Montblanc 139 Long Inkwindow - A Complete Restoration

[penboard.de]

Hello out there,

this one took me 32 days.... 30 days of staring at it, afraid to start work.

Regularly getting an email from the weeping owner, who wanted his broken bride reanimated asap.

But well, I am sorry, such a work do not have a regular timing. :-(

 

These long inkwindowed 139ers are very often brittle, and already a bit of pressure

might terminally crack it.

and now, this one, already cracked from both ends.... Frightening.

 

OK, then I started work, by cutting a new 4 start barrel thread from celluloid,

boring it, giving it an inside thread to take the section.

 

http://www.penboard.de/shop/pb/MB139restore1.jpg

 

Now, grab the barrel in the lathe, take a breath, cut off the rotten part.... and weld the new thread in place.

 

http://www.penboard.de/shop/pb/MB139restore3.jpg

 

 

OK, this one seems to stay, and no new cracks visible.

Now cut off the black barrel end, create a step to take a newly made sleeve from black celluloid.

New sleeve of course has been threaded to take the turning knob.

 

 

http://www.penboard.de/shop/pb/MB139restore4.jpg

 

OK, barrel is back alive... Now lets attack an easier target, the star...

http://www.penboard.de/shop/pb/MB139restore5.jpg

 

Here a close up... such a star needs to be knocked out, cleaned, glued back in place and then polished. as you see, its become almost perfect, some very little cracks are left.

 

http://www.penboard.de/shop/pb/MB139restore6.jpg

 

And then the drama goes on, a crack in the inner cap.... The rotten part was cut off, rebuilt from ebonite, glued in place.

 

http://www.penboard.de/shop/pb/MB139restore8.jpg

 

Final act - fit a cork - and polish the pen .... and fit the nib - which unfortunately was corroded at the base, so it has a neat second venthole near the number 250.

Here we are....

 

http://www.penboard.de/shop/pb/MB139RRestored.jpg

 

'Enjoy the pics.... regards

Tom Westerich

 

 

[KJY]

Amazing!

What a work. I really like your intro of the topic (...30 days staring...)

[colex]

[Seville]

Amazing work. I do some small repairs but nothing even light years close to this. The one thing in common is the fear. Great work Tom

 

Philip

[mirosc]

now it's our turn to do the 30-days-of-staring, isn't it?

:-)

lovely

[orfew]

Wow, great work! Thanks for the photos.

[libran88]

I could not believe what i saw....... This is like God's work... Kudos to you, Tom..

[hari317]

really superb! thanks for showing us Tom.

[yehyamorcos]

Work of a great Master.

The owner of this wonderful pen!

[meiers]

Beautiful.

[isaacrn]

Amazing work

[Michael R.]

What a great rescue Tom. Thank's for saving this beauty (whoever owns it now)!

 

Maybe it's my Dragon's clip's turn now

 

Cheers

 

Michael

[Pterodactylus]

Thanks for this detailed insight, awesome work !!!

[torstar]

sweet

[Pelikan Vera]

What a rescue. Superb Tom

[pavoni]

F a n t a s t i c Tom

 

Your excellent commentary demonstrates that a long-window MB L139 must surely be worth the effort. Many thanks for sharing Tom.

 

Hopefully the lucky owner will comment here once he has been reacquainted with this Masterpiece of Masterpieces.

 

Pavoni.

[fountainbel]

Beautiful work Tom, my sincere congratulations !

And you'r not alone .. i know the feeling : dragging around in fear and hesitation in search for the optimum repair approach.

Francis

[ethernautrix]

Incredible.

 

Just... incredible.

[BMG]

A fascinating glimpse into the world of heavy-duty repairs on rare pens – thank you Tom! It's a wonderful talent/skill to be able to resurrect such pens and give them a new life.

[Pentulant]

beautiful work