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Hello guys. I am planning to do a barrel swap on a Montblanc 74 with a Montbanc 24. From what I read, the dimensions are equal and this should be doable. However, I have a few questions. 1: Is the resin used in Meisterstuk line pens different, in particularly cosmetically or durability-wise to that of Montblanc's lower end pens (in this case, a MB 24)? 2: How should I go about removing the piston mechanism? How does it fit and are special tools required? Thanks, Eric

I have really gotten myself into fountain pen repair, in the last two years. I have spent money on books, tools, parts etc. But what fascinates me the most is nib tuning and repairing. What I mean by that is any work that is done on the nib, such as crack welding, retipping, polishing, smoothing and grinding. Especially grinding. However I struggle to find any information, regarding nib grinding. No videos, guides on what machinery is used, where can one get such machinery, what polishing compounds or wheels are used, nothing at all. I am truly desperate because I really want to learn how to do this (I consider it even as a profession) and I have no access to any useful information at all. Does anyone know any books, websites, pdf's, anything that has information on how to do various grinds. What wheels-bits are used, what compounds, where can one get these...Anything at all would help me a lot ! P.S. I am not interested in using stones etc, these I know how to use them, plus I find them inconvenient . I am talking about methods that require power tools, such as dremels, or other custom (or not) grinding machines, that get the job done fast.

I have a bunch of vintage-ish pens that aren't really worth the few dollars it would take to sac them, has anyone had luck adapting sac-less sac fillers to fit a c/c? Worst case I would consider gluing the converter on the back, effectively turning it into a piston. I am really not a fan of sacs, but I still want to use these pens and they can't eyedropper convert because of the lever and pressure bar. Anyone have any ideas/successes?

I have seen various videos about modifying this pen for big line variation. So I thought I would try it out. I made some mistakes and discovered some stuff that may be of interest. I put it all in a video.

Hi All, Any suggestions on modifying a VP stub nib to fine/extra fine. I have successfully transformed a few standard medium nibs to a very smooth fine using a 4K, 8K and 10K honing stones, but the VP stub is a bit nonstandard. Any suggestions, tips, guides, examples etc... are greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance, .

Custom nib grindings and modifications are very popular, but how about actual pen modifications? Example scenarios: I have a few Faber Castell Emotions in my collection that I love dearly, but I sometimes think that a bigger nib would look considerably better. The whole nib unit unscrews, leaving what essentially is just a piece of metal with some grooves on both ends. I was thinking if someone could modify the inner diameter of the section to fit a No6 sized collar. I also have a lovely silver capped Fidelio. Although the pen writes like a dream and fits my hand perfectly, I can't stand the constant tarnishing. Would it be a good idea to either plate the cap with rhodium or apply any kind of coat to protect the metal? So, my question is where can I find someone to do such modifications on my pens? Do you know of any pen makers working with metal? Every custom pen manufacturer I am aware of seems to only work on acrylics...

I want to start grinding nibs, and get enough experience to buy a table for next years Pen Show. (Nearly a year away.) I have pretty much mastered how to grind a very good, smooth stub, but would love to expand into cursive and crisp italics before I learn obliques or Arabic grinds. Does anyone with a good macro lens want to help a teenage fountain pen lover out with some photos of the tipping and maybe a writing sample? Also, if we could talk a little bit about technique, I'm afraid that I am doing it wrong. Thank you in advance for your help! -Austin W. Malone Amateur Writer, Student, and Pen Enthusiast

