome (Silver) Finish Monotone F,M & B.Converter : Schmidt K5 ConverterDefault settings: Schmidt Gold Colored monotone F nib & Gold ClipShipping: Included and is through Registered Post. Takes 2 - 4 weeks for delivery.Includes worldwide shippingPayment: Via Paypal to paypal account mpkandan@gmail.com COLOURS Regular Ebonite Colours (Images below are only for colour reference) Special New Ebonite Colours Pink Dark Green Ripple (not available) Green Pale Yellow Ripple Blue Orange Ripple Blue Red Ripple (Not Available) Yellow Black Ripple Blue Yellow Ripple Pink Yellow Ripple Blue Olive Ripple Red Black Ripple Green Yellow Ripple Pink Olive Ripple (Not Available) Green Pink Ripple (Not Available) Blue Black Ripple Regular Rippled Ebonite Colours Brown Ripple Green Ripple Solid Black Polished Olive Ripple Bright Green Ripple Burgundy Pink Ripple Yellow Ripple Blue Ripple Regular Mottled Ebonite Colours Mottled Brown Mottled Green Mottled Olive Brown Black Bakul (Matte) Premium Ebonite Colours (Images below are only for colour reference) Imported Premium Ebonite Colours Solid Blue Black Yellow Swirl Blue Pink Swirl Solid Pale Green White Blue Swirl Pale Pink Black Swirl (Not Available) Green Yellow Swirl Solid Pink Blue Green Orange Swirl Solid Orange All these pens are all handmade. And payments will be made only via paypal for international customers. In case of any query or pen related issue kindly PM me or MP Kandan FOR SHIPPING WITHIN INDIA, PLEASE PM ME
  15. mehandiratta

    Ink Review - Krishna Monsoon Sky

    KRISHNA MONSOON SKY The review is simultaneously posted at my blog here : LINK Krishna Ink – Monsoon Sky In Indian Fountain Pen industry or Circles, Dr. Sreekumar is quite known for his hand-turned fountain pens and almost 20 types of nib tuning. However recently he has shelved in to making fountain pen inks under the brand name of KRISHNA. These inks are sold on eBay India Page for Rs. 550 (8 USD) each for 5 Nos. 30 ml ink bottle plus shipping. Now they come in new glass bottles. Krishna Ink – New Glass Bottle The inks that are being produced have now increased to 35 nos. and even certain names have changed. Krishna Inks – 35 Colors The new names are as follows: Pencil Neelambal Dark Chocolate Purple Lake Blue Vivid violet Sapphire Ruby Monsoon Sky Pink Barleria Summer Rain Silent Night Sky Bronze Leaf Wild Cherry Pumpkin Nilwanti Cool Breeze Gold Rush Orange Crush After Dark Yellow Valley Glory Vine Dark Rose Magic Blue Orchard Lily Writer’s Night Peacock Neelkurinhi Emerald Mangal Dew Leaf Njaval Meadow Green Ghat Green Officer’s Blue Black I would like to thank Dr. Sreekumar for sending me the samples and also for the effort that he has put in seeing the limited resources at his disposal. This review is of Monsoon Sky which is the new introduction to old 28 colours and this colour is greyish blue-green. INK SPLASH Krishna Monsoon Sky – Ink Splash on JK Cedar 100 gsm DROP ON PAPER NAPKIN Krishna Monsoon Sky – Ink Drop on Paper Towel COLOUR MATCH Krishna Monsoon Sky – Colour Range WRITING SAMPLES Krishna Monsoon Sky – Writing Sample on JK Cedar 100 gsm Krishna Monsoon Sky – Writing Sample on JK Cedar 100 gsm – Angled View This ink shades almost close to none. The ink flow is good. And has no feathering. INK SWABS & SCRIBBLE Krishna Monsoon Sky – Ink Passes on JK Cedar - 100 gsm Krishna Monsoon Sky – Ink Swab on Jk Cedar - 100 gsm Krishna Monsoon Sky –Scribble on JK Cedar -100 gsm WATERPROOF TEST Krishna Monsoon Sky – Waterproof Test Ink after water rub test leaves behind certain traces thus making ink bit water resistant and even after water wash it is still readable. INK DRYING TIMES Krishna Monsoon Sky – Ink Drying Times The ink drying times hover just around 25 to 26 seconds. BLOW UP WRITING SAMPLES Krishna Monsoon Sky – Blow up Writing Sample on JK Cedar 100 gsm CONCLUSION: The colour reminds me of Diamine Teal or Iroshizuku Tsuki-yo. But unlike Iroshizuku it has no shading or sheen. It has no feathering and has consistent flow. Its an okay ink for me because of the colour but I would any day prefer my Iroshizuku Tsuki-yo because of sheen and shading and amazing flow properties. However that comes at high price. This 30 ml bottle just costs less than Rs. 100. Following are the summation of ink properties: Feathering : NoSheen : NoShading : NoLubrication : ModerateFlow : GoodWater Resistance : GoodDrying Times : GoodNib Creep : NoClogging : NoneOdor : None Feedback and Comments are welcome. The ink can be bought from the ebay store of Krishna Pens. Link is given below. LINK TO EBAY STORE : KRISHNAPENS
  16. mehandiratta

