"Pen repairing is one of the most co-operative activities we know. Knowledge is openly shared and techniques are divulged in magazines, on the internet and over the phone. In such circumstances such a book is never produced without consciously or subconsciously benefiting from other people's suggestions and ideas. We fully appreciate these influences.

Geoff Roe has had a passion for explaining the physics of fountain pens for many years, Steve Hull is the 'fount of all knowledge' on UK Fountain pen matters, Graham Hogg the lone 'ballpointer', Derrick Purser has been repairing and making repair tools, Trevor Russel has been an innovator of technique and finding local suppliers of parts, Bernard Hawkins created new standards of cosmetic restoration and Henry Simpole is continuing this with the added expertise of creating wonderful overlays. Peter Twydle carries on in his father's footsteps, Roy Zoff was for years at the peak of the London scene, while Nigel Leonard agonized over pen design and parts and Bryan Toynton took over the West of England.

In the USA John Mottishaw has extended the life of countless nibs. We might not be repairing pens today without The Pen Sac Company and Peter Amis' service to our hobby by revitalizing the production of rubber sacs. Giants of the workshop such as Lynn Sorgath, Paul Rossi and Brad Torelli re-fabricate to even better than original and our own modest efforts to reproduce repair tools and obsolete spares have benefited by collaboration with companies such as the Bexley Pen Company with help from Mike Fultz and suggestions from the ubiquitous Mike Conway.

The repairing heritage of Cliff Lawrence, George Dali, Frank Dubiel, Terry Koch, Phil Bean, the Southern Scribe, Susan, Geoffrey, Bernie, Bert, Paul, Ed, Steve and Terry, are accompanied by David N, Gary, Cheryll, Joel, Richard, Paul, Roger and Victor. In Australia Peter Ford is king and in Europe Osman is emperor. I'm sure that we have unintentionally omitted to mention at least 50% of the repair wizards. The names will change but the interest is unlikely to wane.

Our acknowledgements to all these influencers and specifically to Letta Grosekemper, Ray Bally and Lois Hagan for Sheaffer matters; Dave Ruderman and The Parker Pen Company for their permission to use material and diagrams from their manuals and especially Osman Sumer for his contribution on European pens.

Our thanks for specific images to Steve Hull, Peter Ford, David Shepherd and The Parker Pen Company. You may notice that many different hands, often ink stained and scarred, feature in this book; Arthur's, our own, Peter Crook's and a few guest hands posing as models ! We also have included images of typical customer's pens and other repairers tools, which has added to the variety."