Ranga Zeal

May 17, 2016

Ranga Zeal

ED version – 35mm Flex Nib

The Zeal is my forth Ranga fountain pen, after a model 4c purchased in this Group Buy, a Model 3 purchased via eBay and a Model 5 also purchased in a Group Buy.

I had not planned on joining the Group Buy for the Ranga Zeal. I already had a nice collection of Ranga pens and the combination of ebonite and clear acrylic did not catch my eye. But after seeing some of the photos from early purchasers, I changed my mind. I’m glad I did. The pen is proving to be an intriguing and positive next step in my FP journey.

The pen arrived promptly and in perfect shape. At long last, I have figured out how to use the tracking system to follow the progress of the package as it reaches me.

Like my Model 5 – a huge pen – I asked for this pen in black with a Bakul / matte finish. Brushed ebonite is wonderful to the touch. It’s close to the feeling of a makrolon Lamy 2000. If you haven’t tried a Bakul finish ebonite pen yet, I highly recommend it.

Part of the interest of Indian pens for me is the option to swap nibs. I took part in the first round of the Ambitious Nib Group Buy so have a small stock of nibs to try. For the Zeal, I decided to swap the stock nib for a 35mm flex nib I got in the GB. I figured it was time to spend some time writing with a flex nib to see if I could live with it and make it my own.

The flex nib provide more than a little scratchy - but then that was a good reason to try out a 12000 grit micro mesh pad I picked up not too long ago. Thankfully it worked, and the nib smoothed out nicely.

I picked Noodler’s Zhivago for reasons that escape me now. I think I had too many pens inked with blue and wanted something darker. By now, I’m ready to go back to blue, something that shades J.

The pen is easy to enjoy. Here are my like and dislikes:

Likes:
˙ The size, weight and girth of the pen are close to ideal. I don’t post the pen.
˙ I find the simple body style appealing. I’m not a big fan of the clips on my Ranga pens so I enjoyed the clipless option.
˙ The shape of the section is comfortable.
˙ The step from the threads to the body is not overly pronounced.
˙ I like that I can easily customize the pen with different nibs.
˙ The cap comes off with just under 3 turns - fewer than some of my other ebonite pens.
˙ The transparent section of the barrel is cool. It may be a gimmick, but I like it. It’s better than an ink window!
˙ The brushed texture is as nice as you could want.
˙ The construction of the pen is solid.

Dislikes:
˙ The transparent cap finial. The transparent barrel makes me smile. The bit on the cap does not. Just my preference.
˙ Cap length. The cap strikes me as longer than it needs to be. Too long to my way of thinking.
˙ Leaking and burping. Some level of burping seems to be inevitable with eyedropper pens. I find that I do wind up with inky fingers fairly often when I write with the pen. But it very well could be that I need to heat set the feed to the flex nib.

May 17, 2016

Ranga Zeal

ED version – 35mm Flex Nib

IMAG2821_sm.jpg

The Zeal is my forth Ranga fountain pen, after a model 4c purchased in this Group Buy, a Model 3 purchased via eBay and a Model 5 also purchased in a Group Buy.

IMAG2806_sm.jpg

I had not planned on joining the Group Buy for the Ranga Zeal. I already had a nice collection of Ranga pens and the combination of ebonite and clear acrylic did not catch my eye. But after seeing some of the photos from early purchasers, I changed my mind. I’m glad I did. The pen is proving to be an intriguing and positive next step in my FP journey.

The pen arrived promptly and in perfect shape. At long last, I have figured out how to use the tracking system to follow the progress of the package as it reaches me.

Like my Model 5 – a huge pen – I asked for this pen in black with a Bakul / matte finish. Brushed ebonite is wonderful to the touch. It’s close to the feeling of a makrolon Lamy 2000. If you haven’t tried a Bakul finish ebonite pen yet, I highly recommend it.

IMAG2810_sm.jpg

Part of the interest of Indian pens for me is the option to swap nibs. I took part in the first round of the Ambitious Nib Group Buy so have a small stock of nibs to try. For the Zeal, I decided to swap the stock nib for a 35mm flex nib I got in the GB. I figured it was time to spend some time writing with a flex nib to see if I could live with it and make it my own.

IMAG2822_sm.jpg

The flex nib provide more than a little scratchy - but then that was a good reason to try out a 12000 grit micro mesh pad I picked up not too long ago. Thankfully it worked, and the nib smoothed out nicely.

I picked Noodler’s Zhivago for reasons that escape me now. I think I had too many pens inked with blue and wanted something darker. By now, I’m ready to go back to blue, something that shades J.

The pen is easy to enjoy. Here are my like and dislikes:

Likes:
˙ The size, weight and girth of the pen are close to ideal. I don’t post the pen.
˙ I find the simple body style appealing. I’m not a big fan of the clips on my Ranga pens so I enjoyed the clipless option.
˙ The shape of the section is comfortable.
˙ The step from the threads to the body is not overly pronounced.
˙ I like that I can easily customize the pen with different nibs.
˙ The cap comes off with just under 3 turns - fewer than some of my other ebonite pens.
˙ The transparent section of the barrel is cool. It may be a gimmick, but I like it. It’s better than an ink window!
˙ The brushed texture is as nice as you could want.
˙ The construction of the pen is solid.

Dislikes:
˙ The transparent cap finial. The transparent barrel makes me smile. The bit on the cap does not. Just my preference.
˙ Cap length. The cap strikes me as longer than it needs to be. Too long to my way of thinking.
˙ Leaking and burping. Some level of burping seems to be inevitable with eyedropper pens. I find that I do wind up with inky fingers fairly often when I write with the pen. But it very well could be that I need to heat set the feed to the flex nib.