Some repeat customers

Jauvid Ayadi, William Baisden, Allen Besser, John Clarkson, Frank Cotignola, Classic Pens, Inc., Henry T. Field, Alan Gordee, David Gougelet, Karen Jensen, Allen Hall, Daniel Hoffman, Mark Hoover, Rick Horne, Micahel Humpress, Henry Jannol, Ashley Jerome, Gary Lehrer, Ethan LeVine, Main Street Pens, Greg McKinney, William C. Melvin, KMLST Moorthi, David Nishimura, Oscar Braun's, The Pear Tree Pen Co., Pen Haven, The Penman's Antiques, Pete's Fountain Pens, David Roberts, Jim Sanders, Tony Schroeder, Cathy Stevenson, Julio Thompson, Tom Westerich, Dieter Wolf, Daniel Zazove

Testimonials

Hilary Edwards:
What an incredibly fast miracle! Greg I have to admit that I have been sitting here for the past 10 minutes looking at, nay, devouring your exquisite work!! I am gob smacked. If this phrase is not part of the common parlance in your part of the world I do apologise. Basically it means my bottom lip has hit the ground in amazement.
That nib is a true work of art; I am now going to print out your pictures in glorious technicolour and surround myself with beauty. Today will be a very good day, an exceedingly good day!!
Thank you so much. Of course my fingers are itching to use the new treasure but that pleasure will, of course, have to wait.
Many thanks to you for your help, and for your patience.

Steve Ruffin:
I went to the post office and picked up the pen this morning. Opening the box I was like a kid at Christmas. What I saw when I unwrapped the bubble wrap was astounding! It is such a beautiful nib! I immediately filled the Duofold up with Vintage Parker Quink Royal Blue and drove to work.
When I got to my office I couldn't wait to use it but wait I did. I stared at it for a while admiring the sheer beauty of craftsmanship. I even looked at it under a microscope and was amazed. Then the moment arrived and I touched pen to paper and the moment was joy. The nib and ink flow are perfect. It is now a wet beautiful broad cursive italic. You have all of my future business. I can not thank you enough!
Many thanks to you for your help, and for your patience.

Jim Sanders:
I got my pens back late yesterday and just got them inked up this a.m. as a Christmas present to ME.
My Lord, man! Super work. Exactly as I wanted them. Imagine a huge paint brush of a 3B Pelikan nib that writes anywhere from a nice smallish to largish italic. The other nibs are superior as well.
I know I cluck about you often on the boards but I'll likely be forced to do it again.

Frank Cotignola:
I wanted to let you know that the Delta and the Stipula arrived safely today (given Christmas it took seven days to arrive). I filled both pens and, Maestro, you’ve done it again! The Stipula writes the minute it hits the paper, while the Delta’s ink flow has improved tremendously and the variation on the nib is excellent. Bravo—another job well done (after all the pens you’ve worked on for me I expect the result will be nothing less!).

Dieter Wolf:
Thank you, dear Greg, for your elaborate work, which I received one hour ago here at the door and inspected it immediately in my library with a 16x magnifying glass. I happily smiled when noticing not the slightest fault or smallest uneveness, as if this pen comes fresh from the factory, if we would have the year 1955 (before ur existence). You are working with your eyes and hands, and I assume that you have had a very good night before, that you started then with fresh energies a lucky day with a skillful hand when doing the CS 100. Remarkable the result!
This is what I can use daily for my work, because the nib writes in a saturated way with rich ink-flow, but on the other it is not too fat, so that I can produce a nice handwriting that is properly readable. So it is a real pleasure and joy. Perhaps we are so lucky now, because the nib is so big and the barrel is rather thick to allow a comfortable non-stop writing.
This is not one of the mad god praisings in the feedbacks of some websites, this is only correctly the truth. Now all other pens here are sliding down one grade in the order of priority. Your masterpiece! Again the famous "ball" has proved it's worth. Well done!.

Norman Fischer
I was very happy with your work. The pen writes like a dream. and you promptness, communication, and consideration were tremendous! You do a great job and ought to be proud of your work.

Michael Wright:
I received my newly shaped nib just a few hours ago.I immediately filled the pen for the first time and I am delighted with the results of your labours! It writes very smoothly and with good line width variation which is exactly what I was looking for. Your communication and turn-around time was first class and I thank you sincerely.

