Triangle Pen Show, Raleigh NC June 8-11, 2023

[blethenstrom]

I will be heading to the Triangle Pen Show in Raleigh this coming weekend. I will be there on Saturday the 10th. Anyone else going?

Triangle Pen Show

 

[nemo]

I will be heading to the Triangle Pen Show in Raleigh this coming weekend.

Any pics or a report? What did you buy?

 

[blethenstrom]

My wife and I went on Saturday. We were there as they opened in the morning so actually the crowds were not too bad. granted this was our first pen show so we did not know what to expect. I had prepared myself with a few YT pen show videos. One thing that struck me was how very nice everyone was. All the vendors that I spoke with were very nice, helpful and willing to take as much time needed. Those who restores pens you could learn so much from regarding pretty much any pen make and model.

My wife is a very new fountain pen user and she had already, before we went, scoped out the Franklin-Christoph pens and accessories online. Also by being local company, based here in Raleigh, made it mean more to purchase from them and if you needed support it was easy to visit them. We live about 20 mins from their HQ. She ended up with a model 46 of theirs, but the color is a black with the end of the barrel and grip area in a different color. Unfortunately I do not have a picture of it and I can't point to in on their website either. Can't find it. Maybe it was a one-off. Anyways she writes really tiny and she ended up going with the HPS Nagahara Needlepoint #6 nib. For being that fine of a nib it is surprisingly smooth.

For myself I had two pens in mind when I went there and that was a Sheaffer Imperial with the in-laid nib and a Montblanc 220. Unfortunately I was not able to find a Montblanc 220, but there was a MB 224? in NOS, but it was obviously a give away from Nikon because it was printed on and I really did not want that. My backup was a Lamy 2000, which is similar to the MB 220.

Went by the Crazy Alan's Emporium table and I spoke with Alan for a while and he told me "Boris I am going to sell you a pen!". I was taken back a bit, but I told him that if he has a Lamy 2000 EF and a good price I would be up for it. He did deliver on his statement to sell me a pen and I walked away with a brand new Lamy 2000. As a side note. Alan told me that they are closing shop in Chapel Hill in August 2023. Alan is retiring and will only do pen shows from now on. Nobody is taking over the shop so it will be closing. I have never been there, but it is sad because there aren't many shops selling fountain pens around. I know of none else around here, except of course Franklin-Christoph, but they only sell theirs. I need to make a trip and visit the shop before he closes his doors.

My hunt for a Sheaffer took me to the table of a guy they referred to as the "Sheaffer guy" and they weren't kidding. This gentleman had every kind of Sheaffer pen there was and more. Very nice man. He was just a fountain of information. There was a special moment there too when he pulled out a case and let me handle a Sheaffer fountain pen from the 1920's! It was in perfect condition, but just holding a 100 year old pen in that condition was really cool and special. Anyways I did find my Sheaffer Imperial IV, which I learned was the correct denotation. It is from the 1960's and it is in great condition. It is black and has a 14k gold nib. It has a squeeze converter in it. You can also use modern cartridges or converters for it.

Several manufacturers were there: Pilot, Namiki, Esterbrook, Franklin-Christoph and others. Many many pen restorers and pen makers. It was a great experience and I will definitely go again next year.

 

[Jut]

Sounds like a wonderful time. Alas, I will have to live vicariously through you and your description. I live hours from any pen show location.

Someday I tell myself!

 

[blethenstrom]

Sounds like a wonderful time. Alas, I will have to live vicariously through you and your description. I live hours from any pen show location.

Someday I tell myself!

I feel very lucky that I live that close to one. I guess you could argue if it is or not, if you asked my wallet. At least we set a budget before we got there. I think that is the most important lesson. How far away is the closest one for you?

 

[Jut]

about an 8 hour round trip

 

[nemo]

Thanks for the write-up! I love going to pen shows but haven't since COVID. I belong to a pen club where we trade, buy and sell, but it's nothing like a big show. I've been going to LA and SF shows for about twenty years and am planning to soon be buying a table or sharing one at a major show to liquidate pieces of a collection.

Were there lots of high digit vintage pens? Love that stuff but what really gets me going are the big piles of parts, I always leave with some repair goodies from Five Star Pens from S. Dakota. I don't really spend any time at all with distributors and the new big pen and stationery stores.

Happy you had a good time, not your last I imagine. DC is the big daddy.

 

[blethenstrom]

You must have quite the collection of you are considering buying a table at a show. I've only been at this for maybe 2 years and my wife just a few months.

I would have liked to spend a lot more time with the restorers etc, but my wife does not have the patience for that so we did what we came for. Still we had a very nice time. I will definitely try to go again next year. Now if I was really deep in the rabbit hole I would probably go to the DC one and the Atlanta one. Both are about 5 hours away, but I don't really consider myself a collector as much as a user. I just enjoy using them.

I have not gotten into restoring pens. There is one exception to that and that is a sheaffer cadet that I found in a desk drawer that belonged to my dad who had been gone 23 years now. I remember him using it when I was a kid, but then I assume the ink sack broke down and he didn't have it fixed and it ended up in the drawer. I read up on restoring it and I bought the supplies and it was not bad to do it. Came out great and I have inked it up and it works great. Now I can see myself getting a few to restore. Would be fun. There was a bunch of restorers there. Larger and smaller ones and I probably would have gotten a few of I'd stayed longer.

