Camlin Cute

[kethiemann]

Camlin is one of India's oldest and most well known fountain pen and ink manufacturers. They also produce a wide range of other office and art supplies. This review is of a model called the Camlin Cute.

 

The Cute is one of Camlin's shortest pens in length and yet has a decent girth to it. It measures a mere 4.4" (11.2 cm) closed and 5.5" (13.9cm) open with cap on the end. The width measures 1/3" (9mm) at the section. The pen comes in maroon, navy blue, green, black and teal as shown.

 

 

 

 

The Cute has a petite nib that writes fine with an ebonite feed. The nib is imprinted "Camlin Tipped Fine" The section is threaded very nicely so as to prevent any ink leakage, though I would still suggest the application of a little silicone grease to the threads.

 

 

 

 

It is eye dropper filled, which means the body is all one piece and does not disassemble. If you are new to eye dropper pens and need some help filling one you can check out this article or watch this

.

 

 

 

 

The cap is one of most distinctive features and definitely deserves the name "cute". It is printed "Camlin Cute" on the ring. The cap disassembles easily in case the clip gets bent out of shape. Another interesting feature is that the end of the pen is threaded so that the cap screws onto the end instead of just sliding on.

 

[hari317]

The Cute is a nice little pen, thanks for reviewing it.

 

Some times I find that the section bore is out of round thus leading to a loose fit of the nib and feed to the section leading to a tendency to blot, but for this issue it is a good pen.

 

Best

Hari

Edited February 21, 2012 by hari317

[cjabbott]

I like my Camlin cute. A nice short pen for shirts with small pockets, but the girth makes it quite comfy to use posted.

[nitnop]

Thanks for those links on filling an eyedropper pen.

Most informative.

[The Royal Pen]

To be honest I don't like the look to the nib. Oh well, the barrel and cap are beautiful!

[akrishna59]

the cute is a cute pen as its name says. it is short but has a good comfortable section of normal width. it looks nice, i need to post the cap for writing with it as the barrel is slightly short for my hand. once posted you have a nice pen of normal dimensions. unposted it will suit people with small hands and ladies, posted it will suit almost anybody other than those horrible people who need viking battleaxes as their pens.

 

and camlin pens have always been great writers, i can vouch for it after twenty five years of writing with them.

 

rgds.

 

krishna.

Edited February 21, 2012 by akrishna59

[Toolattack]

Thanks for this review, I have not seen this pen before.

[robofkent]

I've just ordered two of these

[akrishna59]

I've just ordered two of these

 

pls. do let us know how you feel about them when they are delivered. maybe you can even write a review, if you have the time.

 

rgds.

 

krishna.

[robofkent]

I've just ordered two of these

 

pls. do let us know how you feel about them when they are delivered. maybe you can even write a review, if you have the time.

 

rgds.

 

krishna.

 

Well they just arrived this afternoon. My first impression was that they thoroughly deserve their name - they are very cute. Despite their shortness in length, they have a very nice girth and if posted, they fit comfortably in my hand.

 

The cap unscrews and can be screwed on to the end of the barell when writing - which is handy as you wouldn't be able to lose it.

 

The nib is tiny, but I think this adds to the overall character of the pen and it lays down a very nice wet fine line.

 

It is an eyedropper fill but as it so short only took a couple of pipette fills and it started writing immediately without any problems.

 

All in all a very "cute pen" for a very small price and put together with the excellent service at fountainpenrevolution.com and it is a winning package.

[Genova Blues]

Also I have just ordered two of these along with Chelpark turquoise and green inks

 

Very interesting, worth to try ...

 

Sergio

[Genova Blues]

Also I have just ordered two of these along with Chelpark turquoise and green inks

 

Very interesting, worth to try ...

 

Sergio

 

I received them lask week and I am a bit disappointed.

 

I inked the teal one with Chelpark turquoise blue: I had some troubles in priming it; then I tested it on a sheet of printer paper and here is what happened (and it still happens): the pen starts writing a nice, thin, wet line ... that starves after a while!

I have to wait for some time (say 30 - 60 seconds) and then the pen starts to write again, then stops and starts another time after having waited the time I said before.

 

Someone has any suggestion? That is puzzling me ...

 

Sergio

[mhguda]

Have you cleaned them out before using? Specifically, soaking in water with a little dish detergent and maybe a drop of household ammonia added, then thoroughly rinsing and blowing clean water through the section with a syringe? If yes, you might want to take out the nib and feed, and clean out any gunk from the feed... I found that for most of my Indian pens, that improves the flow significantly. Also, priming the feed by turning the pen upside down while screwing in the section - preferably over your ink bottle! - seems to help.

Good luck and let us know what solution you find...

[Genova Blues]

Have you cleaned them out before using? Specifically, soaking in water with a little dish detergent and maybe a drop of household ammonia added, then thoroughly rinsing and blowing clean water through the section with a syringe? If yes, you might want to take out the nib and feed, and clean out any gunk from the feed... I found that for most of my Indian pens, that improves the flow significantly. Also, priming the feed by turning the pen upside down while screwing in the section - preferably over your ink bottle! - seems to help.

Good luck and let us know what solution you find...

 

Hi mhguda, thanks for your suggestion.

 

I always ink eyedroppers pens complying with Kevin's hints on his site (fountain pen revolution), ending the screwing in of the section with the nib down over ink bottle.

 

As suggested today by Kevin himself, this evening I dismantled the nib and feed of my Cute, washed them both and, helding the feeder, I passed several times the tip of a cutter along the slits in the feeder and then tried to make the blade's edge to gently slither and scrape the slits' sides; then I washed everything and cleaned with an old toothbrush.

 

To test I filled an entire A4 page with close serpentine signs and I did not have any trouble.

I will make the Cute rest for the whole night and try tomorrow morning before going to work: I will let you know.

 

I had this trouble twice before with a couple of Airmails in a lot of three that I bought; the only difference was that after starving they did not start any more; in each of the previous cases I always solved extracting nib and feed and passing the blade of my cutter along the two slits on the ebonite feeder (without apparently remove anything on the sides), then reassembling everything after a quick wash, restoring ink level and priming again: now I am a happy owner of three of the smoothest pens I ever used (shall they beat my beloved Aurora Ypsilon ...? ).

 

Thanks a lot

 

Sergio

 

Update - 11 november 2012 (morning): I tested the pen again, it just had a slight of weak start (may the ink have dried a bit, the nib is very thin), but went on flawlessly.

Edited December 11, 2012 by ser.rep