Jim Sanders, Pooh Corner Pens
Greg would be the nib meister I would recommend. Not that I don't like B-- or M--, etc., but Greg cranks out his work with expertise and in a reasonable amount of time, usually under 2 weeks, there and back. Greg has been trained by the masters himself, so you can't do much better I don't think. I have a couple of other pens to send to Greg as well, so just send the Marlen on to me. I may not get it ground; dunno. I like to try em out before I grind em.
Greg has done several nibs for me personally, several for my customers and many for people I've recommended to him. He does nib straightening, tine fixing, re-tipping, re-grinding and flow adjustments. Can't ask for much more.
He'll ask you to send him a writing sample with the pen you want ground and what tip you're thinking you want. He then does the work and emails you a sample of the writing with the re-grind and lets you take a look and see if it looks fine to you.
Anyway, I can't say enough good things about Greg. I just don't want him to get so busy that he starts taking 6 months like the "big boys" :-)

Don Nankervis
Greg, you're a magician !!! The fixes you did have really made a difference. Your sample writing looks like what I wanted -- smooth and consistent. I did not see the misalignment of the tines and I'm not surprised the breather tube was clogged. I have experienced this before with other vacs. I really appreciate what you have accomplished. Let me know what the charge is (plus postage) and I'll send a check. Thanks so much, again.
By the way, let me add that I was totally surprised to hear from you so soon. What a different experience than I have encountered with others on past occasions.

Ryan Roossinck:
Just wanted to drop you a quick line and tell you how much I am enjoying the Lamy Al-Star that I recently bought. I can't remember the name of the person that you did the pen for originally, but for one reason or another, it didn't work for her. At any rate, it ended up in my hands and I've got to tell you, this thing is a ton of fun to write with! It's a LOT broader than I normally ever write with, but it's become my first choice for writing letters!
I blogged about it the other day sort of in passing, but you can expect a more detailed write-up at some point in the future with a few photos and hopefully a writing sample if my scanner will cooperate.

Scott Greaves:
The pen arrived the other day while I was gone. Another reason why I like things to come to my work!
I finally had the opportunity to flush it out today and load it up with some reliable ink. Watermans ink tends to be reliable, so I loaded some blue-black.
I really like the nib you ground on this pen! It is not wide, but I still get wonderful line-width variation, which is what I wanted. And if I really want to emphasize something, a little push and the now-flexible nib really delivers! Excellent! I am very pleased! And of course, there is no hint of leaking like before, and I get a nice juicy stream of ink since you worked on the ink chanel. I still find that I have to lay the nib on the paper for about a second before I start writing to be skip-free. Some pens are that way. My Danitrio Densho is that way. It is not bad, and it gives me time to consider. It doesn't skip any other time now (it did before), just sometimes on the upswing of my first letter. And like I say, if I just set the nib on the paper for an instant before I start writing, it doesn't do it.
I like this pen so much more now than I did before! You have rescued it for me! Thank you!

Rena Dundovic:
Thank you so much!! The mail carrier just brought my sweet little pen home to me. I have now inked the pen and taken her through her paces. Lovely! Just lovely! Smooth, wet, fine line with a little flex... Smooth, and a pleasure to write with now. Did I say smooth? This was definitely a good decision to send the pen to you for nib work. Excellent!
I am particularly pleased to have it back before the holiday weekend so I can use it over the long weekend (although I'm sure there will come a day where you'll have a backlog on your workbench that will necessitate a longer wait).
Quality work, Greg. Thanks again.

Gary P. Bartosiewicz:
The Tibaldi arrived this morning in fine shape, and writes exactly as I wanted it to. The line is smooth as can be, with very nice line variation.
Thank you very much for your quick service, prompt communication and excellent craftmanship on the nib.
I'm thinking of re-tipping a Montblanc 744 with a wing nib. It currently has an XF-F nib. I'd like something along the lines of a M stub, maybe a bit narrower than the Tibaldi you just did. Vintage MBs that I have seen have a near stub nib seemingly naturally, and that it what I'd like to create. ("I" in this case really meaning you) Any concerns on your part working on an old pen with this style nib?
It'll be a while, as I try to spread out my pen budget.
Thanks again for the excellent job you did.

David Roberts:
Greg, you are an artist. You say I am anal! The truth is that, if something is out of whack but can readily be set straight, I want it set straight. If a tine is sufficiently misaligned that I can see it bounce up and down as I write, it drives me nuts. And I know somebody in Beverly Hills who can fix it! What a great life!
Nearly all the pens I have sent you were either described by reputable sellers as "near mint" or were returned by another repair person as fixed. In either case, I think they don't know any better. I have come to believe that, if you buy vintage pens, that is what you must expect.
I keep forgetting to congratulate you on your success in proving yourself wrong. My congratulations! Since you fixed it, the little English Parker has proved to be one of my best pens. Not a trace of leaking and it puts down a wonderful wet line. The Crane 100% cotton paper is not friendly to ink; most of my best pens occasionally skip on it but the little Parker just floats over it with the greatest of ease, leaving plenty of ink on the paper. Like Janet, I love the soft stubby nib. It shows that nibs don't have to be big to be good.
I wonder if the previous leaking was because the nib and feed were not aligned properly.

