Asa Bheeshma Review

[Prithwijit]

Hi everyone, this is my first attempt at a fountain pen review and I have decided to review the ASA Bheeshma which is a custom design that ASA pens has made based on my request. Since this is my first effort, please go easy on the brickbats. Constructive criticisms however are always welcome.

Introduction

The story of Bheeshma has to start with the discussion one day that we were having in the “Fountain Pen Pals India” WhatsApp group when someone introduced me to a picture of a Scriptorium pen in Lava Explosion blank. I was stunned as to how amazingly pretty the material was and how beautiful the pen looked. Without knowing it then, I was smitten and hooked.

Days passed and my urge to possess one went up in leaps and bounds. Unable to resist any further, I reached out to Eugene Soto of muttblanks.com to enquire about blanks in larger than five inch sizes for kitless pens. He suggested using two five inch blanks or he could make seven inch blanks as a custom order. I am not sure why, but I chose the second option. Maybe, in my mind I thought since I am venturing into something new then why not stretch the envelope. Anyways, after 3 excruciating weeks of waiting, the blanks finally managed to pass through the hoops of transatlantic flight and customs clearance to land up in my mailbox.

The next challenge was what pen to design for the blanks. Given that I had opted for small seven inch blanks, a large pen with clips and all paraphernalia was out of question since we simply didn’t have enough material. Fellow group members and FPNers Vaibhav (@mehandiratta) and Pradeep (@pdg84) chipped in and we decided to make an adaptation of the Onyx design that Pradeep had but with some modifications to the specifications. Vaibhav was kind enough to make a CAD based on the design ideas and the outline of the pen was ready. He even christened the concept Bheeshma based on the powerful thespian from the epic Mahabharata.

When it came to the question of the pen being made, there was nobody else I could think of other than Mr. Subramaniam of ASA Pens. Not only had he helped me gain knowledge on all pen related matters, but I knew I could trust him to look after my dream and nurture it like as if it is his own. So off went the blocks to him to get turned (pun intended) into a pen.

Design

The design is inspired by the Onyx which in itself is inspired by the classic Nakaya Piccolo design. This is a classical design that starts as a cigar shape, tapering down towards the end filial and terminates with small conical end pieces at each side. The cap is flushed with the barrel with a small step down design where the cap and barrel meet.

The section design has been patterned on the ASA I-Can / I-Will which in my experience is extremely comfortable. The section gradually tapers from the barrel towards the nib before starting to flare out about 7mm to 8mm before it ends.

The design is clipless, i.e., doesn’t have a clip to put in your pocket and is also designed to be used unposted. This allows for a better control over determining the balance point and is set to provide comfortable writing for everyone.
Without further ado, I will let the pictures do the talking about the design.

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Size and Balance

By classical norms this is a large sized pen at 147mm capped. But those of you are familiar with Indian handmade pens would recognize the fact that it can almost be passed off as a medium sized pen amongst its peers. Since the material used is very light, the barrel could be made a bit thicker and stronger without compromising on the weight or balance.

The pen is extremely well balanced and can easily provide comfortable writing for extended periods. The section design is the best in the business from ASA and that only adds to the pleasurable writing experience. Please note that the pen has been designed to be used uncapped and that is exactly how I have used it.

Nib

Originally the pen was designed to accommodate a #5 Jowo nib. But once it was made Mr. Subramaniam insisted that a #6 Jowo/WIN unit would be best fit for it. I am a sucker for large nibs and happily agreed to the recommendation. We finally paired the pen with a dual tone #6 Jowo steel nib with Medium tip.

Filling Mechanism

I am committed to using pens that accept standard international cartridges and compatible convertors. I find them to provide the best proposition around value, system longevity, convenience and widespread compatibility. Unless there is a compelling justification to do things differently, all my pens tend to have the cartridge convertor mechanism. The ASA Bheeshma is no exception to this rule and has the aforesaid filling mechanism.

Build Quality

The build quality of this pen is impeccable. The quality of polish is excellent. Given that it is a handmade pen, there are some fine traces of tool marks but they are only visible under minute inspection and the overall build is not much different from a normal injection moulded pen. I am given to understand that normally Lava Explosion or similar aluminite material benefits from a lacquer coating to highlight the shine. I had requested for no such coating and yet I am very happy with the lustre which is evident in the pictures.

Writing Experience

Mr Subramaniam doesn’t profess to be a nibmeister but on ample occasions he has given ample hints that he does tune some nibs. I am not sure what he has done here but this nib is magic. It is incredibly smooth yet not glassy and leaves a nice wet line on the paper. I had inked the pen with Bril Violet ink to match the ink colour with the pen colour and the combination has worked real well. There are no skips or false starts and the impression it leaves on the paper is of a nice smooth medium line rich in ink. Overall, a superb writer and amongst the better Jowo nibs that I have in my collection.

Price and Value

Since I had procured the blanks myself, Mr Subramaniam charged me just for the nib and for making the pen. The cost is comparable to the prices of recently launched pens of the ASA Stellar collection. Personally, I found that incredible value since he had to disrupt his normal production schedule and incur significant downtime to get this pen made.

Specifications

This section is for those of you who thrive on hard numbers. Unfortunately I do not have access to a Vernier calliper or other precision instruments. You would have to settle for the approximate measurements I made using a normal rules and my (admittedly weak) eyes.

