Asa Porus Review

[rkpai]

A few weeks ago on "Fountain Pen Pals India" whatsapp group (which I am a part of), fellow FPN'er Sulagno (@inkstruck) enquired about the possibility of getting a pen made to a certain flush rounded ends design.

 

What followed were a bunch of design ideas from (fellow FPNers in the group) Sulagno (@inkstruck), Vaibhav (@mehandiratta), Pradeep (@pdg84) and Mr. Subramaniam of ASA pens. Vaibhav transferred the design ideas into a CAD illustration and thus the ASA Porus design was born.

 

Mr. Subramaniam of ASA (NAYY) was very happy with the outcome and immediately set out to build a few initial models of the pen.

 

In less than a week the pens were built and delivered.

 

The ASA Porus is a large acrylic pen which comes in 2 flavours.

 

1. Flush design - where cap and barrel are flush.

2. Step design - there is a step down where the cap and barrel meet.

 

With this model, ASA pen has exceeded all the high expectations that were set by the group.

 

The pen is now on sale at on the ASA pen site here: ASA Porus (NAYY)

 

I chose the flush design and that is what I will be reviewing today.

 

Flush cap and barrel - no clip:

 

 

40 mm Ambitious gold plated nib:

 

 

Beautiful white acrylic cap and barrel.

 

Close up of the "M" grade 40 mm Ambitious nib.

 

The feed, the nib is not too deeply set, this is to my liking.

 

Inside of the barrel, thick barrel walls.

 

The nib and feed properly set:

 

Porus with Lamy Safari:

 

And finally, a writing sample. Ink used is Bril Royal Blue. Paper: 100 GSM JK Cedar.

 

The section is large but is very comfortable to hold. The acrylic material is beautiful, white and feels soft to touch. The 40mm nib does it job of being a nice wet writer. It is a big pen, but the feel is brilliant. Very well balanced.

 

This is the most beautiful fountain pen in my small but quickly expanding collection.

 

Kudos to Mr. Subramaniam of ASA pens of contributing to the design and being kind enough to actually see it to fruition. This I think is a first in the Indian fountain pen industry scene where a group of fountain pen enthusiasts designed a pen and ASA (a FP company) delivered all in a span of 2 weeks

Edited April 3, 2015 by Rakshit

[mehandiratta]

Love the pen... And amazing detailed review

[rkpai]

Love the pen... And amazing detailed review

 

Vaibhav, a tip of the hat to you for your major design contributions.

 

Please share your thoughts on your 'step' Porus model.

 

Regards

Rakshit

[hari317]

Dear Rakshit, a very nice pen, congrats and thanks for the review. I would have named it the Taj due to its whiteness. do show us some post inking pictures and how the white holds up. I have never used a white ED, all my white pens are non ED.

 

I have only a technical input: the nib has been inserted too deep, it should have been out by another 3-5mm. Also since the nib has been set deeply into section, it has resulted in the change of its curvature, thus the slit is now open more than normal.

 

But if you are satisfied with how it writes, that is the bottom line.

 

Best

Hari

[rkpai]

Dear Rakshit, a very nice pen, congrats and thanks for the review. I would have named it the Taj due to its whiteness. do show us some post inking pictures and how the white holds up. I have never used a white ED, all my white pens are non ED.

 

I have only a technical input: the nib has been inserted too deep, it should have been out by another 3-5mm. Also since the nib has been set deeply into section, it has resulted in the change of its curvature, thus the slit is now open more than normal.

 

But if you are satisfied with how it writes, that is the bottom line.

 

Best

Hari

 

Thank you for your kind words and advice Hari ji.

 

Yes, it is very white, very beautiful.. Naming it "Taj" would have been very apt as well

 

Good catch on the post inked variation .. I wanted to take post inked pics, but the camera does not capture it.

 

The barrel looks slightly, very very slightly darker when inked, indicating that there is ink in it.

 

The pen is a very wet buttery smooth writer.. and has to be used on 100 GSM, on 75 gsm it will feather and bleed through..

 

Regards

Rakshit

[hari317]

Thank you for your kind words and advice Hari ji.

 

Yes, it is very white, very beautiful.. Naming it "Taj" would have been very apt as well

 

Good catch on the post inked variation .. I wanted to take post inked pics, but the camera does not capture it.

