Montblanc 146 And 149 Questions.

[williamisthe1]

I bought a used 146 and a used 149 online recently and had a few questions about the ones that arrived. The 146 is from the 90's but on the cap it only says Montblanc Meisterstuck it doesn't say No 146. is that weird?

 

And for the 149 it is from the late 80's to early 90's stamped W. Germany but the brass piston has a green line in the middle that you can see when turning the piston filler also the nib is flat and hard to write with does anyone know what kind of nib this is?

 

http://i.imgur.com/se05dBA.jpg?1

http://i.imgur.com/4h1m9Dm.jpg?1

http://i.imgur.com/ikRJmjn.jpg?1

[jar]

Not have 146 on the cap band is not strange at all.

 

And it looks like someone "worked" on the nib of the 149 and only succeeded in putting a foot on it. If not too much of the tipping was ground away a good nib technician should be able to make it write as it should. The green line is likely also from a repair job.

[watch_art]

The nib looks stubbish to me.

[williamisthe1]

watch_art, on 15 Jun 2016 - 07:26, said:

The nib looks stubbish to me.

I think you're right also I think it has baby's bottom. Does anyone know of someone who I could send this to have it worked on? I don't feel confident doing it myself.

[watch_art]

Mottishaw - Masuyama - Dan Smith - Mark Bacas - Pendleton Brown

[bluemagic]

I think the piston is made of copper, therefore the green line might be aerugo, the rust.

[Chrissy]

I think the piston is made of copper, therefore the green line might be aerugo, the rust.

 

I always thought they were brass.

[Zdenek]

 

I always thought they were brass.

 

Of course the piston mechanism is made of brass. Brass contains high percentage of copper therefore the corrosion products are green.

[williamisthe1]

I was able to get the green stuff out by lancing in-between the threads with a pin. Here is a writing sample on the left I write how I normally write fast and at the angle I write at. On the right I hold the pen straight up and write slower than normal. What work should I have done to the nib to make writing fast and smooth the way I normally hold the pen? Thanks

 

http://i.imgur.com/MpLGzWF.jpg?1

[macball]

It looks as if the feed is "split". If you send it to MB for servicing you will probably lose this. Many people don't care, but I think they are amazing especially on the 149. It is best appreciated under a microscope. The feed is made of two parts. The middle tip part is cantilevered to the back fin part. When you write the tip of the feed hovers to maintain a constant distance to the nib. The movement might also increase ink flow in the feed. The parts are fit together precisely. The seams are barely visible even under a loupe. So the downside is that if the pen has been stored with ink and dried, it might take a lot of soaking to get it back to spec.

[williamisthe1]

macball, on 16 Jun 2016 - 09:35, said:macball, on 16 Jun 2016 - 09:35, said:

It looks as if the feed is "split". If you send it to MB for servicing you will probably lose this. Many people don't care, but I think they are amazing especially on the 149. It is best appreciated under a microscope. The feed is made of two parts. The middle tip part is cantilevered to the back fin part. When you write the tip of the feed hovers to maintain a constant distance to the nib. The movement might also increase ink flow in the feed. The parts are fit together precisely. The seams are barely visible even under a loupe. So the downside is that if the pen has been stored with ink and dried, it might take a lot of soaking to get it back to spec.

OK I'll soak it in pen flush now and see how that goes. thanks for the information.

Edited June 16, 2016 by williamisthe1

[storyteller]

It looks as if the feed is "split". If you send it to MB for servicing you will probably lose this. Many people don't care, but I think they are amazing especially on the 149. It is best appreciated under a microscope. The feed is made of two parts. The middle tip part is cantilevered to the back fin part. When you write the tip of the feed hovers to maintain a constant distance to the nib. The movement might also increase ink flow in the feed. The parts are fit together precisely. The seams are barely visible even under a loupe. So the downside is that if the pen has been stored with ink and dried, it might take a lot of soaking to get it back to spec.

 

+1 on both accounts:

 

I also find the split ebonite feed to be a major plus on the 149 and 146, especially with "dry" inks. I would not send a pen with one of these feeds to an MB service center unless I absolutely had to, they are nearly always replaced with a plastic one. I also have MB's with plastic feeds; they are almost identical but not quite...

 

A good 24 hour soaking of the nib with the pen filled with water is always a good thing. If the problem persists, soak for longer and maybe an ultrasound clean (by someone who knows what he's/she's doing) could help.

 

I also agree with watch_art, the nib looks to be a stub. As to whether it is it an original MB stub or whether it has been re-ground? I don't think you can tell from the pictures.These nibs are actually quite sought after but not the easiest to write with. You may have to adapt your writing style to suit this specialist nib's desires rather than the other way around (I'm assuming the nib is in good condition).

[williamisthe1]

I tried taking better pictures of the nib. The original owner says he used it once didn't like how it wrote and put it away for 20 years before he decided to sell and didn't have any work done on the nib. The International Service Certificate that came with the pen has 9 nib options (EF, F, M, B, BB, OM, OB, OBB,O3B) but stub wasn't one of them. So I'm not sure.

 

http://i.imgur.com/j2ckhC3.jpg?1

http://i.imgur.com/rqtTc8G.jpg?1

http://i.imgur.com/JPnkHjD.jpg?1

http://i.imgur.com/uAyyP0N.jpg?1

Edited June 16, 2016 by williamisthe1

[Kalessin]

That looks like a BB nib. Older Montblancs often have some line width variation with the wider nibs.

 

If you like the way it writes, then keep writing with it!

[CS388]

That looks like a BB nib. Older Montblancs often have some line width variation with the wider nibs.

 

If you like the way it writes, then keep writing with it!

 

Agree. It looks like the classic BB cut. I'd say it looks original, too - rather than tampered with.

Plus a split-ebonite feed, it's a really desirable set-up.

Nice pen!

 

I'd agree with above posters - and maybe get a bottle of pen flush?

If it was used once and then put away for 20 years, it's almost certain to have dried ink in the feed channels, which will spoil the ink flow. It can be cleaned out without dismantling - but it takes a lot of patience, repeated flushes and lo-ong soaks - and always takes far longer than we think!

 

Good luck.

[zaddick]

Looks more like a B to me, but it is hard to tell from pictures.

 

Let is soak before you try to pull water into the pen if possible. Forcing the piston can stress the spindle or put some gouges in the barrel or seal if there is dried ink inside.

[CS388]

Looks more like a B to me, but it is hard to tell from pictures.

 

Could be.

It's the shape of the tipping that makes me think BB. And the 149 is such a big nib, that even a BB looks small on it.

 

Either way, nice pen.

Enjoy.

[jar]

Agree, B or BB nib and much betterer pictures. But patience will be your friend. The poor thing was rid hard and put up wet to dry and so it's gonna require some TLC; but the reward will be an amazing pen.

[storyteller]

I have a 149 with a B, and this nib looks broader (from your latest photos), so my bet is that it is a BB.

 

Also, again from the photos, it does look original.

 

Go slow, take your time in cleaning and flushing, as jar says, the result should be worth the patience that you invest.

[Russ]

I bought a 149 from the 60's and weeks were required to get dried ink out and flow restored. Patience is your best friend.