Hey guys, I just came from another thread where someone did a review of the Preppy after they glued the body on and instead filled the eyedropper by a small hole + syringe after taking the nib off and that made me think about alternative designs that don't require the silicon grease. This is all just theoretical and I don't own a preppy myself at the moment (I gave mine away to a friend who was fountain-curious). The reason for this is someone in the same thread also mentioned the ability to toss a Lamy nib on the preppy, but that it was very hard to get back out again. I wouldn't mind doing this mod for myself, but I can't be arsed with the re-applying of grease every few fills. So the idea would be to glue / waterproof the threads where the barrel screws on. Then, using a saw and a file, take a little off the very end of the barrel, leaving it open. Use the file to smooth it out and make it flush. I've roughly guesstimated the opening would be about 10mm (which equates to 3/8ths of an inch, according to the interweb). The idea is then to friction seal the end with a small plastic cap: http://www.clipsandfasteners.com/Plastic_Flush_Type_Hole_Plugs_p/pas1302-100.htm http://cdn3.volusion.com/9wsnr.t9nao/v/vspfiles/photos/PAS1302-100-2.jpg?1391549283 http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-8-NPT-Male-Thread-Plastic-Oil-Plug-Yellow-5-Pieces-/230917449481?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35c3c0a709 http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTEwMFgxMTAw/z/FvYAAOxy-sRSX-X7/$(KGrHqR,!nYFJPFq3okfBS(-(6oyU!~~60_57.JPG If you can find a cap size that would fit tightly enough, yet have a little lip over the barrel, you could potentially get an ink-tight seal that could be removed and then replaced for filling. Or if the screw in type work, then that would be even better. Maybe the plastic could be heated and moulded around the screw in yellow type. Just throwing random ideas around, as I said, I don't have the resources atm to try this out for myself. But if anyone with a preppy and plenty of time on their hands wants to give it a go, let me know how it goes. Alternatively, you could drill a smaller hole in the side of the barrel if you could find a smaller plug, that might work better as you could suit the hole to any plugs you could find off hand.

I recently attempted to add flex to a 580 F nib. I took off the shoulders of the nib, cut out the sides and thinned the underside of the nib. Everything works fairly well, the nib flexes like I want it to. The only problem I'm having is that after even some light flexing, the tines will end up too far apart. Any ideas on what might be causing this? I've seen flex added to twsbi nibs in similar ways before, such as Pendleton Brown's "Bad Boy with Angel Wings" mod.

Hello all, I've been loitering around FPN for a while but this will be my first attempt at making a "real" post! After much debate about where to stick this, I decided that this was a better fit than either the TWSBI or stipula forums... (the pictures aren't great but hey that's what i get for using a tablet to take 'em!) Anyway, as the story goes, a couple of weeks ago I was able to get my hands on a TWSBI 580 thanks to fellow FPN-ner dcrosier76... The 580 was a nice surprise; a pretty hefty pen that feels nice and solidly built; for comparison, it is close in size to the Pelikan M800 which you can see in the initial pictures here. The body is well balanced and perfect unposted but posted becomes an little awkward due to the extra length.. not a problem for me since I generally don't use my pens posted... Pelikan M800 and TWSBI 580 The TWSBI 580 came with a medium nib and the first thing I did was load up my brand new bottle of Iro. yama-budo to take it for a test drive... imagine my disappointment to find the pen writing more like a broad nib and just WET... for someone who prefers a fine japanese nib generally, this was a big issue... So, going along with the number of mods and nib exchanges posted by many before me, I went in search of a possible spare nib that would fit... the noodler's flex seemed too small, the ahab/konrad too big, a spare arnold gold nib too big, an old vintage mallat nib with the wrong curvature... and so on until I'd just about given up.. Then just as I was about to call it quits, I saw a stipula nib that was just sitting around due to a cracked collar... well, I'd tried everything else so why not the little stipula steel nib as well figuring it was probably just a tad too small... low and behold, not only did the nib fit pretty well but the pen now writes like a dream! With that I present to you the TWS-PULA 580-1... the arrows on the last picture kind of point out where the size difference between the nib and feed is pretty clear... TWSBI 580 pen with Iro. yama-budo Stipula steel nib Behold the TWS-PULA! TWSBI M nib compared to the Stipula nib Stipula nib and TWSBI feed