    Ink Review - Krishna Yellow Valley

    KRISHNA YELLOW VALLEY The review is simultaneously posted at my blog here : LINK Krishna Yellow Valley In Indian Fountain Pen industry or Circles, Dr. Sreekumar is quite known for his hand-turned fountain pens and almost 20 types of nib tuning. However recently he has shelved in to making fountain pen inks under the brand name of KRISHNA. These inks are sold on eBay India Page for Rs. 550 (8 USD) each for 5 Nos. 30 ml ink bottle plus shipping. Now they come in new glass bottles. Krishna Ink – New Glass Bottle The inks that are being produced have now increased to 35 nos. and even certain names have changed. Krishna Inks – 35 Colors The new names are as follows: Pencil Neelambal Dark Chocolate Purple Lake Blue Vivid violet Sapphire Ruby Monsoon Sky Pink Barleria Summer Rain Silent Night Sky Bronze Leaf Wild Cherry Pumpkin Nilwanti Cool Breeze Gold Rush Orange Crush After Dark Yellow Valley Glory Vine Dark Rose Magic Blue Orchard Lily Writer’s Night Peacock Neelkurinhi Emerald Mangal Dew Leaf Njaval Meadow Green Ghat Green Officer’s Blue Black I would like to thank Dr. Sreekumar for sending me the samples and also for the effort that he has put in seeing the limited resources at his disposal. This review is about YELLOW VALLEY ink from KRISHNA. The colour is really beautiful and I actually like these kind of greens. The ink drying are better than previous inks, it dries within 30 to 32 seconds and is to be note that bold point nib was used to check drying times. However one issue with this ink is that there is an issue with nib crud if left for longer period unattended for more than a week or so. INK SPLASH Krishna Yellow Valley – Ink Splash on JK Cedar 100 gsm I love the colour of this ink. Its kinda murky green which I like. Ink has no sheen and does not feathers. DROP ON PAPER NAPKIN Krishna Yellow Valley – Ink Drop on Paper Towel COLOUR MATCH Krishna Yellow Valley – Colour Range WRITING SAMPLES Krishna Yellow Valley – Writing Sample on JK Cedar 100 gsm Krishna Yellow Valley– Writing Sample on JK Cedar 100 gsm – Angled View As you can see from the above writing samples the ink has shading property and it shows most in stub nibs. And ink is very legible even in the fine Japanese nibs. INK SWABS & SCRIBBLE Krishna Yellow Valley– Ink Passes on JK Cedar - 100 gsm Krishna Yellow Valley – Ink Swab on Jk Cedar - 100 gsm Krishna Yellow Valley –Scribble on JK Cedar -100 gsm WATERPROOF TEST Krishna Yellow Valley – Waterproof Test The ink leaves just a bit of colour when rubbed with water and you can see the that it is still very much legible after water rub test and thus I can say it is has water resistant properties. INK DRYING TIMES Krishna Yellow Valley– Ink Drying Times BLOW UP WRITING SAMPLES Krishna Yellow Valley – Blow up Writing Sample on JK Cedar 100 gsm Krishna Yellow Valley – Blow up Writing Sample on JK Cedar 100 gsm - Angled View COMPARATIVE WITH SIMILAR COLORS Bronze Leaf vs Yellow Valley vs Ghat Green vs Meadow Green vs Goldrush CONCLUSION: I like the colour. The ink has good flow and is nominally lubricated. Dry times are still high but please note that I used the Bold wet nib for drying test. The beauty of the ink is that it is water resistant. But yes there is a bit problem with nib Creep if not used for long. Following are the summation of ink properties: Feathering : NoSheen : NoShading : ModerateLubrication : ModerateFlow : GoodWater Resistance : GoodDrying Times : Little HighNib Creep : YesClogging : NoneOdor : None Feedback and Comments are welcome. The ink can be bought from the ebay store of Krishna Pens. Link is given below. LINK TO EBAY STORE : KRISHNAPENS
  17. mehandiratta

