Ratnam 302 Review

[The Nid Hog]

When I was looking for reviews of Akkerman's Ink on line, I came across some photos on the London (Ontario) Pen Club's blog that showed a bottle of the ink with a large fountain pen next to it.

http://londonpenclub.wordpress.com/2...tain-pen-inks/

A post in the talkback identified it as a Ratnam 302. A little bit of poking around at FPN and I found out that it's one in a series of large, ebonite eyedropper FPs made in India. Out of curiosity, I emailed the factory and learned a little more about the pen, the company, and their history. Gandhi even comes into play. I was intrigued and, in one of those late-night impulse buys (which I maintain are far better than sending a message to an old girlfriend or posting on your boss' facebook page after a few drinks), ordered one from the FPN classifieds.

A couple of weeks went by and there have been a lot of new things demanding my attention. I half forgot about the Ratnam. Then it showed up in yesterday's mail. When I ripped open the manila envelope and slid it out of its box, I'd like to say that I discovered a nice little pen. But the pen that greeted me is far from small. In fact, it's easily the largest pen in my budding collection.

Because it's an interesting-looking, relatively inexpensive pen ($35 shipped), I'd like to do a review of it here. Since I have other things to do--and other pens that I want to play with--I'm not going to do it all at once. I'll try to get some photos of it up in the next day or so. Over the next couple of weeks, as we get to know each other better, I'll post a more detailed review. In the meantime, if you have one yourself, feel free to jump in with your comments.

[JPDyson]

Looking forward to it! I've been eyeballing a 302 or a Supreme for a while.

[Hidesuru]

Can't wait to see the review. Thanks for taking the time in advance.

[Alacrity59]

Interesting that 5 O'Clock shadow is shown on their web site.

[ChefJohnBoy-ardee]

Interesting that 5 O'Clock shadow is shown on their web site.

It has a following on FPN. Same with BBB.

[The Nid Hog]

Guys, I've had a hectic week so I haven't had a chance to get photos up. It's definitely on my to-do list. I will post some comments about the function of the pen.

When I popped it out of the package, I immediately inked it and started writing. In retrospect, that was not the best approach. It felt great in my hand, and wrote very nicely. After filling it with Noodler's Kung Te-Cheng, I dipped the nib and was rewarded with some smooth writing. However, it was a hard starter, it wrote quite dry and did not lay down a consistent line. I suspected that it might have needed to be cleaned before using, so I took some remedial action. I soaked it for the day in a light water/ammonia solution, rinsed it well, dried it out and refilled it. Seems like it worked. For the last day, it's been writing a smooth, wet line. If it keeps up, I'm going to be very happy with an investment in a fine, handcrafted pen at a very reasonable price.

[JPDyson]

Awesome, Chris - when you get around to pictures, do you mind throwing in a comparison pic or two? Part of my curiosity with Ratnams is size. If their "supreme" is a monster, perhaps the more-tame 302, still large, is plenty big.

What's your ratio for ammonia/water? 1:10?

[The Nid Hog]

Awesome, Chris - when you get around to pictures, do you mind throwing in a comparison pic or two? Part of my curiosity with Ratnams is size. If their "supreme" is a monster, perhaps the more-tame 302, still large, is plenty big.

What's your ratio for ammonia/water? 1:10?

I'll do that. It isn't an unusually long pen, but it's quite thick. At this point, the 302 feels like it's at the right size for me.

The 1:10 ammonia to water ratio is exactly what I used.

[The Nid Hog]

Here are some shots of my 302 so that you can get an idea of what it looks like. This is the flattop variant. The third photo shows it next to my Pilot Prera for scale.

[crowdog]

I have a Varuna Gajarda from All write now. Mine is a cursive italic that is finally calming down, but was a hard dry writer for awhile. My pen is very large as well, and I love the way it feels. Are you able to post the Ratham?

Marty

[The Nid Hog]

Since I cleaned the pen, it's been feeding just fine. It posts without any problem and writes comfortably either way. I have to say that I like it.

[mdevine]

Is there any chance that you can post a few pictures of how it writes?

[The Nid Hog]

Is there any chance that you can post a few pictures of how it writes?

I'll definitely post a more detailed review when I get a chance later this week--I'll be sure to include some photos.

[JPDyson]

Yowza! I hope I can get a "flat" 302 in black. But I'll settle for one of the mottled colors.

Edit: *Mottled, that is - but no worries, Ashish came through - a black one should be here in a couple weeks!

I suppose "thanks" are in order... or grumbling...

[strop]

I want one! Nice size pen.

[SmoovD]

Great looking pen. Love the color and shape.

[Mike H]

Nice looking pen, the color reminds me of the B&B LE Edison.

[The Nid Hog]

OK, I've been delaying posting an image of my writing with my 302. Not because I'm so ashamed of my handwriting, but because the pen has been writing erratically. It would go dry and skip for a while, then I'd get a blob of ink and it would be too wet. Lots of icky nib creep. I purged the Noodler's Kung Te-Cheng (an ink that I haven't had any trouble with in other pens) and refilled it with Sailor Kiwaguro. That has made a huge difference in performance. It's laying down a nice line now--not too wet, not too wide. The nib slips smoothly across the page. I'll give it a couple of days to see if the good performance continues, then close out my review with some images of writing and more detailed comments.

[The Nid Hog]

I think I'll finish up my little pocket review of the Ratnam 302 today. The switch to Sailor Kiwaguro has been just what the pen needed to be a strong performer. I've done quite a bit of writing with it over the last couple of days and it's been very good. Here's an example of what a page written with the 302 looks like:

[csmorris]

I think I'll finish up my little pocket review of the Ratnam 302 today. The switch to Sailor Kiwaguro has been just what the pen needed to be a strong performer. I've done quite a bit of writing with it over the last couple of days and it's been very good. Here's an example of what a page written with the 302 looks like:

Interesting passage