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Review of ASA Pens ebonite Nauka Purchased from: asapens.in Purchase date: Ordered mid-November, 2017. Arrived January 25, 2018. Cost: $55 USD for Jowo nib unit option (eyedropper and Schmidt units are cheaper), free testing and free shipping by registered mail Clicking on the photos below will take you to full-sized images. The Nauka from ASA Pens is an ebonite pen made to order by L. Subramaniam in Chennai, India. It has an elegant, streamlined shape inspired by the vintage Oldwin Classic from Mora Stylos. The placement of the cap threads right next to the nib permits a clean, uninterrupted "sectionless" line that, combined with the unique warmth and stability of ebonite, feels very comfortable in the hand. The pen is longer than average but not excessively long, and the grip diameter should be good for hands of all sizes. Although the cap can be forced to post, the pen is not intended to be used this way and becomes ungainly. Unposted, it's balanced perfectly, even in my small hands. L to R: Faber-Castell Loom, ASA Pens Nauka, Noodler's Ahab, Wing Sung 698, Platinum Century 3776, Pilot Custom Heritage 912 Size comparison with Pilot Metropolitan Size when writing, compared with Pilot Metropolitan I selected a red and tan rippled ebonite which turned out to be more beautiful than I had expected. As is usual for ebonite in this price range, there are some minor flaws in the material which are noticeable only upon very close inspection and which do not detract from my enjoyment of the pen. Likewise, a few very faint traces of tooling marks serve as an inoffensive reminder of the pen's handmade origins. I chose to forgo a clip, a decision which I feel enhances the clean beauty of the Nauka's lines. I usually grip my pens very close to the nib, so I was concerned that the location of the threads would be uncomfortable. At first, they did feel awkward, but I quickly adjusted to them. The cap threads are prominent and on the sharp side, though not painfully so. I chose the Jowo 3-in-1 option with a fine nib and requested that the pen be tested before shipping. It arrived very well-tuned: smooth but with a pleasant amount of feedback and moderate ink flow. I increased ink flow slightly to suit my personal preference, and the pen now writes perfectly for me. The cap opens in two turns, which produces a good seal without making it a chore to uncap and re-cap the pen. Unlike other ebonite-cap pens in my experience, my Nauka starts up without fail, even if I leave it unused for as long as a week (I have not left it inked but unused for a longer period that that). Inside of the cap Receipt took much longer than originally estimated. However, I did request a color option not listed on the website at the time, which Subramaniam graciously accommodated, and I made it clear that I wasn't in a hurry for the pen. We kept in communication regularly, and had no anxiety about my order. I've been using my Nauka for a little over a month now, and it has been a pleasure to have in my collection. I find myself reaching for it often, and it's one of the pens I always have inked. Excellent, tight barrel threads for secure eyedroppering. View of barrel thickness. The converter option with the 3-in-1 system is great for when I don't want to commit to a large fill of one ink.

Sharing some pics of my new Woodex flat top pen. Woodex pens are made by a veteran pen turner Mr P Prabhakara Chari who is based in the Masab tank area of Hyderabad. His pens have now become available for direct purchase by pen enthusiasts by contacting him or his relatives on their mobile telephone no. The stock nib option on this pen is an Indian 35mm nib (western no 6) in steel finish with F or M tips. Now I felt the steel finish nib did not go well with the golden trim of the pen. I was looking for a vehicle to carry my 35mm Kanwrite Architect/Arabic nib and this woodex thus became my Woodex Arabic. The pics: The nib, it starts off as a BB which is then reground. https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/uploads/imgs/fpn_1597328668__c79f516f-8be1-4534-861e-bc3cb7a0878c.jpeg The Arabic alongside my trusty Big Red. A writing sample. The stock pen cost me 950/- plus shipping. The Arabic nib was another few hundred rupees from KW. Installation was self done. Its a nice pen. The nib is very smooth with a slightly sailor zoom nib type behaviour. Best Hari

I recently came across this custom pen company that makes awesome handmade pens. Their pens just look so amazing that I might go to the extent of saying that they are my favorite custom pen makers. Does no one own any Herbert pens? I have never seen anything related here on FPN. Some points that make them so awesome are: a)Ribbon material: This is a custom made material with strips of hand-painted paper. These blanks are transparent and are my favorite clear materials for pens. They look stunning and have this awesome glittery sheen to the ribbons. Also he can do the ribbons in any color combinations. b)Hooded nib customization: This is also really cool. Chet Herbert, the owner, makes this customization to house Pilot Vanishing Point nib units. And what's even cool is that these pens take the Con-70 converter. c)Many other blanks: Mr. Herbert can hand-pour alumilite blanks in colors of your choice and they look stunning to me. Despite all this goodness, why do I see very less attention to these pens? I might be wrong as well but I have never seen many posts about these pens. I find them to be amazing and would love to add some to my collection. I just don't happen to have the funds XD.

I first saw a pen like this on this forum, when manojd showcased a wooden pen he'd made. I wanted a wooden pen for a long time, so when he offered to make me one, I was hooked. Especially when he also explained he made pens from rolling pins! This is the first commissioned pen in my collection. I'm not sure if I can really call it commissioned, since the artist himself designed the pen - I was offered some options, but it really is manojd's creation. The most influential decision I could make was clipless yes or no. I chose clipless. Here is a picture, from his website: This is a beautiful pen: ebonite section polished to a serious sheen, connected to the wooden barrel with a metal insert containing screw threads for the wooden cap; a relatively small but very capacious ebonite (I think!) feed under a Schmidt F nib, ,size 5 I would guess. A comfortable nib with very nice flow: not too wet, never dry, the nib fairly stiff but there is a hint of line thickness variation that I slightly increased by writing a few lines on 600 grit sandpaper. The wood is a beautiful deep dark brown Indian rosewood, well protected against water-based moisture or oils from my hands; it feels very comfortable in my hand. This pen cannot have the cap posted because the metal threads in the cap pose a risk of scratching the wooden barrel; but this is fine, it is long enough and in this way does not become top-heavy. The cap, with its metal insert, inner cap, and silver cap ring near the top, is itself quite heavy. The one half-issue I have with the pen is the metal threads just above the barrel; they are a little sharp and sometimes seem to dig into my fingers as I write, even though I have a fairly relaxed grip (having used fountain pens almost exclusively for decades now). I tend to hold the pen at about that position, or at the section itself, but the section is slender and I like a slightly wider grip, especially when doing more than half a page or so. I would have preferred ebonite threads that are easier on the hand, but visually, the slender section is very nice and I would not want the looks of the pen to change... All in all, I am very pleased with my choice to buy this pen. It is a beautifully made pen that writes just the way I like it. Here is a small writing sample: I am also happy that manojd considered my input when naming the pen...