======================================================================== Nib Noise * Volume 17 Number 2 * May 2018 ======================================================================== Welcome to Nib Noise. I hope you'll enjoy reading this month's issue. PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS NEWSLETTER! The robot that sends it out hasn't yet learned to read. If you have comments or questions, send email to: richard@richardspens.com To subscribe or unsubscribe, please visit the Free Email Newsletter page on my site: http://www.richardspens.com/?info=nibnoise ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Sharing the Wealth *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ I think sharing information is a good thing, and I note that many people post links to my articles on websites such as the Fountain Pen Network and various pen groups on Facebook. To encourage such sharing by making it easier and more uniform, I've created a page titled, "How to Bookmark or Link to Pages on This Site," showing what I call the "best practices" way to do it. It's quick and easy, and it creates short, snappy links that are easy to remember: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=linking ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** The Glossopedia *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ A major feature of my website is the Glossopedia, a hybrid between a glossary and a single-volume encyclopedia. With more than 1500 defini- tions and descriptions, more than 900 illustrations, and more than 2100 cross-references, it's the most comprehensive of its kind on the Web. Each month, Nib Noise includes a randomly chosen Glossopedia entry. -------- Master-Craft. (Master-Craft Fountain Pen Corporation) A pen manufacturer located in New York City; founded in 1921 by Monroe E. Heilbrun and Ivan S. Heilbrun, together with accountant A. Alvin Fleischer. The principals announced that they would be producing “the world‘s finest writing instruments,” which would embody features never before used. (The only relevant patent I can locate is U.S. Patent No 1,231,256, for a one- piece pressure bar, issued to Monroe Heilbrun in 1917.) Capitalized with the then-huge sum of $250,000, Master-Craft operated into the 1930s, producing pocket pens and desk pens with a base designed by I. S. Heilbrun (U.S. Patent No 1,704,248). -------- To immerse yourself in the Glossopedia, follow this link: http://www.richardspens.com/?gloss= -------- To create links to specific single entries in the Glossopedia, follow the instructions in the new "How to Bookmark or Link to Pages" page described above. For example, here's the link to the Master-Craft entry: http://www.richardspens.com/?gloss=master_craft ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Meet Us In Saint Louie! *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The First Annual St. Louis Pen Show will be happening from June 29 to July 1 in, you guessed it, St. Louis, Missouri. And we will be there. The organizers really have their stuff together, and we're expecting a wonderful show with a chance to meet many of our Midwest friends who just can't make it farther east. The list of exhibitors who have already registered is amazing! Find out more about the show -- and make your reservations today! http://www.stlpenshow.com/ A squad of highly qualified repairers will be in evidence in the persons of Mike Kennedy, Joel Hamilton, Sherrell Tyree, and others. I will be working on nibs, and nib worker Linda Kennedy, my former student and now a pro in her own right, will also be there. We look forward to seeing old friends and meeting new ones. We hope to see you there! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Broad Strokes *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ What's pretty, hard to find, and made in Chicago? Probably lots of things, but this month I concentrate on the younger and less pricey sibling to the Eversharp Coronet, Eversharp Pacemaker: http://www.richardspens.com/?prof=pacemaker To help you find reference articles on our site that have been edited recently, there is a handy heading right at the top of the reference index, listing the five most recently added or edited reference pages. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** The Pen Doctor *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Pen Doctor is a regular visitor to the Nashua Pen Spa, and every so often he puts a few prescriptions up in our site's reference section. Each month, I reprint one of his prescriptions here. -------- Q: I know this is a probably a dumb question, but I have several Pilot Vanishing Point pens and I want to know if I can use the nib from a Pilot Capless in them. They don’t sell the Capless here in America so what’s the difference between the Capless and the VP? A: If you’re talking about a current (post-2000) Capless, there’s no difference between the pens except the name. My theory is that Pilot USA decided back in 1970, when they started selling the Capless in the U.S, that “capless” might imply that the pen was missing something, so they chose “Vanishing Point” because it seems like a techie-cool name. But that’s just a guess. With the foregoing said, I'll point out that you’re more likely to find a 14K gold nib in a Capless than in a Vanishing Point. It‘s also possible to find a steel nib from time to time; apparently, Pilot in Japan still sells steel nibs for the Capless. But this won’t change the way the pen works; mechanically, the nibs are the same, just as the pens are. Q: I just bought a Vanishing Point. I like it but it doesn’t hold very much ink. I keep having to refill it. Can you make it hold more ink? A: Actually, you yourself can make it hold more ink. Because of the long path from the nib to the converter, there”s a lot of air trapped in the pen. To make it take more ink, just cycle the converter (run the piston down and up) about four times instead of the usual once. Each cycle will take in a little more ink, and you’ll be surprised how long the pen will write. -------- To read more of the Pen Doctor's prescriptions, follow this link: http://www.richardspens.com/?pendoc= ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Follow Us on the Internet with Facebook *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ RichardsPens.com would like to be liked on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/NashuaPenSpa ======================================================================== 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.