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I am a long-time fountain pen user/collector. i am new to forums and chat though. I hope this is the proper way to announce this new pen show. I am excited and I don't even know where to start🙂. It will be held September 8 to 10 in Orlando Florida. I think the location is perfect. The Florida Hotel and Conference Center at the Florida Mall is located a short distance from the airport, Disney World and all the other theme parks and attractions. The room rate is $115+tax (resort fee has been waived for us) free parking. One side of the hotel lobby opens into a large vibrant shopping mall. The hotel has agreed to allow our special show rate up to 3 days before the show and 3 days after. This means you can bring the family and enjoy a pen-cation, enjoy the show and all the area has to offer. They also will extend your stay longer at the show rate if rooms are available. All Access Pass: This is the best deal for the serious pen enthusiast. It allows 2 people early entry to show days Fri and Sat and includes a meet, trade, sell pens and a pizza party Thurs night. Door prizes will be given out at the pizza party. It also includes a dessert party Sat night. This pass allows you meet and hang out with vendors and other serious pen people. Price is $50, if you book your 3-night hotel stay early it will be $45. Passes will go on sale in the near future. You must book hotel room first to get discount and be eligible for door prizes. Vendors who book hotel room early will be eligible for door prizes of their own. One lucky vendor will win their 3 -night hotel stay for free! AT THIS TIME ONLY HOTEL ROOMS CAN BE BOOKED TO GET THE EARLY BIRD DISCOUNTS AND PRIZES LATER. PASSES AND VENDOR TABLES WILL GO ON SALE SOON. Hotel rooms can be booked now by calling 1-800-588-4656 or clicking the link below. A website is being developed right now you can follow Orlando Pen Show on Facebook or Instagram. http://www.tinyurl.com/Orlando-Pen-Show-2022 Please share this show info with all your pen friends, thank you all so much for your support! Joe

Can any one suggest me some Indian handmade ebonite piston-filler pens? I know of Noodler's Konrad Ebonite and Narwhal Schyulkill Eobnite 365, but I want an Indian handmade one. Does anyone in India make such pens?

Garcia-Deschacht “A&A” Sterling Silver Fountain Pen --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Andy Deschacht and Laura Garcia of “Garcia-Deschacht” collaborate on creating art in several forms. One of their endeavors is custom made-to-order fountain pens. I came across their website while looking for a large sterling silver fountain pen. Their site (www.garcia-deschacht.com) is a treat, with beautifully presented examples of their handmade custom pens in a variety of exotic woods, acrylics, and silver. I’m sure there are readers that will feel this pen is unreasonably large and heavy. For many people, that’s probably true. What’s important is that Garcia-Deschacht were able take a rough idea, add to it, and turn that idea into a perfectly finished hand made pen. It’s difficult for me to critique this pen. Once the dialog with Garcia-Deschacht got started, I found they could accommodate almost anything. If I were to rate this pen, it would have to be “exactly what I wanted”. That said, here’s my review. Appearance & Design I wanted a simple, clean, timeless, yet substantial design rendered in sterling silver. This pen has no ornamentation – no homage to anyone, no “theme”, no attempt to recognize an historical event. It’s simply a beautifully crafted functional piece made of high quality materials.I wanted to highlight the sheen of sterling silver. It has a white-ish color when compared to stainless steel, titanium, or tungsten. The simple polished finish shows this. I wanted to retain weight in this pen.I wanted the maker’s name visible. I have a lot of respect for individuals who can conceive and fabricate beautiful, high quality pieces out of simple raw materials. This pen’s barrel and cap were turned on a manual lathe. Other parts were fabricated from scratch. There was no numerical control here, just plain skill and experience. Construction & Quality (10) – Construction and quality look like perfection to me. The polished finish is gorgeous. Removing the cap and section reveals threads that are smooth and well fitted. A signature feature of Garcia-Deschacht pens is a clip attachment that has no ring or seam on the cap. I’m not sure how this is done, but I like this creative touch to keep the pen’s design simple. The clip is 18k gold, handmade by Garcia- Deschacht, and engraved by a jeweler they selected for this work. Weight & Dimensions Capped Length: 14 cm / 5.5”Uncapped Length 12.5 cm / 4.9”Diameter: 1.5 cm / 0.6”Weight: 198 grams / 6.98 oz. Yes, I prefer heavy pens. I don’t write a lot, but when I do, a solid, substantial pen is what