    Ink Review - Krishna Mangal

    KRISHNA MANGAL The review is simultaneously posted at my blog here : LINK Krishna Mangal – Ink Bottle (old style) In Indian Fountain Pen industry or Circles, Dr. Sreekumar is quite known for his hand-turned fountain pens and almost 20 types of nib tuning. However recently he has shelved in to making fountain pen inks under the brand name of KRISHNA. These inks are sold on eBay India Page for Rs. 550 (8 USD) each for 5 Nos. 30 ml ink bottle plus shipping. Now they come in new glass bottles. Krishna Ink – New Glass Bottle The inks that are being produced have now increased to 35 nos. and even certain names have changed. Krishna Inks – 35 Colors The new names are as follows: Pencil Neelambal Dark Chocolate Purple Lake Blue Vivid violet Sapphire Ruby Monsoon Sky Pink Barleria Summer Rain Silent Night Sky Bronze Leaf Wild Cherry Pumpkin Nilwanti Cool Breeze Gold Rush Orange Crush After Dark Yellow Valley Glory Vine Dark Rose Magic Blue Orchard Lily Writer’s Night Peacock Neelkurinhi Emerald Mangal Dew Leaf Njaval Meadow Green Ghat Green Officer’s Blue Black I would like to thank Dr. Sreekumar for sending me the samples and also for the effort that he has put in seeing the limited resources at his disposal. This review is of Mangal ink which is very close to terracotta brick tiles used here in India for roofing. I am in love with this colour. It actually has grown on me. It is not that orangish that will make the ink bright but yes just gives you look of burnt brick. This did not gave me any nib creep problem like Diamine orange inks. INK SPLASH Krishna Mangal – Ink Splash on JK Cedar 100 gsm I love Pastel orange colour ink. DROP ON PAPER NAPKIN Krishna Mangal – Ink Drop on Paper Towel COLOUR MATCH Krishna Mangal – Colour Range WRITING SAMPLES Krishna Mangal – Writing Sample on JK Cedar 100 gsm Krishna Mangal – Writing Sample on JK Cedar 100 gsm – Angled View The ink even shades in medium and fine nibs. Ink has got no sheen and does not feather. Flow is superb. INK SWABS Krishna Mangal – Ink Passes on JK Cedar - 100 gsm Krishna Mangal – Ink Swab on Jk Cedar - 100 gsm Krishna Mangal –Scribble on JK Cedar -100 gsm WATERPROOF TEST Krishna Mangal – Waterproof Test Ink is not water resistant at all. INK DRYING TIMES Krishna Mangal – Ink Drying Times Well surprisingly the ink drying times are quite low. Just around 20 seconds. BLOW UP WRITING SAMPLES Krishna Mangal – Blow up Writing Sample on JK Cedar 100 gsm Krishna Mangal – Blow up Writing Sample on JK Cedar 100 gsm - Angled View There is no feathering of this Ink as you can see from this close-up. CONCLUSION: Its a lovely colour and I can think of Diamine Ancient Copper to be of similar colour. The ink behaves very well with no crud or feathering or even staining. This ink flows really well and is moderately lubricated (of course not as great as sailor inks). However these are well worth the money. Kudos to Dr. Sreekumar. Beautiful ink which has lovely shading. Following are the summation of ink properties: Feathering : NoSheen : NoShading : Good amountLubrication : ModerateFlow : GoodWater Resistance : BadDrying Times : GoodNib Creep : NoClogging : NoneOdor : None Feedback and Comments are welcome. The ink can be bought from the ebay store of Krishna Pens. Link is given below. LINK TO EBAY STORE : KRISHNAPENS
  18. mehandiratta

