A visit to the Airmail Pen Company, Mumbai, India

[hari317]

Hi All,

 

I finally could visit the pen works of the Airmail pen company who make the Wality and Airmail line of pens. In the past I had visited only their offices, but this time I requested and they agreed to show me their works. I could also talk to the head of the family and was shown around by his son Mr. Nirmal Mirchandani.

 

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/airmail%20factory/IMG_0706.jpg

 

APCO is a family owned firm, run and owned by the Mirchandani family since 1951. Their association with pens extends to the 1920's where in Karachi and Hyderabad, Sindh (Now in Pakistan) they owned a chain of three pen stores selling all the major brands of the day including Parker, Sheaffer, Onoto, Swan etc.

 

In India they are known for their Airmail and Wality line of fountain pens and ballpens. The Airmail brand is for the domestic market and the Wality brand is for export, though some Wality models are also marketed domestically. The available filling systems on the pens is ED and piston fill. The pen materials are Plastic and Acrylic.

 

Prior to visting their works, I was somehow under the impression that these pens are made by some large automatic machines which spit out dozens of pen parts per second... I was very wrong.

 

Each part of the pen is individually made one at a time by a worker. During my visit, the fabrication of the 69 line of giant transparent barrel ED pens was going on. The barrel material arrives as thick sheets of transparent clear white acrylic. This sheet is cut into sticks of rectangular crossection. These sticks are then cut into proper length for the barrel. Next the sticks are turned on a lathe to make them cylindrical. After this the inner bore for the ink cavity is drilled. The outside barrel end is then given a taper on the lathe, and also the inner threads for the section and outer threads for cap are cut. The threads are cut rather than tapped. The barrels undergo three stages of manual hand polishing including liquid lapping and final polishing on a rotary buffing disc to give a very smooth visual finish and feel in the hand.

 

The other parts like the caps and the sections are molded on hand presses. A line of around eight operators do the molding. The raw material in this case arrives in the form of colored pellets. The pen for the domestic market are available in five marbled colors. The pellets of the colors to be marbled together are poured into a funnel at the bottom of which is a heater unit. After the mixture is molten, the operator pulls on a lever with much force to make this go uniformly into the mold/die. This operation is repeated for each cap, I think at the fastest speed it may be around 1 cap per minute. The cap trim rings are molded in-situ. The sections are similarly hand molded. After this the caps and the sections go through a polishing process.

 

All the parts now go to the assembly cum packing shop on the upper floor. The parts are visually inspected before assembly. The caps are fitted with the clips using a rubber sheet to tighten the jewel and a piece of thick paper held between the clip and cap to prevent scratching of cap.

 

Of special interest to me was the assembly of the section with Nib and feed. The nib and feed are held together and pressed into the section by hand. Now the barrel and section are screwed together. This assembly is then put on a jig where an arm pushes the barrel end while the nib and feed are held by a taper vice so that the nib-feed are pushed tightly into the section further more to a precise distance. A purpose made gauge is used to measure the nib length protruding out of the section.

 

Each assembled pen then goes to the testing section (a worktable in the middle of the shop floor actually) where each pen is dipped, written with and nib adjusted. Scratchy nibs are replaced at this stage and necessary adjustments are made. A dilute solution of Camel Red ink is used for the testing. The lady on the job explained to me that she writes a S pattern and also forward and reverse strokes to test the flow and smoothness. Each and every pen is tested. The accepted pens are then given the Wality or Airmail branding using a heat embossing machine.

 

I was very impressed and came back with a mighty sense of appreciation for the kind of hardwork and labour of love that goes into making each Airmail/Wality pen.

 

During my conversation with the Mirchandanis, I learned that they have prototyped for export a transparent barrel pen model 70TS which is smaller than the large 69TL. It is a pen size that I prefer and I jumped at the offer to buy this pen. It came with the newer packing in a Wality pen case; earlier the pens used to be supplied with pen pouches instead of a box. Here is the snap with my older 69TL:

 

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/airmail%20factory/IMG_0718.jpg

 

I could not take snaps of the shop floors since it was against the company policy, but I hope I could give you all a glimpse of the works.

