======================================================================== Nib Noise Volume 5 Number 7 ======================================================================== 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 To subscribe or unsubscribe, please visit the Free Email Newsletter page on my site: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=nibnoise.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Update: The Pharaoh Limited Edition *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Our first Limited Edition pen, The Pharaoh, is moving along toward its release early in 2007. Howard Levy of the Bexley Pen Company has sent me 25 barrels, sections, nibs, and feeds; and he's also sent 25 caps to David Broadwell, who is designing and will finish the solid 10K cap band and clip, hand working each piece so that no two pens will be identical. I've created a colored artist's rendering with the assistance of Photoshop, and you can see the pen and read more about it here: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=sales/pharaoh.htm There will be one prototype and twenty-four numbered pens. We continue to receive pre-orders from people who want to secure their favorite numbers. Don't wait until it's too late to reserve the number you want. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** The Ohio Show Is Almost Here *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Ohio Pen Show is coming in five weeks. Barbara and I will be there -- will you? With festivities beginning on Thursday, a full-day pre-show Friday, and two full public days on the weekend (November 4 and 5), this year's show is guaranteed to be worth its weight in "51" Presidentials. As always, there will be exciting new products -- including, we hope, a preview of The Pharaoh. And there will be more vintage pens than you can take in; this show is one of the grand old vintage festivals, and it's really not to be missed. For more information, visit the show's Web site: http://www.ohiopenshow.com/ We'll have a selection of pens from the companies we represent: Bexley, Conway Stewart, Filcao, Pelikan, Platinum, Signum, and Taccia. Most of the pens we 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 luscious new M620 Grand Place. If you don't have a Pelikan pen to go with your new nib, Barbara will be happy to fit your nib with a new M200 pen body in your choice of colors, including the exciting new M205 clear demonstrator. 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. If you have pens that need repairs other than nib work, we'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. Ron's table will be right next to ours. We look forward to seeing old friends and meeting new ones. We hope to see you there. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** The Long Island Pen Show will be NEXT MONTH! *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Only two weeks after Ohio I'll be in Hempstead, New York, to work on nibs at the Long island Pen Show. Barbara will manage the table, handling sales and making sure I keep my nose to the grindstone (pun intended). http://www.lipenshow.com/ At the table next to ours will be Ron Zorn of Main Street Pens, handling on-site general repairs. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Pens That Write Right! *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Unless otherwise requested at the time of sale, I dip-test each new pen 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. Remember, we are authorized retailers for Bexley, Conway Stewart, Filcao, Pelikan, Platinum, Signum, and Taccia. We don't always have a complete line up on the site, but we can get anything our manufacturers offer -- if you don't see it, just ask! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** The Bexley Simplicity Is Simply Great! *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ One of the greatest pen styles of all time is the classic Sheaffer Flat- top. Bexley's take on this timeless shape is the new Simplicity, and all I can say is that you'll have to go a long way to find a better pen at a price near what we have Simplicitys for. The Simplicity uses the same excellent Schmidt steel nib that writes so well in the Armed Forces -- speaking of which, we offer the Armed Forces (MSRP $99.00) to all active-duty members of the U.S. armed services for for the special price of only $60.00 (with steel nib). To take advantage of this offer, for yourself or as a gift for someone in the service, please contact us by email. http://www.richardspens.com/?page=sales/newp_bex.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Nova Means New, and *This* Is News! *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ We've made another special purchase from Empire Pens, and we now have the smoothly streamlined Signum Nova for only $215.00. This is not a trimmed-down economy model; it's the standard cartridge/converter- filling U.S. version with a metal section and a No. 6 18K gold Bock nib, and it is an amazing value. How long will we be able to offer this price? We don't know. Get your Nova now: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=sales/newp_sig.htm (We still have the piston-filling Orione, with the same quality 18K nib, for only $190.00; two pens at bargain prices are better than only one.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Last Month's Calendar Page Is This Month's Wallpaper *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The September calendar page featured the Signum Orione resting on a chiseled stone surface. Now you can download that image as a 1600x1200 desktop wallpaper file for your computer. To complement the Orione, I've made a new wallpaper featuring our very own LE, The Pharaoh. http://www.richardspens.com/?page=wallpapers.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** In the Reader's Corner *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ I've been chatting more and more frequently with clients who are interested in learning to write Spencerian and other American Round Hand scripts. There's no better way to learn this marvelous craft than from the guy who invented it, Platt Rogers Spencer. Check out my Pick of the Month. http://www.richardspens.com/?page=bks_txt.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Broad Strokes" by Richard Binder ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Every tennis player knows what the sweet spot is -- it's the small area near the middle of the racket's face that gives the most control, response and power. Did you know that fountain pen nibs have sweet spots, too? http://www.richardspens.com/?ttp=sweetspot ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Extra Fine Points" by Don Fluckinger ------------------------------------------------------------------------ It struck me, as I inspected a Conklin pen last week, that the company's home base of Toledo, Ohio, seems an unlikely epicenter of pendom. But it makes sense. http://www.richardspens.com/?page=extrafine/xf0610.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Vintage Pens for Sale ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This month I have a couple of unusual pens along with some that are more common; all are good writers. Reemember, these are not all the vintage pens on our site, so check them all out. Pens are graded according to the following condition scale. Within a grade, I use + or - to indicate shades of variation; for example, a pen that is B+ falls into the B grade and shows so little use that it is only marginally not A2. Condition Description A1 Mint (uninked). Shows no signs of use. A2 Mint (inked). As for A1 but may have been dipped or inked. N New Old Stock (NOS). Unsold dealer or manufacturer stock. Not dipped or inked but may show shop wear. B Excellent. All parts original and showing only very slight signs of use. Very slight surface scratching; very minor discoloration or brassing; crisp imprints; no significant dings. C Fine. All parts original. Some discoloration and brassing; light or worn imprints; small dings to metal or scratching on plastic. D Fair. Some parts possibly not original; significant brassing or discoloration; very worn imprints; dings and scratches. Maybe a good writing pen or usable for parts. Esterbrook ---------- Red J, NOS 2668 nib. Condition: B. Price: $45.00 Blue J, NOS 1550 nib. Condition: B. Price: $45.00 Dark Gray SJ, NOS 1461 nib. Condition: B-. Price: $40.00 Esterbrooks for sale: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=sale_est.htm Parker ------ Golden Pearl 1945 Vacumatic, XXF nib. Condition: B. $110.00 Silver Pearl 1945 Vacumatic, F nib. Condition: B-. Price: $90.00 Black 45 GT, brushed cap, M nib. Condition: B. Price: $35.00 Parkers for sale: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=sale_pkr.htm Sheaffer -------- Black Fineline with GP cap, screw-out 342 nib. Condition: B. Price: $45.00 Blue Fineline with plastic cap, screw-out 345 nib. Condition: B. Price: $45.00 Sheaffers for sale: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=sale_she.htm Others ------ Black Waterman's Taperite Crusader, F nib. Condition: B+. Price: $75.00 BCHR "Independent" stylographic pen, M/F tip. Condition: B+. Price: $75.00 Black J. S. Staedtler "Tradition" piston filler No 4228, B Pelikan M200 nib. Condition: B. Price: $55.00 Other Pens for sale: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=sale_oth.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Subscribe to our RSS Feed *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ RSS means Really Simple Syndication. You can subscribe to our RSS feed by clicking the orange RSS button at the top of any page of our site. If you're not already hooked up to RSS and what it can do for you, take a peek at our 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 the Free Email Newsletter page on my site: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=nibnoise.htm Note: We will never sell your name or email address. 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