    Pen Review - Deccan Advocate

    DECCAN ADVOCATE The review is simultaneously at my blog here. Deccan Pens have been into existence since 1928 when they opened first outlet in Hyderabad at Abids and has been one of the oldest fountain pen manufacturing company in India. The firm was started by Sabih Akhter Siddiqui who used to sell fountain pens door to door with the help of DURO agency which used to produce fountain pens in 1920’s. Today Deccan Pens has 32 year old manufacturing unit and they only make fountain pens. The review is simultaneously at my blog here. They have now 3 stores at Secunderabad, Ameerpet, and oldest one at Abids. Deccan Pens have been covered and reviewed lot by HARI, SHRUJYA, & JAISIRI. And this particular review is about one of the largest selling pen from Deccan stable which is “DECCAN ADVOCATE". There have been lot of iterations of Deccan Advocate over many years. Deccan Advocate – In the Wild I must thank Rakshit who lives in Hyderabad and he helped me in getting this pen. He also is a fountain pen connoisseur and you can check his blog here. I got this pen almost 7-8 months back and have been using this only for past 2 months. So the review is about my experience with the pen for past 2 months. DESIGN & BUILT : 05/05 Deccan Pens are notable for impeccable built quality and this Deccan Advocate again stamps their authority of quality built pens. Advocate currently comes in two variants : Round End and Flat End. The model that I am reviewing is the Round end one in green ripple colour and I was told that it is difficult to get hold of the round end advocate and I was lucky enough to get this one. Deccan Advocate – In Broad Day Light The pen is made of high quality ebonite and is available in black, matte black , mottled brown, rippled brown and green ripple and also olive brown ripple. My pen is extremely well made though it was religiously inspected by Rakshit before he bought this one. The ebonite has no perforations its solid without any specks and perforations. The quality of rod is really great. Deccan Advocate The pen is a simple and elegant cigar shaped pen with slight tapering towards the bottom end. There are no bands or trims used on this pen. Only metal part or thing you will see on the pen is clip apart from the nib. The pen is very well executed and polished though you might see some marks just below the threads which is due to cap being capped and uncapped regularly and has not received thorough cleaning and polish from my side. The grip section is made of same ebonite material and is in concave shape. The length of grip section is 22 mm and this I beleive is quite good as it helps in good grip on the pen. Deccan Advocate – Capped Deccan Advocate – Uncapped Deccan Advocate – Round Ends The pen cap opens in 6 turns which I am not happy with but its still acceptable as most of the Indian pens take almost around 5 to 6 turns to open. The cap has chrome finish clip which gives you a look of look of something between matt and polished finish but it is not polished with some sorts of coating. Deccan Advocate – Cap Clip Deccan Advocate – Cap Clip Side View The cap clip narrows down to bottom and is quite sturdy and can easily fit in to shirt pocket firmly. Deccan Advocate – Inner View of Cap The thickness of ebonite is thinnest near the bottom of the cap or what we call as cap lip which you can see in above picture. As the cap tapers at the bottom but it is still sturdy. Below are the few images showing the comparison of pen with other pens: Deccan Advoate vs Lamy Safari vs Jinhao X750 – Capped Deccan Advoate vs Lamy Safari vs Jinhao X750 – Uncapped Deccan Advoate vs Lamy Safari vs Jinhao X750 – Capped (Lateral Side View) Overall, its a beautiful, cigar shaped elegant pen which has impeccable built quality. Its a quality finish from Hyderabad. Yeah I must tell you that there is no branding of any kind on pen anywhere be it clip or nib or even barrel. BALANCE & SIZE : 3.5/05 The pen is around 140 mm including the nib when uncapped and I don’t see any reason to post the cap at back and also I prefer to write with cap unposted. The pen is very much balanced when writing unposted but becomes bottom heavy when cap is posted at back, moreover it becomes uncomfortable at 184 mm when cap is posted at back, thus it is unbalanced. The pen length is 155 mm when it is capped. Below are the images showing the comparison when writing posted and unposted : Deccan Advocate – Writing Unposted Deccan Advocate – Writing Posted What I find most comfortable about the pen is the grip section which is at 9 mm and is in conical shape. It provides perfect grip. The length of grip section is also substantial at 22 mm. The pen weighs around 30 gm with cap and around 20 gm without cap (with ink filled). Deccan Advocate – Weight of pen with cap Deccan Advocate – Weight of pen without cap Few specifications are as follows: Length capped: 155 mmLength uncapped and posted : 184 mmLength uncapped and unposted : 140mmLength of grip section : 22 mmBarrel Dia Avg – 14 mmCap Dia – 16 mmSection Dia (Avg) : 9 mmWeight with cap : 30.4 gmWeight without cap : 20.53 gm NIB & INK FILLING MECHANISM : 04/05 Nib currently being used on this pen is 35 mm (#6) Gold Finish Steel Nib and this is a stock nib and there was no other option of the nib on this pen. The nib is famous ambitious fine nib which is friction fit and it writes very well and is paired with good wet ebonite feed. Ink flow is quite good. Deccan Advocate – Nib Unit Top View Deccan Advocate – Nib Unit Side View Deccan Advocate – Nib Unit Underside View The nib is set just a bit inside more, thus what you see is less of 35 mm nib because the grip section is bit flared up as visible from image below. Deccan Advocate – Nib set inside deep The filling mechanism is via eyedropper and it holds approx 3 ml of ink. It has not burped on me even once. Deccan Advocate – Eyedropper Fill Mechanism Below are the images of my handwritten review which shows you the writing sample: Deccan Advocate – Handwritten Review – Page 01 Deccan Advocate – Handwritten Review – Page 02 Deccan Advocate – Handwritten Review – Page 03 CONCLUSION : 12.5/15 I recommend everyone to have at least one Deccan Pen and buying ADVOCATE is the best pen to get hold of at reasonable price of otherwise expensive Deccan Pens. Well yeah i did not like the combination of chrome clip with gold finish nib. I bought this pen for Rs. 1000 (approx 16 usd) which does not include shipping as it was bought by my friend who paid for Shipping. What I Like: Classic Cigar Design Well Finished Very Good Quality Ebonite Lot of Ink CapacityWhat I don’t Like: Eyedropper only Only one nib option Combination of Silver chrome clip with Gold color nib Deccan Advocate – Close Up Comments and feedback are welcome. Regards Vaibhav Mehandiratta
