(This page revised August 8, 2017)
On the first of each month, we publish Nib Noise, a free email newsletter. This is not spam; we will not send Nib Noise to you unless you subscribe, and we’ll stop sending it to you if you unsubscribe.
In addition to short articles about what’s new for sale, where the next pen show is, and other items of interes, each issue of Nib Noise contains Broad Strokes, which is usually a new article that Richard has added to the Reference Pages section.
The most recent issue of Nib Noise is posted below — except that we don’t post it here until a few days after we’ve mailed it to subscribers, so for the first few days of the month you’ll be looking at last month’s issue.
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======================================================================== Nib Noise * Volume 16 Number 5 * August 2017 ======================================================================== Welcome to Nib Noise. We hope you'll enjoy reading this month's issue. PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS NEWSLETTER! For comments or questions, send email to: richard@richardspens.com To subscribe or unsubscribe, please DO NOT use the links in the footer of this email. Instead, visit the Free Email Newsletter page on our site: http://www.richardspens.com/?info=nibnoise ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** The Washington DC Fountain Pen SuperShow *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The biggest show of the year is not too far off, and it's at a new location this year. The show's new home is the Marriott Fairview Place in Church Falls, Virginia. With the pre-show crankin' up on Thursday, August 3, and running through Friday, the Big Show will be open to the public on Saturday and Sunday, August 5 and 6. If you want to attend on Friday (or think you might want to attend on more than one day), you must buy a weekend pass, which admits you to all of the pre-show events, including the Friday wine and beer party. It also gains you early admission on the public days. You can purchase a weekend pass at the show's registration desk. This show is so-o-o big, and so-o-o good, that you may face a legitimate worry about having a panic attack when you walk in. On the other hand, because the show really is that big and that good, you should seriously consider buying that weekend pass I just mentioned. If you plan to come and haven't ever been to a show before, you might want to read my article on Your First Pen Show: http://www.richardspens.com/?shows=firstshow Also, please read our "Table Talk" FAQ to learn how we operate at shows: http://www.richardspens.com/?info=shows+faq For more information about the show and the Marriott Fairview Place hotel, please visit the show's Web site: http://www.pencentral.com/ Once you get there, you'll definitely want to visit the world's biggest and best ink testing table! In the past, this great feature has been open 24 hours a day while the show is on, and I see no reason to expect that this arrangement will change. Please note: the ink bottles on the table become acquainted with pens that may or may not be practitioners of good hygiene. Among other concerns, this can cross-contaminate the inks. I recommend that you not dip your good pens into the tester bottles. There will be dip pens provided, and you can also bring along a couple of dip-less desk pens (Morriset, Esterbrook, Sengbusch, et al.), or even a handful of cotton swabs. Barbara and I will be there for the whole show, from the Overture on Thursday afternoon to the final curtain on Sunday. As always, I'll be regrinding and tweaking nibs while their owners wait. Bring a pen, and share some of the sparkling repartee at our table while I jazz up your writing experience. We can accept your MasterCard, VISA, American Express, or Discover card -- but many of the vintage dealers are hobbyists who can handle only cash, so be sure to note the location of the ATM in the hotel lobby. But bear in mind the advice I've laid out in my article on Your First Pen Show (linked above). We look forward to seeing old friends and meeting new ones. We hope to see you there. Make your hotel reservations sooner rather than later! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Getting to the SuperShow *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Marriott Fairview Park is just off the Beltway (I-495 for those of you who don't adopt the local patois). From the Beltway, take exit 50A-50B for U.S. 50 East toward Arlington. Follow the signs for Fairview Park South, and merge onto Fairview Park Drive. The hotel will be on your left about 1/5 mile (0.32 km) after you merge onto Fairview Park Drive. For tripping around the Washington area, the Metro's Dunn Loring station is about 3 miles away. The hotel runs a complimentary shuttle service to and from the station. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Nib Workshop at the DC Show *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ably assisted by my protégés Linda Kennedy and Brian Gray, I will be giving my hands-on nib smoothing seminar at the DC show. It happens Sunday morning, beginning promptly at 8:30. All 16 paid slots for hands-on participation have been filled, but you will be welcome to audit the workshop without registering. I'll have extra copies of the handout, I'll accept questions from those auditing. If you decide after the workshop that you'd like to try working with your own pens, Indy-Pen-Dance will have all of the workshop materials for sale at their table. