Talk to me about "Binderized" nibs, please

[Rainwalker]

I have to add an addendum to the Reply I already posted - this is not old news: I got my Falcon a week ago.

 

Best wishes!

[HDoug]

I figure I should add a data point or two. I have bought custom nibs from Richard Binder for Pelikan and Namiki/Pilot, mostly .5mm cursive italics, and they are identical in the line they put down and contrast of thick and thin. Those have come very quickly after ordering; it seems like Wednesday is get-things-in-the-mail day. I've also sent a couple of pens to him. One was to grind a Namiki Falcon F into a .5mm cursive italic, and to grind a Conway Stewart F into an XF. Before I ordered he quoted a queue time (I think it was 16 weeks then) and the pens arrived promptly in 16 weeks.

 

Sixteen weeks is a long time to wait, but my strategy was just to forget about the pens, which I was almost able to manage. That way I was pleasantly surprised when they showed up in my mailbox.

 

I admire the uniformity of his work. If I order a .5mm cursive italic, that's what I get. No crossing fingers or wondering or hoping. I think a careful person handy with tools could probably learn to grind their own nibs. I've done that with my Lamy AL-Star nibs and am quite proud of myself for not yet wrecking one. But I sure ain't gonna chance it with a two-tone gold Pelikan nib.

 

The cost of Binderization seems high, but to me it's in line with what one would pay a skilled and conscientious engineer/craftsman/aficionado. He knows and loves fountain pens. He is generous with his knowledge and experience; his website is a large and constantly growing source of reliable information, data, and history. So my dollars were well spent -- that's how I think about it.

 

Doug

[n4souls]

Richard does do excellent work, and well worth the investment. Ordered a new Pelikan M805, got it in a week, cursive italic. This is my everyday user pen for all correspondence.

[Titivillus]

Well Richard since this is the first time that you have weighed in on this matter in this thread please read the following quote from your wife and tell me what you think. I have added an underline as explaination of my comment:

 

 

When a pen is purchased from our web site these things are done without any waiting period. All pens are sent out within a few days. The turn around time applies only to pens sent to us by their owners.

 

It sounds to me that a pen purchased directly from you is done immediately and without a waiting period while a pen sent into you goes in a que to wait.

 

I made my comment on the information that I had from what I thought was a reliable source.

 

If it is not true then I retract my initial comment but I will ask that you retract comments of me.

 

Kurt

Edited October 14, 2008 by Titivillus

[Richard]

The turn around time applies only to pens sent to us by their owners.

It sounds to me that a pen purchased directly from you is done immediately and without a waiting period while a pen sent into you goes in a que to wait.

That's true. We make no bones about it. But you have implied that we bump people. To bump someone means to delay working on his or her pens beyond the turnaround that was promised. We do not do that. We know roughly how many pens we can turn around, and we allow for sales pens in our turnaround estimates. When you send a pen to us, you know what to expect. If we made a practice of bumping, you'd expect 16 weeks but get 23 because we kept pushing you out and out and out to make room for the sales stuff. As I said, we don't offer expedited service because it's unpredictable. Since we wouldn't be able to figure it into our turnaround estimates, it really would cause bumping. That's not fair, and we won't do it.

 

I have edited my previous posting to remove my derogatory remark.

[Titivillus]

The turn around time applies only to pens sent to us by their owners.

It sounds to me that a pen purchased directly from you is done immediately and without a waiting period while a pen sent into you goes in a que to wait.

That's true. We make no bones about it. But you have implied that we bump people. To bump someone means to delay working on his or her pens beyond the turnaround that was promised. We do not do that. We know roughly how many pens we can turn around, and we allow for sales pens in our turnaround estimates. When you send a pen to us, you know what to expect. If we made a practice of bumping, you'd expect 16 weeks but get 23 because we kept pushing you out and out and out to make room for the sales stuff. As I said, we don't offer expedited service because it's unpredictable. Since we wouldn't be able to figure it into our turnaround estimates, it really would cause bumping. That's not fair, and we won't do it.

 

I have edited my previous posting to remove my derogatory remark.

 

Great I am glad to hear this. I would not think that you would but unfortunately the information out there left that implication hanging. Glad this point got cleared up!

 

 

Kurt

[JJBlanche]

I recommend a Binder Pelikan or Pilot almost universally for those willing to spend $100 or so on a pen. I personally use a Binder M600, and out of the nearly 700 pens I've owned or used, it is the best writer, bar none. So I will say, as someone that tunes pens myself, this is certainly more than a spit and polish job.

Edited October 14, 2008 by JJBlanche