  19. After the successful round of ambitious nibs group buy in year 2015 ... And request from lot of members I am starting a second round of group buy for Ambitious Nibs .... This time again I will be sending few complimentary nibs along with ambitious nibs as per image below..... You can check Taike post for the nibs he received and the review of the same as per the link : https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/298071-group-buy-international-ambitious-nibs-made-in-india/?p=3498064 Below are the images of various nibs from ambitious From Left to Right - Ambitious 40 mm Gold Finish Steel Nib, Ambtious 35 mm Chrome Finish Steel Nib, Ambitious 35 mm Chrome Finish Flex Nib, Ambitious #5 Fine Stub Nib, Ambitious #5 Italic Nib Below are the images of the nibs on my pens that i have used 40 mm gold tone used with ASA Porus 35 mm chrome finish used with Wality 71 JT Below are the links to the review which shows you the writing sample also. ASA Porus Wality 71 JT And the prices are as follows: Chrome Finish Flex #5 - US $ 2.15 Chrome Finish Flex #6 - US $ 2.60 Gold tone #8 Med (40 mm) Nib - US $ 2.00 Chrome finish #6 FM nib - US $ 1.75 Dual tone #6 FM nib - US $ 1.85 Shipping through registered post will be chargeable at US $ 3 - US $ 6 depending upon location. For EMS please quote the prices separately.
  20. GUIDER MEDIUM ACRYLIC Guider Pen Company is one of the three fountain pen companies of Rajahmundry in Andhra Pradesh State of India. Other being Ratnam and Ratnamson. Guider Pen is owned by G. Lakshmana Rao currently. Guider Pen Company was started by G. Subbarao in 1946. And they manufacture the pens from various materials like ebonite, acrylic and also celluloid. This review is about one of the acrylic pen from their stable called “Acrylic Medium“. Quite an unusual name. Right ?? I thought so. This pen came in box with cardboard sleeve with no branding. The pen was purchased via discussion with him over whatsapp after he showed me the current stock and I selected few and ordered all in all 6 pens which was easy. However challenging part was asking names of each pen that I bought from him. Guider Acrylic Medium – In the Wild DESIGN & BUILT: 5/5 This is an exquisite looking pen from Guider. It come in various beautiful acrylic colours and I got two pens in different colours, one being green as shown in the picture and the other one being white pearl colour. This is a medium sized pen which is beautifully finished. Guider Acrylic Medium – Uncapped The pen is classic design with Parker style arrow clip and two centre bands. The trims used are golden colour and they beautifully complement with the green acrylic. The fit and finish of the pen is amazing with no visible lathe marks and even the two bands are equally placed. The pen is thickest at the centre of barrel apart from cap and tapers down to rounded bottom. Guider Acrylic Medium – Capped Guider Acrylic Medium – Uncapped The cap clip has conical dome shaped crown above the clip band in the same acrylic. Guider Acrylic Medium – Top Crown Shaped End and Rounded Bottom The cap has no breather hole like many Indian Pens. The pen opens in 2 & 1/2 turns which is unlike many ebonite pens made in India. I see the momentum going towards less threads now. Branding is only done on the clip and the nib. Guider Acrylic Medium – Uncapped : Close-up showing the clip in vintage Parker style Guider Acrylic Medium – Cap Top View Showing Branding on arrow clip Guider Acrylic Medium – Cap Side View showing the centre-bands Guider Acrylic Medium – Cap Inner View I really like the built quality of the pen, acrylic used is strong and it has taken one or two falls and yet nothing has happened, however I need to be more careful as it is acrylic. Beautiful product from Guider and full marks to Guider on turning this beauty. Below are few images showing the comparison between Guider Acrylic Medium with other pens: Guider Acrylic Medium vs Jinhao X-750 vs Lamy Safari – Capped Guider Acrylic Medium vs Jinhao X-750 vs Lamy Safari – Uncapped Pen is just slightly bigger than Lamy safari by almost 7 mm . Kudos to guider for such a beauty. BALANCE : 3.5/5 The pen is around 125 mm including nib and fits perfectly in my small hands. The pen is very well balanced when writing unposted. The pen cap doesn’t post deep and thus making it a large pen when cap is posted at back at 173 mm and honestly, to me it feels a bit uncomfortable and awkward even though it is surprisingly balanced. i would have preferred more if the cap would have posted more deep. Guider Acrylic Medium – Writing Unposted Guider Acrylic Medium – Writing Posted The pen being acrylic doesn’t weigh much. Below are the images showing the weight of pen with or without the cap. Guider Acrylic Medium – Weight without the cap and with ink filled Guider Acrylic Medium – Weight with the cap and with ink filled Few Specifications of the pens are as follows: Length of Pen – Capped = 146 mmLength of Pen – Uncapped including nib = 125 mmLength of Grip Section = 18 mmLength of Barrel = 91 mmLength of Pen – Cap Posted = 173 mmDia. of Barrel @ centre = 13 mm (avg)Dia. of Cap = 14 mm (avg)Dia. of Grip Section = 10 mm (avg)Weight of Pen including Cap and Ink filled = 23.53 gWeight of Pen without Cap and Ink filled = 14.47 g NIB & INK FILLING MECHANISM: 3/5 Nib is #5 Gold Colour Steel Nib which writes fine and was a big, bigg, biggg disappointment. I will actually give only one mark for the nib for actually being there. The feed is ebonite. I actually grinded the nib to oblique italic to suit my handwriting and now it writes like a dream with amazing ink flow via ebonite feed. I am actually really fortunate that nib grind turned out to be blessing in disguise for the (bleep) nib provided along with this pen. I have been writing with this pen for past one month and it has not burped on me even though i have been careful of topping up the ink when ink level goes really low. Guider Acrylic Medium – Nib Unit Top View Guider Acrylic Medium – Nib Unit Side View Guider Acrylic Medium – Nib Unit Underside View The pen holds approx around 2 ml , an advantage being of an eyedropper fill mechanism. Guider Acrylic Medium – Eyedropper Ink Filling Mechanism I wish the nib could have been better. Below is the handwritten review showing the writing sample also: Guider Acrylic Medium – Handwritten Review -Page 1 Guider Acrylic Medium – Handwritten Review -Page 2 Guider Acrylic Medium – Handwritten Review -Page 3 Guider Acrylic Medium – Handwritten Review -Page 4 CONCLUSION: 11.5/15 I recommend this beautiful pen to people who can tune or change the nibs on their own, not that the nib is difficult to change, it actually is an easy job provided you have a standalone spare nib and also to people who don’t mind using the Pen with eyedropper fill mechanism. I bought this pen for Rs. 1000 (approx 15 usd) including shipping which was not a bad deal. What I Like: Classic Design Well Finished Beautiful Acrylic Material Lot of Ink CapacityWhat I don’t Like: Bad Steel Nib For other posts kindly check my blog : mehandiratta
  21. mehandiratta

