======================================================================== Nib Noise Volume 4 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. PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS NEWSLETTER! For comments or questions, send email to: richard@richardspens.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** It's SuperShowTime! *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ August is here! And what does that mean? It means Washington, DC, Super Show. Oh, it means Dog Days and other stuff, too, but nothing rates like the Greatest Pen Show On Earth. With the pre-show starting on Thursday, August 11, the show will be open to the public on Saturday and Sunday, August 13 and 14. Washington is one of the world's great tourist cities, so if you have family members who aren't as insane as you are about pens, you can turn them loose at the Falls Church Metro stop and forget them while they see the sights in town. 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 the front door of the hotel. Yes, the show fills the lobby, too! If you plan to come and haven't ever been to a show before, you might want to read my article on Your First PenShow: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=ref_info/firstshow.htm For more information, visit the show's Web site: http://www.pencentral.com/penshow/ I'll be there to regrind and tweak nibs. Bring a pen or two, and share some chatter at my table while I jazz up your writing experience. If you have pens that need repairs other than nib work, I'll be happy to save you some shipping costs by collecting them at the show and bringing them home to my studio. I'll have a selection of new pens from Bexley -- including a very limited number of the great Red, White, and Blue Washington, DC, Limited Edition -- Conway Stewart, Filcao, Pelikan, Signum, and Taccia. I'll have a stock of my preground Pelikan M200 specialty nibs, with demonstrators of them all for you to try before you buy. These nibs fit M200, M250, M400, and M600 pens, including the M620 City series and the new Piazza Navona. If you don't have a Pelikan pen to go with your new nib, I'll be happy to fit your nib with a new M200 pen body in your choice of colors. I look forward to seeing old friends and meeting new ones. I hope to see you there. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Extra Fine Points" by Don Fluckinger ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fresh off the Toronto pen show and the yearly pilgrimage to Fenway, Richard and Don share their adventures in a lively new column for your enjoyment. http://www.richardspens.com/?page=extrafine/xf0508.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Broad Strokes" by Richard Binder ------------------------------------------------------------------------ In a world where consumers equate gold -- the more the better -- with quality, a steel nib seems downright cheap and nasty to write with. And ugly, too. Yet none of that is true. http://www.richardspens.com/?ttp=steel ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Nib Tips *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Unless otherwise requested at the time of sale, I dip-test each new pen that you purchase at no extra charge before shipment, aligning and smoothing the nib and ensuring that it has good flow. If you order a new pen with a customized nib, I will modify the nib and ship the pen immediately instead of putting it into my regular queue. Any Taccia pen I sell, except the smaller Portuguese model, is available with an 18K gold nib in fine, medium, or broad. Elegance and economy, wrapped up in one sweet-writing package. For more information, please send me an email query. All of the preground specialty Pelikan nib shapes I've been offering in steel for years are now available in 14K gold! Check them out in the colorful chart on my site's Pelikan page: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=newp_pel.htm#custom ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Be Flexible *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ I'm now offering flexible nibs that can help you recreate the calligraphic elegance of the past. I create these nibs from the same gold nibs, made for the Pelikan M250, that I use for my specialty shapes. I can create semiflex or full-flex nibs with virtually any of the specialty shapes I offer. Flexible nibs are very personal, and I create each one to order. Please send email to discuss the purchase of a flex nib that is unique to your requirements. http://www.richardspens.com/?page=newp_pel.htm#flex ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Subscribe to my RSS Feed *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ RSS means Really Simple Syndication. You can subscribe to my RSS feed by clicking the link on my site's main page: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=main.html If you're not already hooked up to RSS and what it can do for you, take a peek at my introductory page: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=rsshelp.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.