Length (capped) – 147 mm
Length (uncapped) – 143 mm
Length (cap) – 62 mm
Length (section) – 27 mm
Maximum width – 15.5 mm
Minimum width – 12.5 mm
Maximum section width – 12.5 mm
Minimum section width – 9.5 mm

Conclusion

I am extremely happy with this pen. I started with an abstract desire and my friends and ASA have given it a concrete and excellent shape. Everybody who have written with it have only been impressed with it. It is an excellent design that is very balanced, comfortable, light and ideal for long writing sessions. It would be great if ASA considers bringing it to the market as a regular product.

[vig2432]

Nice review Prithwijit. Enjoy ur pen

[Sudhir]

Awesome pen and nice review Prithwijit. How about some writing samples?

 

Cheers

Sudhir

[rishminder]

Nice review Prtihwijit. Keep on rolling the reviews for us. I liked it

 

Love the pen material

[amarjit]

Nice REview

[Sanjay13leo]

This is a a beautiful pen, well executed, nice blank, good workmanship. The number 6 nib indeed is a right fit. Very well written review for a great looker. Looking forward for your writing sample soon. Congrats

[Cyber6]

WOW.. that is a nice looking pen...

 

 

C.

[RayJ]

The pen looks amazing. I'll search for such a blank and send it to a custom pen maker to make a similar pen.

 

Can you please show a writing sample? I'd like to see a how the nib works.

[mhguda]

It would be a nice gesture to acknowledge that this pen - the Onyx - was first designed and made by Guider, also an Indian pen maker.

Fellow member Mesu was involved in that project. There were two versions. Version 1 was custom made (by Guider) for myself in order to house two Schmidt screw in nibs I had, and version 2 was a redesign for the first Indian pen group buy.

[pgd84]

Nice review PC! Congrats on the fantastic pen... Kudos to Mr. L Subramanium for making such a beautiful pen. Hope to receive some jewels from the ASA stable soon

[deepak23]

Very nice. Nakaya had now three clones - the Onyx from Guider, Idyll from Scriptorium and now the Bheeshma.

FWIW Fosfor has one model in the blue gold lava lamp blank.

Edited October 21, 2015 by deepak23

[Prithwijit]

Thanks everyone for your encouragement. I am motivated to push out another mini review such as this one in the coming days.

 

I never intended to sully the beauty of the pen by putting in pictures of my rather terrible chicken scratch that I masquerade as handwriting. Besides, I was under the impression that the merits of a Jowo nib are already well established at least within this group. However, looking at the interest regarding writing samples, I shall work on getting some writing samples ready but it is likely to take a few days.

[Prithwijit]

  On 10/21/2015 at 4:37 PM, mhguda said:

It would be a nice gesture to acknowledge that this pen - the Onyx - was first designed and made by Guider, also an Indian pen maker.

Fellow member Mesu was involved in that project. There were two versions. Version 1 was custom made (by Guider) for myself in order to house two Schmidt screw in nibs I had, and version 2 was a redesign for the first Indian pen group buy.

 

Hi,

 

I believe that I have clearly acknowledged the role that Onyx played in influencing the design of Bheeshma in the review. However, I wouldn't call this a clone of Onyx for two reasons -

• Firstly, the Onyx itself is influenced by the Nakaya Piccolo and there are other pens such as Scriptorium Idyll which are also 'inspired' by the Piccolo.
• Secondly and more importantly, the dimensions of this pen are different from the Onyx I have seen and played with in terms of length, diameter and section design. The original Onyx seems to be designed to accommodate smaller #5 nibs. The Bheeshma is designed for larger nibs and is at least one size bigger as a pen. Also the ratio of Cap Length to barrel Length is a bit different.

But it was very interesting to learn about the history of Onyx and thanks for bringing me up to speed on that.

 

Regards,

 

Prithwijit

Edited October 21, 2015 by Prithwijit

[mhguda]

Hi,

The point I wanted to make was that Onyx was designed and made by Guider.

You may be right about the size of its nib though - and I never realized that! I usually like those big #6 nibs but I never realized the Guider Onyx nibs are slightly smaller. I think it underscores the excellence of its design...

But your Beeshma is certainly a handsome pen. Beautiful material!

[avoiceinthedistance]

Nice review, Prithwijit. And congratulations on a lovely pen.

[s_t_e_v_e]

Superb!

[fountainpagan]

Thank you, Prithwijit for the detailed revue.

 

Enjoy your pen.

 

Is this pen a futur new model to be comercialised by ASA, or is it a one time pen?

[subbucal]

  On 10/21/2015 at 9:45 PM, fountainpagan said:

Thank you, Prithwijit for the detailed revue.

 

Enjoy your pen.

 

Is this pen a futur new model to be comercialised by ASA, or is it a one time pen?

It would be part of line up. Will update here too..after Nauka is established..

Rgds

[subbucal]

Dear Prithwijit,

 

Excellent review...I simply relived the entire journey. It was an exciting and enjoyable event, the way we conceptualised and went about making this pen.

[deepak23]

  On 10/22/2015 at 2:54 AM, Subbu_ASApens said:

It would be part of line up. Will update here too..after Nauka is established..

Rgds

Great. Please try and offer it in the Urushi brown and black acrylic. If you can take a millimeter off the diameters and limit the length to 140mm this would be the perfect daily pen. Or maybe you can offer this as a 'slim' version...