    Ink Review - Krishna Gold Rush

    KRISHNA GOLD RUSH The review is simultaneously posted at my blog here : LINK In Indian Fountain Pen industry or Circles, Dr. Sreekumar is quite known for his hand-turned fountain pens and almost 20 types of nib tuning. However recently he has shelved in to making fountain pen inks under the brand name of KRISHNA. These inks are sold on eBay India Page for Rs. 550 (8 USD) each for 5 Nos. 30 ml ink bottle plus shipping. NOTE THAT NEW GLASS BOTTLES HAVE ARRIVED AND THIS WILL RESULT IN BIT OF PRICE INCREASE. However old plastic bottles still remain in stock while the stock lasts. The inks that are being produced are currently limited to 27 nos. (28 earlier) : GOLD RUSH MEADOW GREEN BLUE MAGIC AFTER DARK SAPPHIRE BLUE LAKE BLUE BRONZE LEAF ORANGE CRUSH AUTUMN SINDHOOR GLORY VINE DARK ROSE NJAVAL WILD CHERRY PURPLE PEACOCK YELLOW VALLEY MELLOW BLUE VIVID VIOLET ORCHARD LILY DARK CHOCOLATE COOL BREEZE SILENT NIGHT SKY FORGET ME NOT SKY BLUE GHAT GREEN PUMPKIN GIRL PINK / BARBIE PINK (discontinued) Krishna Inks – Color Chart 1 Krishna Inks – Color Chart 2 I would like to thank Dr. Sreekumar for sending me the samples and also for the effort that he has put in. I will be reviewing all one by one. This review is about GOLD RUSH ink from KRISHNA. This is actually like yellow golden colour. And I do like it. It does amazing job in broad nibs. Krishna Ink comes in plastic bottles in 30 ml quantity and new lot with INCREASED PRICES will come in glass bottles now. INK SPLASH Krishna Gold Rush – Ink Splash on JK Cedar 100 gsm Colour is beautiful with no sheen and very little shading. DROP ON PAPER NAPKIN Krishna Gold Rush – Ink Drop on Paper Towel COLOUR MATCH Krishna Gold Rush – Color Range WRITING SAMPLES Krishna Gold Rush – Writing Sample on JK Cedar 100 gsm Krishna Gold Rush – Writing Sample on JK Cedar 100 gsm – Angled View The ink is legible even in Japanese fine nibs but perform well in Broad nibs INK SWABS Krishna Gold Rush – Ink Passes on JK Cedar - 100 gsm Krishna Gold Rush – Ink Swab on Jk Cedar - 100 gsm Krishna Gold Rush –Scribble on JK Cedar -100 gsm WATERPROOF TEST Krishna Gold Rush – Waterproof Test Ink when rubbed with water gives away the colour easily and is not at waterproof. INK DRYING TIMES Krishna Ghat Green – Ink Drying Times Ink drying are better than other Krishna inks I reviewed earlier. BLOW UP WRITING SAMPLES Krishna Gold Rush – Blow up Writing Sample on JK Cedar 100 gsm There is no feathering of this Ink as you can see from this close-up. CONCLUSION: I like the colour of the Ink. It can also be used as highlighter Ink. Performs best in Western Broad and Medium nibs along with the Calligraphy Nibs The ink has amazing flow properties and is moderately lubricated. Following are the summation of ink properties: Feathering : NoSheen : NoShading : LowLubrication : ModerateFlow : GoodWater Resistance : BadDrying Times : AcceptableNib Creep : NoneClogging : NoneOdor : NoneInk can be bought from : LINK (Ebay India Store)
  22. Hi everybody... This is the second round of give-away for BRIL ROYAL BLUE I have 5 ink bottles (Plastic) - 25 ml filled with Bril Royal Blue. The review for the same is done here - LINK I am willing to give this to 5 people , only for International Friends as its locally easily available Kindly put in your names below and I will be choosing the people through random.org Below is the ink shot for your reference. Please check review for more depth.
  23. mehandiratta

