Things have perked along pretty well in the studio this week. We’re actually going to finish up the month ahead of our quota for repairs and restorations — this means that the backlog shortens by about one day, maybe even two if tomorrow goes well.

Along the way, we’ve managed to do a couple of cool things. F’rinstance, yesterday Jim and I combined efforts to restore eight, count ‘em EIGHT, Parker “51”s, including two Flighters that needed complete surface restoration and two less exciting Aero-metric pens whose caps needed matte Lustraloy restoration. Sure, you could simply replace the cap on one of the ordinary pens, but when the pen — and its cap — got here because there’s sentimental value, you really want to return the cap that came in the box, not swap it out. So the lathe and sandblaster and various other implements were brought to bear, and good was done.

Today Susan tuned five Pelikan nibs. Very nicely, I might add. (That’s not all she did, that was just one client’s order.)

The end of last week saw the arrival of my own personal Conway Stewart Duro Heritage LE, serial number 100. Ever since we decided to sign on as a retailer for Conway Stewart I’ve been admiring, and enjoying, the Conway Stewart pens we’ve sold. But not until the Duro Heritage has one been so absolutely have to have it gorgeous. This pen is the perfect size, the right weight, and reminiscent of the BCHR that I so love. And of course the Duro is the pen that Sir Winston Churchill, the man who said to Lady Astor, “Yes, Madam, I am drunk. But tomorrow I will be sober, and you will still be ugly!” preferred. So I plunked down my money, and the pen arrived in due course. I don’t collect modern pens. I don’t collect foreign pens. Yeah, right.

Today I fished out of my Nib Bags Write-On bin a pen that had been dumped there, sort of stuck out of the way, for some indeterminate period. I put it there intending that someday I’d restore it. Someday never comes, but today turned out to be the day I restored the pen. And as it happens, I’m seriously glad I did. Two weeks ago I had a wet-noodle Waterman 52 in the Piquadro two-pen leather case I carry everywhere. When the Duro Heritage arrived, I prepped it and permitted it to boot the Waterman back to the collection cabinet. Today the Duro Heritage moved into its new home in the collection cabinet, and what’s in my pocket is this Wahl Eversharp Doric with a freshly restored One-Shot plunger filler.

Collector quality? Probably not. (It’s ambered, and the clip has JH engraved on it.) Oversize? Probably not. (It’s 47/8” long capped.) Gold Seal? Probably not. (I see no Gold Seal here.) So, is it a great writer? You bet your bippy — what a wonderful flexie this thing has!

Yeah, I know, I’m still having too much fun here. Come to Raleigh next weekend and we can have fun together.