 

Cheers,

Hari.

 

 

 

[AndyHayes]

What an excellent and interesting review. Thanks a lot for making the effort to share with the rest of us.

[Lloyd]

I wish more big money European manufacturers took such care in the QA of their products. Thanks!

[Abhik]

Congratulation Hari! You have done it again!Providing an excellent description of Airmail/Wality pen production! Another chapter of Indian Pen Manufacturers History!

Keep going Hari!

Warm regards,

Abhik

[hardyb]

This is really a great report and it is so nice of you to share it. I feel like I was tagging along and if you should again happen to contact the APCO, let them know how much I like their product (I have serveral of their ED and Piston 69L pens).

[Ernst Bitterman]

This is really a great report and it is so nice of you to share it. I feel like I was tagging along and if you should again happen to contact the APCO, let them know how much I like their product (I have serveral of their ED and Piston 69L pens).

 

Me, too, although I've only got piston-fillers-- please send a warm greeting from the intermittently icy plains of Canada.

[Songwind]

Interesting. I have been looking at these (and considering getting one) for the last couple of days.

[drgonzo2]

An exellent factory write-up, Hari. Thanks for the insight it provides. Now all I need to know is where can I buy these Wality pens? (preferably in the UK/europe)..

 

Cheers... G

[punch]

Thank you very much for sharing that with us. Very interesting!

[JohnnyT]

Thanks,Hari! Are there other pen manufacturers in India you plan to visit? If so,we'll be looking forward to your next report. Cheers,JohnnyT

[ericthered2004]

Thanks for the illuminating report.

 

cheers

eric

[hari317]

Thanks to all of you for taking time out to add your comments.

 

Hardyb, Ernst, LLoyd I will convey your appreciation to the APCO. It will be an encouragement for them.

 

drgonzo2, I think you can buy Walitys in the US from Retrodesk.

 

Songwind, do not think further, take the plunge

 

JohhnyT, I very much wish to visit the Ebonite pen makers at Rajahmundry someday. Will definitely report.

 

 

Cheers,

Hari

Edited April 20, 2008 by hari317

[aunt rebecca]

at $19.95 the wality is worth it. i just bought one!! thanks hari.

btw, the demonstrators are $24.95. sounds good to me!

[Songwind]

Songwind, do not think further, take the plunge

 

Very likely. I was looking at the 69L as an entry into the piston fill market without spending $100.

 

And I lost the bid on a vintage Sheaffer snorkel, so I have some money

[Lifesaver]

That is an excellent account of your visit. The pen you purchased is very nice. I may have to look into getting one of those. Does anyone know where to find them? Yes, I know I could Google it. I was hoping someone could recommend a good seller for them.

[bluemoon]

Excellent review..... Wality and Airmail are two very good brands, worth more than the money I will say. Thanks for sharing.

 

There had been another maker, named 'GOOPTA PEN CO' in the '30's and 40's. There pens were marked 'MADE IN CALCUTTA'. They had some pens which were identical to Duofold button fillers (In quality and looks and performance), with almost the same dimensions, and monster 14k nibs. Right now I am looking for some info on them, and some good examples of there product. Have seen many of them, but they are jealously guarded in private collection.Will share if find anything interesting.

 

These pens are the testimonial that some extremely good quality pens were and are produced in India.

 

 

[Carrie]

Thanks for giving us this review of your visit, it makes very interesting reading. I like the smaller size of the prototype pen you purchased. Do you know when that is likely to go on general sale? I'd certainly be interested in one in that size.

[lalindsay225]

Thank you, hari317, for sharing your experience with us. I think Wality pens are good products and great values to boot.

 

Lisa

[hari317]

I like the smaller size of the prototype pen you purchased. Do you know when that is likely to go on general sale? I'd certainly be interested in one in that size.

 

I think soon, but I have no definite answer.

 

Best,

Hari

 

 

[Paladin]

Thanks Hari for the interesting write up. Please post pictures of the piston filling mechanism? Is it similar to Pelikans?

 

Many thanks.