    Ink Review - Krishna Ghat Green

    KRISHNA GHAT GREEN The review is simultaneously posted at my blog here : LINK Krishna Ghat Green In Indian Fountain Pen industry or Circles, Dr. Sreekumar is quite known for his hand-turned fountain pens and almost 20 types of nib tuning. However recently he has shelved in to making fountain pen inks under the brand name of KRISHNA. These inks are sold on eBay India Page for Rs. 550 (8 USD) each for 5 Nos. 30 ml ink bottle plus shipping. NOTE THAT NEW GLASS BOTTLES HAVE ARRIVED AND THIS WILL RESULT IN BIT OF PRICE INCREASE. The inks that are being produced are currently limited to 28 nos. : GOLD RUSH MEADOW GREEN BLUE MAGIC AFTER DARK SAPPHIRE BLUE LAKE BLUE BRONZE LEAF ORANGE CRUSH AUTUMN SINDHOOR GLORY VINE DARK ROSE NJAVAL WILD CHERRY PURPLE PEACOCK YELLOW VALLEY MELLOW BLUE VIVID VIOLET ORCHARD LILY DARK CHOCOLATE COOL BREEZE SILENT NIGHT SKY FORGET ME NOT SKY BLUE GHAT GREEN PUMPKIN GIRL PINK / BARBIE PINK (discontinued) Krishna Inks – Color Chart 1 Krishna Inks – Color Chart 2 I would like to thank Dr. Sreekumar for sending me the samples and also for the effort that he has put in. I will be reviewing all one by one. This review is about GHAT GREEN ink from KRISHNA. This is one of my favourite inks from the lot. Though Ink drying times were high, however new batch that he has release has massive improvement on ink drying times. Krishna Ink comes in plastic bottles in 30 ml quantity and new lot with INCREASED PRICES will come in glass bottles now. INK SPLASH Krishna Ghat Green – Ink Splash on JK Cedar 100 gsm Oh man I love this colour. Its fantastic. Also it shades subtly, however there is no sheen. DROP ON PAPER NAPKIN Krishna Ghat Green – Ink Drop on Paper Towel COLOR MATCH Krishna Ghat Green – Color Range WRITING SAMPLES Krishna Ghat Green – Writing Sample on JK Cedar 100 gsm Krishna Ghat Green – Writing Sample on JK Cedar 100 gsm – Angled View The ink even shades in fine & medium nib also as good as in stub nibs. INK SWABS Krishna Ghat Green – Ink Passes on JK Cedar Krishna Ghat Green – Ink Swab on Jk Cedar Krishna Ghat Green –Scribble on Jk Cedar WATERPROOF TEST Krishna Ghat Green – Waterproof Test Ink when rubbed with water gives away the colour, however it leaves behind dark lines which are still legible. So I can say its moderately waterproof. INK DRYING TIMES Krishna Ghat Green – Ink Drying Times Ink drying times are massive and I have informed the seller of the same. And he has confirmed me that the new current batch has less drying times of less than 30 sec. BLOW UP WRITING SAMPLES Krishna Ghat Green – Blow up Writing Sample on JK Cedar 100 gsm There is no feathering of this Ink as you can see from this close-up. CONCLUSION: I like the colour, this is absolute lovely colour. The closest ink with same colour that I can think of is R&K Alt-Goldgrun. The ink has amazing flow properties and is moderately lubricated as it writes amazing with my (bleep) nib of Guider Pen, its inexpensive, and yes it doesn't stain. Only hitch is Drying Times. Following are the summation of ink properties: Feathering : NoSheen : NoShading : ModerateLubrication : ModerateFlow : GoodWater Resistance : GoodDrying Times : Very HighNib Creep : NoneClogging : NoneOdor : None Ink can be bought from : LINK (Ebay India Store)
  24. mehandiratta

