Looking for some Indian fountain pens here. Need a reliable writer for long writing sessions and an ef nib. What do you guys recommend? Would prefer them if they're not too huge.
Looking for some Indian fountain pens here. Need a reliable writer for long writing sessions and an ef nib. What do you guys recommend? Would prefer them if they're not too huge.
Try Ranga https://rangapens.com/about-us
Beautiful craftsmanship, very fair prices, excellent communications, will do custom work, variety of nibs, nice ebonite colors particularly the premium ebonites, and very good people.
I have three pens waiting to be shipped as soon as the Indian lockdown lets up about May 1st. Worth waiting for.
Lloyd (April 10th, 2020)
Most Ranga pens are large. But, I love mine.
I use a fountain pen and a paper planner - paperinkplan.wordpress.com
Without numerical dimensions, it's hard to know what you consider "too huge." Countrydirt is correct that most Ranga pens are on the large-ish size, but that's part of the nature of things when you're getting a hand-crafted pen. I heartily add my endorsement for Ranga as well. I've bought several and given many of them away as gifts. The ebonite 3C I have is one of my favorite, most comfortable writers. As an eyedropper, it holds ~4ml; plenty of ink for a long writing session. Ranga frequently does group buys over at FPN, so if you can afford to be patient you'll get an even better deal. They are definitely worth waiting for.
I would also recommend ASA Pens. Their "Genius" model is a great pen, and I've read several positive reviews for their "I Can." They do not offer the nib selections that Ranga does, however.
Best of luck.
Last edited by Dreck; April 8th, 2020 at 08:43 PM. Reason: ἐν Ρ᾿λύῃ οῖκου ἀυτοῦ Κύτυλυ νεκρός κε
Online arguments are a lot like the Rocky Horror Picture Show.
As soon as the audience begins to participate, any actual content is lost in the resulting chaos and cacophony.
At that point, all you can do is laugh and enjoy the descent into debasement.
Teri at Peyton Street Pens has a nice selection of Rangas, and she makes a selection of nibs available for them, including inlaid Sheaffer nibs from the '60s and '70s, which are great nibs but look a little weird on an ebonite Ranga, I think. Totally subjective, of course, and I'm sure they'd be amazing writers. Worth checking out, anyway. I don't have a Ranga, but I've thought about getting one more than once. Right now, though, I have plenty of pens and ink and stuff, and with the future so uncertain and foreboding, I'm pinching my pennies.
Quid rides? Mutato nomine de te fabula narratur. — Horace
(What are you laughing at? Just change the name and the joke’s on you.)
For anybody interested in fountain pens from India, here is a wonderful video. Someone else on FPG posted it a while back, but I can't remember where, so I hunted it down:
Quid rides? Mutato nomine de te fabula narratur. — Horace
(What are you laughing at? Just change the name and the joke’s on you.)
Adit (April 11th, 2020), bugsydog55 (December 2nd, 2020), Cyril (August 26th, 2021), dneal (May 16th, 2020), Niels (October 11th, 2020), SlowMovingTarget (July 11th, 2021)
FPR has an interesting selection of pens which tend to be normal sized. Noodler's pens are made in India. Legends are that ASA pens take custom orders regarding the size of their pens.
Fountain Pen Revolution https://fprevolutionusa.com/is having a 20% sale sitewide now through Monday, April 13th at midnight.
I've ordered an ebonite Himalaya V1 some time back and found it to be a good pen. I replaced the nib with a 1.1 Jowo stub and use it with ESSRI. It's a good pen and I wouldn't hesitate to buy another.
However, yesterday I found a Guider Ebonite Fountain Pen with Schmidt Upgrade for $51.00. I've never tried a Guider and this is a good price with a good nib. Plus free shipping.
FPR also has a few Ranga pens that may be of interest.
I've found FPR to offer very good service and Kevin the owner is glad to have you for a customer and appreciates your business. Kevin also has several videos on Youtube that you can learn more about FPR.
I hope this helps.
Cheers,
Sg
I have an FPR Darjeeling on order - orange with black ends. It has the steel EF ultraflex nib. I am prepared to be disappointed - not in the pen, I hasten to add - but modern flex nibs never quite make it, in my experience. Given how little it costs it won't be a big disappointment and if it really does flex well and snaps back nicely, it will be a cause for celebration! I'll be sure to let you know.
I've had several Indian pens over the years, Rangas and others. They've all been good pens and the Indian-made nibs are good.
Detman101 (August 31st, 2020)
I would recommend all of the above, and add Krishna pens:
- Normal ebonites, and also lacquered ones;
- Nib tunning: Dr Sreekumar was a well reputed nib meister, prior to start doing pens;
- The nib tunning is great - he can make the most horrible indian nib (such as oliver), into a wonderful smoothy one;
- His ED never burp.
No connection, or interest - I have been a regular costumer for many years, now.
Those Krisna pens are beautiful. Thanks for the heads-up.
You are welcome, sgphoto.
I want to also recommend Ranga. Also, if you find a model you like, and you find it to be too large, all you have to do is contact them directly and ask them to scale it down for you. I did with a Model 5. I liked the shape but it was too large for me, and they worked with me and didn't charge me anything extra to do so. I think it was about $55.00 all told. Maybe $60. I also have a slim Bamboo I bought from Teri at Peyton Street Pens. It is quite a nice writer and a good size for me.
Lady Onogaro
"Be yourself--everybody else is already taken." --Oscar Wilde
The Indian pen market is vast. My recommendation is to first decide what exactly you're looking for. For example, do you prioritize finishing over price, preference between ebonite or plastic, ED vs CC etc. Think about this and PM me with specifics.
