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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.

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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.

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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.

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Guider Acrylic Medium – Capped

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Guider Acrylic Medium – Uncapped

The cap clip has conical dome shaped crown above the clip band in the same acrylic.

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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.

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Guider Acrylic Medium – Uncapped : Close-up showing the clip in vintage Parker style

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Guider Acrylic Medium – Cap Top View Showing Branding on arrow clip

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Guider Acrylic Medium – Cap Side View showing the centre-bands

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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:

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Guider Acrylic Medium vs Jinhao X-750 vs Lamy Safari – Capped

img_20160316_084150.jpg?w=1000

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.

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Guider Acrylic Medium – Writing Unposted

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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.

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Guider Acrylic Medium – Weight without the cap and with ink filled

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Guider Acrylic Medium – Weight with the cap and with ink filled

Few Specifications of the pens are as follows:

 

  • Length of Pen – Capped = 146 mm
  • Length of Pen – Uncapped including nib = 125 mm
  • Length of Grip Section = 18 mm
  • Length of Barrel = 91 mm
  • Length of Pen – Cap Posted = 173 mm
  • Dia. 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 g
  • Weight 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.

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Guider Acrylic Medium – Nib Unit Top View

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Guider Acrylic Medium – Nib Unit Side View

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Guider Acrylic Medium – Nib Unit Underside View

The pen holds approx around 2 ml , an advantage being of an eyedropper fill mechanism.

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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:

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Guider Acrylic Medium – Handwritten Review -Page 1

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Guider Acrylic Medium – Handwritten Review -Page 2

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Guider Acrylic Medium – Handwritten Review -Page 3

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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:

  1. Classic Design
  2. Well Finished
  3. Beautiful Acrylic Material
  4. Lot of Ink Capacity

What I don’t Like:

  1. Bad Steel Nib

 

For other posts kindly check my blog : mehandiratta

vaibhav mehandiratta

architect & fountain pen connoisseur

 

blog | instagram | twitter

 

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Hi Vaibhav,

 

Beautiful pen and wonderful review. Thanks for sharing.

 

Guider seems to have access to exquisite acrylic materials and their egg shaped pens using those materials are really great lookers. But these pens are hampered by the same issues that plague others - poor quality trims, simple feeds and nibs that leave a lot to be desired. I wish they could address these issues and truly let their workmanship shine through.

 

Regards,

 

Prithwijit

Edited by Prithwijit

Click here to check out my reviews

 

Fosfor Rajendran | ASA Santulan | Ranga Sugarcane | ASA Sniper | Fosfor Heather | ASA I-Will | Hero Glorious | ASA Azaadi | Fosfor Islander | ASA Halwa | ASA Macaw | ASA Namenlos | ASA Bheeshma

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A very beautiful pen and a wonderful, detailed review. Thank you!

...............................................................

We Are Our Ancestors’ Wildest Dreams

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Hi Vaibhav,

 

Beautiful pen and wonderful review. Thanks for sharing.

 

Guider seems to have access to exquisite acrylic materials and their egg shaped pens using those materials are really great lookers. But these pens are hampered by the same issues that plague others - poor quality trims, simple feeds and nibs that leave a lot to be desired. I wish they could address these issues and truly let their workmanship shine through.

 

Regards,

 

Prithwijit

You won't believe this.. When I asked them about using better nibs.. They replied that they don't have demand for a other nibs..

 

Well yes they have option of aeromatric converter..

vaibhav mehandiratta

architect & fountain pen connoisseur

 

blog | instagram | twitter

 

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Excellent review! I like that you included the history of the pen company too.

Glad you liked it

vaibhav mehandiratta

architect & fountain pen connoisseur

 

blog | instagram | twitter

 

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A very beautiful pen and a wonderful, detailed review. Thank you!

Thank you for going through the review

vaibhav mehandiratta

architect & fountain pen connoisseur

 

blog | instagram | twitter

 

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Brilliant Vaibhab, another superb review..the nib they provide is always disappointing..you have done a quite good job with that grinding..it has done a real justice to your classical handwriting..

Edited by Sagarb

Sagar Bhowmick

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Excellent review. What ink is shown?

Krishna Ghat Green. REVIEW

 

Brilliant Vaibhab, another superb review..the nib they provide is always disappointing..you have done a quite good job with that grinding..it has done a real justice to your classical handwriting..

Thank you dada... thank you so much for the appreciation...

vaibhav mehandiratta

architect & fountain pen connoisseur

 

blog | instagram | twitter

 

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Excellent review, thanks for taking the time and effort, beautiful pen and magnificent writing samples. Warm regards,

Photios

- Kaigelu 316 Modification (250 #6 Bock Nib / Beaufort Ink Converter)
- Titanium Bock Nib - Kaigelu 316 - Beaufort Ink

- Bock Rollerball Nib In Jinhao 886 Pen - Beaufort Ink Converter

- No affiliation with pen industry, just a pen hobbyist.

- It matters what you write, only for us it matters what we write it with.

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What a beautiful pen !

Congrats Vaibhav and thanks a lot for review and superb pictures as well

Regards,

Baaz

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Beautiful acrylic, and an excellent review. With your photographic skills and handwriting, I don't see any need to provide a typed copy of your text. It is much more pleasant to read your hand-written version, and your photos allow the pen to speak for itself.

I am sorry you had problems with the nib. Some of the Indian nibs I've received recently have been so good that I had forgotten that it has been a problem.

Thanks for the whole package!

ron

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Excellent review, thanks for taking the time and effort, beautiful pen and magnificent writing samples. Warm regards,

Photios

thank you... and I love it when amazing people like you and others who appreciate the pen and the review...

thank you again...

 

What a beautiful pen !

Congrats Vaibhav and thanks a lot for review and superb pictures as well

Regards,

Baaz

thank you baaz.... I am waiting on your mohi pens review ... there must be new hoard...??

vaibhav mehandiratta

architect & fountain pen connoisseur

 

blog | instagram | twitter

 

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Beautiful acrylic, and an excellent review. With your photographic skills and handwriting, I don't see any need to provide a typed copy of your text. It is much more pleasant to read your hand-written version, and your photos allow the pen to speak for itself.

I am sorry you had problems with the nib. Some of the Indian nibs I've received recently have been so good that I had forgotten that it has been a problem.

Thanks for the whole package!

ron

Huge compliment... I am really obliged...

vaibhav mehandiratta

architect & fountain pen connoisseur

 

blog | instagram | twitter

 

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