======================================================================== Nib Noise Volume 5 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 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, continues to progress toward its release early in 2007. I now have David Broadwell's handmade model, from which the lost-wax casting molds will be made, and we will bring this pen with us to the Ohio Pen Show this coming weekend. I've also taken a photograph of Mr. Broadwell's model to replace my Photoshop rendering, 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 Here! *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Ohio Pen Show is coming THIS WEEKEND! Barbara and I will be rolling in Thursday afternoon -- where will YOU be? With festivities beginning on Thursday, a full-day pre-show Friday, and two full public days on the weekend, this year's show is guaranteed to be worth its weight in "51" Presidentials. As always, there will be exciting new products -- including a preview of our new limited edition, 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 italics, oblique italics, stub italics, and the new CONDOR(tm), 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. 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. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Can't Make It to the Ohio Pen Show This Year? *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Buckeye fans, this is the big year, and you can boost OSU's championship hopes! Put your support for the Scarlet and Gray in your pocket where everyone can see it, with the 2006 Ohio Pen Show limited edition by Columbus's own Bexley Pen Company. There are 35 matched two-pen sets, and each Bexley dealer was allowed to choose one set to sell. Our set wears Number 10, the jersey number of top Heisman contender quarterback Troy Smith. See the Show Pen capped: http://tinyurl.com/y883vt See the Show Pen posted: http://tinyurl.com/y4un5h These extremely limited pens can be yours for $225.00 each or the special bargain price of only $425.00 for both. They're fitted with medium nibs, but you can choose any other standard Bexley nibs at no additional cost. As always, unless you request otherwise at the time of sale, I will dip-test the pens and adjust their nibs for smoothness and flow. Custom nib modification will be at my usual rates. First "I want it" e-mail wins. We can ship the pens to you for $6.00 each or $7.00 for both. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** The Long Island Pen Show is coming in two weeks! *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Only two weeks after Ohio we'll be in Hempstead, New York, for the Long island Pen Show. I'll be working on nibs as I do at every show we attend, and Barbara will manage the table, handling sales and making sure I keep my nose to the grindstone. http://www.lipenshow.com/ Just a reminder: We bring most of our normal pen stock to shows, but we can't bring everything. If there's a special pen you've been thinking of, please feel free to send us an email to ask us to be sure we bring it for you. This also works for other items, such as our pads (which are heavy and cost six fortunes and a government budget to ship). At the table next to ours will be Ron Zorn of Main Street Pens, handling on-site general repairs. Ron is a truly good person and a remarkably skilled repairer as well -- bring a pen or two to keep him from getting bored! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Pens That Write Right! *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Unless otherwise requested at the time of sale, I fill-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! *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ (I had this article in last month's Nib Noise, and I haven't changed a word of it. That's how good these pens are -- two weeks ago I dropped a Simplicity into my Piquadro, and it's come out only to be used or filled again. That ought to tell you something...) 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 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Last Month's Calendar Page Is This Month's Wallpaper *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The October calendar page featured a gorgeous Waterman's Ideal No. 412 on a sheet of wavy glass. Now you can download that image as a 1600x1200 desktop wallpaper file for your computer. To complement that great hard- rubber Waterman, I've made a new wallpaper featuring the amazing BCHR Snapfil that Dennis Lively added to my collection. http://www.richardspens.com/?page=wallpapers.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** In the Reader's Corner *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Last month I featured Platt Rogers Spencer's method book for learning how to do American Round Hand. This month I've moved backward in time a few decades. Check out my Pick of the Month. http://www.richardspens.com/?page=bks_txt.htm#potm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Broad Strokes" by Richard Binder ------------------------------------------------------------------------ How many fountain pens do you know that you don't fill -- pens that fill themselves, that is? The Parker 61 isn't the only one. This month I look at Waterman's X-Pen. http://www.richardspens.com/?prof=xpen ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Extra Fine Points" by Don Fluckinger ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Don features interesting reader emails in this month's "Extra Fine" and also puts out a query to all Waterman experts to identify a mystery pen -- to him -- picked up at the Toronto show. http://www.richardspens.com/?page=extrafine/xf0611.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Orphan Pens Looking for Good Homes! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ We have a few pens here and there that are all that remain in stock of their types, and we'd like to share the wealth. These pens are all brand new, with the usual manufacturers' warranties. The prices you see here are NOT represented on our site and are NOT being offered anywhere else. To purchase one of these pens, please send email! Bexley Celebration Independence, $150.00 Bexley Celebration, Mardi Gras, $150.00 Bexley Fun Time, Pink $40.00 Filcao New Leader, Red/Black, $95.00 Filcao Leader 1918, Cracked Ice, $95.00 Filcao Leader 1918 Ballpoint, Brown Lacquer, $30.00 Filcao Silvia 1, Marbled, Green/Black/Gold, $100.00 Filcao Brava, Green, $45.00 Bexley Watley, Rose Acrylic, $140.00 Bexley, Watley, Mahogany Acrylic, $140.00 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** 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. Your privacy is as important to us as it is to you.