======================================================================== Nib Noise * Volume 14 Number 12 * March 2016 ======================================================================== 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 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** REMINDER: Our Next Pen Show Will Be in Baltimore *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Last year, the Baltimore Pen Show moved to the Doubletree Baltimore BWI Airport Hotel in Linthicum, Maryland, just a spit and a holler from the Baltimore-Washington International Airport (BWI). We liked it! We are seriously looking forward to being there again next month to see all the friends who come to visit us at this great show. We'll be set up all three days, beginning Friday, March 4, and running through Sunday, March 6. There are plenty of restaurants close to the hotel with even more in Baltimore itself, and Baltimore is a city known for its good food and some very interesting tourist spots, so there's something there for your family members who don't care about pens. I'll be working on nibs as I do at every show we attend, and Barbara will be making sure I keep my nose to the grindstone. PLEASE READ OUR "TABLE TALK" FAQ TO LEARN HOW WE OPERATE AT A SHOW: http://www.richardspens.com/?info=shows 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 For more information, visit the show's website: http://www.baltimorepenshow.com/ We look forward to seeing old friends and meeting new ones. We hope to see you there. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** WE WILL NOT BE AT THE LONG ISLAND SHOW THIS YEAR *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ We're sorry to miss all our good friends and clients in Long Island, but circumstances have conspired to prevent our attendance at the LI show. If you will need nib work done, Linda Kennedy of IndyPenDance will be there, and you can trust her to do a superb job. Mike will be with her, offering general repairs. Get to know the Kennedys; they're lovely people and a real asset to the pen community. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Richard's "Retirement": What Has It Done for You? *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Now that Barbara and I are "retired," I have more time to do research and writing. This means that there have been, and will continue to be, more updates to our site's reference section than there were back when we were running around like chickens with our heads cut off to keep our business going. Last month I published a page on personalized pens: http://www.richardspens.com/?hist=pers_pens That page appears to have lighted fires under some people, and I'm seeing postings on Facebook about pens others have found and researched -- including a Morrison Patriot set that went through the Battle of the Bulge in World War II. Now THAT is COOL! I've been adding entries to the Glossopedia: http://www.richardspens.com/?gloss= I've also added information to several pen model profiles, including the Morrison Patriot profile: http://www.richardspens.com/?prof=patriot And I've more than doubled the amount of content in my reference article about how World War II affected the fountain pen: http://www.richardspens.com/?hist=wwii_fp Stay tuned. There's more to come. Due up next month is a seriously expanded version of my reference article on lever fillers. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Hats Off! *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ If you've seen me at a pen show, or if you've seen my avatar on Facebook, you know I'm a hat guy. Several years ago I bought a now-discontinued Pearl Gray Casablanca fedora made by the Golden Gate Hat Company. I decided after wearing it a couple of times that it wasn't my style. It's been stored in a hat-sized shipping box ever since. Come and get it! http://www.richardspens.com/?acc=attic+hat ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** You Asked for It, We Answered *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The RichardsPens Guide to Fountain Pens, Volume 2: Restoration has been available in two deluxe printed editions for a whole month. Have you bought your copy yet? This is the book that repair expert Jim Marshall calls "a formidable book...if you are interested in restoration, don't miss this one!" You asked for it in print, and we’re happy to say we’ve made it happen. We’re offering a premium full-color perfect-bound paperback through Amazon.com. The inside margin is wide enough that you can have it punched and put into a 3-ring binder. Or if you’d prefer a larger format that will lie flat on your repair bench, we've arranged with another vendor to supply a special oversize coil-bound edition, as well. Of course, the Restoration volume, like the rest of our guides, is still available in multiple ebook formats as well! Please check out my other books while you're getting ready to order your copy. http://www.richardspens.com/?bks=richard+vol2 IF SALES OF THESE PRINTED BOOKS JUSTIFY THE EFFORT AND EXPENSE, WE WILL MAKE THE OTHER VOLUMES IN THE RICHARDSPENS GUIDE SERIES AVAILABLE AS PRINTED EDITIONS FOR YOU. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** On the Monthly Pen Show Tray *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ There are some wicked cool pens on the March Tray, including a very pretty "51" Flighter, an early Conklin All-American, and even a few flexies. Be there at promptly 10:00 p.m. Monday, February 29, or someone else will beat you to the pen you want. http://www.richardspens.com/?pens=tray ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Broad Strokes *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ What would be your ideal filling system? How about one that fills all by itself and doesn't even need you to clean up after it? http://www.richardspens.com/?fillers=capillary ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Pens That Write Right! *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Unless otherwise requested at the time of sale or unless otherwise noted in Barbara's Attic, 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 (gold nibs only), 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 our occasional tweets 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.