I like to use. I understand that this isn’t for everyone. The cap does not post. Nib & Performance – I chose a Boch #6 14k gold fine point nib for this pen. It was wet and very smooth right out of the box. One key point – and a pet peeve for me – is that the cap of a fountain pen should be airtight enough that the pen can be stored for a while without the nib drying out. I asked Garcia-Deschacht about this before we got started. On their metal pens, they put an ebonite insert inside the cap and cut the threads in this insert. The cap threads off and on smoothly and with a slight bit of drag as you turn the cap. There’s no play and the cap appears to seal quite well. So far this pen, even when not used for several days, starts and writes perfectly every time. Filling System & Maintenance - This pen has a standard convertor which was my choice . I filled it with my favorite dark blue ink and started to write straight away. The pen was shipped with ink I hadn’t seen before but am interested to try: The “Hastings Caves” hue from Van Dieman’s “Wilderness Series” - a 30ml bottle of shimmering yellow gold color. Cost & Value – I exchanged emails with Andy and Laura on dimensions, nib sizes and materials, clip shape, engraving, etc. The cost of each specification was provided. I was able to judge the value and make decisions on how to proceed to get just what I wanted. Included with this pen was a bespoke wood box, a card with the pen’s specifications and completion date, a notepad, some fine writing paper, a silver polishing cloth, a drawstring pouch, and a handful of very tasty Côte d’Or Belgian chocolate candies. The pen box is a work of art. Garcia- Deschacht custom tailors a box for each of their pens. The wood used for this box is willow from an historical excavation in Roeselare, Belgium dated around the 14-17th century. The logo on the box was cast in .925 silver. Conclusion – I really enjoyed working with Andy and Laura and I’m delighted with the finished product!

The middle of the 20th Century saw an italic handwriting and calligraphy renaissance in the U.K. and the U.S.A. Alfred Fairbank was the leading proponent in England of italic script as the best choice for handwriting. In the United States, Paul Standard (on the East Coast) and Lloyd Reynolds in Portland Oregon were leading advocates. In fact, the majority of professional calligraphers I have met on the West Coast to this day were students of Reynolds or students of his students. The fountain pens that were most available for italic writing in that era, at least in the United States, were the Osmiroid models and those made by Platignum, both from England. Both of these companies went out of business in the late 1970’s, but Osmiroid pens and nibs remain quite available on internet auction sites. Complete sets - a pen and six nibs of different widths - are found fairly often, many never used. Sets of Osmiroid italic nibs included the following widths: Fine, Medium, Broad, B2, B3 and B4. A “F inter M” width was also made. These sets came in Straight, Oblique and Left-handed versions. Osmiroid also made quite a variety of round-tipped nibs, but I am not going to discuss those. The most popular Osmiroid pens were the Model 65, a lever filler, and the Model 75, a thinner pen that was a small-capacity piston filler. Late in its life, Osmiroid produced a C/C filler with what they called “Easy change” nibs. These nibs came attached to a feed and section which screwed into the pen’s barrel. It used International Standard cartridges and converters. With the “Easy change” model, Osmiroid produced a series of shadow nibs of various widths, in addition to the round nib and italic nibs for which they were known. An Osmiroid Italic Set. The pens are a Model 75 in back and a Model 65 in front. Besides a pen and six nibs, the Osmiroid Italic sets also came with a product catalogue and a nice little instructional booklet for Foundational and Gothic lettering in some packages and for Italic in others. Osmiroid nibs are 23 Kt plated steel. They are un-tipped. In my opinion, they are among the best writing italic nibs ever produced. Osmiroid pens were always inexpensive. I suspect they were meant primarily for the student market. They certainly were not meant to compete with Parker, Conway-Stewart, Onoto, Mabie-Todd, Waterman and the like. So, we had excellent writing nibs in cheap pens. My very first fountain pen was an Osmiroid 65 I bought in the college bookstore my Freshman year. it came with the set of 6 italic nibs described above. I bought it to learn italic handwriting. Now, more than half a Century later, my taste in pens and my means are both quite different. I don’t recall exactly how I got the notion of having a pen made for me that accepted Osmiroid nibs, but I asked Shawn Newton to make me a piston filling pen with two sections - one that would accept Pelikan M800 nibs and the other