    Ink Review - Krishna Blue Magic

    KRISHNA BLUE MAGIC The review is simultaneously posted at my blog here : LINK In Indian Fountain Pen industry or Circles, Dr. Sreekumar is quite known for his hand-turned fountain pens and almost 20 types of nib tuning. However recently he has shelved in to making fountain pen inks under the brand name of KRISHNA. These inks are sold for Rs. 100 (1.5 USD) each for 30 ml ink bottle plus shipping. The inks that are being produced are currently limited to 28 nos. : GOLD RUSH MEADOW GREEN BLUE MAGIC AFTER DARK SAPPHIRE BLUE LAKE BLUE BRONZE LEAF ORANGE CRUSH AUTUMN SINDHOOR GLORY VINE DARK ROSE NJAVAL WILD CHERRY PURPLE PEACOCK YELLOW VALLEY MELLOW BLUE VIVID VIOLET ORCHARD LILY DARK CHOCOLATE COOL BREEZE SILENT NIGHT SKY FORGET ME NOT SKY BLUE GHAT GREEN PUMPKIN GIRL PINK Renamed as BARBIE PINK Krishna Inks – Color Chart 1 Krishna Inks – Color Chart 2 I would like to thank Dr. Sreekumar for sending me the samples and also for the effort that he has put in. I will be reviewing all one by one. This review is about BLUE MAGIC ink from KRISHNA. This is vibrant blue ink colour which I like. Ink needs improvement because it feathers even on good quality JK Cedar 100 gsm paper. And last when I heard it has been reformulated. Krishna Blue Magic - Ink Bottle Krishna Ink comes in plastic bottles in 30 ml quantity andthe procurement for better quality plastic bottles or probably glass bottles is already under way. And I believe thats the right direction to move forward. Update is that the the Glass bottles have been procured and new inks might come in glass bottles now. INK SPLASH Krishna Blue Magic – Ink Splash on JK Cedar 100 gsm There is no sheen on the ink even if there is any ink pooling and rather you can see more of the feathering. DROP ON PAPER NAPKIN Krishna Blue Magic – Ink Drop on Paper Towel COLOR MATCH Krishna Blue Magic – Colour Range WRITING SAMPLES Krishna Blue Magic – Writing Sample on JK Cedar 100 gsm Krishna Blue Magic – Writing Sample on JK Cedar 100 gsm – Angled View There ink has very slight shading and ink flows quite well and is not that lubricated. INK SWABS Krishna Blue Magic – Ink Passes on JK Cedar Krishna Blue Magic – Ink Swab on JK Cedar WATERPROOF TEST Krishna Blue Magic – Waterproof Test The ink is not at all water resistant. INK DRYING TIMES Krishna Blue Magic – Ink Drying Times Ink drying times are just above 25 seconds. I can live with that. BLOW UP WRITING SAMPLES Krishna Blue Magic – Blow up Writing Sample on JK Cedar 100 gsm CONCLUSION: I like the colour, only if it would have resistance to feathering. Sailor Souten and Iroshizuku KonPeki are way better inks when it comes to sheen, feathering and shading however they are very expensive. However I have also heard from Dr. Sreekumar that this ink is being reformulated. Following are the summation of ink properties: Feathering : YesSheen : NoShading : Very LowLubrication : LowFlow : MediumWater Resistance : BadDrying Times : MediumNib Creep : NoneClogging : NoneOdor : NoneInk can be bought from : LINK (Ebay India Store)
  25. mehandiratta

    Ink Review - Krishna Dark Rose

    KRISHNA DARK ROSE The review is simultaneously posted at my blog here : LINK In Indian Fountain Pen industry or Circles, Dr. Sreekumar is quite known for his hand-turned fountain pens and almost 20 types of nib tuning. However recently he has shelved in to making fountain pen inks under the brand name of KRISHNA. These inks are sold for Rs. 100 (1.5 USD) each for 30 ml ink bottle plus shipping. The inks that are being produced are currently limited to 28 nos. : GOLD RUSH MEADOW GREEN BLUE MAGIC AFTER DARK SAPPHIRE BLUE LAKE BLUE BRONZE LEAF ORANGE CRUSH AUTUMN SINDHOOR GLORY VINE DARK ROSE NJAVAL WILD CHERRY PURPLE PEACOCK YELLOW VALLEY MELLOW BLUE VIVID VIOLET ORCHARD LILY DARK CHOCOLATE COOL BREEZE SILENT NIGHT SKY FORGET ME NOT SKY BLUE GHAT GREEN PUMPKIN GIRL PINK Krishna Inks – Color Chart 1 Krishna Inks – Color Chart 2 I would like to thank Dr. Sreekumar for sending me the samples and also for the effort that he has put in. I will be reviewing all one by one. This review is about DARK ROSE ink from KRISHNA. And this is absolutely one of the top in my favourite ink category of Krishna Inks. Krishna Dark Rose - Ink Bottle Krishna Ink comes in plastic bottles in 30 ml quantity andthe procurement for better quality plastic bottles or probably glass bottles is already under way. And I believe thats the right direction to move forward. INK SPLASH Krishna Dark Rose – Ink Splash on JK Cedar 100 gsm There is no sheen on the ink even if there is any ink pooling. DROP ON PAPER NAPKIN Krishna Dark Rose – Ink Drop on Paper Towel COLOR MATCH Krishna Dark Rose – Colour Range WRITING SAMPLES Krishna Dark Rose – Writing Sample on JK Cedar 100 gsm Krishna Dark Rose – Writing Sample on JK Cedar 100 gsm – Angled View There ink has slight shading and it is visible only in stub calligraphy nibs. INK SWABS Krishna Dark Rose – Ink Passes on JK Cedar Krishna Dark Rose – Ink Swab on JK Cedar WATERPROOF TEST Krishna Dark Rose – Waterproof Test The ink is bit resistant to water and even after the rubbing with water vigorously there were still line visible. INK DRYING TIMES Krishna Dark Rose – Ink Drying Times Ink drying times are just below 25 seconds. Which is good, compared to Bronze Leaf ink. BLOW UP WRITING SAMPLES Krishna Dark Rose – Blow up Writing Sample on JK Cedar 100 gsm CONCLUSION: I like the colour, however I would have loved it more if it has more shading properties. Following are the summation of ink properties: Feathering : NoSheen : NoShading : LowLubrication : MediumFlow : HighWater Resistance : GoodDrying Times : MediumNib Creep : NoneClogging : NoneOdor : None Ink can be bought from : LINK (Ebay India Store)





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