{"id":170,"date":"2017-08-10T11:38:37","date_gmt":"2017-08-10T15:38:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/?p=170"},"modified":"2024-01-15T13:10:09","modified_gmt":"2024-01-15T18:10:09","slug":"2017-dc-pen-show-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/2017-dc-pen-show-4\/","title":{"rendered":"2017 DC Pen Show #4"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Alright, this is it, the final installment in my 2017 DC Pen Show series. I can\u2019t believe that when I set out to write my overview, I thought it was all going to fit in one post. Silly me. <\/span><\/p>\n

Allow me a moment to geek out over <\/span>Brian Goulet<\/span><\/a> commenting on and <\/span>tweeting about<\/span><\/a> yesterday\u2019s post (W-O-W!) and Brian Gray commenting on \u2014 and Edison Pen Co retweeting \u2014 my post about getting a pen from them. That felt pretty awesome. <\/span><\/p>\n

Ok, enough fangirling. <\/span>Yesterday\u2019s post<\/span><\/a> ended with heading off to check out the rest of the large room after my epic meeting with Brian Goulet. <\/span><\/p>\n

First stop was the <\/span>Modern Chocolatier<\/span><\/a> booth. Because chocolate. They had little sample pieces cut for people to try (unfortunately, without signs, so you didn\u2019t know what you were tasting). The piece I tried was really tasty, with an intense chocolate flavor. If they were local, I\u2019d probably check them out. But my money for the day was earmarked for pens and ink, so I gave them a pass.<\/span><\/p>\n

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My friend, Anthony\u2019s, purchase more than made up for it, though. He bought two, maybe three, boxes of four, and very much enjoyed them all. <\/span><\/p>\n

Right next to the chocolates was <\/span>Ryan Krusac<\/span><\/a>\u2019s booth. I was still in awe over meeting Brian Goulet, so I didn\u2019t think to take a picture, unfortunately. <\/span><\/p>\n

Once Anthony was done buying his chocolates, we went back out to the hallway and finish seeing the tables there. There were several woodworking tables with pens, boxes, etc. Then there were several ink tables, including <\/span>Vanness Pen Shop<\/span><\/a> and their \u201cwall of ink\u201d. <\/span><\/p>\n

From there we went back into the large room and just started walking up and down the aisles, seeing what there was to see. Once again, we ended up losing each other and seeing things at our own pace. It was probably a good thing that what money I had left of my pen show budget wouldn\u2019t have covered another pen. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/p>\n

John M Russell<\/span><\/a> had these amazing pens made from circuit boards. At the <\/span>Anderson Pens<\/span><\/a> table, I managed to pick up a bottle of Tudor Blue. I\u2019d gotten a sample from Goulet Pens and fell in love. As if the name isn\u2019t awesome enough (you know I love me some Tudor goodness), the color is beautiful, and a great fit for my Prisma 88.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jim and Anthony caught up to me around this time, and we visited the <\/span>Visconti<\/span><\/a> Table. Their pens are beautiful, and I\u2019ve sort of had my eye on the <\/span>Homo Sapiens<\/span><\/a> for a while. I did a lot of research, and the varied reviews, plus the lack of an ink window, made me decide against getting one. But I picked it up while I was at their table, just to know how it would feel in my hands.<\/span><\/p>\n

I really shouldn\u2019t have done that. It was SO SOFT, like a kitten. I just had to pet it. I understand, now, what people mean when they say it feels warm. Most pens feel cool, even if just slightly, when you pick them up. The Homo Sapiens doesn\u2019t. It\u2019s like it\u2019s the exact temperature of your hand. If they ever add an ink window to it, I\u2019m sold, but until then, I\u2019m on the fence.<\/span><\/p>\n

Down another aisle, I came across some interesting wooden pens with watch faces by <\/span>MikesPenTurningZ<\/span><\/a>. <\/span>Crazy Alan\u2019s Emporium<\/span><\/a> had several tables full of notebooks and various types of paper. I came close to getting a couple, but reminded myself that I already have four notebooks waiting to be used. Jim snagged a bottle of Pilot Iroshizuku Ama-iro, though.<\/span><\/p>\n