that would accept Osmiroid nibs. This worked so well, I asked Shawn to make two more extra sections for Osmiroid nibs to fit two other pens of his in my collection. Now, Osmiroid nibs for the Model 65 and 75 have a nipple on the end of the carrier, and they did make a converter in the day. It was a little push-pull device of mediocre quality. They are not easily found today. I have been unable to find another make of converter that fits on the Osmiroid nib without modification. The nibs work well in piston fillers. Shawn’s suggestion for a less expensive alternative was to attach a squeezable bladder to the section - essentially a bulb-filler. I thought we should give that a try. And it works just fine! Close-up photo of the nibs, showing the carrier nipple, as described. The two new sections that make it possible to use Osmiroid nibs on Newton Pens. One section is installed (on an Ebonite Bamboo Eastman) and the other un-installed, allowing a view of the attached ink sac (for an Ebonite Quapaw). My old nibs now have a new life in rather upscale digs. They will be used a lot more than they had been in their original pens. I know many FPN members (at least those of mature years) with interests in italic writing or calligraphy first learned using Osmiroid pens, as I did. Chances are, unless the pens have been restored, the more common Model 65s have seriously deteriorated sacs. I am delighted to have found a great way to keep these marvelous nibs in use. I am happy to share it. Happy writing! David

I recently came across this custom pen company that makes awesome handmade pens. Their pens just look so amazing that I might go to the extent of saying that they are my favorite custom pen makers. Does no one own any Herbert pens? I have never seen anything related here on FPN. Some points that make them so awesome are: a)Ribbon material: This is a custom made material with strips of hand-painted paper. These blanks are transparent and are my favorite clear materials for pens. They look stunning and have this awesome glittery sheen to the ribbons. Also he can do the ribbons in any color combinations. b)Hooded nib customization: This is also really cool. Chet Herbert, the owner, makes this customization to house Pilot Vanishing Point nib units. And what's even cool is that these pens take the Con-70 converter. c)Many other blanks: Mr. Herbert can hand-pour alumilite blanks in colors of your choice and they look stunning to me. Despite all this goodness, why do I see very less attention to these pens? I might be wrong as well but I have never seen many posts about these pens. I find them to be amazing and would love to add some to my collection. I just don't happen to have the funds XD.

First, I just wanted to say these two pens that I recently received went well above and beyond my already high expectations of Ranga Pen Company. I had never purchased a pen from India before, yet had lusted after one after seeing @Bobje's beautiful Model 8 review here: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/310374-ranga-model-8-in-blue-orange-and-green-ebonite/ From which (and a year later), I took the plunge- oh my should I have done so sooner! Keep in mind this is not a nib review - the focus of this write-up is upon the pens, nib threading, construction, finish, quality etc. This is for several reasons. Firstly, because I ordered JoWo nib threading and Ranga is not a nib manufacturer, although they have various nib types from which one can choose. I already had several Edison, Pablo stubs (fpnibs.com) and Goulet nibs around, so there was no need for me to order any, and better to make use of the lonely ones I had. Seeing this mans' 149 nib which The Ranga Pen Company included in a similar order has convinced me my next project with Ranga will be either a discontinued 14k Visconti nib, or Pelikan M1000 nib. Likely within a Model 4. https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/243220-ranga-pen-with-montblanc-149-vintage-nib/ Let's look at some photos ^.^ (The camera phone does not do justice to the beautiful hard rubber pens or their flawless construction) EyeCandy 10/10 Ordering Process, Communication and Timeframe 10/10 I contacted Mr Kandan about making a bit of a custom order in that I wanted no clips on either pen; the Model 8 to be 'upsized' so that it would be similar to the Model 3, be heavily polished, take 2 rotations to uncap (if possible), and be threaded for JoWo #6 nibs/international converters and/or eyedropper. Thankfully, my requests were obliged and I was offered a range of ebonite colours to choose from. My first preference for the Model 8 was the same beautiful ebonite as Bobje's, but that was not available at the time and I went ahead with a beautiful mottled brown tan for the 8 and red ripple with black section and cap on the other. Mr Kandan was very thorough, professional and detailed. But most impressive