Baltimore Pen Show 3-5 March 2017

[Tasmith]

I paid $40.

Great price!

[C8zzz4pen]

Returned home earlier this evening from the Baltimore Pen Show. Very nice venue with plenty of free parking. Driving from either Baltimore or Washington the location is perfect and easy to get to.

 

Arrived early and was in at 11:00. Small crowd at first, but slowly built up to a nice number of people attending for a Friday. Relaxed and friendly and had plenty of time to talk with vendors. There was ample space between the tables of vendors so I never felt like I was always in someones way like can happen at other shows. Saw several families there which was nice.

 

Tested a few Franklin Christoph pens and really liked the Model 31. Didn't buy but may order one online in the future.

 

Saw the Kanilea Pens in person for the first time and pictures do not do the pens justice. They are gorgeous! Hugh and Karol are such a nice couple and their story behind Kanilea Pens is inspiring.

 

Didn't purchase a whole lot as I brought cash and stayed within budget.

 

From Anderson Pens: Rohrer & Klingner Salix Iron Gall Ink in blue. TWISBI Eco 1.1mm stub. My first TWSBI!

 

From Vanness Pens: Akkerman No.10 Iron Gall ink. Inked my TWSBI Eco with it when I got home and just love how it writes and looks.

 

Renewed my membership with the Black Pen Society and Paul Erano's Fountain Pen Journal. PCA (Pen Collectors of America) was next to Paul Erano, I just renewed my membership this week via mail.

 

From Crazy Alans Emporium: Rhodia #18 5x5mm Ice grid pad.

 

And from Thomas R. Baley: A Pelikan 150th anniversary Pelican Cloisonne pin.

 

Once again, Bert Oser of Bertram's Inkwell did a fantastic job of organizing the Baltimore Pen Show!

We hope you like your new Pelikan pen and pin. Thank you very much for stopping by.

[Crisco]

I am very sorry to have missed this show. I was really looking forward to it and planning on it, then life circumstances...oh well. Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences!

[OmegaMountain]

I am very sorry to have missed this show. I was really looking forward to it and planning on it, then life circumstances...oh well. Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences!

Same here. I was hoping to make this my first show and then life intervened. Maybe DC if it actually happens this year...

[Tasmith]

We hope you like your new Pelikan pen and pin. Thank you very much for stopping by.

You're welcome. You two were very friendly and enjoyable to chat with and purchase from.

 

No pen (maybe next time!), just the pin which is very nice and my wife thinks it's nice too!

[C8zzz4pen]

You're welcome. You two were very friendly and enjoyable to chat with and purchase from.

 

No pen (maybe next time!), just the pin which is very nice and my wife thinks it's nice too!

We were having fun chatting with customers, as always, no matter if they're buying or not. We hope to see you and your wife again next time.

[tbaley]

This'll be my first pen show! I had hoped to make the DC pen show last year, but wasn't able to at the last minute.

 

I've been experimenting with nib grinding and would love the opinions (be merciless critics!) of fellow FPN members, if anyone would be interested in providing some constructive criticism.

 

I've been scouring Ebay trying to find a good price on an Esterbrook, maybe I'll have luck at the show!

Wish I had read this before the show, but Howard Bexley (Bexley Pens in Columbus, OH) has some inexpensive, throw-away pens for exactly like your situation, experimenting with nib grinding. I first ran into them when I attended Richard Binder's nib smoothing class, which he periodically holds on Sunday mornings.

[yoyosma]

I'd like to give thanks to all of the vendors and folks that were so nice to me and my daughter at the show. We were there all day Saturday and had an exhaustively great time! Right away she was engaged to participate in the Kids Scavenger Hunt (she's 13) and had to find different pens and accessories throughout the show and get her card signed by any vendor that had the item on their table. A completed card awarded the up-and-coming pen enthusiasts with a school pen and different color cartridges. The vendors spent time talking about and explaining their item. She/we learned about Parker 51's and their role in WW2, a post office ink well and how they were filled by quart-sized ink containers (he signed the card with his $1000 Mont Blanc gifted by his son), differences of flex vs. calligraphy nibs (Howard at Susan Wirth's table), rubber sac (Martin's pens), limited edition pen (Mike's Fat Boys?), and a couple others. She was gifted several pens throughout the day saying that she and her generation will one day carry on this fountain pen enthusiasm and hobby. She did pay it forward by purchasing a lime green Pilot Metropolitan for a friend who thought our going to the pen show sounded "intriguing".

 

Thanks to the wonderful vendor who organized the Kid Scavenger Hunt and to all of the other generous, nice folks at these pen shows.

 

[C8zzz4pen]

This show is always great!

Looking forward to it!

 

Frank

Fed Pens

I enjoyed talking to you, and my friend really liked the little ink sample containers. Thanks!

[DeanKW]

I want to Adam and Bert from Bertram's Inkwell (and their relatives who helped) as well as all the vendors who took the time to make this show a great experience. I had a great time and really enjoyed the after party (thank you Aurora) as well as getting together with the DC metro pen club. To everyone I spoke to, thank you for your time. Reenie, it was great chatting with you.

 

A few people tried out my first attempt at grinding a stub and I got some good feedback (no pun intended, we're far too smooth for that).

 

I purchased 3 Esterbrooks that I found in a "Part Pens" bin. One of them appears to have been restored before the seller got it, one is in working condition and the third just needs to be resacced. I couldn't be happier, as my goal was to come home with my first Esterbrook, but instead I got three for the price of one. The J's cap doesn't match, but I really like how it looks and probably won't look for a replacement cap.

 

http://i.imgur.com/yWyEIOM.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/jnjDL05.jpg

[Federalist Pens]

I enjoyed talking to you, and my friend really liked the little ink sample containers. Thanks!