He tried to get a good look at the <\/span>Franklin-Christoph<\/span><\/a> table on the last row, but it was so crowded, he decided to try again later. A bit further down that last row, I was entranced by <\/span>Barry Gross<\/span><\/a>\u2019 table. His recycled watch parts pens were so cool, especially with the bright blue showing through all of the gears. He explained that the watch faces are real, but the gears and other parts come from much less expensive pens in order to keep the prices from becoming astronomical.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Photo   \"photo   \"Photo<\/p>\n

He also had some fossilized shark vertebrae pens. Those were beyond cool. I wish, so much, that I\u2019d had some more money left, because I want one of those pens. He gets certified, fossilized shark vertebrae from dealers and incorporates them into acrylic before turning the pen parts. He also had beetle wing and cigar label pens. Just some really unique stuff I hadn\u2019t seen done ever before. Kudos to Mr. Gross.<\/span><\/p>\n

Just past Barry Gross\u2019 table were a couple of tables with REALLY fancy\/expensive pens. You know, the kind that come in big display boxes. Those ones where if you have to ask how much they are, you probably can\u2019t afford them. I really liked the <\/span>Visconti Jacques de Molay<\/span><\/a> that comes with a mini Templar sword and signet ring. Out of curiosity, I looked it up later, and, I could pay my mortgage for a couple of months for the price of it.<\/span><\/p>\n

We finished up the last bit of the large room and exited to check out the tables in the small hallway in front of it.There was a table with notebooks, and a guy selling pen cases advertising the idea of a pen room instead of a wine cellar. Just across from him was the <\/span>Yafa<\/span><\/a> table. At the time, I didn\u2019t realize it was Yafa. I just saw a bunch of Stipula boxes and decided to talk to the nice man that was sitting there. <\/span><\/p>\n

I explained the problem I\u2019m having with my Stipula, and Jim chimed in with the problems he\u2019s having with his <\/span>Stipula Etruria Rainbow Demonstrator<\/span><\/a>. Jim\u2019s pen was a showman\u2019s model he got on sale at <\/span>Bertram\u2019s Inkwell<\/span><\/a>, so it\u2019s been well-loved. It\u2019s really no surprise that it has a couple of issues. <\/span><\/p>\n

The lovely gentleman, whose name I can\u2019t recall now, asked to see the pen and carefully scrutinized it. He said the feed was a bit crooked. With permission from Jim, he adjusted it. As I understand, the adjustment helped, but it still gets a little cranky when flexing.<\/span><\/p>\n

He also took a look at my pen. There wasn\u2019t really anything wrong with it, technically. He separated the tines, just a tiny bit, and it seems to have helped a lot. I still get a very occasional skip on the downstrokes, but nowhere near as much as before. I won\u2019t lie, for writing, my new Edison Pearl is smoother, but the Prisma 88 is just so pretty!!!<\/span><\/p>\n

The man at Yafa reminded me that Stipula pens have lifetime warranties and that if I have any further problems, I can send it to them for servicing. We\u2019ll see how Prisma\u2019s writing improves\/holds up over the next few months.<\/span><\/p>\n

After Yafa, we decided to head up to the ink testing room. It\u2019s not really what I was expecting. It was very quiet, like a library with about 6 tables were set up in a U shape. The inks were grouped by brand. The concept is fabulous, but the execution was a bit lacking. Very few ink bottles have the color listed on them, so most of what was available to test had no indication of the color name. <\/span><\/p>\n

Jim and I ended up staying for about 20 minutes to create Col-O-Ring cards for the Pilot Iroshizuku and Kobe inks, as well as a few of the Organics Studio inks (the ones I was sure of the names of) before leaving. Of course, I realized about a day later that the Organics Studio Emily ink was Emily Dickinson, <\/span>not<\/span><\/i> Emily Bront\u00eb. Oops.<\/span><\/p>\n

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