is the turn around time, absolutely amazing I did not think it possible! Only 30 days after deciding my order with Mr Kandan they were already at my door in Australia!! Quality, Construction and Cost 10/10 I cannot overstate how well made these pens are, they are suitable for any collector. Those whom collect celluloid montblancs would appreciate a Ranga, those who are just entering the fp world and have a safari or metro. And especially those yet to have a hard rubber pen - these are amongst the best you can have of pens under 500 USD IMO. My thoughts upon watching the Ranga video that these pens are made entirely by hand - right down to the threads being 'hand chased',(an almost extinct technique), I was curious of how the threads would turn out. They are smoother and more precise than modern Montblancs and Pelikans. I kid not. Even if one were to hold there fingers over the threads with quite some force, one may not be aware of their presence. Another telltale of the quality of the threading is capping and uncapping takes less than two rotations, but even after one rotation the precision of the thread is obvious because I 'held' the body of the pen at one rotation and tried jiggling the cap up and down, and voila, almost no movement (try doing that with some of the best threaded pens in the world - you will be surprised what pens perform best). Once more I was very impressed. The nib threading is as magnificent as the capping. The nib unit fits almost exactly flush with the bottom of the pen section, very sleek. Both my pens are from the 'regular' ebonite range. There is also a 'premium' range, which is a few dollars more expensive. But, there is nothing 'regular' about these pens or the ebonite... Some have mentioned that there may be 1 or 2 'micro-pits' in the ebonite. But this is certainly not the case in mine. Others have said they are not 100% the same polishing all over the pen. Once more I could not notice this... Until, I spent 10 minutes under bright light literally inspecting the body looking for any imperfection, alas perhaps the smallest tool polishing mark, which I would never have noticed under normal use. Finding such a tiny indiscretion is for review purposes. If one spent this much time actively looking for a fault within an object, the fault is more likely in oneself and not the object, but I digress, back to the pen. Knowing the pen is not entirely flawless absolutely increases my appreciation for the pen. I think of it like I do the lacquer on my 'neostandard' Nakaya step and threads, the Nakaya lacquer is not exactly uniform around the edges there, but this is not a fault it is something to appreciate and treasure. So too, are my Rangas. As far as cost goes - Ranga are literally underpriced for the quality and materials that you receive. My 'duofold' was $59, whilst model 8 was $64 [uSD] (no nibs, but threaded for JoWo). Considering each pen takes several hours to craft by hand as well as the cost of materials... What can I say - I would be as happy if I paid 2x as much? Because you bet I would. The pens are turned from solid hard rubber rods, some other 'hand made pens' are not necessarily this handmade, I will post a video of their construction below. Utility/Comfort/Mass/Size (subjective for everyone but for myself 10/10) Both these pens are large. Similar to a Visconti HS Maxi, slightly larger than a TWSBI vac700/r, yet a touch smaller than an Edison Huron or Herald Grande. They are both light weight and exceptionally well balanced, my comparative hand scales tell me approx. 20grams with converter, add a potential 7mL of ink in the ol' eyedropper and you have 27g . Although, I will not be doing that. In recent years I have grown more and more fond of the simplicity and ease of cleaning that a simple converter pen offers. The wide, long section, the gentle and smooth threads, and almost no 'step' make this pen a true writer. A long, novel writer. Which section shape you prefer is totally up to you, but I enjoy both these equally The pens do post and there has clearly been quite a lot of work and thought about the structural integrity of the post mechanism. This is because if one shines a light into the cap it is clear that the inner diameter of the rear of the cap is explicitly designed for being posted and to prevent the cap threads from being in contact with the barrel when posted, thus pressure cracks should never develop. But would one want to post these pens in practice? I do not really ever see the need. The pens become too unreasonably long for me, you will see in this comparison (not that anyone would post a vac700 cap) be assured the posted Ranga is much better balanced than the TWSBI. Lastly, some comparative side by side pics with other pens I had in nearby acess Overall, Ranga get a 100% recommendation from me! Thanks for reading if you got this far - this was actually my first FPN review Thanks Ranga Pen Company for the great experience! This is a link to the video of Mr Pandurangan making the pens which I found very impressive. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2x_KoAO1SM

