Murexophiles, this one’s for you. Yesterday, a pen reached my bench that needed personalization removed from the barrel. This wouldn’t be a Murex, of course, because removing personalization from stainless steel pens isn’t really feasible. But I just gotta show you the pen in question, together with a Murex to point up why it’s worth noting.

Yup, it’s a Capless. Black plastic barrel, grooved stainless ends, and a wicked cool look to it. It’s not mine, worse luck, but its owner is going to be pleased with his pretty pen’s newfound lack of personalization, and that’s an official Good Thing.

Today Susan and I worked on a Wasp Addipoint. (For those unfamiliar with Wasp, it’s a Sheaffer sub-brand. For those unfamiliar with the Addipoint, it was Sheaffer’s answer to Esterbrook’s 1935 introduction of the Re-New-Point; prevented by patent law from making nibs that just screwed in like Esterbrook’s, Sheaffer sold a screw-in gripping section assembly, complete with a fresh sac.) This is the pen after restoration:

Now, there’s really not a whole lot that’s special about an Addipoint, but this one does turn out to be a little special because when it arrived, no amount of resacking or cleaning or polishing was going to get its worn-out and pitted nib to write.

But write it must. And I didn’t have any Addipoint nibs. So, what to do? Try a Fineline (another Sheaffer brand)? Nope, too short. After we tossed the place to be sure there were no Addipoint nibs around — except the one in my collection, which ain’t goin’ nowhere — I settled on the obvious. Use an Esterbrook nib. I fished out a nice iridium-tipped nib, a 9460, and set about adapting it. Here’s the result:

If you look at the nib’s imprint, you can see that there’s been some material removed. Quite a lot, actually, as you can see in this photo of a 9460 in its native habitat.

Make it work. The Addipoint works, it has a nib that’s the right size, and the owner, who is a user rather than a stickler for correctness, is going to be a happy camper. This, too, is an official Good Thing.