Greg Minuskin

Well, the D.C. Pen Show is just around the corner! I had my airline ticket, hotel reservations all lined up, then I got a grand jury summons; ever try to get out of a grand jury summons? Forget it! So, while you are all having fun, I will be sitting in some room with a book, or my iPhone, waiting to go on a panel.

Save a few pens for me to retip while you are there and send them to me. I will be working on pens/nibs at night after being in court all day, so there will be no delay in your orders/retips. I guess it is the price you pay for being a citizen, I could think of worse things!

Greg Minuskin

I have had a couple of hours to organize all my paperwork and all the retipping work taken in at the show (some 62 pieces in all!) Below are a few more photos from the show in case you were not able to attend.
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Wow, what a weekend at the L.A. Pen Show this weekend! Talk about four days of fun, friends, and pens! So good to see you all that attended and for those of you who could not make it, photos below to view of the crowds, the pens, the friends! There were watches there too, lots of high end watches, and other very high end goodies too. It is amazing what you can find, and see, and buy. Such great deals too, sometimes way, way below wholesale.

I sold about 80% of inventory, as my pens were priced with value in mind. All but three of my custom music nibs sold, and 11 out of 12 of my Parker 51 music nibs sold in the first two days!

I took in a lot of retips, many from people from overseas. Countries represented at the show were Spain, Brazil, India, Japan, South Korea, Germany, Canada, Finland, and the U.K.

Thank you all for your friendship and business! I tried to give everyone who talked to me individual attention but my apologies if I did not talk to you enough. I guess you know the drill now that it is best to find me early, see my goodies early, as I sell out pretty quickly in the beginning.

Enjoy the photos below and I will have more comments/reflections to add later today, or tomorrow!

Oh, I picked up about 4 pounds of pens to restore/sell from one long time, 20 year customer who closed his jewelry store in California just 2 weeks ago! what haul of great stuff!
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Greetings all!

I am off to the L.A. Pen show (www.lapenshow.com) soon! I have a few boxes of goodies, actually a pile of goodies, priced to sell, along with restored nibs in pens which include music nibs, triple broad stubs, triple broad ball tips, and piles of other great things to sell.

Get to me early, as like last time, I was mobbed while all the best stuff went quickly. I will also be taking in nib repair and will try to adhere to the 2 week (or sooner, as some of you know) turn around time.

Thanks friends! See you soon.

Greg

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Everyone likes different music, right? So, here are some “music nib” choices that will offered for sale at the Los Angeles Pen Show coming up February 12-14, 2010. Come see me early, as I will for sure sell out of these gems in a hurry. will have about a dozen pens of various makes and models that will be sporting these custom made music nibs.

Hope to see you there!

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Okay, I know, it is a ball point.

With that out of the way, I spent an evening at Woodcraft in Stanton, California, making this kit pen. First, I have to tell you that the store, Woodcraft, is amazing. Clean, organized, wood and tools I have never heard of, and such a friendly staff too boot! The class to turn the pen was on a side room to the store from 5pm to 9pm. Jeanette was our teacher, and she had the patience of a saint when it came to using these machines, especially with the two 13 year old boys in attendance with me. It was really nice to see both grown-ups and kids spending time together in a classroom setting, making things, learning together. When is the last time you saw your child away from the TV or computer, making something? Also it was good to see there is still a keen interest in “old world” craftsmanship! As you know, I work with my hands, “crafting” the nib retips/regrinds, so seeing other folks engaged in a hands on activity really gave me a good feeling.

We picked our materials; I chose teak. Wearing safety glasses, we then learned how to use a band saw, drill press, glue, counter sink bit, wood lathe with special mandrel to turn the two sections, and finally a heat activated wax based stain. Finally assembly which involved a special press to friction fit the the clutch parts of the pen, clip cap, and “nib” of the pen. I had to chuckle a little inside as when Jeanette said the “nib” of the pen was going to be press fitted into the bottom barrel. Pictures below of some of the process.

For a fun evening, I suggest checking out your local Woodcraft http://www.woodcraft.com/stores/ (they seem to be a chain of stores, similar to a Michael’s craft store) or a Jo-Anns fabric store.

Well, this was a very special treat! a select number of members from the Southern California Studio Group had the rare opportunity to visit Me and my workshop on Saturday, April 25th. Lunch was provided by my artist wife Janet (and also a member of the studio group.) Suffice it to say after the delicious cornucopia of fresh California salads, fruits and snacks, the group was then treated to a 1 hour presentation by myself on the virtues of fountain pens, with modifications.

Mind you these artistic folks from all over the L.A. and Orange County area are experts in their fields, and they all excel in the calligraphic arts. Picture below testify to their wonderful calligraphy hands as the group was presented with a combination of vintage and modern fountain pens, each sporting different regrinds. After a 20 minute introduction of myself and our activity for the day, everyone passed around various Bexley pens, a few vintage Parker Vacumatics, and a number of my famous extra broad Parker 51 retips. The only Namiki Falcon pen I had that was modified to be flexible and was reground to an extra fine tip was quickly purchased.

We had a raffle too! The winner received a nicely restored Parker 51 Areometric in cordovan brown; way to go Geri, who was the winner.

Looking forward to another get together soon ladies! Thanks for your attention and of course business.

[caption id="attachment_1321" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Oh, so many choices, which one do I buy?"][/caption][caption id="attachment_1324" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Look at that handwriting, amazing!"][/caption]

 

 

WOW!  What a weekend! I was so good see you all that attended the show. I had a whole lot of fun, and there were plenty of pens out there. So many friendly faces, and the deals just kept on coming.

Here are some photos to enjoy hot off the press; more photos of the show will come later. Enjoy!

ITS FINALLY HERE! The Los Angeles International Pen show is finally here! Yeah! I plan to arrive sometime on Thursday.

All the pens I will be bringing have been tagged and priced, and very reasonable prices. I will be selling restored gold cap Parker 51 pens for just $100.00 to $125.00 and modified Parker 51 pens with my famous extra broad ball or stub retips for only $125.00 plus tax! I have also 51 pencils and a few other “special goodies” that I am sure you will enjoy. I will also be doing a workshop at 11:00am on Saturday, the 14th titled “Get to the Point.” I will have quite a number of pens to try out, each with my custom retip or regrind. At the end of  my presentation, two lucky attendees will walk away with one of my creations, as I will have a free raffle to all that attend.

I will post pictures of the L.A. Pen Show a few times during the show,  to give all of you that could not attend some photos to enjoy, so keep checking back here at this site now and then.