Please help finding supplies in India !

[Meenakshi Gupta]

Hi everyone ! 
Could someone please help and guide me finding some supplies in India ?

I am mainly looking for Walnut crystals which are hard to find here and also a few nibs like the Hunt 101 . (I tried the Daniel Smith Walnut Ink available here but I would love to try the walnut crystal ink , if given a chance )

I also ordered the basic speedball oblique holder from amazon and I will continue to use it till the time I am not able to get my hands on a better one .

The shipping from the US is very very steep and being on a tight budget , I have no other option but to wait for someone to visit India .

Waiting for your kind response !

Thank you very much . 

Meenakshi

[Diane Bennett]

Hi Meenakshi

I can't offer any help on getting supplies in India, but I do have quite a lot of walnut crystals, I ordered way to much as I was unsure how much I would need.

If you PM me your address I would happily send you some so that you can try it.  You only need a small amount, 2grams to 30mls of water (or something like that).  There is a post on here somewhere with the exact measures.

I know others on the forum also have problems with supplies in India and maybe they will be able to offer advice as to where you can order nibs.

Diane

[Meenakshi Gupta]

Hello Diane!! Thank you so very much for your generosity  !!

[Bianca M]

Oh! Please send me your address as well!  I have loads of Hunt 101s (because I love them) and would be so happy to send you some to try out.  I know you'll need sources going forward, but I can certainly send some nibs to try out before you place an order somewhere. 

In the meantime, perhaps @ash0kgiri or @Garima can give some pointers on ordering supplies in India?  No pressure, guys! :*

[Bianca M]

oh my goodness, and @prasad of course!!!  any pointers here?

[prasad]

oh my goodness, and @prasad of course!!!  any pointers here?

As ordered.. pointers follow 
Sorry have not been very active on the forum,  have been busy with  a lot of personal issues.  But that does not stop me from reading the Forum EVERYDAY.  The magic of the Flourish Forum

Hi everyone ! 
Could someone please help and guide me finding some supplies in India ?

I am mainly looking for Walnut crystals which are hard to find here and also a few nibs like the Hunt 101 . (I tried the Daniel Smith Walnut Ink available here but I would love to try the walnut crystal ink , if given a chance )

Waiting for your kind response !

Thank you very much . 

Meenakshi

Hi Meenakshi,
Walnut ink and nibs are very difficult to get in India.  The only decently priced nibs are Gillott 303 and 404 (new ones) and they are available locally.  But the supplier is almost always out of stock.  There is one place for Brause nibs, but they are 4 to 5 times the price and really not worth it. 
You can get G nibs (Nikko, Zebra) from Ebay at a very good price, but I personally, am not too fond of those nibs for copperplate.

Walnut ink is the same.  Not available in India at all.  Whenever I have someone travelling from the US or the UK I have them carry it for me. 
As recommended by the wonderful people on here, I got a substitute for the commercial walnut ink and get a lot of it stocked for the calligraphers in India.  I have about 2 kgs of the stuff with me now.
Send me your address by a personal message and I can stock you up with the crystals for sure. I also make my own Iron gall ink,  have a couple of litres of that too which I can send you some from.

I can also send you a sampler set of nibs (different nibs suit different people)  See what you like in that and we can work out something to get you stocked up.

How are you set for holders?  Do you use Oblique or straight holders?


Happy writing
Prasad

[prasad]

Hi everyone ! 
Could someone please help and guide me finding some supplies in India ?

I also ordered the basic speedball oblique holder from amazon and I will continue to use it till the time I am not able to get my hands on a better one .
Waiting for your kind response !

Thank you very much . 

Meenakshi

Just saw your message on the holders.  Again, the speedball oblique will do fine initially, but you will want one with a brass flange very soon.
I got a whole bunch of the Deuce holders of Chris Yoke to distribute here.  You can get Chinese versions of the same on amazon but I don't know of their quality and flange geometry, so cannot recommend them. 
The Yoke holder is just perfect,  Will send you that too. 
You will have to bear with me for a about a week or two, as I am travelling.
Happy writing.
Prasad

[Bianca M]

Most excellent, @prasad, thank you (and I hope all is okay- best wishes to you)!  You're always so helpful. 

Let's sort out a way to get you all some great nibs, etc.!  Perhaps it would be helpful to connect directly to understand any complications with shipping that might occur.

[Meenakshi Gupta]

Thank you all very very much for the generous support ! 
Means so much to me !

I hope one day I get better with my craft and be in a position to be able enough to share my learnings with all who are taking their first steps towards calligraphy , just as I am today .

Thank you once again !

[KristinT]

Would ordering from China be an option?  I'm not sure about Hunt nibs, but I've had some luck with cheap oblique pen holders from China (via ebay).  And just to be clear: as a beginner, they're sufficient; if I were at a higher level, maybe they wouldn't satisfy my needs (I honestly don't know.  I've never used a higher end/ higher price option).  They're cheap, though, and I've been pretty satisfied with what I've tried.  I definitely find them a better option than the Speedball Oblique, especially for anything resembling Copperplate.

[Diane Bennett]

Hi Meenakshi

I have sent you some crystals, post office said it should reach you within 10 days.

Good luck with your learning, and remember to have fun too.

Diane

[Meenakshi Gupta]

Thank you very much @KristinT for your suggestion. I just looked over at ebay and some of them do look good( I like the ones with the wooden handle) . Although @prasad has generously offered to share with me a holder by Chris Yoke to get started (Thanks Prasad! ) so it should give me a good idea about how the correct flange geometry should be , rightly pointed out by him . I never took the variance of the geometry/angle between different holders into consideration but that is what being a beginner is all about , isnt it ? so much to learn from such great people here


Thank you so very very much @Diane Bennett  I have sent you a PM : )

Meenakshi
Bhavatu Sabba Mangalam (May all beings be happy!)

[ash0kgiri]

Hi Meenakshi,

So so sorry to respond late. Was with family and traveling. @Bianca M  happy to help as always.
I would have directed you to @prasad for supplies and he is my official generous supplier for inks
So for the last two years I been writing is with what Prasad have given me.

I definitely can give you HUNT 101, Gillott 303, 404, Brause 66EF, Nikko and few other for sure. Also i can share walnut crystals which Prasad have given me. No worries.
Plse DM me you address.

BTW in which city are you located. Feel free to ask if you need anything else.

-Ashok

[Bianca M]

@ash0kgiri - I hope you enjoyed your travels!  I've put some hunt 101s in the mail to Meenakshi already (I got your PM, Meenakshi- sorry for not responding yet!)- let's just hope they arrive!  I debated about the 303s but most of what I have is not very good so I decided not to send any.  I have not purchased any for quite some time.  Glad you two can connect!

[prasad]

Hi Meenakshi,
So for the last two years I been writing is with what Prasad have given me.

I definitely can give you HUNT 101, Gillott 303, 404, Brause 66EF, Nikko and few other for sure. Also i can share walnut crystals which Prasad have given me. No worries.
Plse DM me you address.

BTW in which city are you located. Feel free to ask if you need anything else.

-Ashok

@ash0kgiri Please keep the crystals with you.  It's the only way you will keep writing and I will enjoy your Instagram posts.   
I am sending a package to her with a holder some ink and nibs.  Thanks to Andy, I got 1 ½ kgs of the crystals.  Will be enough to keep the likes of you busy for a while.....
Happy writing
Prasad