The Gama Supreme

[Fuellerfuehrerschein]

My first impressions of the Gama Supreme – Part 2

 

After using over 2 ml (≈ 60% of the 3.5 ml ink capacity) of Ecclesiastical Stationery Supplies Registrars Ink (ESSRI) my Gama Supreme started to slowly drip after having it in my hand for about 1 minute. The ambient room temperature at which this occurred was 21 °C (70 °F). After filling the pen and hence significantly reducing the remaining for temperature differences sensitive air volume in the barrel the pen stopped dripping.

 

I noticed my Gama Supreme is the wettest writing pen I used with relatively dry writing ESSRI iron gall ink, since it produces a dark wet line without shading.

[a_m]

My first impressions of the Gama Supreme – Part 2

 

After using over 2 ml (≈ 60% of the 3.5 ml ink capacity) of Ecclesiastical Stationery Supplies Registrars Ink (ESSRI) my Gama Supreme started to slowly drip after having it in my hand for about 1 minute. The ambient room temperature at which this occurred was 21 °C (70 °F). After filling the pen and hence significantly reducing the remaining for temperature differences sensitive air volume in the barrel the pen stopped dripping.

 

I noticed my Gama Supreme is the wettest writing pen I used with relatively dry writing ESSRI iron gall ink, since it produces a dark wet line without shading.

 

[hari317]

.

I noticed my Gama Supreme is the wettest writing pen I used with relatively dry writing ESSRI iron gall ink, since it produces a dark wet line without shading.

Thank you for sharing your experiences. Next time you can simply point the nib up while nicely warming up the pen by holding it in your palm. The expanding air will rush out, once the pen is warmed up sufficiently, you can continue to write without incident.

 

yes, I have a few pens (my favorite Deccan pens) with Bock nibs and Ebonite feeders that I have specially tuned for heavy flow, magnificent performance with my favorite ferrogallic inks from Diamine and Montblanc.

[Scribblesoften]

I do not know if it is just the tank fill pens I have, but they all seem to flow well, even generously. I wonder if that is a benefit of the design.

[hari317]

I do not know if it is just the tank fill pens I have, but they all seem to flow well, even generously. I wonder if that is a benefit of the design.

I would attribute it to the simple ebonite feed.

[Fuellerfuehrerschein]

Thank you for sharing your experiences. Next time you can simply point the nib up while nicely warming up the pen by holding it in your palm. The expanding air will rush out, once the pen is warmed up sufficiently, you can continue to write without incident.

 

yes, I have a few pens (my favorite Deccan pens) with Bock nibs and Ebonite feeders that I have specially tuned for heavy flow, magnificent performance with my favorite ferrogallic inks from Diamine and Montblanc.

 

Thank you for the tip, but warming up the pen in my hand or otherwise keeping it warm near my body is not always practical for me. I like to be able to use my fountain pens as daily writers so I will keep the pen well inked to be able to write on the fly without encountering air expansion induced problems.

 

The only tuning I did to my Gama Supreme was to align the OEM nib somewhat better by hand without using much force. Since there was no need I did not remove the nib or ebonite feed to adjust the ink flow. Up to now I had excellent ink flow with ESSRI. When the times comes maybe I must make a knock-out block to easily disassemble this pen.

[a_m]

When the times comes maybe I must make a knock-out block to easily disassemble this pen.

A quick & easy way i use is to wrap the nib & feed with a towel & use a pliar.

[Fuellerfuehrerschein]

A quick & easy way i use is to wrap the nib & feed with a towel & use a pliar.

Thank you for the tip, but I do not want to risk damaging the nib by using tools to pull out the nib and feed. If I feel I have to disassemble my Gama Supreme it is not hard for me to drill a series of appropriately sized holes in or through a sturdy piece of wood to make a DIY simple knock-out block.

[Fuellerfuehrerschein]

My first impressions of the Gama Supreme – Part 3

 

As you might have read in my first impressions of the Gama Supreme Flat Top I would not object if Gama would lengthen the grip section of the Gama Supreme. During my daily writing I found out that I grip my Gama Supreme higher than it is designed for. Holding the Supreme inverted moves the nib tip closer to the paper and actually makes the pen more comfortable for me. Sadly my OEM IPG nib becomes scratchy when used inverted.

