Questions About Ratnam 302 (Or 21?)

September 27, 2016

Good day,

I'm thinking about getting a Ratnam 302 in the hooded nib configuration. There is a seller here in the classifieds (no affiliation) who sells them to international customers like me. I've also found that this member has been selling these pens (and also the "Supreme" model) for quite some years. The price seems very reasonable to me and seems to have been the same for years.

However, I'm on the fence. First of all, I would like to get the pen fitted with a steel italic nib. I wonder if the seller can make this happen 1.1mm (or slightly larger) would be perfect. Also, if the seller says he can't procure an italic nib like that, I suppose I could grind one for myself. Could someone maybe tell me the measurements for such a nib?

The other thing I wonder about is the production quality. Some of my Indian pens are great, while some others were a bit of a letdown (We know how it goes). Could someone give me something like a general statement of what to expect from this model pen? (I know, it's a vague request. Sorry)

As I said, I'm on the fence....

Any kind of information would be appreciated.

Edited September 27, 2016 by mike.jane

September 27, 2016

I have a Ratnam, can't remember the model number though. It is middle of the road for Indian ebonite pens -- nice but the nib is nothing special. I would recommend Ranga. They are high quality and I think they could get you a JoWo 1.1. Of all my Indian ebonite pens, the Rangas, mostly model 3C, are in regular use, while the others not so much.

Edited September 27, 2016 by J_MM

September 28, 2016

Good day,

I'm thinking about getting a Ratnam 302 in the hooded nib configuration. There is a seller here in the classifieds (no affiliation) who sells them to international customers like me. I've also found that this member has been selling these pens (and also the "Supreme" model) for quite some years. The price seems very reasonable to me and seems to have been the same for years.

However, I'm on the fence. First of all, I would like to get the pen fitted with a steel italic nib. I wonder if the seller can make this happen 1.1mm (or slightly larger) would be perfect. Also, if the seller says he can't procure an italic nib like that, I suppose I could grind one for myself. Could someone maybe tell me the measurements for such a nib?

The other thing I wonder about is the production quality. Some of my Indian pens are great, while some others were a bit of a letdown (We know how it goes). Could someone give me something like a general statement of what to expect from this model pen? (I know, it's a vague request. Sorry)

As I said, I'm on the fence....
Any kind of information would be appreciated.

I have a Ratnamson 21 hooded pen as well as the Ratnamson 302 (not the hooded version). The 302 is perfect size for my hand while the 21 is a little small. I'm interested in the 302 hooded but Ashish is out of stock at the moment. I might either sell the 21 or exchange it for a larger Indian fountain pen.

You may have to get the pen with a stock nib and have someone customize it to your liking or find another nib. I usually buy the stock Indian pens and then find a better nib/feed for them later. Hope this helps.

September 28, 2016

Thank you (both of you). Indeed I saw that the 21 is a bit smaller. I'm probably not going to gun for that one.

In a way it's a good thing that -as you say- the seller might be out of stock right now. This gives me time to move some of my daily users around a bit first (these candidates all happen to be Indian, too) After I've done that it might, somewhat sort of feel like I'm actually using fewer pen (... so -as it goes- one could be inclined to add one more)

Could I ask you (both of you) about the colours of the pens you have? I think I will go for the green/black. I just hope the green won't be very dark.

Thanks.