What Indian Pens Are You Using Today - 2021 ?

[tommym]

I just took delivery of yet another Ranga Pens 4CS and put it through its paces today.  I love the looks of the Premium Ebonite, P12 Orange/Black. I ordered it threaded for a Jowo nib and installed a Jowo-compatible Kanwrite EF two-tone nib. 

 

Tommy

 

[subbu68]

On 1/20/2024 at 1:32 AM, tommym said:

I just took delivery of yet another Ranga Pens 4CS and put it through its paces today.  I love the looks of the Premium Ebonite, P12 Orange/Black. I ordered it threaded for a Jowo nib and installed a Jowo-compatible Kanwrite EF two-tone nib. 

 

Tommy

 

Lovely pen.. And with KW nib it is fully Indian 😉 

[tommym]

23 hours ago, subbu68 said:

Lovely pen.. And with KW nib it is fully Indian 😉 

Thanks! 

 

If Kanwrite sold stub nibs, my India pen collection would be 100% India. 

 

Also, I hope that inks from India, such as Bril, Sulekha, etc. will be easily accessible worldwide.  I did manage to procure sample vials of Bril inks, so I am thankful for that. 

 

Tommy

[subbu68]

On 1/23/2024 at 8:22 PM, tommym said:

Thanks! 

 

If Kanwrite sold stub nibs, my India pen collection would be 100% India. 

 

Also, I hope that inks from India, such as Bril, Sulekha, etc. will be easily accessible worldwide.  I did manage to procure sample vials of Bril inks, so I am thankful for that. 

 

Tommy

Check with Penhouse. They have Bril inks and their shipping policy talks about international shipping  https://www.penhouse.in/shippingpolicy

[Harish N V]

On 1/20/2024 at 3:02 AM, tommym said:

I just took delivery of yet another Ranga Pens 4CS and put it through its paces today.  I love the looks of the Premium Ebonite, P12 Orange/Black. I ordered it threaded for a Jowo nib and installed a Jowo-compatible Kanwrite EF two-tone nib. 

 

Tommy

 

It's great. Lovely colour. I have actually been very reluctant about 4cs due to its thin nature. But it's gorgeous and I am tempted to get one

[Harish N V]

On 1/23/2024 at 9:52 PM, tommym said:

Thanks! 

 

If Kanwrite sold stub nibs, my India pen collection would be 100% India. 

 

Also, I hope that inks from India, such as Bril, Sulekha, etc. will be easily accessible worldwide.  I did manage to procure sample vials of Bril inks, so I am thankful for that. 

 

Tommy

Kanwrite does sell stubs. They do BB stubs and b stubs

[tommym]

4 hours ago, subbu68 said:

Check with Penhouse. They have Bril inks and their shipping policy talks about international shipping  https://www.penhouse.in/shippingpolicy

 

I did order Bril ink from them last year, but they canceled the order due to international shipping restrictions of fluids to the USA. At least that's what they told me. I've never had this problem before. 

 

Tommy

[subbu68]

20 minutes ago, tommym said:

 

I did order Bril ink from them last year, but they canceled the order due to international shipping restrictions of fluids to the USA. At least that's what they told me. I've never had this problem before. 

 

Tommy

Possible. I read somewhere there is restriction for inks with certain composition to the US. Maybe Bril do not meet that?

[tommym]

11 minutes ago, Harish N V said:

It's great. Lovely colour. I have actually been very reluctant about 4cs due to its thin nature. But it's gorgeous and I am tempted to get one

 

For over 20 years, my Montblanc 145 was my everyday travel pen; I took it everywhere. The 4CS is actually a larger pen. Of the two, the Ranga 4CS is a step up in toughness due to its flush cap design.

 

Tommy

 

The Montblanc 145 is the pen on the bottom; the Ranga 4CS is above that. 

 

 

 

 

 

[tommym]

48 minutes ago, Harish N V said:

Kanwrite does sell stubs. They do BB stubs and b stubs

 

I'll check it out.

