======================================================================== Nib Noise * Volume 11 Number 4 * July 2012 ======================================================================== Welcome to Nib Noise. 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 our site: http://www.richardspens.com/?info=nibnoise ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Apropos of Nothing, My Son Is a good Photographer *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ My son, Paul Sihvonen-Binder, is a scenic photographer of no mean skill. He's just gotten his brand new Web site up and running. It showcases his photographs, taken mostly in and around Massachusetts' Pioneer Valley. I encourage you to visit, look, enjoy, and buy. You won't be disappointed, I promise. http://www.photosfromthevalley.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Coming Next Month: The Washington DC Fountain Pen SuperShow *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ You've been waiting since last August, but you can't wait forever, or you'll miss out. Get your reservations made yesterday for the Greatest Pen Show on Earth, the Washington DC Fountain Pen SuperShow. We've got our reservations, and we'll be there. Will we see you there? For more information, visit the show's Web site: http://www.pencentral.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** My Nib Smoothing Workshop Will Be Back at DC *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ I'll be teaching my famous (infamous?) hands-on nib smoothing workshop at the Washington DC , beginning at 8:30 on Sunday morning. Why 8:30? Because I've found that if I start at 9, there isn't enough time to give a thorough exposition of some of the finer points. I want to be sure you get your money's worth. Seating is limited, and we'll open registration on August 1. DC show goers, don't miss out on the fun! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** It's Summer! Let's Go Tray-veling! *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ And Barbara's Attic does. She keeps finding new things to bring down and offer to you. Here's a sample of something she just added: NOS Bexley Americana in Sanibel Blue, with first-run pierced Deco band. Old-style dark blue leatherette-covered metal box. Choice of F, M, or B steel nib, or F, M, B, or stub 18K nib. (Custom regrinding available for additional charge.) We have exactly five of these pens. And there's other good stuff, including a couple of other brandy-new pens, as well. http://www.richardspens.com/?pens=tray ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Attics Can Have Some Neat Stuff in Them *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ And Barbara's Attic does. She keeps finding new things to bring down and offer to you. Here's a sample of something she just added: NOS Bexley Americana in Sanibel Blue, with first-run pierced Deco band. Old-style dark blue leatherette-covered metal box. Choice of F, M, or B steel nib, or F, M, B, or stub 18K nib. (Custom regrinding available for additional charge.) We have exactly five of these pens. And there's other good stuff, including a couple of other brandy-new pens, as well. http://www.richardspens.com/?acc=attic ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** July's Cigar Boxes Are Not to Be Missed! *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ There's a scant dozen cigar box pen chests for July. Get in on them early! While they might be in short supply, the assortment will get our regulars excited -- it includes the rare triple decker, some double deckers including the hard-to-find deep mahogany Fuente Fuente Opus X that pen collectors fight over, the debut of a pair of Brick House double deckers, and a wonderful selection of less expensive single-level pen boxes. Month in and month out, these continue to represent the hobby's best value in fountain pen storage. But Don can only make so many at a time, so grab yours fast before they're gone 'til next month! http://www.richardspens.com/?acc=boxes ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** The Perfect Summer Pen: the Belmont Pen by Gate City *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Now that summer is officially in progress, it's time for journaling at the beach. And this summer we have the Gate City Belmont in the perfect seashore colors: Caribbean and Galápagos. Big ink capacity, superfast filling and flushing, smashing good looks, really easy in the hand, and smo-o-o-o-o-oth. Perfect weather, perfect pen, what's not to like? http://www.richardspens.com/?pens=gct+belmont In case you've gone looking for the Gate City Pen Web site and found that it was gone, don't worry. Gate City is well and not planning to go away. Since Gate City Pen & Ink is Jim Baer and Richard Binder, and since I no longer have the time to manage a whole extra Web site, I've taken down the Gate City site. I've been the pen half of the company, and all the information on the pens is on my site. I am cogitating on what I want to do for the next model; maybe I'll do a Coit's patent sleeve filler. Jim has been the non-pen half of the company, and the ink and flush information (including the list of dealers) will be on Jim's new site when he gets it running. The products will not be changing in any way, but Jim will be rebranding them for his own company, Monomoy Vintage Pen. Gate City Pen & Ink will become Gate City Pen. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** News from Ohio *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ I have it on very good authority that there's something new and exciting brewing at the Bexley factory on the west side of Columbus. It's a thing Bexley has never done before, and I'm waiting with bated breath to see just how hot it is. Look for a full exposé in the next Nib Noise. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** News from Birdland *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Everyone knows that taupe is the new black, and Pelikan’s new taupe M205 hits a home run. We have it in stock now, priced at $124.00. After the July 15 Pelikan price rise, this is the price you’ll be seing on all the M205s. http://www.richardspens.com/?pens=pel+m205 And speaking of the July 15 price rise, it's real. We've been notified, and we're notifying you. It seems to me that sometime before the 15th would be the best time to augment your Pelikan flock! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** News from Offshore *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ If you've been looking longingly for the return of extra-fine nibs for the Vanishing Point, we're being told that they'll be available again in August. We're no happier than you are about the delay, but there it is. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** "Broad Strokes" by Richard Binder *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ In 1947, Eversharp, Inc., was in disarray. The Skyline fountain pen was dated, the Fifth Avenue fountain pen had failed in the marketplace and had been withdrawn, and the unreliable new CA ballpoint was an unmitigated disaster that would, before the dust settled, come close to bankrupting the company. Opportunity knocked, and Eversharp answered. http://www.richardspens.com/?prof=kimberly ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** "Extra Fine Points" by Don Fluckinger *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ You might not be terribly active on Facebook -- many of us in our 40s and beyond don't make it a priority -- but if you're a pen collector you owe it to yourself to see the burgeoning pen collector–specific pages. http://www.richardspens.com/?xf=1207 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Pens That Write Right! *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Unless otherwise requested at the time of sale, we tune each new pen or nib at no extra charge before shipment. We fill the pen with Waterman Blue-Black ink and write with it on paper from the same fountain pen friendly pads we sell, adjusting as necessary to bring it up to the RichardsPens.com "factory" standard for smoothness and flow. If you order a new pen with a customized nib, I will modify the nib (for an extra charge) and ship the pen immediately instead of putting it into my regular queue. Remember, we are authorized retailers for Bexley, Edison, Gate City Pen, Namiki and Pilot, Onoto, and Pelikan. 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! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** We're Still Building a List of Pen Clubs! *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Pen collecting is a lot more fun when you share your passion with others. We have a new page listing pen clubs that we know. There's probably a club near you. If there is, and it's not listed on our page, please let us know about it. If not, maybe you should start one! http://www.richardspens.com/?info=clubs ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Follow Us on the Internet with RSS, Facebook, and Twitter *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Follow us on the Internet by subscribing to our RSS feed. Click the orange RSS button at the top of our site -- or plug the following URI into your browser or RSS reader: http://www.richardspens.com/richardspens.rss We'd like to be liked on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/NashuaPenSpa And you're invited to follow us on Twitter: @RichardsPens ======================================================================== 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 our site: http://www.richardspens.com/?info=nibnoise Note: We will never sell your name or email address. Your privacy is as important to us as it is to you.