Now since you said you need a reliable pen, I'm assuming you mean one that doesn't burp. This could be done either by getting a nib unit instead of a friction fit nib or heat set your friction fit nib to its ebonite feed. I've never had a heat set nib and feed leak on me except if the ink level was exceptionally low. Indian pens have one main kryptonite and that is their trims. Most of their fittings look and feel a bit flimsy and poorly finished IMO. Also many brands do not finish their pens exceptionally well (there are some exceptions to this).
Indian pens come in the ED only configuration, or a CC configuration that takes both cartridges and converters and can also be EDed. A ED only pen will be the least expensive and will come with an Indian made nib (I recommend you to get the Kanwrite brand). Also, an Indian fine is as fine as a European extra fine in my experience. The CC version can be threaded for JoWo, Schmidt, Bock or even Kanwrite nib units. I also believe that Kanwrite now makes nib units that fit the JoWo or Bock threading.
I have quite some experience with owning and modding enough Indian pens that I feel I can paint a broad stroke across most of the brands I've tried:
Kanwrite: They make their own nibs. They have widths from EEF to BB with all the usual grinds available. You can get their own pens which are acceptable for the price and offer good value. Or if their pens are not your thing, you could ask other pen makers to thread sections for Kanwrite's nibs and units.
Guider: A bit challenging to communicate with, since he usually understands you but fails to reply as clearly. But once you figure that part out, there's no kidding with his pens. I find Guider pens to be really well made with good finishing. He offers both ED only (Guider's stock nibs are really bad) and CC filling that take a Schmidt unit. You could get a nib unit of your choice to him and he should gladly thread your section for that. His pens are well priced too.
Gama: Available through ASA pens. A wide range of sizes for you to choose from, Gama pens are usually made of ebonite and are ED configured. They are acceptable in terms of finishing and are priced a bit more than Guider but still fall in the inexpensive category.
ASA pens: He is a custom pen maker, so you could specify what exactly you want and he would try his best to accommodate your requests. The finishing ranges from acceptable to good. The prices are good for what you get.
Ranga Pens: One of the pricier options, but you've got a whole rainbow of materials to choose from and a wide range of models too. They too customize as per your needs so feel free to ask them what you want. The pens are good in terms of finishing.
Krishna Pens: Really well made pens with well tuned nibs. Dr Sreekumar's finishing is excellent and prices are fair too. But I would take the non burping ED claim with a grain of salt as I've received two pens brought from him to be heat set because they leaked. The one caveat with him is the LONG waitlist. He is also a doctor and turns pens more out of hobby and passion so he has a huge backlog.
Lotus Pens: This is one of the premiere pen makers in India. Mr Arun Singhi makes exceptionally well made pens with great finishing and in a plethora of materials. He can also do a totally custom pen or even turn a pen with an existing design from another maker if you can provide him the dimensions. Priced higher than a lot of Indian brands, his pens do fall tend towards the expensive side but they are worth the price.
Fosfor Pens: Again, one of the premiere pen makers in India. Mr Manoj Deshmukh turns amazing fountain pens and offer a LOT more value than what they cost. But he too has a huge waitlist.
Edit 1:
Deccan pens: I forgot about them. I have two Advocates and they are really well made. They are also well balanced. Their production is a bit stagnant since their main and AFAIK only pen maker was sick. I really do want more of these because everything about them is just right.
Last edited by Adit; April 11th, 2020 at 04:33 AM.
amk (April 10th, 2020), azkid (April 10th, 2020), bugsydog55 (December 2nd, 2020), catbert (April 10th, 2020), damfino (September 21st, 2020), elaineb (May 7th, 2020), Lady Onogaro (April 10th, 2020), sgphoto (April 10th, 2020), VertOlive (June 29th, 2020), welch (May 24th, 2020), WLSpec (July 16th, 2020), Yazeh (July 27th, 2020)
Nice review of Indian pen makers. Thanks.
I have a couple of Deccan and really love them, but I am told they are difficult to get hold of unless you actually go to Hyderabad to see what's in stock.
Ranga are great, and you can ask for some customisation; ASA I like a lot, and they're very responsive if you want/don't want a clip, want a different colour nib, whatever; and Fosfor I've ordered a custom pen from and really enjoyed the process, including pictures of how things were progressing. I've also bought Guider via Fountain Pen Revolution - the Zimbo is a stunning pen though I'm not sure if they have the yellow or transparent red ones any more.
Two pens I particularly love - Ranga bamboo and ASA Nauka (I've ordered my third!). The smaller bamboo is large enough for me, the big one is big enough to use as a truncheon!
sgphoto (April 10th, 2020)
Well, it is a lotery. I have never had a problem with any Krishna EDs.
Fosfor - My only pen had the section made, because it broke after only one refill. The second section does not fit the pen; I have used my pen during one filling, tht is all. But the majority of people had no problems at all with their Fosfor pens. Like I said, it is a lotery, sometimes.
Guiders are great, indeed but difficult to get, unless someone in India eases the comunication with them.
Kanwrite have indeed great nibs - their flex one is super - but poor pen material.
Oh, yes, amk is right - Deccans are superbe pens.
Last edited by fountainpagan; April 10th, 2020 at 12:21 PM.
sgphoto (May 1st, 2020)
Doesn't Camlin make good stuff anymore? Surprising that no one is recommending them. They were the standard pens in use during my school days.
I just acquired a Noodler's Ahab last month. Great pen and writes very well. But I had to do a few things to get rid of the smell.
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