 

Thanks,

 

Tommy

[Harish N V]

Wow. Lovely pens they are. The mb collection looks awesome. 

 

It also puts the 4cs in perspective. Actually Mr Kandan suggested me to try this out as a student pen earlier. This picture drives home this point totally. Thanks for sharing

[tommym]

11 hours ago, Harish N V said:

Wow. Lovely pens they are. The mb collection looks awesome. 

 

It also puts the 4cs in perspective. Actually Mr Kandan suggested me to try this out as a student pen earlier. This picture drives home this point totally. Thanks for sharing

 

Mom is from Germany and used MB pens daily in her office in the 1950s and 60s. She still has a lot of MBs, mostly the 149s from that office. MB's focus over the years has shifted away from fountain pens, customer service, in-house factory repairs, etc.; thus, my focus shifted away from MB. That is when I stumbled upon the fountain pen industry in India via these forums. I feel better now supporting India's smaller and more focused industries. MB will no doubt survive without me. The MB 145 in the picture (now branded as the Classique) is mine, but it hasn't been used in years, not since that Ranga 4CS showed up on the scene. If I had to choose or recommend between the two, I would wholeheartedly recommend the Ranga 4CS. 

 

The MB 145 (Classique) is still the most flexible MB pen to travel with. It is a cartridge-converter pen rather than a piston filler and can also use and store two standard international cartridges within its slim body. Two standard international cartridges at 0.7 mils gave me about the same ink capacity as the piston filler 146, and my "EF" nib made the best use of that ink. I once ran out of bottled ink on a restricted military atoll in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and thought well, that's the end of that. I walked into the small sundry store for some drinks and snacks, and low and behold, next to the cheapy BIC ballpoint pens was a small batch of standard international ink cartridges, enough to last me for the remainder of the project. 

 

In today's cost:

 

Montblanc 145 (Classique, gold trim) = $680 USD + shipping

Ranga 4CS (Premium Ebonite, Jowo nib) = $87 USD + shipping

 

Tommy

 

 

[metalhead]

One more in the 4CS fan club! Its a really good daily pen, i keep playing around with the nib to make it interesting. This one below is a simple polished black ebonite, i've removed the clip, and these days i have a black broad butterfly Ti nib (from Acriv) on it. 3 years on, tried perhaps 5-6 different nibs over that time, its still doing great. I do prefer the Samurai over 4cs for its design and girth, but the 4cs is almost always inked as my backup pen.

 

 

And some Samurai, if you were looking for the next Ranga pen -

 

[Harish N V]

17 hours ago, tommym said:

 

Mom is from Germany and used MB pens daily in her office in the 1950s and 60s. She still has a lot of MBs, mostly the 149s from that office. MB's focus over the years has shifted away from fountain pens, customer service, in-house factory repairs, etc.; thus, my focus shifted away from MB. That is when I stumbled upon the fountain pen industry in India via these forums. I feel better now supporting India's smaller and more focused industries. MB will no doubt survive without me. The MB 145 in the picture (now branded as the Classique) is mine, but it hasn't been used in years, not since that Ranga 4CS showed up on the scene. If I had to choose or recommend between the two, I would wholeheartedly recommend the Ranga 4CS. 

 

The MB 145 (Classique) is still the most flexible MB pen to travel with. It is a cartridge-converter pen rather than a piston filler and can also use and store two standard international cartridges within its slim body. Two standard international cartridges at 0.7 mils gave me about the same ink capacity as the piston filler 146, and my "EF" nib made the best use of that ink. I once ran out of bottled ink on a restricted military atoll in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and thought well, that's the end of that. I walked into the small sundry store for some drinks and snacks, and low and behold, next to the cheapy BIC ballpoint pens was a small batch of standard international ink cartridges, enough to last me for the remainder of the project. 