 

 

On page 1 of this review member hari317 writes about his experiences regarding installing a no. 12 (40 mm long) nib in a Gama Supreme and found out the stock no. 10 (35 mm long) nib type was more comfortable for him. With my relatively high pen grip I obviously need a longer threads to nib tip distance.

 

Since I like my Gama Supreme, I recently sent an enquiry mail to ASA Pens asking if they can provide a longer EF or F stainless steel friction fitted nib that will fit the Gama Supreme to make the pen more ergonomic for me.

Edited August 21, 2014 by Fuellerfuehrerschein

[hari317]

Since I like my Gama Supreme, I recently sent an enquiry mail to ASA Pens asking if they can provide a longer EF or F stainless steel friction fitted nib that will fit the Gama Supreme to make the pen more ergonomic for me.

I think their answer should have been "yes", if it was a no, I have the jumbo 40mm nibs and will be pleased to help you out. enjoy your supreme, it is a nice pen.

[Fuellerfuehrerschein]

I think their answer should have been "yes", if it was a no, I have the jumbo 40mm nibs and will be pleased to help you out. enjoy your supreme, it is a nice pen.

 

Thank you for your kind reaction. In my enquiry I actually referred to your experiment with installing a no. 12 (40 mm long) nib in a Gama Supreme.

 

ASA Pens responded on August 22 and will come back on the price of a "40 mm stainless steel nib of ambitious make in F point" as they do not stock these nibs.

 

As an alternative for the stock Gama Supreme ASA Pens could also provide a Supreme custom fitted with a 40 mm nib for $ 5 extra. ASA Pens also offered the Gama Kambar MK II (https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/265338-the-gama-kambar-mark-2/) in matt black finish which comes fitted with a 40 mm nib costing around $ 56 and a new pen the Gama Masterpiece in black dual matt and shiny finish with a 40 mm nib, costing $ 58. Those two pens are also big and probably write as well as the Supreme but I do not like their shapes - they feature steps on the barrel to cap the pens - as much as the clean form follows function shape of the Supreme.

 

Let's wait for some time what ASA Pens comes back with.

 

I already slightly modified my Supreme by smoothening the ebonite right-angled edge on the inside of the cap opening by adding some taper for the first 1.5 mm into the cap. This slight tapering hardly removed ebonite and makes closing the pen somewhat easier since the pen barrel is subtlety guided inside the cap. The modified cap can of course also still be posted over the barrel, but I normally do not post big pens.

Edited August 28, 2014 by Fuellerfuehrerschein

[Fuellerfuehrerschein]

Gama Supreme fitted with jumbo sized 40 mm Ambitious nib

Sometime ago I requested ASA Pens if they could provide an Indian no. 12 40 mm long EF or F nib for my Gama Supreme. ASA responded they can provide on special request gold plated monotone no. 12 Iridium Point 40 mm long nibs in Indian F line width made by the Ambitious Company in India. Since the nib price was very reasonable I took a chance and ordered one of these jumbo sized nibs in Indian F line width.

 

First impressions

After opening the well packed nib consignment from ASA I immediately noticed the 40 mm long and 10.3 mm wide Ambitious nib is made of thicker sheet metal than the (rather thin) OEM 35 mm long nib. I had to drill a 10.5 mm hole in my knocking out block for this jumbo sized nib and used a 9 mm hole to knock out to 8.1 mm wide OEM 35 mm nib.

 

The thicker sheet metal of the Ambitious nib resulted in having to apply substantial force to appropriately friction fit it in the section of my Supreme. The nib exposed length with the Ambitious 40 mm long nib firmly installed is about 26.5 mm. At that length the cap of my Gama Supreme can just be fully closed without the longer nib touching anything. The achieved 4.5 mm exposed nib length increase over the OEM setup is an ergonomic improvement for people who grip their pens high like I do.

 

 

The nib only reads IRIDIUM POINT and features no reference to line width.