I'm not sure if there was a lot of high dollar restored. I saw them range from 40 to maybe 400 or so. Lots of below 100 though. Funny story we were at the pilot table and my wife spotted a pen with an owl and she is a big owl person. Very large pen. Huge nib. The sales person stated it was a 9000 pen and the face of my wife was priceless. she asked who in the world would buy a pen for 9000. It was great.

 

[nemo]

at the pilot table and my wife spotted a pen with an owl and she is a big owl person. Very large pen. Huge nib. The sales person stated it was a 9000 pen and the face of my wife was priceless

Must have been one of those Maki-e pens. I'm not a huge fan but the time-consuming art is beautiful. I could just see it (many don't have clips) rolling off the table.

 

[blethenstrom]

Must have been one of those Maki-e pens. I'm not a huge fan but the time-consuming art is beautiful. I could just see it (many don't have clips) rolling off the table.

That would not be good. Knock on wood I have not had one yet where I have dropped it or fallen and get damaged.

 

[airmech]

My wife and I went on Saturday. We were there as they opened in the morning so actually the crowds were not too bad. granted this was our first pen show so we did not know what to expect. I had prepared myself with a few YT pen show videos. One thing that struck me was how very nice everyone was. All the vendors that I spoke with were very nice, helpful and willing to take as much time needed. Those who restores pens you could learn so much from regarding pretty much any pen make and model.

My wife is a very new fountain pen user and she had already, before we went, scoped out the Franklin-Christoph pens and accessories online. Also by being local company, based here in Raleigh, made it mean more to purchase from them and if you needed support it was easy to visit them. We live about 20 mins from their HQ. She ended up with a model 46 of theirs, but the color is a black with the end of the barrel and grip area in a different color. Unfortunately I do not have a picture of it and I can't point to in on their website either. Can't find it. Maybe it was a one-off. Anyways she writes really tiny and she ended up going with the HPS Nagahara Needlepoint #6 nib. For being that fine of a nib it is surprisingly smooth.

For myself I had two pens in mind when I went there and that was a Sheaffer Imperial with the in-laid nib and a Montblanc 220. Unfortunately I was not able to find a Montblanc 220, but there was a MB 224? in NOS, but it was obviously a give away from Nikon because it was printed on and I really did not want that. My backup was a Lamy 2000, which is similar to the MB 220.

Went by the Crazy Alan's Emporium table and I spoke with Alan for a while and he told me "Boris I am going to sell you a pen!". I was taken back a bit, but I told him that if he has a Lamy 2000 EF and a good price I would be up for it. He did deliver on his statement to sell me a pen and I walked away with a brand new Lamy 2000. As a side note. Alan told me that they are closing shop in Chapel Hill in August 2023. Alan is retiring and will only do pen shows from now on. Nobody is taking over the shop so it will be closing. I have never been there, but it is sad because there aren't many shops selling fountain pens around. I know of none else around here, except of course Franklin-Christoph, but they only sell theirs. I need to make a trip and visit the shop before he closes his doors.

My hunt for a Sheaffer took me to the table of a guy they referred to as the "Sheaffer guy" and they weren't kidding. This gentleman had every kind of Sheaffer pen there was and more. Very nice man. He was just a fountain of information. There was a special moment there too when he pulled out a case and let me handle a Sheaffer fountain pen from the 1920's! It was in perfect condition, but just holding a 100 year old pen in that condition was really cool and special. Anyways I did find my Sheaffer Imperial IV, which I learned was the correct denotation. It is from the 1960's and it is in great condition. It is black and has a 14k gold nib. It has a squeeze converter in it. You can also use modern cartridges or converters for it.

Several manufacturers were there: Pilot, Namiki, Esterbrook, Franklin-Christoph and others. Many many pen restorers and pen makers. It was a great experience and I will definitely go again next year.
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You got a couple of great pens, I love my Lamy 2000. Your wife got a great pen, I have several F-C pens and they are a constant in my rotation!!!

Tom

 

[blethenstrom]

You got a couple of great pens, I love my Lamy 2000. Your wife got a great pen, I have several F-C pens and they are a constant in my rotation!!!

Tom

The Lamy 2000 is great. It is probably my favorite right now. If there was one thing I would like to change about Lamy in general though is their nib sizes. Even their EF is really fat even by European standards. You look at for example a Kaweco Brass Sport EF, that I have the Lamy is at least one size larger. At work I write on less than ideal paper and I really have no choice and the Lamy being fat can cause issues. I have to be extra picky and selective on my ink.

Eventually I will probably end up with an F-C pen myself with them being just a few minutes up the road from me and being local (literally), I need to support them and they make great pens.

I used my Sheaffer Imperial IV this morning for my quiet time. I do have a bit of an issue with it being overly wet. I am wondering if the squeeze converter has a pin hole or something. I did pick up a new Sheaffer piston converter and I need to try it out in it to see if that resolves the issue. I need to check the nib gap as well to make sure it is not too wide. Does not look that way by naked eye, but who knows. Time to pull out my 2 mil brass shim.