Guider Acrylic “Medium”

[Mitinder]

Guider Pens are hand turned by Guider Pen Works, Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh, India. The company was started in 1946 by Mr. G Subbarao. At present his son Mr. Lakshmana Rao looks after the business. They still turn the pens by hand and the pen materials are acrylic, ebonite and some celluloid which it is claimed is in stock since 1950s.

I bought an Emerald and pearl green swirl acrylic medium pen. It is offered in eye dropper filler but Mr. Lakshamana Rao, the gentleman he is, agreed to do a cartridge/convertor version of the pen for me. So my ‘Guider Acrylic Medium’ is a cartridge/convertor filler with a fine nib.

Design and Workmanship

The pen is in emerald and pearl green swirl with the pearl green having a mother of pearl sheen and white lines rippling through. This gorgeous acrylic makes it very attractive and the high gloss polish adds to the beauty.

The golden clip is Parker like Arrow with Guider embossed on it. There are two golden cap rings and a jewel of same acrylic on the cap. The cap is screw type and opens in very convenient 2¹/₂ turns.

The barrel is rounded at the end without any end-cap or rings. The barrel threads are generous so that the ink does not leak as the pen can be used as an eye dropper filler too.

The Section is made of the same acrylic. It is straight with a flared edge.

The pen uses an ebonite comb feed and #3 nib in a nib housing which is screwed into the section. Size of the nib is in perfect resonance with the pen but it is steel coloured, an absolute no-no with a golden trim.

4/5

Dimensions and Weight

Weight 25.7 gms

Length capped 144 mm

Length uncapped 128 mm

Length posted 169 mm

Section Diameter 12 mm

Barrel Diameter 17 mm

Cap Diameter 19 mm

It is a medium sized pen but due to acrylic, is light weight. The balance is excellent when posted but feels awkward when un-posted. The size and diameter of section and the balance as well as weight is ideal for long hours of writing.

4/5

Nib

The nib is steel while rest of the trim is golden causing a clash which takes a lot away from the looks.

The nib is not smooth but toothy with a lot of feed back. However the feed and nib combination is good as it lays a wet and uniform line. I had to change the nib with a FPR 2 tone medium nib to make the glaring design flaw go away. The nib leaves a lot to be desired.

3/5

Filling System

The cartridge convertor filling system is very handy as it takes any International size cartridges. The twist convertor, very obviously of Chinese origin, holds 1.1 ml of ink and offers you a choice of any ink of your choice.

The pen can be used as an eye dropper filler too.

5/5

Price and Value for Money

The cartridge/convertor filler version of the pen was supplied for Rs 1,200/- (approximately US$18) excluding shipping.

It is a value for money pen for its design, feed, quality of acrylic and finish. The nib malady can be easily treated by a nib switch. Or you can order the more expensive German nib and cartridge/convertor from the manufacturer.

5/5

In my opinion, there are not many hand turned pen makers left in business and each piece they create is an artefact or let us say a sculpture. Guider make their pens in the old fashioned way by hand on machines imported from Germany more than 70 years ago.For serious collectors and even fp lovers it is a must have.

Overall Score: 21/25

[zaded]

Nice looking pen. I would definitely change the nib if i was you. Atleast a jinhao nib.

[Mitinder]

Nice looking pen. I would definitely change the nib if i was you. Atleast a jinhao nib.

 

yes and if it came with golden nib I would work on it on a micromesh and am sure it would be smooth as the steel nib turned out after a few minutes of micromeshing!

[Samrat]

I made the nib smooth by repeatedly using nail files (as micro mesh of 10000-12000 grit difficult to obtain here).... But it somehow made the nib reverse of a fine italic....I mean the transverse lines are thick and longitudinal lines are thin....the handwriting looks distasteful with this reverse thick thin variation....so for now retired this pen until I get a suitable replacement nib...

[Leeuwenhoek]

I have a Guider Zimbo pen which is very solidly built. The acrylic on that pen is great and slightly translucent. The green acrylic on yours looks great too. Thanks for sharing.

[Mitinder]

I have a Guider Zimbo pen which is very solidly built. The acrylic on that pen is great and slightly translucent. The green acrylic on yours looks great too. Thanks for sharing.

 

yes Guider make nice pens. I hve ordered another large pen in brown acrylic. Waiting for it to reach me, then I will share the pics with you all and review it.

[amberleadavis]

These pens are beautiful and Mr. Rao should be commended for his work.

[matteob]

That's strange as Mr Rao normally uses German Schmidt nibs and converters for his c/c mechanism pens. Very surprized he fitted a plain steel finish nib to a gold trim pen. I ordered a gold trip ebonite pen and he fitted a gold tone nib for me. If you are not happy I am sure he will replace the nib unit for you. That nib does not look like a Schmidt to me.

 

The pen looks great though

Edited January 13, 2017 by matteob