======================================================================== Nib Noise * Volume 12 Number 7 * October 2013 ======================================================================== 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 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** October Shipping Schedule *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Here are the days on which we'll be shipping during October: Wednesday, October 2 Saturday, October 5 Wednesday, October 9 Saturday, October 12 Wednesday, October 16 Saturday, October 19 Wednesday, October 23 Saturday, October 26 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** The Ohio Show Is Almost Here! *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The 16th Annual Ohio Pen Show is coming early next month (November 8-10)! Barbara and I will be on hand for all the festivities -- where will YOU be? With Weekenders' events cranking up on Thursday (30 tables) and running all day Friday (160 tables), and two full public days on the weekend, this year's show will be the ideal way to make up your Holiday wish list. As always, there will be exciting new products and more vintage pens than you can take in, as well as some fabulous auction action for those who stay all weekend. The Ohio show is one of the grandest of the grand old vintage festivals, and it's really not to be missed. In case you haven't already made your reservation, Terry and his minions will be happy to sell you a Weekend Pass when you walk in the door on Thursday, so you needn't miss out on the variety of evening events. For much more information, visit the show's Web site: http://www.ohiopenshow.com/ If this will be your first-ever pen show, be sure to read my pen show virgin's guide: http://www.richardspens.com/?shows=firstshow We'll have a selection of pens from the companies we represent: Bexley, Edison, Gate City, Namiki/Pilot, Onoto, and Pelikan. 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! 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. (But we don't have those buzzy hockey puck things...) Bring a pen, and share a little time with friends at our table while I jazz up your writing experience. PLEASE READ OUR "TABLE TALK" FAQ TO LEARN HOW WE OPERATE AT A SHOW: http://www.richardspens.com/?info=shows If you have pens that need repairs other than nib work, you can hand them to any of the several repairers who will be working at the show. We recommend Mike and Linda Kennedy of IndyPenDance or Ron Zorn of Main Street Pens. We look forward to seeing old friends and meeting new ones. We hope to see you there. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Hands-On Nib Workshop in Ohio *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ I'll be conducting my hands-on nib smoothing workshop at the Ohio show. For more information about the workshop, please visit the registration page: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=workshop Our site will automatically open registration promptly at 9 a.m. on Friday, October 25. There's a $20.00 registration fee to cover the materials you'll be using, and you should bring a good 10x hand loupe. Unlighted loupes work better than lighted ones for this job. If you're not able to register, come anyway; we welcome those who can only audit the class, and there will be copies of the handouts for all. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** November Shipping Schedule *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Because we'll be going to the Ohio Pen Show (see above) and taking time after the show and for Thanksgiving, our shipping schedule will look a little funny this month. Also, we will close our "store" beginning Tuesday, November 5, so that we can ship all orders that have been placed before we leave for Ohio. We will reopen the store on Friday, November 15. We appreciate your patience. Here are the days on which we'll be shipping during November: Saturday, November 2 Tuesday, November 5 Wednesday, November 20 Saturday, November 23 Tuesday, November 26 We'll be in Philadelphia for Thanksgiving, so we won't be able to ship on Saturday November 30. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** The Pilot 50th Anniversary Vanishing Point Limited Edition *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Pilot has a real treat in store for us all next month (November) with the release of the 2013 Vanishing Point Limited Edition. Because 2013 is the 50th Anniversary of the Vanishing Point (born in 1963 as the Pilot Capless), this year's pen is a doozy. It will have a body of maple wood, and it will come in a special oversize maple wood box lined in luxurious deep blue velvet, with a maple serial number plate and a small maple box containing five ink cartridges. The edition is limited to 900 pens world wide, and we have been allocated eight of them. There is a photo on our site: http://www.richardspens.com/images/pens/namiki/50th_vp.jpg If you'd like to reserve one of these pens in advance, please contact us by email: info@richardspens.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Pelikan M215 Choices Reduced *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Some months ago, Pelikan discontinued the M215 Rhombus (Lozenge) and the M215 Rectangle (Orthogon). Our supply of Rhombus pens has run out, and we have only a very small number of the Rectangle left. If you've been delaying your purchase of one of these pens, don't delay any longer! http://www.richardspens.com/?pens=pel+m215 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Bexley Submariner Grandes *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ As we announced a month ago, we have the last remaining Submariner Grandes in captivity, in your choice of three colors. This is a seriously good pen, at a ridiculously low price, but it won't last much longer. http://www.richardspens.com/?acc=attic We also have a few red Classiques and Tuck-Aways in Cracked Ice, Red Pearl, and Teal Pearl, so if the Grande doesn't appeal to your taste, your choices aren't suddenly all dried up. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** The Monthly "Pen Show Tray" *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ As always, our "Pen Show Tray" features a brand-new selection of 20 excellent vintage writing instruments. I can't say it has 20 pens because one of the items on it is a pencil, but it's at least a very good pencil. http://www.richardspens.com/?pens=tray ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** From the Attic *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Once again Barbara has managed to scrape together w nice 12- pen tray for her Attic. Project pens abound, and some of hem might work right off the tray. http://www.richardspens.com/?acc=attic ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Broad Strokes *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ While mwost people like the click-click action of the retractable Vanishing Point, not everyone is happy with the location of the pen’s clip; for some of us, the clip ends up right under a finger and renders writing with the pen a more or less uncomfortable experience. It turns out that removing the clip from a post-2000 Vanishing Point is not at all difficult... http://www.richardspens.com/?rep=vp_clip ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** 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! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** 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.