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Missing Your "Pen Show Tray" Fix? *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ If you are bemoaning the disappearance of my monthly "Pen Show Tray and haven't yet latched onto the NEW monthly tray from Indy-Pen-Dance, you can do so very easily. Just point your browser at this page: http://www.indy-pen-dance.com/mailchimp_news.php#subscribe ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** The Commonwealth Pen Show Is Coming Next Month *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ After the DC SuperShow is over, it's still showtime, at least for us here in New England. The Fourth Annual Commonwealth Pen Show will come early this year, on Sunday, September 10. It's a one-day show, but it's a good one! There are some new vendors this year, and the room was so crowded last year that the show will be in a bigger space this year. For information about the show and the hotel, please visit the show's Web site: http://www.commonwealthpenshow.com/ Barbara and I will be there all day, of course, and we hope to see you there. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Broad Strokes *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Last month I announced that this month's article would be about how to resac twist fillers. As you will see, I've changed my plans. The twist- filler resacking article will appear in the September Nib Noise. From the very beginning of modern writing instrument manufacture until the early years of the twentieth century, almost all fountain pens were eyedropper fillers, even though today’s most popular filling system had been staring inventors in the face for nearly 2,000 years. That would be the piston filler. This article was written in two parts for PEN WORLD Magazine. With the permission of my editor, I'm publishing it on my website simultaneously with the second part's appearance in the magazine. http://www.richardspens/?fillers=piston ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Don't Forget Barbara's Attic *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Although the June 2017 "Pen Show Tray" was our last monthly tray, we will continue to offer assorted miscellany in Barbara's Attic, including new trays of restorable pens and the nibs in the RichardsPens Nib Shop. The price blowout on our nibs continues; join in the fun and you can save hundreds of dollars. http://www.richardspens.com/?acc=attic Someone out there missed an incredible bargain on the Sawbuck Special that was running for the past two months. A $1600 solid sterling silver Onoto pen has gone begging. It might show up somewhere else, though, so do keep your eyes peeled. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** The Pen Doctor *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Pen Doctor is a regular visitor to the Nashua Pen Spa, and every so often he puts a few prescriptions up in our site's reference section. Each month, I'll be reprinting one of his prescriptions here. -------- Q: I have picked up two boxes of dip pen nibs. One is from C. Howard Hunt Pen Co. in Camden, NJ. The other box is Bank of England No. 104 Ball Pointed Nickel Aluminum nibs. I cannot get nibs from either box to hold any ink. I dip the nib. Brush off extra ink and the first touch to the paper the ink make a blob, then perhaps writes about three letters and then it's done. Is there a trick I do not know to using a dip nib? A: Steel dip nibs are almost always shipped with a very light coating of oil to keep them from rusting. Ink will roll off them like water off a duck's back. Most users of steel dips are in the habit of sucking on each new nib for a while before using it; if this doesn't pass your reasonableness test, try shaking the nibs gently in a sealed jar containing one tablespoon of clear household ammonia mixed with 2∕3 cup of water. Another thing to check, if no amount of cleaning will make your nib hold ink, is the ink you're using. Dip nibs do not work at all well with fountain pen ink. If they'll hold it at all, they won't hold enough to be useful. Try switching to a calligraphy ink made for use with dip nibs. (But don't put that stuff in your fountain pens!) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Follow Us on the Internet with Facebook *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ We'd like to be liked on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/NashuaPenSpa ======================================================================== If you received this newsletter from Richard Binder, you are a Nib Noise subscriber. If it came from someone else, I invite you to subscribe. To subscribe or unsubscribe, please DO NOT use the links in the footer of this email. Instead, visit the Free Email Newsletter page on our site: http://www.richardspens.com/?info=nibnoise Note: We will never sell your name or email address. Your privacy is as important to us as it is to you.