======================================================================== Nib Noise * Volume 11 Number 5 * August 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 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Going Back to School? Take a New Pen with You! *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ August will see some of you headed back to the old Academic Waltz, as students or as teachers. How better to start the new school year than with a new pen or three? Let us help you build your kit! We have a passel o' great pens for you to choose from, including some introduced just this summer. Bexley Cities collection (Ashland, Batavia, Columbus, Delaware) Edison Beaumont Pelikan M200 Clear Demonstrator There's more information on these pens later in this issue. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** News from Cigar Box Central *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ As you will read in this month's Extra Fine Points, Don's hitting the home stretch on the last few months of cigar boxes (monthly selections ending later this year). After that, they'll be sporadic at best. Here's one of your last, best shots at picking up one of his handcrafted pen chests -- including some exclusive double deckers -- for storage of your fine writing instruments...five...four..three...two...one...GO! http://www.richardspens.com/?acc=boxes ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** It's SuperShowTime! *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ August is here! And what does that mean? It means the Washington, DC, SuperShow. It also means kissing farewell to the carefree days of summer (at least for those of you headed for school), but let's not get ahead of ourselves. First, it's time for the Greatest Pen Show on Earth! Washington is one of the world's great tourist cities, so if you have family members who aren't insane about pens -- you are, of course, or you wouldn't be reading this -- you can turn them loose at the Falls Church Metro stop and forget them while they see the sights in town. You don't even have to take them there. That's what hotel shuttles are for! With the pre-show crankin' up on Thursday, August 9, and running through Friday, the Big Show will be open to the public on Saturday and Sunday, August 11 and 12. If you want to attend on Friday or think you might want to attend on more than one day, you really need a weekend pass, which admits you to all of the pre-show events, including the Friday pizza party. It also gains you early admission on the public days. You can purchase a weekend pass at the show's registration desk. This show is so-o-o big, and so-o-o good, that you may face a legitimate worry about having a panic attack when you walk in the front door of the hotel. Yes, the pen show fills the lobby, too. 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/?shows=firstshow Also, please read our "Table Talk" FAQ to learn how we operate at shows: http://www.richardspens.com/?info=shows+faq For more information about the show and the newly renovated hotel, please visit the show's Web site: http://www.pencentral.com/ Once you get there, you'll definitely want to visit the world's biggest and best ink testing table, in the hotel lobby! This great feature is open 24 hours a day while the show is on, so for you insomniacs there's something to while away the wee hours. Barbara and I will be there for the whole show, from the Overture on Thursday afternoon to the final curtain on Sunday. We'll have a good selection of new pens from Bexley, Edison, Gate City Pen, Namiki/Pilot, Onoto, and Pelikan. Most will have special low show prices. We are now able to accept your MasterCard, VISA, American Express, or Discover card -- but many of the vintage dealers are hobbyists who can handle only cash, so be sure to note the location of the ATM in the nice freshly redecorated lobby. We look forward to seeing old friends and meeting new ones. We hope to see you there. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** 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 show, 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 promptly at 9:00 a.m. on August 1 -- that's today! -- at this page on our site: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=workshop Don't miss out on the fun! If you don't make it onto the list, or if you just want to brush up a little without the hands-on bit, observers are welcome. We'll provide extra copies of the handouts for you. If you DO make it onto the list, remember to bring a good loupe. 10X is a good magnification -- and the better the optics you have, the better you'll be able to see the nibs you'll be working on. If you don't have a loupe, stop by our table on Friday or Saturday and pick up a 10X BelOMO loupe -- these are EXCELLENT loupes. http://www.richardspens.com/?acc=loupes ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Speaking of Schedules... *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ We're going to the DC SuperShow, of course. We'll be closed for business beginning Thursday, August 9 until we reopen on Tuesday, August 14. We will try to answer email in a timely manner while we're gone. The first day we'll be able to ship purchases after we return will be Saturday, August 22. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** It's High Summer! Barbara's Humming "Old Dog Trey" *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Barbara keeps finding new things to offer to you in her Attic instead of letting me have them for the Pen SHow Tray. Here's a sample of something she just added: BRAND NEW Bexley America the Beautiful in Blue. These are the last of our remaining stock of this sold-out model, and we have exactly three of them. And there's other good stuff, including a couple of brand new Parker pens (without boxes) as well. http://www.richardspens.com/?acc=attic ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Perfect Summer Pen No. 1: Bexley's Cities Collection *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Bexley salutes its “Made in Ohio” heritage with the Cities collection. For the first time, Bexley offers one pen that you can easily change from fountain pen to roller ball, as you prefer. It comes to you fitted with a fountain pen nib section containing a Bexley teel nib, and a separate rollerball assembly also is included. Each Cities model has a colorful barrel and a black cap with a crown that matches the barrel — and carefully sandwiched between the twin cap bands is an accent band that matches the barrel: Ashland Blue and Brown Swirl Batavia Blue Crushed Velvet Columbus Green Marbled Delaware Tortoise Marbled http://www.richardspens.com/?pens=bex+cities ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Perfect Summer Pen No. 2: Edison's Beaumont *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Edison continues to build its "connected with Thomas Edison" tradition with the new Beaumont, a pen for people with less-than-huge hands. With its huge nib, this nicely balanced pen will remind you of some of those vintage greats -- my first reaction on seeing it was "Sheaffer Flat-Top." One very nice pen, three very nice colors. http://www.richardspens.com/?pens=edi+beaumont ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Perfect Summer Pen No. 3: Pelikan's M200 Clear Demonstrator *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Who doesn't like demonstrator pens? Every time we turn around, clients are clamoring for Pelikan demonstrators. And the M200 might just be the best of the lot because it's so doggone affordable. The 2012 incarnation of the classic M200 Clear Demonstrator is improved over previous M200 and M205 demonstrators; where the piston mechanism used to be all black resin, now there's clear stuff so you can see what's going on in there even better than before. And the cap crown's trim ring is now gold plated instead of the old boring black you'd expecte on an M200. This is a limited-production pen, so jump how or don't complain when it's sold out! http://www.richardspens.com/?pens=pel+m200 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** 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 *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Shortly after introducing the original CA, which came in models styled to match the Fifth Avenue and the Skyline, Eversharp rolled out a cap- actuated retractable CA. The CA — including the retractable version — really didn’t work very well. This article explains how to convert a retractable CA to use a modern PaperMate ballpoint refill. http://www.richardspens.com/?rep=ca_retractable ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** "Extra Fine Points" by Don Fluckinger *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ All good things must come to an end. And in this case, it's cigar box pen chests, somewhere around November or December. Don looks back on the impact pen collectors have had on him. http://www.richardspens.com/?xf=1208 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** 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.