Hi everyone, Has anyone used the Alternative Ivory or Alternative Coral pen blanks from Exotic Blanks? How was the final result? Do you have any pictures to show? Thanks for your interest, IanL

Fosfor pens is a reputed custom pen maker in India. Manoj Deshmukh (Mr. fosfor) has built up a reputation as a master craftsman and high quality pen maker. I had put my name in his order book for a few pens some time back inspired by fellow FPNersPrithwijit's and Vaibhav's commissions from Fosfor. The package arrived today by courier. I am posting some pictures of the unboxing. Will post detailed reviews later (at least that is the plan) The package Opened package Fosfor wooden presentation box and telescopic boxes Fosfor Rajendran in Woodgrain Ebonite. Polished to a mirrorlike finish With No.6 size medium Schmidt nib Islander in Lava Explosion Acrylic The depth in the material is awesome Again with a silver colored no.6 medium schmidt nib I liked the bluer section. The blue-green Tikona. This pen is larger than I expected. Heavier also. Now, all three brothers coming together in a huddle From a lower angle. The total experience was very pleasant and I will be ordering more from Fosfor in the future. I planning to photograph the pens with better equipment and in better setting later. Will talk about the writing experience as well when posting those pictures. thanks, Dinuraj

Recently I found myself to be using more pocket pens than bigger pens but I lacked any good custom pocket pen. So I went to Lakshminarayanan Subramaniam of ASA Pen who suggested me to look into ASA SWAN ,I liked the model and thought how to spice things up .. I recently acquired only 1.5 rods of the very illusive and sold out Conway Stewart Flecked Amethyst and thought to make a custom pen based on ASA SWAN out of those blanks .. The end result http://i.imgur.com/QGnOBg7.jpg THE ASA MONAL 1. Appearance & Design:- The pen is a rod shaped pen .The body and the section is made from Conway Stewart Flecked Amethyst blank. The cap is made from black glossy Indian Ebonite and te cap finial is also made from the CS blank. I opted for this custom design mainly for two reasons . Number one being there wasnt enough CS material available anywhere to make a full size cap and number two this design shows off the fusion between EAST and WEST .. http://i.imgur.com/BH5UPPj.jpg The fusion between EAST and WEST Here the gorgeous CS blank weds the Indian shiny ebonite .. I also made a smaller cap from the CS blank ( still in making process) 2. Construction & Quality : As always ASA made a fantastic job with the CS blank. The finish is world class ,devoid of any tool marks or imperfection . I cant even feel the joint where the black ebonite meets the Flecked Amethyst finial on the cap . http://i.imgur.com/LKaYidd.jpg The cap opens in very convenient one and half turns . The section is a nice and smooth hourglass transition from the barrel and the threads are perfectly smooth http://i.imgur.com/UyESpOB.jpg The smooth barrel to section transition with hourglass section 3.Comparison :- As this pen is based on the model of ASA SWAN a comparison with it only fair. Both pens are almost equal in length when capped . However the barrel of the ASA MONAL is a little bit thicker and has flat ends . http://i.imgur.com/shct06r.jpg ASA MONAL AND ASA SWAN CAPPED Opening the cap of both of pens reveals hourglass section in both , ASA MONAL has slightly thicker section diameter which I enjoy a lot .. http://i.imgur.com/DdUe9K8.jpg ASA MONAL AND ASA SWAN UNCAPPED 4. Nib & Performance: - IF you ask anyone from India the best Indian nib , I am sure they will come up with KANWRITE .. The ASA MONAL is custom fitted with KANWRITE #35 M FLEX nib unit ( same unit in noodlers ahab) The beauty of this nib unit is that not only it writes super smooth out of the box but also you can swap the nib unit with inexpensive nib units from KANWRITE with the range of EF,F,M,B,BB, RTOBLQ,LFTOBQ ,STUB in regular line and F,M,B in flex lines . This gives an amazing adaptability of the pen .. EF TO BB just in one quick screw in and out http://i.imgur.com/DVBEg2L.jpg KANWRITE #35 M FLEX AND SCHMIDT M http://i.imgur.com/KIPa9Nu.jpg ASA MONAL DISASSEMBLED WITH #35 KANWRITE NIB UNIT TO give an size comparison of the ASA MONAL with LAMY 2000 http://i.imgur.com/DHFlzt7.jpg ASA MONAL AND LAMY 2000 CAPPED http://i.imgur.com/OFxqsKh.jpg ASA MONAL AND LAMY 2000 UNCAPPED 5. CONCLUSION AND WRITING - The ASA MONAL is an example of true custom beauty ,an wonderful writer and superb craftsmanship of ASA .. I am very much delighted to possess this beauty .. http://i.imgur.com/5eMgc0s.jpg

Hi all! Has anyone here bought a custom made pen from Edison?

