Ezhuthani - Desk Pen From Gama

[prasadvenkat]

Hi all,

After reading a lot about the Gama pens on here, I visited the ASAPens site and found a nice desk pen by Gama called Ezhuthani. It's the Tamil word for Stylus or Desk pen

It looked like a dip pen but is an eyedropper filling pen.

 

My other purchases from ASA (no affiliation) were the regular Gama fountain pens, reviews of which are plentiful on this forum.

 

As always, excellent service from Mr. Subramaniam and I received the pen in 3 days time.

 

It came packed in a lovely velvety pouch. I ordered a Light Brown and black mottled shade. Absolutely gorgeous to look at. The stock nib with the pen was a steel fine nib Gama FIVE.

 

I pulled the pen apart and was immediately taken back with the size of the feed. This pen has a LONG LONG feed.

I am not sure about the design aspect of this but in all the Gama pens I have, the feed sticks out of the section and into the barrel.

Cleaned out the parts and inked it up with some Camel Black Ink.

 

I had a dip pen made by Ranga before to take a Nikko G nib. I wanted to try a flex nib on this pen too. The only nib that fit without any modifications to the nib or pen was a Gillot 303.

I didn't do any writing with the standard nib that came with the pen, so I can't really comment on the way it writes.

 

A few pictures:

 

http://i.imgur.com/dIesEoJ.jpg

The pouch packing

 

 

http://i.imgur.com/Wl07M4D.jpg

 

 

 

 

http://i.imgur.com/u0kCLfA.jpg

The pen with the stock nib

 

 

http://i.imgur.com/qajXPQa.jpg

The humongous feed

 

 

http://i.imgur.com/nh0tZJd.jpg

Fitted with the Gillot 303 nib

 

 

http://i.imgur.com/nNXDLzF.jpg

 

 

This is a Wonderful pen and works beautifully with a Gillot nib.

 

[watch_art]

That's really cool! And your handwriting is really nice. I especially like your capital F.

[hari317]

very nice review Prasadvenkat. I have been eyeing this pen but did not dare to buy it so far, but your review makes me want to take the plunge. lets see...

[Scribblesoften]

Excellent review, wonderful handwriting. Hmmm I have a couple of the 303 nibs floating around here somewhere.

[ac12]

Good idea, but I would be concerned about the nib.

Dip pen nibs are not meant to be kept wet.

Except for the few stainless steel and chrome plated nibs, all the others will probably rust.

[prasadvenkat]

That's really cool! And your handwriting is really nice. I especially like your capital F.

 

Thanks watch_art,

I am able to write better with a thicker nib like the G nibs. Still learning the control on a finer Gillot.

 

very nice review Prasadvenkat. I have been eyeing this pen but did not dare to buy it so far, but your review makes me want to take the plunge. lets see...

 

Thanks Hari,

It's a wonderful pen. From what I have read about your dealings with Mr.Subramaniam and Gama, I am sure you can ask them to make something like this to accept one of your better nibs. It looks wonderful as a desk pen. It's just been a day or so that the pen is on my table and I already have eyes popping and curiosity piquing of the visitors to my office.

[prasadvenkat]

Good idea, but I would be concerned about the nib.

Dip pen nibs are not meant to be kept wet.

Except for the few stainless steel and chrome plated nibs, all the others will probably rust.

That's very true ac12,

I just wanted to do a test to see if the dip pen nib would work with a continuous feed of ink. It seems to have worked. I just have to try to find a similar flex nib in non-corrosive metal and request the pen maker to modify the size of the holders slightly to accept the nibs.

 

It is quite easy and fast to swap out nibs. I would probably keep the normal stock nib in the pen most of the time and just swap it out with a Gillot for when I want to practice my calligraphy. A little tedious , but quite an economical option.

Edited June 1, 2014 by prasadvenkat

[hari317]

 

I am sure you can ask them to make something like this to accept one of your better nibs. It looks wonderful as a desk pen. It's just been a day or so that the pen is on my table and I already have eyes popping and curiosity piquing of the visitors to my office.

 

I shot off an email to ASApens.in as soon as i read your review, requesting some measurements. Unfortunately only the smaller nib unit will barely fit in and the narrow barrel precludes the use of a cartridge or converter.

 

I find a desk pen very practical. I use a Pilot desk pen mounted on a matching air tight pen stand from Platinum.

