Pictures from the Long Island Pen Show

I was so busy wandering around, then guarding my place in line for Richard Binder (#11), that I didn't get as many pictures as I would have liked.

There was a dealer there (to the far left but not shown in this picture), set up on the blue tablecloth, with hand-made pens that reminded me of Edison Pen Co.'s Hudson--and some of them were clear demonstrators that were beautiful.


One of the dealers I purchased from (in the chair), Ron, who had an Esterbrook copper icicle in pretty good condition that's now in my collection. He also had some beautiful vintage and modern Sheaffers that I was keenly interested in but couldn't really rationalize.


So we troop in at 10 am and everyone heads for the sign up sheet with Richard Binder (above) and Ron Zorn. I log in at #11 for Binder. At 11:30 I double back to see where things are, and see that I'm second in line after the guy on the right gets into the chair. Barbara thinks it will be about 30 minutes, so I go wander around.

What she didn't know is that the guy in the chair was buying a nib so Richard worked over the the other pens the guy had with him--5 or 6, actually. Then two guys on the sheet ahead of me decided they didn't want to go when they were called, and then came back on line right in front of me. I was finally invited to take a seat around 1 pm.

As I'm sitting there learning that I'm putting too much pressure on the nib and that's why it feels scratchy, two guys right behind me start raising their voices a bit and making lots of noise. They had agreed to switch places so one guy could go look at more pens, but after wandering around he then changed his mind and wanted his old place in line back. The guy who had gone from #18 to #12 and was right after me said no. I paid my bill, grabbed my pens, and ran. This was all over sitting in Richard Binder's guest chair, by the way.



One of the tables of dealers at the show. I bought several pens, including a Parker Vacumatic azure debutante in excellent condition.

Long Island Pen Show March 5 & 6

The Long Island Pen Show is coming up, Saturday, March 5 and Sunday, March 6, at Hofstra University. Barring severe weather conditions I plan on hopping on the LIRR and heading out there, but I'm not sure which day. One of the pen club members, Norman, has decided to divest himself of his 250-pen collection (left menu at the bottom under Pen Collection Sale), so I'm definitely looking forward to the trip.

Pens of Dist-INK-tion

One of the more interesting stops at the NYC 2010 Pen Show was the Pens of Dist-INK-tion area, where Carl Seidl specializes in the retrofit pen--turning fountain pens into ballpoint pens. I was really taken with a green Parker Vacumatic that had once been a fountain pen but is now living the life of a ballpoint. The above picture shows off it's beautiful green bands and highly polished surface, along with a few additions that Mr. Seidl mentioned he used in the early versions of his retrofits.



The RetroFit Pens are the caps, barrels, and clips of non-working vintage fountain pens and mechanical pencils, which are then re-fashioned into using ballpoint refills. It happens that I had some Monteverde ceramic rollerball refills that are perfect for this pen, so my swivel RetroFit Parker Vacumatic Pen is now a rollerball.



The tables at Pens of Dist-INK-tion were filled with many well-known vintage pens retrofitted into ballpens. Some of my favorites were Montblanc pens, but there were many styles and price ranges. The above are among some of the more expensive pens available, but they are well worth it if you're looking for a particular pen but don't want it in a fountain pen design. Parker Vacumatics don't come in ballpoint styles, but I have one that's a joy to write with and usable in different situations where a fountain pen won't work (making out a deposit slip at the bank and not having a ballpoing was what made me consider stopping by this table and looking for a retrofitted fountain pen).


Above are eight Parker Vacumatics in various colors and designs (mine is similar in price and design to the third from the left). Carl Seidl mentioned to me that when he started he added parts to the pens, such as a black grip section, giving the pen a more ballpoint-y look to it. So my pen is a RetroFit with some extra work on it, and not just a Vacumatic. There were two styles of these available, a swivel pen and a push pen (the three to the far right are all push pens, the others swivel to bring the cartridge down and up.)

Looking for something different, not a fountain pen but like a fountain pen? This is a dealer to check out, do stop by his website for more information.

Friday Morning Pen Show Pics

A line up of pen barrel possibilities from Edison Pen Co.


The Grays at The Edison Pen Co. table, with two trays of barrels for custom designing your pen.

A few dealers, and Fountain Pen Hospital in the back, next to Parker75.com

Chuck Swisher setting up Friday morning, and the Lamy display already in place.

NYC 2010 Pen Show Purchases (minus 1)

From Left to Right:

Parker Duofold striped red and blue, it carries the #2 so I believe it's from 1942 (and the pen I went to the show to find)

Waterman NOS red metallic lacquer medium nib;

Waterman NOS brown metallic lacquer with a medium nib;

a Twsbi fine nib (and met the twisby folks as well);

a Moore lever filler from around 1937 to 1940 (what an amazing flex nib);

a vintage Sheaffer Balance purchased from Ron Zorn with a cursive italic nib made by Pendleton Brown;

a Monteverde Invincia Color Fusion in Avenger Yellow, medium nib made into a cursive italic by PB;

Pilot Namiki 823 Smoke with a medium nib;

finally, a green retrofitted Parker Vacumatic made into a twist ballpen/rollerball by Carl Seidl of Pens of Dist-INK-tion.

The one pen missing is the Edison Huron bulb filler with a fine steel nib, should be available in 6 weeks or so.

Above right is a picture of Pendleton Brown (to the left) and another Fountain Pen Network member (I think he's Jonathan). PB remade four nibs for me, three into cursive italics and one is a stubby something-not really an italic, not really a stub, something in-between but not either. I love it. :)

I'll Be There (Tomorrow)

The 9th Annual New York City Pen Show begins today and runs through Sunday, October 11, 2009. I have been looking forward to this for some time, and will probably drop by Saturday.

The Show is at the Park Central Hotel, 870 Seventh Ave. at 56th Street. Times are Friday, October 9th, from 11 am to 7 pm; Saturday, October 10th from 10 am to 5 pm; and Sunday, October 11th, 2009 from 10 am to 4 pm. All three days are open to the public, and I believe admission is $10 a day.

SEMINARS

A MATTER OF NIBS - The Nib Meister Richard Binder at his exhibition table and a workshop

BASIC SHEAFFER REPAIR by Ron Zorn

JOHN MOTTISHAW of Classic Foiuntain Pens - “The Persistent Pen, its relationship to social change. Plus the nib nuts and bolts getting it writing right for you.”

DEBORAH BASEL - Calligraphy - Copperplate Workshop

WHY SOME FOUNTAIN PENS CAN MAKE ANYONE'S HANDWRITING LOOK GOOD by Susan Wirth

PCA PENS FOR KIDS

PENTRACERS AND ZOSSERS MEETING