======================================================================== Nib Noise Volume 2 Number 5 ======================================================================== Welcome to Nib Noise. This newsletter is a joint effort of Richard Binder and Don Fluckinger. We hope you'll enjoy reading this month's issue. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Show Tunes *** by Richard Binder ------------------------------------------------------------------------ It's August. That means it's time for the big event of the summer! It's the Washington, D.C., SuperShow, the world's largest pen show, and it's only a stone's throw from America's capital in Tysons Corners, Virginia. I'll be spending the weekend of the 7th through the 10th regrinding and adjusting nibs for walk-up clients. The show runs all weekend, and on Saturday and Sunday it'll be open to the general public for a piddling $6.00 entrance fee. Come on out to the Sheraton Premiere and spend some time with hundreds of your pen- collecting colleagues and thousands of great new and vintage pens. Check out the show's Web site: http://www.pencentral.com/penshow/ As always, I'll bring along a few pens and my remaining stock of Jimmy Tom's pen-friendly pads to sell, as well as a supply of my preground Pelikan M200 italics, obliques, stubs, and more. I'm still featuring my unique ItaliFine, which writes as a 0.9-mm cursive italic when you hold the pen normally and switches to a fine when you turn the pen upside down. I'll also have a small assortment of miscellaneous styles that aren't listed on my Web site, including one or two very flexible M250 nibs in 14K. I've ordered a new print run of my fountain pen anatomy posters, and I'll have them available at the show. Here's what one of my clients said about these posters: I had seen some of these on your website, but I did not realize how awesome they are printed out on glossy paper. They are just perfect! I will frame your posters to go next to my wooden stained deskwall unit. Set 1 features a typical lever filler and the Parker Vacumatic, and Set 2 shows Sheaffer's Snorkel and the Parker "51" (aerometric version). These posters are 8-1/2"x11", commercially printed on high-gloss heavy Kromekote paper, and they're great for framing. Check them out on my Web site: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=acc_txt.htm&refp=posters.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Too Much Excitement" by Richard Binder ------------------------------------------------------------------------ America's National Pastime is the setting for a new short story I've written. Come with me on a visit to a small Indiana town for one evening in the summer of 1945. Read the story: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=writings.htm&refp=excitement.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Broad Strokes" by Richard Binder ------------------------------------------------------------------------ It's 1900 and you're a pen manufacturer. How do you jazz up your boring old BHR pen without adding anything to it? You chase it. Read the article: http://www.richardspens.com/?desn=chasing ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Extra Fine Points" by Don Fluckinger ------------------------------------------------------------------------ You've got the signature pen of a lifetime, maybe a new Churchill or a favorite vintage oversized model married with the OBB No. 7 nib you've finally found after years of hunting. Now all you need is a distinctive signature. Read the article: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=extrafine.htm&refp=xf0308.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Polling, Polling *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ I've kicked off a new just-for-fun poll. Are you a Fine, or a Broad Stub, or maybe a Flex? Come tell the world what your favorite nib size or style is. Cast your vote: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=poll.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Pens for Sale ------------------------------------------------------------------------ I've put up some very nice newly-restored vintage pens for sale, some with specialty nibs. Please check them out. Esterbrook ---------- Blue SJ, 2556 nib. Condition: B+. Price: $37.50 Gray SJ, NOS 2550 nib. Condition: B+. Price: $40.00 Black SJ, 9550 nib. Condition: B. Price: $37.50 Gray J, 2314-M nib. Condition: B. Price: $55.00 Esterbrooks for sale: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=sale_est.htm Parker ------ Teal "21" Super, M nib. Condition: A1. Price: $60.00 Azure Blue Pearl Vacumatic Sub-Deb, F nib. Condition: B. Price: $80.00 1936 Silver Pearl Vacumatic Lockdown Deb, F nib. Condition: B. Price: $110.00 Burgundy Aerometric "51" Demi, converging-line GF cap, XF nib. Condition: B+. Price: $150.00 Blue "21", F nib. Condition: B+. Price: $45.00 Parkers for sale: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=sale_pkr.htm Sheaffer -------- Black Sentinel Touchdown TM, 2-tone F Triumph nib. Condition: B. Price: $75.00 Gray Admiral Snorkel, 14K M open nib. Condition: B. Price: $80.00 Note: Touchdowns and Snorkels are restored with special extra-pliable custom-fit sacs; Snorkels use exact reproduction Point Holder Gasket. Sheaffers for sale: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=sale_she.htm Other ----- Blue Eversharp Standard Symphony, M nib. Condition: B. Price: $85.00 Others for sale: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=sale_oth.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ In the Reader's Corner ------------------------------------------------------------------------ My site's Reader's Corner features a monthly pick, a book that I like and think that you might enjoy, too. Instead of a book, however, this month's pick is a seasonal DVD movie: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=acc_txt.htm#readerscorner My monthly pick also appears as a link on my welcome page. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Details, Details, Details! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ It's always great to be able to look at a pen more closely. On the Web, it can be a little tough to do that. I'm gradually enhancing the pages on my site that show my own collection by adding zoomed images (2x the size of the regular ones). There's now a magnifying glass next to each pen picture that you can zoom. Check it out: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=collection/col1_txt.htm ======================================================================== If you received this newsletter from Richard Binder, you are a subscriber. If not, you can subscribe by sending a mail message to richard@richardspens.com with SUBSCRIBE in the subject line, or by clicking on this link: mailto:richard@richardspens.com?subject=SUBSCRIBE To unsubscribe from this newsletter, send a mail message to richard@richardspens.com with UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject line, or click on this link: mailto:richard@richardspens.com?subject=UNSUBSCRIBE Note: We will never sell your name or email address. Your privacy is as important to us as it is to you.