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RANGA DEMONSTRATOR BAMBOO - Regular size The review is simultaneously posted at my blog here : Link Ranga Handmade Pens is a brainchild of M.S. Pandurangan who himself is a master pen turner and all pens and pencils are made by him only. His son M.P. Kandan is doing great deeds by taking care of the business part of Ranga Handmade Pens. I must add that both him and his father are very humble and polite. I have organised few group buys on Fountain Pen Network for Ranga Pens and every-time the dealing with him have been very professional. He has never lapsed on the dates as far as his commitment and deliverables are concerned. But yes thats what my experience has been till date and I hope he continues do to the same. Ranga Pens make use of ebonite and acrylic for pens and in-fact they are the first and one amongst two pen makers in India to offer Premium Ebonite. They have a dedicated eBay store where they sell not just Ranga Pens but also pens from other manufacturers from India like Wality, Oliver, Fellowship etc. which are all machine turned. The pens from Ranga are also stocked by Teri of Peyton Street Pens in USA with also some exclusive models. The group buys on FPN have helped in acquiring lot of Ranga Pens. They have more than 10 models in their line-up : Model 4C Bamboo Model 3 Model 4CS Model 5 Model 6 Model 8 Model 2c Model 2d Zeal And I have already reviews one of the model which is Model 4C but this review is about one of the unique model in their line-up which is Bamboo. Ranga Bamboo – Doing Rain Dance Ranga Bamboo – Braving the Rain Design : 05/05 The pen design resembles the natural bamboo with forged joints acting as nodes and parts between the two nodes acting as inter-nodes. The pen in review is the clip-less demonstrator in brushed version with polished finials. Natural Bamboo Ranga Bamboo – In Demonstrator version Ranga Bamboo – Asymmetrical inter-nodes provides it Natural character All in all there are 5 nodes with smaller inter-nodes at cap and to me that provides it natural character. The finials, both top and bottom, are polished and are in conical dome shape. Ranga Bamboo – Polished Conical Dome Shaped Finials Once thing to be noticed is that the cap finial is smaller in length as compared to the barrel finial and the reason for that is to provide balance to the pen when writing so that it does not become top heavy. Ranga Bamboo – Different Length of finials with Barrel one being longer The inter-nodes in the cap are smaller than what is on the barrels in length. The cap also has breather hole and this version is clip-less so it looks like one bamboo rod albeit in a different material. Ranga Bamboo – Clip-less with breather hole Ranga Bamboo Cap – Inner nib look and feel when pen is capped The cap closes to form a node and it actually flushes with barrel as can be seen from picture above. There is minute drop between section and barrel as the cap flares at bottom where it meets the barrel. The grip section is polished and not in matte finish. There is no branding anywhere on this pen. Below are the images of the pen showing pen capped and uncapped. Ranga Bamboo – Capped Ranga Bamboo – Uncapped It is superbly crafted pen with a very unique bamboo style pen like no other. And I believe the pen is worth the price it commands. The pen is also available in different ebonite and acrylic materials which must be around 30 plus in nos. So one has lot of options to get the pen in his particular colour and finish liking. Kudos to Ranga for the superb design. Built & Construction : 04/05 The pen has matte finish which is executed very well and transition from matte finish to polished finials is sublime though they are not perfect but its close. Ranga Bamboo – Matte Finish barrel to Polished Finials Earlier I thought that the finials could be made symmetrical in length but part of the reason to do that was to keep the pen balanced while writing without increasing the length of cap. But then I thought otherwise, this asymmetry is what gives it natural character. The cap opens in 4 turns and threads are very well crafted and are not at all sharp. The grip section as mentioned is also very well polished. Also