Mb 234 1/2 2 Stage Piston Disassembled

[tenurepro]

Here are the insides of MB 234 1/2's 2 stage piston. I tried to restore the pen myself; removing the piston was easy, but i couldn't get the nib section off. I tried to make my own cork, but it kept leaking, so it is now off with the professionals.

 

Here are the pics

 

1. Piston removed with heat and grips, cork and washer

 

 

2. Piston, stage 1 fully extended

 

 

3. Piston, stage 2 fully extended

 

 

 

4. Piston with old cork

 

 

5. Piston with old cork and washer (a plastic washer with threads secures the cork on the piston screw)

 

 

 

 

[orfew]

Very interesting. Thanks for posting this. I have not yet begun to disassemble any of my vintage MBs. I am a bit scared that I will cause more damage.

Edited October 13, 2013 by orfew

[pavoni]

Credit to you for having a go tenurepro.

 

Even though you say you will be sending that pen off to the professionals, you have certainly inspired me to try again. Thank you .

 

Pavoni.

[CS388]

Good work, tenurepro. Hat's off to you.

Shame you didn't have the replacement cork part - job would have been over and done, in no time.

 

Thanks for sharing. We all learn from this.

I may be doing the same to my old telescopic 146, one day.

Have had the front end off, but never got the piston out yet.

The thought of using heat scares me away from it.

 

Good luck.

(And update us, when it comes back)

[tenurepro]

Thanks Guys,

I was disappointed that i couldn't make a replacement cork; i started with some larger size corks (use to cap vials/tubes); i would drill a hole in the centre so i can push it onto the piston screw, then i would secure the cork on a household screw which i placed it on my power drill, i then rotated the cork at a slow speed while filing it down to size. then i cooked it in wax for a bit (as recommend by the repair folks). I got pretty close to the desired shape and size, but i always had a bit of ink leaking out (even after hydrating the cork).

 

Out of curiosity, does anybody know the 1) diameter and thickness for the 234 1/2 cork and 2) type of cork used and how it was cut (i.e. did the cork come in a sheet and then cut to size with a cut out tool ?).

 

I am sad to have to send it away to a professional; its been gone since summer, and it looks like it will not be ready till the spring! But it should be well worth the wait as the nib was awesome (a very spring ef/f; reminded me of a waterman flex)