New Ranga Pen - Disappointing

[cvac]

1) Full shot of pen in included velvet gift box. The box is really large...it would probably fit about a dozen pens.





2) Close up of pocket clip and cap. Very cheap looking clip with the plating already flaking off. Finish on the tail end of the cap doesn't look quite right.






3) Pen with cap and barrel removed. This model has a hooded nib, which is kind of cool. More on that later. The converter is a squeeze type filler.






4) Close-up of converter. I think this may be some kind of Chinese made piece? Not sure. Whatever it is, it feels very thin and fragile.




5) Metal converter cover removed to show plastic sac. The sac is attached to the section piece of the converter with what appears to be some kind of glue or something. Both these pieces of the converter also feel very cheap and fragile.

 

[cvac]

6) Page 1 & 2 of my handwritten review/writing test with the pen. Bottom line, it seems to write okay but the nib is super scratchy. Not a pleasant experience at all. Ink flow is also quite heavy, as you can see. Overall, do not buy a ~$25 Ranga off eBay thinking you're going to get one of the nice, higher end looking ones that you see on the pen sites that cost a bit more. What you will get is a made to order pen assembled with very cheap parts. If you don't mind spending a bit more, you're probably much better off buying one of their more expensive pens from a re-seller that spec'd out the pen with a higher quality nib and hardware. Even for the price, I can't really recommend this pen.

 

[Miles]

So it's kind of a poorly executed Lamy 2000 knock-off?

Thanks for the review!

 

[Deacon Frank]

Looks more like a Hero 1000 knock-off...who'd have thought, a knock-off of a Chinese pen!

 

[nemo]

It seems to write pretty well (from your sample), if it were mine I would probably work on the finish of the ebonite to make it appear a little more finished.

Is it big? Most Indian pens I see are kinda large.

 

[oc_in_fw]

So it's kind of a poorly executed Lamy 2000 knock-off?

Thanks for the review!

That is what it looks like to me, too.

 

[Etoyoc_Rebmos]

For the brushed ebonite look, I like the Deccan pens better. I haven't had these problems with my Ranga model 4 which is a huge eye dropper. The nib and feed from mine are just the nib and feed from a Wality pen (the nib says Wality right on it), so they are obviously using parts from multiple sources or salvaging other pens for parts. However, I like my pen and am quite happy with the Ranga 4.

However, I have seen another bad review for another of the squeeze filler Ranga pens... ah here it is: http://www.slugsite.com/archives/1455

I wonder if it is just this model of the pen, or if there is QC problems across all of the models.

 

[cvac]

Justin,

Which of the Deccan pens can you recommend and how smooth are the nibs? I'm hesitant to try another Ranga as my experience with this one was not very good. But I do want to try another Indian ebonite pen...but only if the quality is decent.

I do have some plastic pens on order from Fountain Pen Revolution, and I know they sell Deccan pens as well...

 

[Etoyoc_Rebmos]

The only Deccan pen I have is the Ambassador - It looks much better than the Ranga you posted. If you time it right, Kevin has a 25% the Ranga pens from time to time. I reviewed the pen here http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...Ambassador-a-review-of-sorts?highlight=deccan The nib was nice and smooth and I had gotten used to using the large section. I noticed on a refill that there looked like there was some oil floating on the old ink in the barrel. So, I pulled the nib and feed for a good cleaning. I haven't pulled a nib or feed that had a tighter fit than that Deccan. Putting them back in was a major challenge and I had to do a bit of nib work to get the nib back into alignment and smoothed out. It works well again, but not as well as it did before I pulled the nib out. The cross threading issue on the cap worked itself out, so other than the damage I put into the nib, it is a great pen. The nib on this pen is marked "ambitious" and I recall claims on FPN that those were one of the better Indian nibs.

 

[Raatt]

I have one of the small aerometric Rangas and for the money I find it to be a fine little pen. Mine is a conventional nib with a screw cap. I find it posts a little high, but is fairly balanced and writes well. I had to re-seat the nib and adjusted the nib short on the feed to reduce the ink flow a tad, but it writes well now. Mine is also polished, but the clip is kinda cheap and the end jewel is crooked, but again for the money in ebonite, not too bad.