I must add that the polished end of the finials are highly polished and very neat without any lathe marks visible. Ranga Bamboo – Polished Section with neat threads I applied silicon grease on the nib unit which you can see from the image above as I eyedropper-ed the pen. The finish, the grooves, the material quality are all top notch. However one thing i want to mention is the the material thickness decreases at the cap lip and must be handled very well as there is no band to protect any kind of crack. This is a handmade pen completely and is a “WOW” product at this price point. Balance & Size : 4.5/05 The cap posts but only just and that too not very securely. I think it is not required as it makes the absurdly large and uncomfortable also the pen itself is very long at 135 mm when uncapped. The pen is very well balanced with just a little more weight in front end of a nib unit. Ranga Bamboo – Writing with Cap Unposted Ranga Bamboo – Writing with Cap Posted The pen is light in weight with no metal parts used anywhere on the pen. Images below show the weight of pen with cap and without cap : Ranga Bamboo – Weight of Pen (inked) with Cap Ranga Bamboo – Weight of Pen (inked) without Cap Few specification of the pen are as follows: Length of pen (closed) – 145 mmLength of pen (open and unposted) – 135 mm (including nib)Length of Grip Section – 34 mmMaximum Dia of Cap – 15 mmMaximum Dia of Barrel – 15 mmMinimum Dia of Barrel Section – 12.5 mmMaximum Dia of Grip Section – 11 mmMinimum Dia of Grip Section – 10 mmWeight of Pen with Cap – 24 gms (inked)Weight of Pen without Cap – 18.75 gms (inked) Below pictures show the comparison of pen with other pens: Pen Comparison – Capped (Top View) : Pilot 78G vs Lamy Safari vs Ranga Bamboo Pen Comparison – Uncapped and Posted (Top View) : Pilot 78G vs Lamy Safari vs Ranga Bamboo Pen Comparison – Capped (Lateral View) : Pilot 78G vs Lamy Safari vs Ranga Bamboo Pen Comparison – Uncapped & Posted (Lateral View) : Pilot 78G vs Lamy Safari vs Ranga Bamboo One thing of worthy mention here is that the grip section long and comfortable and makes this pen as gem of a writer for long writing sessions. Nib : 05/05 The pen comes with variety of #6 size nib options like JoWo EF, F, M , B, 1.1, & 1.5 and Schmidt F, M, & B for CC mechanism which is a threaded screw in one and also can be used as an eyedropper too and other nib options are Ambitious and Bock (conklin imprinted) but these are only for eye dropper version of pens. The nib that I took was the dual tone Bold point JoWo nib which is screw in nib unit with plastic high finned nib and it performed flawless out of the box with welcome feedback. It is a juicy firm nib and writes wet. Ranga Bamboo – JoWo Nib – Bold Point Ranga Bamboo – Nib with Rain droplets I sometimes wonder why I need gold nib when this nib performs so well. Ink Filling Mechanism: 05/05 The ink is filled via converter and cartridge can be also used. But real fun lies in using this pen as a eyedropper and seeing the ink sloshing inside. Ranga Bamboo – Used as eyedropper Ink capacity around 4ml if used as an eyedropper. The converter that comes with pen is Schmidt K5 and has capacity of 0.6 ml. One thing to be noted is that before you use it as an eye dropper do apply silicone grease on threads of barrel and also on nib unit threads. Below is the handwritten sample and review of the pen : Ranga Bamboo – Handwritten Review – Page 01 Ranga Bamboo – Handwritten Review – Page 02 Ranga Bamboo – Handwritten Review – Page 03 Ranga Bamboo – Handwritten Review – Page 04 Conclusion : 23.5/25 I pen is available in group buy at FPN for US$85 which is a steal considering it is handmade pen and it is a unique design. The pen is more of an artefact from India and is recommended to users who want something more from a pen. What I Like: Unique Design Handmade Quality Finish Good Balance and Size Good Ink Capacity Nib Options Material OptionsWhat I don’t Like: Cap Material is thin at Lip Little expensive HOW TO BUYThe pen can be bought via occasional group buys organised at group buy and at the moment when I am writing this review the Group Buy is Active. LINK Pen can also be bought from following places : E-Bay : LINKAmazon : LINKPeyton Street Pens : LINKE-Mail : mpkandan@yahoo.co.in For more reviews you can check my blog here : LINK