 

The barrel looks slightly, very very slightly darker when inked, indicating that there is ink in it.

 

The pen is a very wet buttery smooth writer.. and has to be used on 100 GSM, on 75 gsm it will feather and bleed through..

 

Regards

Rakshit

Oh, it was obvious from the pristine-ness of the pen.

 

Ok. These nibs are very well behaved, they should work well on any FP friendly paper if the nib is installed correctly. I have extensive experience with these nibs.

 

Best

Hari

[mehandiratta]

Dear Rakshit, a very nice pen, congrats and thanks for the review. I would have named it the Taj due to its whiteness. do show us some post inking pictures and how the white holds up. I have never used a white ED, all my white pens are non ED.

 

I have only a technical input: the nib has been inserted too deep, it should have been out by another 3-5mm. Also since the nib has been set deeply into section, it has resulted in the change of its curvature, thus the slit is now open more than normal.

 

But if you are satisfied with how it writes, that is the bottom line.

 

Best

Hari

Maybe sir next pen we design can be named as TAJ for sure and it will white as well... and will try to bring some mughal architecture or inscription to that....

 

The story behind this was big large oversized pen... and name that struck our mind was big large sized king Puru who greeks called Porus... So there it is....

[mehandiratta]

 

Vaibhav, a tip of the hat to you for your major design contributions.

 

Please share your thoughts on your 'step' Porus model.

 

Regards

Rakshit

 

Thank you for the worthy mention in the reviews...

[hari317]

...and name that struck our mind was big large sized king Puru who greeks called Porus... So there it is....

That is obvious.

[hari317]

The story behind this was big large oversized pen...

Vaibhav, is this pen the same Length and Girth as the Gama Supreme? Looks like it from the ASA website...

 

http://asapens.in/eshop/image/data/ASA%20Porus/Compare.JPG

[vig2432]

Very Nice pen. I like the flush design and minimalistic styling. Enjoy ur pen

[mehandiratta]

Vaibhav, is this pen the same Length and Girth as the Gama Supreme? Looks like it from the ASA website...

 

http://asapens.in/eshop/image/data/ASA%20Porus/Compare.JPG

 

Sir

I dont have Supreme.... But from images it seems they are similar size.... i actually wanted it to be even more longer than that... but i blv ergonomically it wont have done justice... I at least wanted 172 mm long....

But i know few details :

the average barrel dia is 18 mm which tapers down to 15 mm at the bottom

and cap tapers down to 14.5 mm dia....

Length is 165 mm ....

 

i can share the cad file also if u want...

Edited April 3, 2015 by mehandiratta

[mehandiratta]

Very Nice pen. I like the flush design and minimalistic styling. Enjoy ur pen

both are flush..... one is flat flushed... the second is with bit of a caving which gives a little bit of perspective to the pen

[rkpai]

Oh, it was obvious from the pristine-ness of the pen.

 

Ok. These nibs are very well behaved, they should work well on any FP friendly paper if the nib is installed correctly. I have extensive experience with these nibs.

 

Best

Hari

 

Tried to direct some light on the pen to show the ink in the barrel... I hope the (very light) darkness of an inked barrel is visible in this pic.

 

The lighting makes the pen look off-white, which it most definitely is not, it is bright white.

 

 

Regards

Rakshit

Edited April 3, 2015 by Rakshit

[vig2432]

Is the nib a Western F

[hari317]

Tried to direct some light on the pen to show the ink in the barrel... I hope the (very light) darkness of an inked barrel is visible in this pic.

 

The lighting makes the pen look off-white, which it most definitely is not, it is bright white.

 

 

 

Regards

Rakshit

Nice. Thanks!

[rkpai]

Is the nib a Western F

 

A western M, 0.7mm (approx)

 

Regards

Rakshit

[visvamitra]

Monster. But nice one.

[vig2432]

Since it is such a white pen, will inks stain the barrel

[hari317]

Sir

I dont have Supreme.... But from images it seems they are similar size.... i actually wanted it to be even more longer than that... but i blv ergonomically it wont have done justice... I at least wanted 172 mm long....

But i know few details :

the average barrel dia is 18 mm which tapers down to 15 mm at the bottom

and cap tapers down to 14.5 mm dia....

Length is 165 mm ....

 

i can share the cad file also if u want...

Ok, thanks!