[grainweevil]

Thank you for the review, prasadvenkat! I've been wondering about this one; its slimmer form is more my kind of pen size compared to the majority of the large-girthed Gama pens. Very interesting that it'll take a 303 (beautiful handwriting, by the way), but yes, too bad about the G nib. I hope you will report back with any progress you make in that regard.

 

Cheers, Al

[prasadvenkat]

Thank you for the review, prasadvenkat! I've been wondering about this one; its slimmer form is more my kind of pen size compared to the majority of the large-girthed Gama pens. Very interesting that it'll take a 303 (beautiful handwriting, by the way), but yes, too bad about the G nib. I hope you will report back with any progress you make in that regard.

 

Cheers, Al

Thanks Al

The pen size is wonderful to write with. The section tapers from 10mm to about 8 mm. The hole drilled for the feed and nib is just under 5mm. A G nib needs a slightly larger diameter, if it is to fit without any modification. So I think it would be a little difficult to accommodate that size.

 

I had another pen made by Ranga, which was primarily a dip pen but had a feed attached. It wrote much longer than a normal dip but obviously not as much as this one.

 

If you like writing calligraphy you can try that pen.

 

This pen is just fine for a small no.5 nib and I am sure you can swap out the stock nib with one that you prefer to use.

 

By the way, lovely wood-working. Especially loved the Welsh Stick Chair

[disillusion]

 

The railroading you experience with the larger writing is probably quite normal, I had that when I used my Serwex 101 as a holder for the Gillott 303 as well, especially when I try to do an x-height of over 5mm. Mine seemed to flow a little better but it could be the ink. Would the long feed be a problem because the ink has to travel a longer distance? Perhaps you can try to widen the channel on the feed to see if it improves flow.

If you want to try a Chinese-made stainless steel G-type nib, drop me a PM.

 

Congratulations on the improvement of your handwriting, and you have a very beautiful pen there!

Edited June 2, 2014 by disillusion

[grainweevil]

The hole drilled for the feed and nib is just under 5mm. A G nib needs a slightly larger diameter, if it is to fit without any modification. So I think it would be a little difficult to accommodate that size.

 

I suppose I was wondering idly whether Gem & Co could be persuaded that a slightly adjusted model that was designed to take a G nib might be commercially viable. Assuming it's possible. Or better still (from my selfish perspective!) a regular pen of similar diameter rather than a desk pen. Ah, now that would be something. But enough dreaming.

 

And thank you for the compliment - that chair nearly killed me in the making, but it was excellent fun to do.

 

Now I go before all this gorgeous handwriting makes me despair of my own efforts. Note to self: Practice!

 

Cheers, Al

[hari317]

 

I suppose I was wondering idly whether Gem & Co could be persuaded that a slightly adjusted model that was designed to take a G nib might be commercially viable. Assuming it's possible. Or better still (from my selfish perspective!) a regular pen of similar diameter rather than a desk pen. Ah, now that would be something. But enough dreaming.

 

And thank you for the compliment - that chair nearly killed me in the making, but it was excellent fun to do.

 

Now I go before all this gorgeous handwriting makes me despair of my own efforts. Note to self: Practice!

 

Cheers, Al

what is the diameter of a G nib???

[prasadvenkat]

what is the diameter of a G nib???

The G nib, is 6mm at the top of the shoulder and tapers down to 5mm.

Additionally, the base of the nib is more of an arc than the Gama nib.

The Gamma nib that came with the pen is 5mm at the top of shoulder and 4mm at the base

 

http://i.imgur.com/SM6IhXk.jpg

 

 

http://i.imgur.com/P6sRBaO.jpg

Edited June 2, 2014 by prasadvenkat

[prasadvenkat]

 

 

The railroading you experience with the larger writing is probably quite normal, I had that when I used my Serwex 101 as a holder for the Gillott 303 as well, especially when I try to do an x-height of over 5mm. Mine seemed to flow a little better but it could be the ink. Would the long feed be a problem because the ink has to travel a longer distance? Perhaps you can try to widen the channel on the feed to see if it improves flow.

If you want to try a Chinese-made stainless steel G-type nib, drop me a PM.

 

Congratulations on the improvement of your handwriting, and you have a very beautiful pen there!

 

The Practice really shows Wonderful writing as always.

 

I guess you were right about the railroading. That was written quite hurriedly without guides and had an x height of almost 7mm.

You point about the feed could also make a difference. Have to write off to the maker of the pen and ask. I think I may have a shorter feed lying around. Will test it out and tell you what happens.

 

Expect a PM from me soon