 

In today's cost:

 

Montblanc 145 (Classique, gold trim) = $680 USD + shipping

Ranga 4CS (Premium Ebonite, Jowo nib) = $87 USD + shipping

 

Tommy

 

 

Nice to know the journey of your shift in preferences over the years. A nice story also on the atoll.

 

The price difference puts things in perspective. That too with the variety of nibs available on the 4cs, things look very different

[Harish N V]

9 hours ago, rnjn said:

One more in the 4CS fan club! Its a really good daily pen, i keep playing around with the nib to make it interesting. This one below is a simple polished black ebonite, i've removed the clip, and these days i have a black broad butterfly Ti nib (from Acriv) on it. 3 years on, tried perhaps 5-6 different nibs over that time, its still doing great. I do prefer the Samurai over 4cs for its design and girth, but the 4cs is almost always inked as my backup pen.

 

 

And some Samurai, if you were looking for the next Ranga pen -

 

Yes. I love Ranga pens just for a variety of nibs that you can play around on one pen. The acriv nib is really good. I had one pen from acriv with a ti nib but ended up selling it. 

 

Can you name the pens? IAM intrigued by the third one from the left. Looks great

[metalhead]

5 minutes ago, Harish N V said:

Can you name the pens? IAM intrigued by the third one from the left. Looks great

1. Samurai in polished black regular ebonite

2. Samurai in matte black regular ebonite

3. Oversized Samurai (also called Bheem) in polished premium black ebonite

4. Samurai in matte premium blue-cream ebonite

 

Bheem is a proper big pen, around 170mm length capped. I felt that the 13mm section girth was a bit narrow for the heft of this pen, so for some time i put on paper tape to increase the section girth. Then I changed the nib to a buttery smooth broad nib and it doesn't feel hefty anymore. Pushed the nib out a little bit, as in the picture, and it feels well balanced now. a #8 nib would be perfect for it.

[tommym]

2 hours ago, rnjn said:

A #8 nib would be perfect for it.

 

I concur, but.....

 

The Bock #8 nib units are a bit pricey, and these larger Ranga pens (last time I inquired) are not available as dedicated eye-dropper pens. I'm not crazy about dedicated eye-dropper pens, but I felt I needed at least one in my pen collection to be able to run with the big dogs. Maybe that will change in the future. 

 

Tommy

[tommym]

UPDATE:

 

Mr. Kandan just confirmed that Ranga Pens has discontinued dedicated eye-dropper pens. I am kind of bummed out to hear that, but they know their customer base best. 

 

So, who still makes the best-dedicated eye-dropper pens in India?

 

Thanks, 

 

Tommy

[metalhead]

8 hours ago, tommym said:

So, who still makes the best-dedicated eye-dropper pens in India?

From what I know - Woodex, PLP, Gama, Guider, Ratnam make dedicated EDs. Apart from this, you can still get hold of some NOS Airmail 71JTs if you are looking for ED demonstrators.

 

"Best" might be a bit personal, my order of preference would be Guider, then Woodex, PLP and finally Gama (although, Gama Kuyil is my most used ED pen), based on purchases made in last year or so. Ratnam pens are also available from time to time on penhouse website.

 

[Harish N V]

On 1/27/2024 at 6:43 PM, rnjn said:

1. Samurai in polished black regular ebonite

2. Samurai in matte black regular ebonite

3. Oversized Samurai (also called Bheem) in polished premium black ebonite

4. Samurai in matte premium blue-cream ebonite

 

Bheem is a proper big pen, around 170mm length capped. I felt that the 13mm section girth was a bit narrow for the heft of this pen, so for some time i put on paper tape to increase the section girth. Then I changed the nib to a buttery smooth broad nib and it doesn't feel hefty anymore. Pushed the nib out a little bit, as in the picture, and it feels well balanced now. a #8 nib would be perfect for it.

Thanks for the names. The Bheem looks awesome. Also the matte black samurai.