This is my first review on this site. I think reviews are a great resource for others doing research on pens, and I’d like to give back. I am reviewing a Spalted Oak wooden pen, handcrafted by Ryan of Ryan Krusac Studios in Georgia. I bought this pen from him at the recent San Francisco pen show. I honestly just could not pass it up. Background: Ryan Krusac Studios is a small shop that makes hand crafted pens out of various beautiful woods and horn. Ryan puts his efforts into the carving and decorating of the organic materials and uses quality metal furniture and German nibs. His fountain pens come in various sizes and materials, mainly using #5 and #6 sized nibs. (He also creates rollerballs, whatever those are!) Ryan also does a lot of scrimshaw work and hand paints a lot of pens. One other great aspect of working with him is his willingness to do customized work at a reasonable price. I encourage you to look at his website and see what is on offer. It was there that I first saw his body of work. I do try to support artists and this was a nice aspect of the purchase process for me. I appreciate getting to speak to craftsman and understanding more about their craft. I can confidently say that Ryan is a passionate person who truly enjoys what he does. He has a good sense of humor and is very approachable. I would not hesitate to do business with him again because he showed me (through a few dealings after the show) that he has a high level of integrity and customer service. The pen I picked: It is one thing to see a pen on the internet and another to see it and touch it. When I saw the Spalted Oak pen in the large body size, I was taken by the beauty of the wood. Spalted wood occurs when a fungus gets into wood and adds color before it starts to decompose. It tends to happen in dead trees and it is most noticeable in lighter hard woods. If you get to the wood in time you can have the wonderful coloration without loss of integrity in the fibrous structure. After handling this pen, there was no loss of integrity! The pen is a cartridge/converter filler. It came with a converter and I filled it right when I bought it. I generally prefer piston fillers, but the converter works fine as I think the pen is a little heavy for me to write more than a cartridge at a time. The pen came in a velvet sleeve which is all I really need. I think if you order on-line you can get a fancy box for presentations, but I was happy not to pay for a box I don’t need. Fit and finish: The quality of this pen is top notch. The transition between the wood and the metal portions are smooth and pleasant to the touch. The barrel and cap are completely smooth and I cannot find any areas where the wood surface will splinter due to flaws. The pen had a matte finish to the wood, which works really well for me. Hand oils will keep the wood supple enough over the course of the year, but you can always add a little olive oil to the wood. The wood layer is good and thick, and I do not have any concerns about it standing up to normal usage. If the pen does split for some reason, Ryan stated he can take care of the issue. The metal appointment on pens in this price range can be pretty horrible. I am happy to report that Ryan has found good components. Most of the hardware is rhodium plated except the end caps and cap band which are black titanium. The designs are understated and I find them pleasing and not overwrought. Ryan marks his studio logo on each pen. I personally like that it is not overdone, but I might prefer it on one of the end caps because I think it is pretty good looking. The nib is German made and marked Dayacom. It is smooth but very firm. The nib is medium and write a little on the thinner side. This is one area where I’d like to see more exciting options. While Ryan offers a good assortment of sized and 18K gold options, I am going to look into adding a better nib to this pen. I think the wood is amazing and deserves a better nib. The standard nib is very serviceable, however, and this is just me being a fan of big nibs (like the MB #9). The cap screws on with a few twists, maybe 2 rotations. This is a fair amount, although I think the Graf von Faber Castell pens set the standard of easy on and off for me. (Visconti has a nice groove system on some of its new pens too.) The clip seems fairly robust and I don’t doubt it would hold the pen securely, but this pen is so heavy it is not for fancy shirt pockets. Overall impression: This is a big, beautiful and heavy pen. If you like wood pens, I think Ryan’s work is excellent and a great value for the money. I will use this as an everyday carry pen in my office.