Dear All After successful group buys of BAMBOO MODEL & RANGA MODEL 4C & Model 3 & Model 5 & Zeal & Model 8. This is a second round of group buy effort for the Ranga Bamboo Model for year 2016. This is the best opportunity to get Ranga Bamboo at discounted price in 2016. This Group buy will be available till 07th August 2016. The manufacturer has been kind enough to give best possible prices. Regular Size - Barrel has 16 mm dia & Length is 5.75 inches when capped Giant Size - Barrel has 17 mm to 18.75 mm (depends on ebonite rod colour) dia & Length is 7 inches when capped Details of the pen in 4 options are as below: RANGA BAMBOO REGULAR (ED Version) REGULAR EBONITE : US $45PREMIUM EBONITE : US $60DEMONSTRATOR : US $50RANGA BAMBOO REGULAR (3-in-1 Filling Mechanism) REGULAR EBONITE : US $80PREMIUM EBONITE : US $90DEMONSTRATOR : US $85RANGA BAMBOO GIANT (ED Version) REGULAR EBONITE : US $55PREMIUM EBONITE : US $80DEMONSTRATOR : US $70RANGA BAMBOO GIANT (3-in-1 Filling Mechanism) REGULAR EBONITE : US $90PREMIUM EBONITE : US $110DEMONSTRATOR : US $100 Finish - Polished or Matte (Bakul)Clip Option - Clip-less or Gold Clip or Silver ClipNib Option : For EyedropperWality F Gold Coloured (included in price)Two Tone M Nib (included in price) Bock (With Conklin imprinted) M or B is available (extra @ 9 USD)Ambitious Nib 35 mm - Fine Nib - Dual Tone ( extra @ 3 USD)Ambitious Nib 40 mm - Wet Medium Nib - Gold Tone ( extra @ 4 USD)Ambitious Nib 35 mm Flex - Chrome Tone ( extra @ 5 USD)Nib Option : For 3 in 1 filling Mechanism (with Schmidt K5 Converter)JoWo #6 Nib Options (included in price)Fine Nib - Gold ToneFine Nib - Silver ToneFine Nib - Dual ToneMedium Nib - Gold ToneMedium Nib - Silver ToneMedium Nib - Dual ToneBroad Nib - Gold ToneBroad Nib - Silver ToneBroad Nib - Dual ToneExtra Fine Nib - Dual Tone1.1 Stub Nib - Dual Tone1.5 Stub Nib - Dual ToneSchmidt #6 Nib Options (included in price)​Fine Nib - Gold ToneMedium Nib - Gold ToneBroad Nib - Gold ToneShipping : Via Registered Post which is included in Price and takes 2 -4 Weeks. COLOURS AVAILABILITY: Ebonite Colours for Regular Size (Images below are only for colour reference) Special New Ebonite Colours (SR Series) Pink Dark Green Ripple (not available)Green Pale Yellow RippleBlue Orange RippleBlue Red Ripple (Not Available)Yellow Black RippleBlue Yellow RipplePink Yellow RippleBlue Olive RippleRed Black RippleGreen Yellow RipplePink Olive Ripple (Not Available)Green Pink Ripple (Not Available)Blue Black Ripple Regular Rippled Ebonite Colours ( RR Series) Brown RippleGreen RippleSolid Black PolishedOlive RippleBright Green Ripple Burgundy Pink RippleYellow RippleBlue Ripple Regular Mottled Ebonite Colours (RM Series) Mottled BrownMottled GreenPolished BlackMottled Olive BrownBlack Bakul (Matte) Clear Acrylic Demonstartor (AC Series) Matte Finish with Polished Finials Complete Matte Finish Imported Premium Ebonite Colours Solid Pale GreenSolid OrangeSolid BlueSolid PinkWhite Blue SwirlBlue Pink SwirlBlack Yellow SwirlBlue Green Orange SwirlPale Pink Black Swirl (Not Available)Green Yellow Swirl Ebonite Colours for Giant Size (Images below are only for colour reference) Special New Ebonite Colours (SR Series) Pink Dark Green Ripple Green Pale Yellow RippleBlue Orange RippleBlue Red RippleYellow Black RippleBlue Yellow RipplePink Yellow RippleBlue Olive RippleRed Black RippleGreen Yellow RipplePink Olive RippleGreen Pink RippleBlue Black RipplePlain MaroonPlain Green Regular Rippled Ebonite Colours ( RR Series) Brown RippleGreen RippleSolid Black PolishedOlive RippleBright Green Ripple (Not Available)Burgundy Pink RippleYellow RippleBlue Ripple Regular Mottled Ebonite Colours (RM Series) Mottled BrownMottled GreenPolished BlackMottled Olive Brown (Not Available)Black Bakul (Matte) Clear Acrylic Demonstartor (AC Series) Matte Finish with Polished Finials Complete Matte Finish Imported Premium Ebonite Colours Solid Pale GreenSolid OrangeSolid BlueSolid PinkWhite Blue SwirlBlue Pink SwirlBlack Yellow SwirlBlue Green Orange SwirlPale Pink Black Swirl (Not Available)Green Yellow Swirl Please pm me for shipping within India.