======================================================================== Nib Noise Volume 4 Number 8 ======================================================================== 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 Please note that subscribing and unsubscribing are now handled through the new Free Email Newsletter page on my site: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=nibnoise.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** The Ohio Show Is Here *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Ohio Pen Show begins this coming Friday, with warm-up activities as early as Wednesday evening. I'll be there -- will you? With a Friday full-day pre-show and two full public days on the weekend (November 5 and 6), this year's show is guaranteed to be worth its weight in 14K gold Skylines. As always, there will be exciting new products -- including Taccia's first converter-piston pen, the Andante, which I will have available for sale. And there will be more vintage pens than you can take in; this show is one of the grand old vintqage festivals, and it's really not to be missed. For more information, visit the show's Web site: http://www.ohiopenshow.com/ 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 -- or you can hand them to Ron Zorn of Main Street Pens, one of the best repair guys I know, and have them fixed right there. I'll have a selection of pens from the companies I represent: Bexley, Conway Stewart, Filcao, Pelikan, Signum, and Taccia. Most of the pens I have at shows are offered at DISCOUNTED SHOW PRICES, with their nibs checked and smoothed -- and you save shipping costs, too. Talk about INSTANT GRATIFICATION! I'll have a stock of my preground Pelikan M200 italic, oblique, and stub 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 Place de la Concorde. (They also fit the "1931" and "1935" limited editions.) 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. As always, I'll be regrinding and tweaking nibs while you wait. We use a list, like your favorite restaurant, so you can enjoy the rest of the show while you await your turn. Bring a pen or two, and share a little time with friends at my table while I jazz up your writing experience. I look forward to seeing old friends and meeting new ones. I hope to see you there. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Halloween is past, and the winter holiday season is here! *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Halloween was yesterday. (I know, many communities celebrated it a day or two early.) The gift-giving season is upon us, and it's time to start laying in the holiday gifts that will appear under Christmas trees or Chanuka bushes, or just be passed from hand to hand. In addition to my usual selection of pens, I've purchased a few items that may be appropriate for children or colleagues -- or perhaps someone a little more special: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=holiday.htm I also have a nice selection of pen accessories such as polishing aids, anatomy posters, and more: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=acc_txt.htm For the friend who has almost everything, there are gift certificates in any amount, redeemable for any product or service I offer: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=accessories/giftcert.htm And there is always my extensive selection of mugs, mousepads, tote bags, and note cards at CafePress, including my BRAND-NEW HOLIDAY MUG featuring a blue-coated Santa taken from a 1906 holiday card, together with a Waterman 0552-1/2V for writing your Christmas cards. These items are made to order and are shipped directly by CafePress, usually within a week -- I do not keep them in stock: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=accessories/cafepress.htm If you don't see the particular design you want on any of my CafePress items, or if you'd like one of my designs on a product you don't see, please send me email -- I can add new designs and products very quickly. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Companion Gifts and Thank-You Notes *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Just in time to include with the pens you're giving -- and to use for thanking the friends who give you pens -- I have received a new produc- tion run of fountain pen friendly pads. These new pads are superb! Professionally made for me right here in Nashua, they're the same fine pads I'm now using for testing pens in my studio and at pen shows. I've selected a wonderful premium white paper with just the right surface quality to make writing a pleasure. Your pens will glide like ice skates on fresh ice -- and the paper is also amazingly resistant to bleeding and feathering, even when you use a flex nib! These pads are commercially printed; unlike pads printed in short runs on thermal wax or inkjet printers, they let you write right over the designs with no worries about skipping pens or blurred artwork. There are six pads in the set (50 sheets per pad, 300 sheets total), each with a bright, crisp high-resolution photo of a different pre-1950 pen. These are better pads than I've ever offered before, yet I've reduced the price to only $18.00 per shrink-wrapped set. http://www.richardspens.com/?page=accessories/pads.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** 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. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Broad Strokes" by Richard Binder ------------------------------------------------------------------------ In late 1963, the Parker Pen Company introduced the incomparable 75. If you have a 75 and want to learn more about its nib, here's the place: http://www.richardspens.com/?prof=75 Note added August 14, 2019: When originally published, the article was about only the 75's nibs. It later became transmogrified into a full- blown profile of the 75 itself. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Fountain Pens and Pigtails" by Floyd Stuart ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Floyd Stuart is a Vermonter and a pen collector. From time to time, he writes for his local newspaper, and I've persuaded him to republish one of his pieces here. For some history and a memory or two, check it out: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=ref_info/pigtails.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "The Kindness of Strangers" by Richard Binder ------------------------------------------------------------------------ A recent accident in my home has taught me a great lesson about the people who populate the pen community: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=writings/kindness.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** 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 Nib Noise subscriber. If it came from someone else, I invite you to subscribe. To subscribe or unsubscribe, please visit my Web site's Free Email Newsletter page: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=nibnoise.htm Note: We will never sell your name or email address. Your privacy is as important to us as it is to you.