 

 

 

During writing I noticed that the 40 mm Ambitious Indian F nib writes noticeably smoother when compared to the 35 mm OEM nib. The ink flow with registrars iron gall ink was excellent. As a bonus the nib can also be used inverted without becoming vexatious scratchy. My Ambitious Indian F nib however did not turn out to be approximately a European F equivalent as I hoped. I would rate its line width more like a European M to B.

 

My daily work pens must be capable of producing legible small writing, so I sadly cannot use bold writing pens. Since I like my Supreme and use it a lot for work, I had to knock out and replace the very smooth writing 40 mm Ambitious nib for the less smooth but considerably finer writing 35 mm OEM nib.

 

I noticed the iridium point halves of my Ambitious nib are pushed rather far apart on my Supremes feed due to its tight fit and the nib slit taper could be improved. I will try a DIY trick to make the nib write somewhat finer towards a European M. This is done by carefully pinching the shoulders of the Ambitious nib together. This will make that the nib slit at the tip gradually closes and creates some extra taper in the nib slit between the tines from the breather hole towards the point. If the smooth writing Ambitious nib after some DIY adjustment can produce a somewhat finer and adequately wet line it will get a second chance in my Supreme.

 

Final thoughts

For fountain pen users who like medium to broad writing smooth nibs I think these nibs out of the box are a serious upgrade option for Gama Supreme or other large Gama pens. The Ambitious Company should however start to offer their stainless steel nibs in finer line widths and less surprising width designations (what is wrong with designating line width in a X.YY mm format like used for technical pens to get rid of guesswork?) to make these intrinsically good nibs a more feasible upgrade choice.

Edited September 22, 2014 by Fuellerfuehrerschein

[hari317]

Fuellerfuehrerschein, you mention that the nib tines open up when installed in the pen. The solution would depend on the root cause. This can be caused due to the feeder pushing from under the nib(solution: dry heat the feeder and move it away from nib such that it just lies snugly below the nib and does not push it.)

 

the other reason might be that the curvature of the nib and feeder is mismatched, this seems unlikely since the 40mm nibs have the correct curvature IME. HTH.

[Fuellerfuehrerschein]

Thanks for your tips hari317. The nib and feed curvature correspond nicely as you presumed.

 

I actually noticed there was not much taper to be seen in the nib slit without the Ambitious nib being mounted on a feed or touching anything. Yesterday I found time to tinker with my Supreme and Ambitious nib. My DIY nib trick worked again (I use gradual small increments and checked the effects of every pinch). The iridium point Ambitious put on my Ambitious nib is however quite large for a F designation. I could reduce the line width to about 0.5 to 0.75 mm depending on applying very light (the pens own weight) to normal writing pressure. Due to the largish tipping halves I will however not get a significant finer line out of this nib.

 

I had my now rather seriously tweaked Ambitious nib on my Supreme today to find out if I can use it for work. During small writing the topside of the letter E got filled with registrars ink and that is a tell tale sign to use a finer nib. For legible finer writing I needed to invert the Ambitious F nib. Sadly The Ambitious nib I received writes too bold for my needs and I cannot find a width indication (it should be an Indian Fine) on the nib itself to check if it really is meant to be an Indian Fine nib.

 

By the way ASA Pens recently added the Gama Masterpiece to its offerings. The new Gama Masterpiece features a 40 mm Ambitious nib instead of the 35 mm IPG nib the Supreme comes with. I think the 10.3 mm wide 40 mm Ambitious nib looks better on the wide grip sections of these pens than a 8 to 9 mm wide nib.

 

Hari317 can you explain how much dry heat must be applied to heat set an ebonite feed and how to safely produce sufficient dry heat? I only know that one can use an appropriate amount of hot water in a glass to heat set ebonite feeds and must keep the section away from the warm water at the bottom of the glass to prevent discoloration.

Edited September 22, 2014 by Fuellerfuehrerschein

[hari317]

i have the opposite problem, as a fan of wider nibs, I complain about the fine Indian nibs. anyway i have a huge number of these nibs, the slit is well tapered from the factory and the tips actually touch each other when the nib is unmounted. they come to correct spacing after mounting snug with feeder. HTH.

