======================================================================== Nib Noise Volume 6 Number 3 ======================================================================== 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 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Have You Ordered The Pharaoh Yet? *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ More than half of the twenty-four numbered pens have been purchased and delivered. Don't miss out on this remarkable opportunity to own an example of David Broadwell's art on a Bexley-built pen with a nib tuned to your unique personal style. http://www.richardspens.com/?page=sales/pharaoh.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** The Triangle Pen Show (aka Raleigh) is upon us! *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ It's only a week and a day to the opening of the 4th Annual Triangle Pen Show (formerly called the Raleigh Pen Show), and things are seriously heating up here in Nashua. We're looking forward to getting in the car to head south -- maybe the weather will be cooler there, right? North Carolina is a pretty nice place any time, but with a pen show in the offing, it's even more attractive. The show begins Thursday, June 7, at the truly deluxe Embassy Suites (free breakfast and Happy Hour, woo hoo!) in Cary, just outside Raleigh, and it runs through Sunday the 10th. Public days are Saturday and Sunday. Terry and Sonia Mawhorter run a great show, and it's probably one of the best shows for both experienced showgoers and pen show virgins. If you plan to come and haven't ever been to a show before, you might want to read my article on Your First Pen Show: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=ref_info/firstshow.htm For more information, visit the show's Web site: http://www.raleighpenshow.com/ 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. Barbara and I will also have a selection of new pens from Bexley, Conway Stewart, Namiki and Pilot, Pelikan, Signum, and Taccia, as well as a stock of my pre-ground Pelikan M200 and Vanishing Point specialty nibs, along with demonstrators of them all for you to try before you buy. The Pelikan nibs fit M200, M250, M400, and M600 pens, including the M620 Famous Places series and the new M640 Niagara Falls; Vanishing Point nibs fit Namiki and Pilot Vanishing Point pens. If you don't have a pen to go with your new nib, we'll be happy to fit your nib with a new M200 or Vanishing Point pen body in your choice of colors. We look forward to seeing old friends and meeting new ones. We hope to see you there. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** All Three New Pelikans Are IN STOCK! *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ We have, in stock and ready to ship, all three of the new 2007 Pelikan Tradition and Souveraen pens: * M625 Transparent Dark Red * M640 Niagara Falls * M215 Lozenge These are lovely pens -- get yours in time for summer-vacation letter writing or journaling! http://www.richardspens.com/?page=sales/newp_pel.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Bexley's Poseidon Is Here, and BX701 Is Coming Down the Pike *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Poseidon, the ancient Greek god of the sea! With its brilliant barrel and cap transparency, Bexley's Poseidon is an interesting and attractive evocation of the ocean's waters. With Bexley's usual stellar 18K nib and a handful-sized profile, it's here now. Priced at $240, Poseidon is in stock and available for immediate shipment. http://www.richardspens.com/?page=sales/newp_bex.htm#poseidon The newest Bexley collection is christened BX701. (Don't ask!) It's so new that Bexley hasn't even taken the wraps off yet, but we know that it uses Bexley's reliable Schmidt steel nibs. Available in three colors, BX701 will introduce a totally new clip design for Bexley, and the resins are new, too! We expect to sell these pens at a price of $90.00. More information will become available on our site as soon as we receive it. Pens should be available for shipment around the beginning of June. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Coming to a Site Near You! *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ We're working with Taccia, one of our favorite pen manufacturers, on a new special edition. It will feature a new vintage-inspired Taccia model, an exclusive resin, and gold nibs, and it'll be priced well below $175.00. With the usual "Pens That Write Right!" guarantee, it'll be a choice you won't be able to resist. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Come to the Richard's Pens Pen Show *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Last month we introduced a new concept in vintage pen sales (for us, at least), with our monthly vintage pen tray. The reception was overwhelm- ingly positive, so we're back! We're now offering a selection of 20 pens like you might see at a pen show, in a real Sheaffer's display tray. And just like a pen show, when the show is over (on the evening of June 30), these pens will be packed up and taken home. Next month, we'll have another tray for you. Check out our vintage pen tray: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=sales/vint_txt.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Don's Boxes -- Economical and Attractive Cigar Box Pen Chests *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Add a little rustic charm to displaying your pen collection in these repurposed Spanish cedar cigar boxes, and save money at the same time. Our son-in-law, Don Fluckinger, is a pen collector and user, and the author of Extra Fine Points. He makes these clever and classy cigar box pen chests: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=accessories/dons_boxes.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Everybody Likes a Twofer -- How About a THREE-FER? *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ I know how much fun -- and how rewarding -- it is to start with a pen that you wouldn't pick up at a flea market and end up with a good writer you're proud to use and show off. But it's often not all that easy to find restorable pens to learn on. For $15.00 plus shipping, we'll send you three preselected restorable pens to get you started. Check out our Threefers here: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=sales/vint_txt.htm#threefers ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** 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, Namiki and Pilot, Pelikan, 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! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Last Month's Calendar Page Is This Month's Wallpaper *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The May Richard's Pens calendar page featured a Parker 61 resting on a lovely woodland fungus that I photographed three steps outside my side porch door. There's already a 1600x1200 wallpaper version of this design on our site. To bring you a real summer cooler, I've made a new 1600x1200 wallpaper featuring Bexley's new Poseidon set against a crashing sea, just the sort of thing that an ancient Greek god could really get into! http://www.richardspens.com/?page=wallpapers.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Broad Strokes" by Richard Binder ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Listen carefully, all you lefties out there. This is important. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A LEFT-HANDED FOUNTAIN PEN. Don't make me say it again, okay? Things could get ugly: http://www.richardspens.com/?ttp=left ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Extra Fine Points" by Don Fluckinger ------------------------------------------------------------------------ How is it that we sometimes get most attached to the ugliest of the ducklings in our collections? Perhaps it's that we're less afraid to use them out there in the everyday world, and therefore we get to know them better -- and appreciate them more -- than the crown jewels locked away in the safety deposit box. http://www.richardspens.com/?page=extrafine/xf0706.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** In the Reader's Corner *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ My Pick of the Month is Fred Eager's remarkably effective teaching book that will get you going with gorgeous italic calligraphy. http://www.richardspens.com/?page=bks_txt.htm#potm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** 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 on our site or by plugging the following URI into your browser or RSS reader: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=richardspens.rss 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.