======================================================================== Nib Noise * Volume 17 Number 11 * February 2019 ======================================================================== 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 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Coming Up Next Month *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Just a reminder: we have no pen shows on our calendar this month. Our first pen show of 2019 will be the new and improved Baltimore-Washington International Pen Show, running from Friday, March 1, through Sunday, March 3. (Pre-show activities will commence on Thursday, March 1.) So how is it new and improved? It's back at the BWI Marriott Hotel just around the corner (maybe two corners) from the Baltimore-Washington International Airport. This is is a great venue: the hotel is just perfect for the show, and there's free parking. Baltimore is known not only for its good food but also for some very interesting tourist spots, among them Fort McHenry ("Oh, say can you see...?"), a World War II U. S. Navy submarine, and a world-class aquarium, 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/ Our second 2019 show will be the Long Island Pwn Show, running on Saturday and Sunday, March 16 and 17. This show is a great place to reel in lots of New York-area vintage. Not too big and not too small, the show draws a good crowd of dealers and attendees, and it's getting better every year. In addition to a wide selection of pens for sale, a squad of highly qualified repairers will be in evidence. Come on out to Hempstead Saturday and Sunday, March 16 and 17, and visit the campus of Hofstra University. The show will be in the Multipurpose Room in the student center. For more information, visit the show's website: http://www.lipenshow.com/ We look forward to seeing old friends and meeting new ones at both of these great shows. We hope to see you there! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** At the Baltimore Show *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ If you're going to the Baltimore-Washington International Pen Show, you might want to consider attending the nib smoothing workshop. I will offer my popular hands-on workshop on nib smoothing, working directly with participants, at the Baltimore-Washington International Pen Show. Registration for the workshop will open at 9:00 a.m. Eastern time on Friday, February 15, 2019. More information on the registration page: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=workshop ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** More About the Washington DC Pen Show *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Exhibitors planning to attend the 2019 Washington DC Pen Show received a potentially huge shock in the middle of January, in the form of an email from Glen Bowen. Glen announced that Bob Johnson has unilaterally and without warning severed relations with Glen and that Bob's old DC show site carries the following notice: ======== Revised 1/15/19 all questions about the DC Fountain Pen Supershow should be addressed to Bob Johnson dcpensupershow@yahoo.com It is best to call or text me at 864-360-0835 Let me be clear in stating that I, Bob Johnson, am the sole show organizer for the DC Fountain Pen Supershow and my website is Pencentral.com. Given the recent developments, I am working on updating the website so please be patient while we get that in place. Prices will be the same as last year and if you have already paid someone other than me, call or text me at 864-360-0835 ======== The link from Bob's old site to the new dcsupershow.com site has been removed. What this change means is hard to guess. It's likely that Bob will use last year's table layout instead of the new one that Glen had developed and the organization of the show will continue as in the past. I wish the best of luck to those who are planning to attend the DC show. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** The Glossopedia *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ A major feature of my website is the Glossopedia, a hybrid between a glossary and a single-volume encyclopedia. With more than 1600 defini- tions and descriptions, more than 950 illustrations, and more than 2150 cross-references, it's the most comprehensive of its kind on the Web. Each month, Nib Noise includes a randomly chosen Glossopedia entry. -------- X-Pen. [1] A capillary-filling pen with a hooded nib, sold by Waterman in the late 1950s; supposedly, it was Waterman’s attempt to compete with the Parker 61. Produced in a variety of models at various trim levels by Jif-Waterman of France, the X-Pen was the last pen sold by the U.S. Waterman company. Read a profile of the X-Pen here. See also filler, JiF. [2] (X-Pen International Ltd) A pen manufacturing company located in Tel Aviv, Israel; founded in 2003. The company’s ballpoints, fountain pens, and rollerballs are mostly all metal, with relatively few resin models. Internal components are sourced from well-known manufacturers worldwide to ensure quality. Styling is distinctly modern; even the company logo features a bird in flight as the letter X. -------- To immerse yourself in the Glossopedia, follow this link: http://www.richardspens.com/?gloss= ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Broad Strokes *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The last dying gasp of the Chilton Pen Company came in the form of the eponymous Chiltonian pen. Read about the Chiltonian here: http://www.richardspens.com/?prof=chiltonian To help you find reference articles on my 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 (except when I forget), I'll be reprinting one of his pre- scriptions here. -------- Q: I have several pens (usually the cheaper ones) which have a nasty habit of leaking ink over the top surface of the nib near the tip. This may occur no matter how the pen is stored or kept in my pocket. I often try to wipe off the nib before I write with it, but sure enough, several minutes later the ink will leave the slit and form on the top face of the nib again. The cost and value of these pens makes me reluctant to spend the money to send these to a repair person, especially if the fix is a simple one. A: The fix may be as simple as switching inks, or it may not. What you’re experiencing is called nib creep, and it can be caused by one or more of several factors. The Glossopedia contains an entry on nib creep; I’ll reproduce it here for convenience: nib creep. The spontaneous accumulation of ink on the top surface of a nib; the ink is said to “creep” up out of the slit. Some inks are more prone to creep than others, but in most cases the root cause of the phenomenon is a nib slit that is either damaged or manufactured with insufficient attention to finishing; nicks, scratches, etc., can create a capillary path across the edge between the slit wall and the top surface. Platinum-plated nibs are more prone to nib creep than are unplated nibs because platinum is more wettable than gold. See also capillary action, wettability. If you’re using a creep-prone ink such as many of Noodler’s bulletproof colors, you might stop the creep simply by using a different ink. But if the nib is bad enough, even the best inks will creep on it. In this case, the solution requires intervention by a qualified nib specialist to deal with the slit problem(s). ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Follow RichardsPens on 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. 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