Restoration Of A Meisterstück L139

[FredRydr]

I like that HR cap!

 

Fred

[christof]

Thanks to all of you for the compliments and nice words. Thank you.

 

As far as I understand, there were two versions of the L139 made. One with hardrubber cap and long ink window, and another with celluloid cap and short ink window. The one with the hard rubber cap is older, but is someone here on FPN able to date this pen more precisly?

 

This could be a possible time line:

1939-1940 hard rubber cap, long inkview and gold nib (L139)

1940-1944 hard rubber cap, long inkview and steel nib (L139)

1945... probably no pen production

1946-1951 celluloid cap, short inkview and gold nib (L139G)

 

...but this is only an assumption! Hopefully someone knows better.

 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7175/6805795863_d6ca8d69e7_b.jpg

Edited February 2, 2012 by christof

[Soot]

That is one excellent picture!

[Wael El-Dasher]

christof,

 

They also made a transitional medium window. It's not really half way between the long and the short window, rather it's more like a longer short window, so when the cap is threaded on the section, you can still see a about 4-5mm of the ink window, those were also celluloid cap.

 

cheers

 

 

Wael

[FredRydr]

They also made a transitional medium window. It's not really half way between the long and the short window, rather it's more like a longer short window, so when the cap is threaded on the section, you can still see a about 4-5mm of the ink window, those were also celluloid cap.

That describes my .139LG.

 

Fred

[fountainbel]

Hi Christof,

Congratualtions with this beauty, AND with your excellent restoration !

Enjoy !

Francis

[rhr2010]

This is a wonderful pen! Great restoration and great photos! I love this one with the long ink window.I dream of a pen like this, it is now several months that I wish to have one...unfortunately they are indeed very expensive pens. A truly iconic pen though! Why are they so rare? Was demand pretty low for the higher end of the spectrum?

 

I wonder why Montblanc does not issue a modern reproduction of this pen at a reasonable price. Pelikan has been reproducing several "original of their time" lately and the M101N was issued at a reasonable price after all.

 

I guess the MB Hemingway is the closest modern pen to the 139, but I am not too fond of the bright orange color.

[christof]

Hi Christof,

Congratualtions with this beauty, AND with your excellent restoration !

Enjoy !

Francis

 

Thanks for the kind words Francis. I feel honored. But I have to admit that this wasn't a very difficult job. The condition of this pen was simply great and so it was not a big deal to fix it. I just had to clean out and replace the cork seal.

 

I have seen your recent restorations of the two 139 barrels. THIS is a great job!

Edited May 12, 2012 by christof

[Mtrap]

Hi Christof,

 

Thanks for sharing with us the restoration work. Its definitely not for the faint hearted I suppose

Did you find unscrewing the parts from the pen easy? You have to heat them up don't you?

 

I am asking this because I have 2 really nice 146 (50s) that I am thinking if restoring but lack of the confident although I have open up one before.

I am reluctant to send it to someone professional is because I felt its always nice to learn servicing your own car if you drive and own one. Not purely because of the $ but the entire enjoyment process.

 

If you do not mind, can you share with me the proper technique of doing it and if you DIY your own cork piston or did you get them from Penboard?

 

The next person I might need to ask if Eric for help

[colex]

I don't know this beautiful pen!

 

... You did a perfect job with restoration and your pics are great! :clap1:

[tenney]

Because of the recent post, I just now read this topic.

 

What a great restoration of a gorgeous pen.

 

A question: are you able to remove the piston of these vintage pens without a special tool, or is there one tool that you use for doing so on "all" vintage MBs? I ask because although you did replace the cork, you also were able to clean out the windowed barrel which seems only possible if one has removed the piston.

[christof]

There's no tool needed. You can see that in one of the pics of the disassembled pen. Good old time construction...

[tenney]

Interesting... Thank you.

Over on penboard.de I see a piston removal tool for vintage MBs. In a sense it looks like a spanner wrench with two pins to fit in to unscrew something (like unscrewing the back of a watch).

 

I have a 254 1/2 that has a place where the piston assembly screws into the barrel (you can see both the piston knob and the assembly screw-in points), but I haven't seen such on photos of other models of vintage pens. e.g. in the photos of the L139 above, I only see the piston knob and no other place where the piston assembly would come out.

 

How do you get the piston assembly out? Does it just unscrew???? (I can't tell from the disassembled pics, which are great by the way!)

Is re-corking such a piston assembly fairly "easy" for a newbie to try?

[christof]

Interesting... Thank you.

Over on penboard.de I see a piston removal tool for vintage MBs. In a sense it looks like a spanner wrench with two pins to fit in to unscrew something (like unscrewing the back of a watch).

 

I have a 254 1/2 that has a place where the piston assembly screws into the barrel (you can see both the piston knob and the assembly screw-in points), but I haven't seen such on photos of other models of vintage pens. e.g. in the photos of the L139 above, I only see the piston knob and no other place where the piston assembly would come out.

 

How do you get the piston assembly out? Does it just unscrew???? (I can't tell from the disassembled pics, which are great by the way!)

Is re-corking such a piston assembly fairly "easy" for a newbie to try?

 

I think the tool you mention is meant for the 1950's Meisterstücks (142,144,146,149).

 

I'm not a MB expert but does a 252 1/2 really exist? I only know the 254 or the 234 1/2.

The 254 has a thin rippled section for unscrewing the mechanism and the 234 1/2 I don't know how to disassemble. As I said, I'm not an expert. You should ask someone of the profs at the MB forum.

 

Making pisto seals is not that difficult. But a lathe or powerdrill would be helpful. Also you should have some seal cutting tools. You can buy them from David Nishimura For Example. I can post some pics perhaps next week at "what's up..."

[tenney]

That was a typo... s/b 234 1/2 ! And it is a thin ripple where the piston assembly screws into the barrel.

 

Thank you... it seems that fixing such a piston is definitely not a good choice for a first major repair. Best to continue seeking the help I've been using. A job for pros such as you.