[Fuellerfuehrerschein]

I concur my Ambitious nib is well made and besides its line width I like it. I simply took a chance regarding line width when ordering it. Maybe my nib, though well packed, got knocked around during transport by air mail and came suboptimal out of the box. Post is not always carefully handled. Fortunately my DIY program made the nib perform betterl. The Ambitious Company cannot help that I am generally after finer writing nibs for legible small writing. From what I saw I think the Ambitious Company nibs are good enough to start producing them in more production tolerances sensitive finer line widths. That is a compliment since producing wider line widths makes things easier for nib producers and the main reason why you often read less positive comments on fine nibs when compared to broader nibs.

 

Hari317 can you explain how you apply dry heat in a safe way to heat set ebonite feeds? I used a hair dryer and the ebonite feed and section remained black.

Tips regarding ebonite do's and don'ts its maintenance and storage etc. are probably also welcome, since ebonite/hard rubber has become an uncommon material in Europe. Most Europeans can still recognize a fountain pen, lots of German kids even learn to write with a fountain pen to obtain their Füllerführerschein, but they almost all think pens like the Supreme are made out of plastic.

Edited September 23, 2014 by Fuellerfuehrerschein

[hari317]

Hari317 can you explain how you apply dry heat in a safe way to heat set ebonite feeds? I used a hair dryer and the ebonite feed and section remained black.

Tips regarding ebonite do's and don'ts its maintenance and storage etc. are probably also welcome, since ebonite/hard rubber has become an uncommon material in Europe. Most Europeans can still recognize a fountain pen, lots of German kids even learn to write with a fountain pen to obtain their Füllerführerschein, but they almost all think pens like the Supreme are made out of plastic.

 

I am just a hobbyist and i work only on my pens so I do what I feel fit to my pens, YMMV.

 

I use a hair dryer but I find that i cannot direct the heat only to the feeder, i use it on jammed sections. I get excellent heat directivity for heat setting feeds by use of a steam jet. The new Ebonite is still fresh and does not have much surface oxidation (unlike vintage ebonite that are decades old) and does not suffer from damage due to short exposure to water/steam IME.

[arunura]

I just got the supreme with a 1.1 mm jowo #6 from ASA. Love the pen. You're right about the comfort and control. You can write for hours on end without cramping. Nice review

[Fuellerfuehrerschein]

Now the ambient temperatures have dropped under 10 °C (50 °F) this fall I noticed the simple ebonite feed in my Gama Supreme has somewhat more trouble to regulate the flow of Ecclesiastical Stationery Supplies Registrars Ink (ESSRI) in my pen at lower ink levels. I have to fill the pen more often to reduce the for temperature differences sensitive air volume in the barrel of the pen or resort to keeping the pen warm to obtain the flow characteristics I experienced during summer (my summer temperatures are cool compared to Chennai, India where these pens are made). On the other hand ink flow remains excellent with ESSRI iron gall ink and I can live with topping up my pen more often to counteract lower ambient temperatures, so I still like my Supreme a lot. The lower ambient temperatures also noticeably reduced the typical ebonite smell the pen had during summer, but the comfortable grip or feel of the ebonite remains the same.

Edited November 18, 2014 by Fuellerfuehrerschein

[hari317]

Now the ambient temperatures have dropped under 10 °C (50 °F) this fall I noticed the simple ebonite feed in my Gama Supreme has somewhat more trouble to regulate the flow of Ecclesiastical Stationery Supplies Registrars Ink (ESSRI) in my pen at lower ink levels. I have to fill the pen more often to reduce the for temperature differences sensitive air volume in the barrel of the pen or resort to keeping the pen warm to obtain the flow characteristics I experienced during summer (my summer temperatures are cool compared to Chennai, India where these pens are made). On the other hand ink flow remains excellent with ESSRI iron gall ink and I can live with topping up my pen more often to counteract lower ambient temperatures, so I still like my Supreme a lot. The lower ambient temperatures also noticeably reduced the typical ebonite smell the pen had during summer, but the comfortable grip or feel of the ebonite remains the same.

This low ambient temperature behaviour report is much appreciated, nice to see that the behaviour is consistent with the conventional explanations.