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I have two 146’s. One pen is older and has the nib holes 180 degrees apart and the other is a more modern Bordeaux 146 with nib holes offset. I have tools for the older 146 but not for the newer nib hole 146’s. I really did not want to pay $40 $50 dollars for another tool. I read that the MAJOHN P136 was the size of a 146 and saw they had a take down tool. Per the instructions it looked like it would work on the nib assembly of a newer 146 Montblanc. So I decided to try an experiment and purchased this tool for $10 and free shipping. I purchased it Jan 30 and it arrived to me in Texas on Saturday Feb 11 Well it worked like a charm on the piston and more importantly on the nib assembly. I hate adding eBay links because in time they are no good for future searches but I thought I had to tell y’all to take advantage of this while you can. Someone else sells the same tools but it’s listed for “Montblanc use” and they want $20 for the tool and $20 for shipping. Hope this helps someone, it did me. Cheers,Ozzy https://www.ebay.com/itm/394315658418?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=OSSpmWOnTcO&sssrc=2047675&ssuid=bZUb89HITrK&var=662832818694&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

An email I received today from the guys at Birmingham Pen Co. Introduced me to their new ink comparison tool, the Inkvestigator. As one of their fans, I’ve often found it difficult to decide between some of their inks that appear to be very close to one another. This new tool helps with some of that decision making. It is found at the bottom of the INKS pull down menu, and for the moment is only operational for their line of “Crisp Inks,” although that is still a considerable number of inks. You click on the ink you are interested in on the list, and its swatch appears below. Then you can add as many inks as you want to view together. They appear as stacked tiles, which you can then drag and drop to move them around for comparisons. You can lay part of one over another to fit them on the relatively small portion of the page allotted for viewing, and rearrange them however you please. You may remove one or all the swatches with the provided buttons. It’s a useful and welcome tool for their website, and will become even more functional when their complete line of inks can be viewed. More good work from Birmingham. (No affiliation). https://www.birminghampens.com/pages/inkvestigator

Whilst responding to a query on what color is Hawthorne ? Google pitched me over to Hawthorne Yellow delving up to the parent shows: https://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/color-overview/find-your-color/color-families Not sure how but if I lingered on the page, the UI would change with the query: Which of these best describes you? the selections were homeowner, designer, architect and some others I forgotwhich seems like a decent topic for ink discussion ?! and a handy tool to boot. Kinda similar to what the kids are doing these days with color profilers such as https://colorkuler.com/ Most of the inks I buy are less about the color and rather how reliable they are with pens in my collection. That is a lot of black, blues, browns for the vintage and reds and purples to branch out in the moderns. If I was hard pressed, I'd say that drab neutral family is appealing to me though the whole color family scheme seems rather vague as it is a composite of brown and gray families. So what color family best describes you or rather your ink of appeal or preference?

Dear friends. I'm trying to remove the inner cap of my on-going restoration Sheaffer PFM gold cap. First at all, I don't want to buy any special-task tool like the Inner cap extractor in http://www.penpractice.com/page3.html What I tried so far: I heated the inner cap with boiled water and ther I tried to use the DIY tool suggested by antonio ilmonaco in the post https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/93139-removing-inner-cap-from-sheaffer-tuckaway/ , with no results so far. Would you please give me some suggest about this? Any trick or tip? Regards, Jose

Where can we buy this tool? Or Is there any other way to disassemble the filler of 1960's?

I found something in China. It may be trying to replicate what we use a brass sheet for, but the instructions are in Chinese and my HS Chinese is failing me. Pics:

Hello all! I want to tell you all about an issue with the Black (specifically) Monteverde Tool, and pass along a few tips. First, to be fair, I want to say Monteverde USA quickly shipped a replacement when I described the problem to them. Excellent customer service! Now, the problem. A couple of weeks after I got it, the pen's matte black paint began to disintigrate. When it got too bad to ignore, I found I could easily scrape it off with a fingernail. I've attached a picture. Clue: The clip side's paint remained as hard as ever. Clue: It's a tool. I keep it clipped to the inside of my T-shirt collar. This is when I contacted Monteverde and they sent the new pen. The service rep said "This occurred on part of a shipment." OK. Still, before taking the new pen out of its box (except briefly to admire), I decided to try wearing the old pen the other way 'round (clipped to a lanyard around my neck). Clue: After two days against my skin, the clip-side paint was soft too, except under the clip. Conclusion: The matte black paint can soften after prolonged skin contact! (For the record, the glossy black parts seem entirely unaffected.) Possible factor: I'm a type II diabetic and I try to limit my carbohydrate intake, so my sweat probably contains more acetone than is normal. (A little is normal, I gather, if you're burning fat.) If the acetone really is to blame, your mileage will almost certainly vary. It's worth wondering if the softening factor applied by brief skin contact is volatile enough to disperse over time. Maybe the paint, once softened, will harden again if not damaged first. I wouldn't count on it. I've asked the service rep if the new pen's paint is a different type that won't soften. It certainly seems the same. I'll tell you all what she says when she replies. But even then, I'm probably going to handle the new pen with kid (or rubber) gloves. Fortunately I still have my ratty old pen, which is, after all, a tool, and doesn't look bad stripped down to bare metal: Someday maybe I'll strip out the white paint and antique the engraving. Quick Tips: (Seen elsewhere on FPN) Slide the cap under the clip to avoid losing it. Yes it marks the paint (on mine at least), but the mark is hidden. Don't overtighten the cap. If you're too strong, it's possible to turn the section, distorting the interference grooves that hold its angle. The screwdriver can hit the inside of the stylus dome if it's not secure. I worry it'll cause wear, so if the pen rattles, I immediately open the back and secure the screwdriver (push it in till it clicks). I will probably cut a couple of strategic grooves on the screwdriver, to give my thumbnail purchase to pull it out. My fingers are too big. Fill your Tool with Noodler's Blackerase Watererase ink. Then it'll mark plastics and metal (all those I've tried, more or less adequately). Try the back of the nib (low angle) to mark soft things. Someone mentioned you can't use the pen and straightedge/ruler at the same time. Yes you can. Pull out the pen section. It works well enough for making a mark. Cool: take out the screwdriver and shine your Noodler's UV light into the hole. The level lights up like a Green Lantern. (This works almost as well if you leave the back cap on and just shine UV into the level's slot. If you insist on being prosaic.)Thanks for reading! [mwb: Sorry for all the small edits. I like to refine, but I'm new here and I thought I might lose work if I didn't save a draft quickly.]

As with any craft and hobby requiring tools there are always do it yourself home made versions. What are some of the pen repair tools you have made yourself that ended up working just as well as the actual tool? I am interested to see if there is a good DIY section pliers.

Hello all ye pen-repairers and -repairesses out there, I found a useful tool to remove a section, or a blind-cap, or just open a tightly closed ink bottle. The gloves you see in the pictures below are really helpful in all these situations, giving a VERY good grip. I got them from a local building supplier (cost only about €3) and they work like a charm. No more fiddling with pads and stripes. Section pliers will hopefully become a "tool of last resort". (Caution: The occasional applying of dry heat to the barrel might still be necessary, esp. with older/ brittle material.)