Karen Jensen:
The pens came in Saturday morning. I took them with me to Seward (a gorgeous sea port when it isn’t raining, which it wasn’t!) I finally got to ink them while we were waiting to order dinner.
The MB is absolutely superb. I love the way it looks, and it writes like a dream. The Bexley is also very nice, although I haven’t used it as much because the MB has hogged my writing time. I didn’t get a chance to try the CS yet: I flushed it and went to dry out the sac with a Q-tip, and, well, the head of the q-tip came off in the sac. I tried to fish it out and probably popped the sac loose. So whatever I did to it, I’m going to send you the pen body for a new sac. The nib looks great, though!
The red CS writes wonderfully, no more blobbing.
I am delighted with these. I’ll be sending you more soon—I just have to decide which two or three get to go for retipping. It’s amazing, but after writing with your nibs, the others just don’t compare.

Dieter Wolf:
This morning the postman was knocking very early at our door: The Duro pen arrived and was inspected by me just now the last minutes! How I like it? Very much, it is a very generously solid broad round smooth ball, very well done! I like it. I was surprised about the rich ink-flow, as you had warned me that it might not be so rich this time because of the smaller (?) feed. Perhaps you have only dipped it, but I have filled it completely up and found as a result that there is a good strong flowing. So it is absolutely in right order. The feed seems to be quite the same size as other CS feeds. It serves the purpose. The nibs writes wonderful, you have rounded it in the way that any hint of being scratchy is avoided. I remember you have spoken with John Mottishaw and developed yourself to be a "ball specialist", a "ballological". This is rare type of nib. Happy with it!!

Roger Beamon:
The stubbed nib for the 100N arrived and you nailed it! Nice wet line with enough variation to add some character to even my poor hand. Very smooth and rotation is not an issue with me. That's why I wanted to get away from the OM. It forced me to rotate CCW to use it effectively, and that's not my style.
Thanks for a good job.

Allan Hall:
Well as I am sure you know I received the pen and proceeded to fill it and start writing. Unfortunately I can only give you an A for smoothness as my MB 146 is still smoother, but let me also say I have NEVER seen a pen write as well as that 146 so you are in good company with Conway Stewarts, Duponts, Pelikans, Omas, etc. In other words, thank you, you did a wonderful job! Final score of 100 out of 100 (extra points for not making me wait six months or more like some people).You will be who I send any more pens to for retipping, without question. Check went out in todays mail.

Dan Carmell:
I picked up the Patrician at the P.O. this morning and the nib is excellent. But rather than repeat myself, let me share with you what I wrote a few moments ago to the fellow who I got that nib from:
"Jan, I don't know if you moved ahead with getting that Waterman #1 re-tipped by Greg, but I just got your Patrician nib back from him and his work is excellent. Not only is the re-tipped nib a smooth, clean nib, but he took the trouble (and had the knowledge) to give the tip a profile like the original Patrician nib would have had. The turn-around in less than a week wasn't bad, either!"
Great work, many thanks, and I'll be back!

KLMST Moorthi:
Dear Greg:
1. MB 146 - the nib is now smooth and delicious.
2. Marconi - man, the nib is awesome. Love the way you had maintained the basic architecture and structure of the nib.
3. Sailor Gaudi - hands down, it is the smoothest nib I own now.
4. Ercolessi - flows like a river now.
I have filled the Nakayas up. I will let you know in a day or so. Once again, thank you for your excellence, communication, and rapidity of work.
Best
Moorthi

Paul A. Gade:
As you know, I got the pens back today and I am thrilled. Those that recommended you knew what they were talking about. Great job and amazing turn around. You should have my check shortly, if it isn't there already. Do you do any of the pen shows, like Washington DC, for example?
I'll be back.

Greg McKinney:
Greg Minuskin has done great work on four or five of my pens. Top quality results, with very fast turnaround- between 2 and 3 weeks (door to door.) Recommended without reservation.

Julio Thompson:
Today I tried out the re-tipped Omas Arco. Wow. Nice work.
Then I tried out the re-ground Gray Omas Celluloid. Wow. The nib was scratchy and annoyed me. Now it writes wonderfully.
Then I tried out the re-ground Blue Aurora Optima. Wow. Not only is the scratch gone, but the flow seems a lot better than before. Previously, I thought it was a bit wetter than I liked, but now the flow seems just right.
So that's 3 for 3.

Andy Abrahamson:
The retipped nib is among the best nibs I've written with - period. Excellent writer, and looks great too. The other two nibs are quite smooth now, and will give me many more years of service. All in all, the work you did is as good as it gets, your prices are very reasonable, and the turnaround time was nothing short of unbelievable.
I will certainly recommend you to anyone who wants nib work done. I am not a big-time collector, yet when I buy another pen, I know who will be doing the nib work.

Mike Bafico (via James Partridge):
The pen is great !! Greg is definitely a master of his craft. The nib is very responsive, smooth and with a bit of flex. This is one pen I definitely look forward to writing with, not just a pen - rather The Pen. Please pass my thanks on to Greg.