#asapens

A few weeks ago on "Fountain Pen Pals India" whatsapp group (which I am a part of), fellow FPN'er Sulagno (@inkstruck) enquired about the possibility of getting a pen made to a certain flush rounded ends design.

What followed were a bunch of design ideas from (fellow FPNers in the group) Sulagno (@inkstruck), Vaibhav (@mehandiratta),  Pradeep (@pdg84) and Mr. Subramaniam of ASA pens. Vaibhav transferred the design ideas into a CAD illustration and thus the ASA Porus design was born.

Mr. Subramaniam of ASA (NAYY) was very happy with the outcome and immediately set out to build a few initial models of the pen.

In less than a week the pens were built and delivered.

The ASA Porus is a large acrylic pen which comes in 2 flavours.

1. Flush design - where cap and barrel are flush.

2. Step design - there is a step down where the cap and barrel meet.

With this model, ASA pen has exceeded all the high expectations that were set by the group.

The pen is now on sale at on the ASA pen site here: ASA Porus (NAYY)

I chose the flush design and that is what I will be reviewing today.

Flush cap and barrel - no clip:

40 mm Ambitious gold plated nib:

Beautiful white acrylic cap and barrel.

Close up of the "M" grade 40 mm Ambitious nib.

The feed, the nib is not too deeply set, this is to my liking.

Inside of the barrel, thick barrel walls.

The nib and feed properly set:

Porus with Lamy Safari:

And finally, a writing sample. Ink used is Bril Royal Blue. Paper: 100 GSM JK Cedar.

The section is large but is very comfortable to hold. The acrylic material is beautiful, white and feels soft to touch. The 40mm nib does it job of being a nice wet writer.  It is a big pen, but the feel is brilliant. Very well balanced.

This is the most beautiful fountain pen in my small but quickly expanding collection.

Kudos to Mr. Subramaniam of ASA pens of contributing to the design and being kind enough to actually see it to fruition. This I think is a first in the Indian fountain pen industry scene where a group of fountain pen enthusiasts designed a pen and ASA (a FP company) delivered all in a span of 2 weeks  

ASA Pens, India's newest fountain pen company, has been hard at work designing and developing fountain pens for the past several months. The 'I Can' is their latest model.

I got one a few weeks ago and have been using it almost exclusively since then.

Construction:

The pen is made of ebonite. I chose the shiny black model.

The top of the cap and the bottom of the barrel are flat.

The section has been contoured as to make it very comfortable to grip. After using it for long hours of writing it does feel very comfortable.

The barrel has been engraved with the text "ASA I Can India 2015" in cursive. The ASA Crystal LE had the text ASA engraved in upper case which gives it a good sharp look and I feel the same should have been done for the I Can.

Nib:

The stock model comes with a monotone F nib. As with my previous purchase, I chose to get it with the German made Bock 'M' nib.

The nib as I've reviewed before is a smooth and wet writer. It lays down wet medium thick lines without having to exert any pressure on the pen.

Filling system:

The pen is an eye dropper. The barrel can hold up to 3.0 ml of ink. Since the Bock M nib lays down quite a wet line, the ink lasts for up to 3 days of writing.

The pen design is quite similar to another popular Indian fountain pen, the Deccan Advocate, which is manufactured in my home city of Hyderabad.

The I Can's fit and finish is comparable with that of the Deccan Advocate which is to say that it is perfect as a daily writer. I have had the I Can in my shirt pocket during my daily work commute and have never faced any issues like leakages.

The pen writes as soon as it is uncapped and will write even when uncapped for several minutes.

True story.

Late one cold November night, I felt this urge to check ASA pens website. Why? ASA had put up a bunch of photos of upcoming fountain pen models which weren't yet available and I was eager to be the first to get my hands of them before they were sold out.

As luck would have it, they had just updated their site with new fountain pen models manufactured under the ASA brand named. ASA Crystal Limited Edition. was one of the pens. As someone who is a card carrying member of the fountain pen club I had to have the pen and placed an order immediately.

A few days later I received it. Here is my review of ASA Crystal Limited Edition fountain pen.

It is a limited edition fountain pen. Only 50 of this model will ever be made.

The pen came in a beautiful single pen pouch which fits the pen perfectly and will protect it from any scratches.

Construction:

The pen is made of ebonite and has a brushed matte exterior. The top of the cap and the bottom of the barrel are made of clear acrylic.

I have seen a lot of fountain pen designs, but never quite have seen something like this which blends two good fountain pen materials - ebonite and acrylic into one.

The pen is very well constructed, the brushed matte ebonite is without any blemishes. The clear crystal feels soft to touch and has been, what I can only guess, glued on very securely to the ebonite.

The barrel has the text ASA Crystal LE, India 14 carved into it. The carving is very neatly done so as to blend with the all matte brushed finish.

Nib:

The stock ASA Crystal LE comes with a - fine point - monotone iridium nib,  I chose to upgrade to a medium point German made nib by Bock. Bock manufactures nibs for several high end fountain pen makers with their names / logos stamped on them.

The nib hasn't been too deeply set in the section and this is also to my liking, the nib is handsome and should be displayed in all its glory.

Mr. Subramaniam, a fountain of fountain pen knowledge and owner of ASA Pens had tuned it to my liking so the nib is very smooth and wet.

Filling System:

The pen is an eye-dropper. The barrel holds about 4 ml of ink. Some people don't like eye-droppers as they are perceived to be prone to leaks, burps and all the yuck'ities commonly associated with fountain pens. I haven't faced any of these problems so far with any of the eye-dropper fountain pens I own, perhaps it is the tropical weather here in India which does not cause the pen to burp ink.

Writing:

I have been using the pen regularly for a week and I am one happy writer. The pen is very well balanced and despite its jumbo size feels quite light when writing.

The section is comfortable to grip and that makes it easy to use the pen for long writing sessions.

The feed provides a regular flow of ink to the nib and that makes it for smooth writing without any skipping.

I wanted to write about how smooth the nib is but then I can't find words to describe it. This is something that can only be experienced. A smooth nib gliding on paper laying glistening wet blue lines.

A superb, high quality, hand made fountain pen from ASA - brand that is making waves in the Indian and international fountain pen markets by making affordable high quality fountain pens.