Stüdyo Ağaçkakan Ebonite fountain pen

[Fluegelfeder]

Hi folks,

on 3.10. Penport was in Hamburg and after long years of abstinence I was there again. Although I have to admit that I remembered it much differently, besides the nice conversations with other fountainpen enthusiasts, there was one booth in particular where my eyes started to light up: A small booth with two nice gentlemen from Istanbul offering hand-turned ebonite and even urushi fountain pens. Stüdyo Ağaçkakan (means woodpecker, I had to google it). 
I had hoped to grab a Wancher Ebonite or Nakaya at Penport if possible, though the total supply of Japanese ebonite/urushi pens could be counted on one hand. And as beautiful as the Namiki Emperor may be...it's not exactly affordable. 
At the aforementioned booth, on the other hand, there was a pleasingly wide selection of various ebonite and urushi models (see pictures below).

The team
Before I get to the introduction of the actual pen, very briefly a few lines about the team of Stüdyo Ağaçkakan. The driving force behind the young company from 2014 is Mehmet Çakar, who has been supported by a friend since 2019, and the wonderful Urushi work comes from Mehmet's wife. What is immediately striking in conversation is their enthusiasm. Both men work for Turkish Airlines, and Mehmet's wife is a dental technician. There is a palpable passion on the part of everyone involved, without even a hint of the seriousness that sets in as soon as the passion has become a profession that has to generate enough profit to be able to make a living. I immediately liked the young entrepreneurs and imagining flying to various penshows around the world as airline employees for fun, because that's what they do, is really funny and clearly reflects the enthusiasm.  

Packaging
But now to the fountain pen... well almost... first to the packaging: Ağaçkakan pens come in a foam-lined, black cardboard box in a slipcase with a cotton pouch, cleaning cloth and converter.

Dimensions
The pen is 22 grams light (15gr without cap), closed it is 14cm long, open 13cm. At the widest point it is 17mm, the forward tapering section right in the hollow in front of the nib has a diameter of 11mm. 

Material
Ebonite. Mehmet told me that he works with Japanese ebonite. And there are so many colors, to decide here was not easy at all!
Despite the light weight, the pen makes a very solid impression, which is probably also due to the quite high material thickness. Those of you who have ever held a Nakaya in your hands know about the extremely delicate workmanship: the cap lip is turned out so thin-walled that I personally always worry about its suitability for everyday use (although I have never had a hairline crack on a Nakaya). The Ağaçkakan Ebonite seems much more robust overall - in the best sense.

Nib
The nib is a Jowo #6 and you can choose between EF and Stub - no extra charge for EF or Stub. Nibs are available in steel, gold plated or solid gold. I like the ink flow and the reliability of these nibs and especially that they also work well with Diamine Shimmer inks. A special feature here is certainly the woodpecker logo on the nib, because with smaller manufacturers it is not a matter of course that personalization takes place here. As with many other inexpensive stub nibs, however, it should be noted here that there does not appear to be any nib tipping attached. So the stub nib won't last as long as a regular EF-B. Personally, I'm happy to put up with that here, because the line variation is great and the nib is easily replaceable in a pinch.

Fit & Finish
In my pen, the material thickness - as described above - is left pleasantly solid, but the tolerances are nevertheless top notch, because the threads hold so tight that even after several days without use neither starting issues, nor lower level of the convertert by evaporation would be noticeable. The cap thread has 5 lugs and the cap opens with a 360° turn. This is extremely convenient in everyday use because there is no long twisting open and closed. Due to the material, the connection also holds pleasantly tight and an accidental untwisting of the cap has not yet occurred with me. It should be noted here, however, that the cap can not be reliably posted on the back of my pen. However, due to the size and weight distribution, I find it more comfortable 'unposted' anyway. Also, the thread between the grip and the body is super made - possibly even eyedropper-suitable with some silicone grease. I haven't tried it, though, because for me that's only an option if I can keep an eye on the ink level from the outside. What I would like to emphasize here is the peculiarity, which is unfortunately rarely found even in much more expensive fountain pens, that the cap and barrel were matched by the color scheme of the material. The color gradients of the cap continue coherently over the barrel via matching turned threads (see pictures below). I'm very impressed by this level of precision and attention to detail. The second special feature is the screw-in converter. While most converters are plug-in converters, this one is a threaded converter, which means that the converter cannot involuntarily detach from the mandrel of the ink feed. The converter is also personalized and has a woodpecker logo.

Price
The Ebonite models start at 135,-€. Considering the facts that it is pure handmade, ebonite, massive and really good workmanship and high attention to detail, this is extremely attractive.

Details
Logos on the nib AND on the converter, screwed converter, attention paid to pattern fit when turning the 5 threaded lugs, wide-ranging nib selection... I find this pretty impressive and will look around a bit more closely at Stüdyo Ağaçkakan in the future - a bit aggravating here, however, is that the website is only available in Turkish. The implementation of a translation into English directly on the homepage would be very helpful, at least for me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Fluegelfeder]

And check out the matching pattern (barrel fix, cap posted on different starting points):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Karmachanic]

In English:

https://www.studyoagackakan.com/?lang=en

[whichwatch]

Thank you for your excellent review.   I agree with your evaluation.

 

I met this company at the DC Pen Show in August and was very impressed with their work.  I bought one of their urushi pens and have been very impressed.  Many people here know I am a big fan of Nakaya, but I find this pen to be excellent work.  It has been inked and on my desk every day since I bought it, and it brings a smile to my face every time I see it before even picking it up to write.

 

I hope to see them again at another show, as I certainly would love to buy another one of their pens.

 

 

[inkstainedruth]

@Fluegelfeder -- The girth of the pen might be a little much for me (I have small hands) but the pen itself is quite attractive (and the weight would not be too much for me).  Plus, I find that ebonite has a warmth to it that other pen materials don't have.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Fluegelfeder]

Thanks for your comments!

 

@whichwatch wonderful pen!!! I‘ve seen this style in Hamburg, too. Marvellous!!!

 

Here‘s a writing sample with their 1.5 stub nib:

[DvdRiet]

On 10/13/2023 at 4:40 PM, whichwatch said:

Thank you for your excellent review.   I agree with your evaluation.

 

I met this company at the DC Pen Show in August and was very impressed with their work.  I bought one of their urushi pens and have been very impressed.  Many people here know I am a big fan of Nakaya, but I find this pen to be excellent work.  It has been inked and on my desk every day since I bought it, and it brings a smile to my face every time I see it before even picking it up to write.

 

I hope to see them again at another show, as I certainly would love to buy another one of their pens.

 

 

This is probably my favorite urushi of theirs! So nice to hear you are pleased with it!

 

I discovered them last year when I was searching online for pens made from a particular Brooks blank I was considering for a custom pen. (They had made one for Galen Leather.) Then I saw them at the Dutch Pen Show a few months later and bought one of their pens in a striped Italian acrylic that I had seen in their web shop. I had my eye on the Anatolia with sterling silver overlay but resisted. At this year’s DPS, I caved and bought a purple one. This urushi is on the wish list for next year. 😊