======================================================================== Nib Noise * Volume 14 Number 5 * August 2015 ======================================================================== 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 DO NOT use the links in the footer of this email. Instead, visit the Free Email Newsletter page on our site: http://www.richardspens.com/?info=nibnoise ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** 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 13, and running through Friday, the Big Show will be open to the public on Saturday and Sunday, August 15 and 16. 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 wine and beer 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 Sheraton Premiere 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. As always, I'll be regrinding and tweaking nibs while their owners wait. Bring a pen, and share some of the sparkling repartee at our table while I jazz up your writing experience. We can 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 hotel lobby. But bear in mind the advice I've laid out in my article on Your First Pen Show (linked above). We look forward to seeing old friends and meeting new ones. We hope to see you there. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Getting to the SuperShow *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ In case you think it's a pain in the tail to get way out there to the Sheraton Premiere in Tysons Corner -- why couldn't they have held the show close to a nice convenient Metro stop? -- maybe you weren't aware of the Spring Mill Metro stop just a short walk from the hotel. To get from the Metro stop to the hotel, proceed to street level on the side of Leesburg Pile where the Honda dealer is located. Walk 600 feet northwest on Leesburg Pike to Westwood Center Drive (on your left). Walk 400 feet west on Westwood Center Drive, then turn right and walk 500 feet on Cornerside Boulevard to Ashgrove Lane. Across Ashgrove Lane from you is the Sheraton. I've snapped a Google Maps view of the area and marked the walking route on it. The image file is here: http://www.richardspens.com/images/info/tysons.png ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Black Pen Society Annual Meeting *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Black Pen Society will hold its annual meeting at the SuperShow. If you are not already aware of the BPS, check out the Society's page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blackpensociety ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Nib Workshop at the DC Show *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ I will be giving my hands-on nib smoothing seminar at the DC show. It happens Sunday morning, beginning promptly at 8:30. Registration for hands-on participation opened at 9:00 Eastern time this morning and is already filled, but you will be welcome to audit the workshop without registering. If you decide after the workshop that you'd like to try working with your own pens, IndyPenDance will have most of the workshop materials for sale at their table. (The "official" materials include a couple of practice pens, and you'll have to provide pens yourself.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** The New Bexley Monarch Will Be Available at the DC Show *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ We are no longer actively selling pens, but I still have a great fondness for Bexley pens. Bexley has introduced a real humdinger this month. It's called the Monarch, and it will be available for sale at the DC show. Howard Levy, president of the Bexley Pen Company, will be at his table right next to us to show it off, and at least one of Bexley's regular dealers, IndyPenDance, will have the pens for sale. Check out this great vintage-inspired honey, and buy yours at the show! Here's a preview of the glamour shot that Bexley will have on their Web site when the pens become available for Web sales: http://www.richardspens.com/images/shared/monarch_ad.jpg ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Richard's Sawbuck Special, a New Feature in Barbara's Attic *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ When I was a kid, the Chrysler dealer in town had a “Sawbuck Special” on his used car lot. He marked the car’s price down by a “sawbuck” ($10.00) each day until the car sold. I've added a Sawbuck Special of my own to the Barbara's Attic page. Check it out: http://www.richardspens.com/?acc=attic+sawbuck ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Reading Is Never Out of Season *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ About a week before the end of July, I published The RichardsPens Guide to Fountain Pens, Volume 3: Filling Systems as an ebook that's available from Amazon (Kindle), Apple (iPad, iPhone, Macintosh), and Barnes & Noble (Nook). In Volume 3, I catalog virtually every filling system I’ve encountered, encompassing most fountain pens from the late 1800s to the present. This volume not only outlines the history of fountain pen filling systems from the early days to the 21st century, it also also gives in-depth directions on how to fill these classic pens yourself. Like a friendly neighbor down the street, I give you a step-by-step for all of them. It's like having a veteran fountain pen expert at your side. Illustrated with patent drawings and never-before-seen pictures that explain the behind-the-scenes story of filling system development, this definitive text will serve generations to come. http://www.richardspens.com/?bks=richard I have other books on the page, too, including Volumes 1 and 2 of The RichardsPens Guide to Fountain Pens. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Where Did Our Nibs Go? *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ We have moved all of the nibs we have available at this time into the RichardsPens Nib Shop on the Barbara's Attic page. THIS INCLUDES FLEXIBLE NIBS, so if you're a flexie hound you will need to check the Attic instead of the NIBARAMA page. (The NIBARAMA page is gone, so looking for it would be a wild goose chase.) There are currently two JoWo flexible nibs in the Nib Shop, maybe yours is one of them! http://www.richardspens.com/?acc=attic+nibshop ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** On the Monthly Pen Show Tray *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ There are some very exciting and uncommon pens on the Tray this month. It will automagically open itself for sale at 10:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time tonight, 31 July. Don't miss out! http://www.richardspens.com/?pens=tray We will ship Tray pens purchased tonight through Monday on Wednesday, August 5. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Broad Strokes *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This month, to celebrate the publication of my newest book, I've added a page on Post fillers to the reference section: http://www.richardspens.com/?fillers=syringe ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Pens That Write Right! *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Unless otherwise requested at the time of sale, I personally tune each new nib we sell at no extra charge before shipment. I test the nib in a pen filled with Waterman Mysterious Blue ink and write with it on paper of better than average quality, adjusting as necessary to bring it up to the RichardsPens.com "factory" standard for smoothness and flow. If you order a new nib with customization, I will modify the nib (for an extra charge), and we will ship it without any extra delay. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Follow Us on the Internet with Facebook and Twitter *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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 DO NOT use the links in the footer of this email. Instead, 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.