My Grandmother's Mb 254

[denbuh]

For those of you who read my post here...I wanted to post a follow up as I now have the pen! It took me four days to clean it, but it was well worth it! I apologize in advance for the photos...I did my best!

Along with the pen, she included a little note documenting when and where she got it and how long she has had it. I am making a trip down to see some family this weekend, and I plan to take the note and the inked pen back with me to have her sign it.

 

The box is made of cardboard and is a soft yellow color. My grandma was really worried and concerned about the box because she doodled all over it, but I sort of like it that way. She added her mark! Here is a few pictures of the box:

(side note - I am obsessed with the ink splatter on the bottom of the box, and I need to find an ink to match. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know! It is a dark purple, like De Atramentis Aubergine, but it is not as dark and it is a little bit more red. I think I will also post the image on the ink board and see what suggestions come up!)

 

The pen itself is in pretty good shape, although, you can tell that it was well used! I can't see any cracks on the cap, but I am not entirely sure what I should be looking for. The cap also has her name and the company logo engraved on it.

 

Sadly, the only thing that I am not loving about this pen is the nib. It is nice and springy which is great, but it also quite sharp around the edges, and it almost looks like it was ground to be an oblique nib or, if this is even possible, it was ground down as it was used. This shape doesn't really work with my grip (tri-pod with my index finger on top aligned with the nib).

 

I am thinking about sending it to a nib meister to be worked on, but I can't decide if I should or if I should just leave it in it's "original" state. Have any of you send your MB pens to have nib work done on them? Did you like the result?

 

Thanks for letting me share!

 

[CS388]

Denbuh, that's magnificent. What a gift! What a story!

 

Nib: Take your time. I'd leave it as it is, at first. It may fall into shape as you use it.

Or, it may, indeed need a nibmeister's attention - but I'd give it a chance to get used to you (and vice-versa) first.

It does look slightly oblique, in the pictures.

The nib identification is sometimes stamped on the turning knob, opposite the 254 marking?

 

Cap: These pens are notorious for cracks in the cap, due to the clutch ring snapping the inner cap (sprung steel blades) into place. The 25x's were the only models to use this design, before it was abandoned.

I can't see any cracks on your's - but have a good look. They would be vertical - along the length of the cap.

The bad news is, there's no repair (that I know of) for these cracks. The good news is that they can sit on a cap for years without getting worse. As a tip, I'd say, you don't have to cap it all the way until it clicks. My friends 254 caps very securely without clicking - and that way (we hope) it will never crack.

 

Personal engravings tend to divide the FPN community - but, in this instance, it's a definite positive to have your grandmother's name on the pen.

 

All in all, a wonderful post. The 254 has long been one of my favourite pens. I hope it continues to bring you (both) joy.

[johnkim424]

Great pen! What you have is either oblique medium or broad nib. One of the reason you are not liking your nib is because you are not holding the pen properly when writing with it. Unlike regular fountain pens, you have to hold the oblique fountain pens differently. From your usual holding position rotate the pen about 45 degrees counter clockwise. Hold the pen so your horizontal strokes give you the broadest lines and vertical strokes give you the thinnest lines. Based on the pictures you posted of the nib, it should write smooth without a trip to a nibmeister. BTW, Do you write with your right hand? If you are left handed this pen will not work for you.

[zaddick]

Thank you for sharing this story and the follow up. As suggested above, don't didn't into changes. Take your time. That said, if you can't get it to work after trying for a while, get the nib modified.

[LeonW]

Have a look at this link for the "Montblanc Lavender Purple review": https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/283151-montblanc-lavender-purple/. I think you will see the similarities.

 

Beautiful story.

[JLS1]

Congratulations on getting a 254 (and one with a really great story behind it at that!). I have all of the 25X pens and they're all great writers, so long as you don't jam the cap on the pen and/or you can live with the cracks in the cap.

 

One thing I wanted to add about the nib: AFAIK, the nib/feed assemblies on the 25X pens can be screwed in or out of the barrel, much like a Pelikan. This means that if you find a 'donor' 254 on eBay with a working nib (or even just the nib/feed) in the size you want, you should be able to do a nib transplant to your Grandmother's 254 pretty easily. (FYI, the fact that the nib & feed can be removed makes these pens a snap to clean).

 

Congratulations again - look forward to hearing what you decide to do with this pen!

[Opooh]

Nice story, great pen.

[Michael R.]

This is a wonderful story and great pen! Thanks for sharing.

 

I'd keep the nib original and in case you won't find yourself comfortable using it even after some practice you could try to find another replacement nib unit. Like JLS1 mentions they are screw-fit and could be replaced rather easily by any expert.

 

I'm surprised to hear that it was still writing after such a long time.

 

Also I will have to remind my boss to give me a Montblanc fountain pen each five years :-)

 

Cheers

 

Michael

[denbuh]

Thank you everyone for your kind words...I appreciate it!

 

CS388 - Thank you for the info about the nib and the cap. There is a stamping on the piston turning nob...it reads OM and then a backwards 1 that is turned on it's side. My guess is OM stands for oblique medium...would that be right? Any idea on what the backwards sideways 1 means? I agree with you about the the engraving on the pen...this marks it as her pen and there is no question about it. I feel insanely lucky to still have her in my life and still keep in contact with her on a regular basis...I may or may not speak with her more than I do my own mother...don't tell my mom that! I know that when she does depart this world, I will have this little piece of her that will remind me of her every time I use it...and that makes this a priceless family heirloom to me.

 

johnkim424 - Thank you so much for sharing this information. I figured I was holding it wrong, but for the life of me I could not figure out how to hold it while still keeping both tines on the paper and have my vertical lines be broad and my horizontal lines be thin. You would have gotten a good laugh if you could have seen the puzzled look on my face as I was trying to figure this out all while turning my paper to 90 degrees (completely horizontal and not easy for me to write on like that). Glad to know that my horizontal lines are supposed to be the broadest with this nib...that makes me feel much better! Yes...I am a fountain pen noob! I write with my right hand.

 

zaddick - Thanks for the additional suggestion. Now that I know how to hold it, I will give it a go for a while. I am experiencing some hard starting, but that may be due to the ink that I am using. I will try a few different inks and try a few different papers to see if I can make it work.

 

LeonW - YES!!!...that is a very close match to the ink on the back! Thank you! *off to search the interwebs to find me a bottle*

 

JLS1 - I did not know that about the nib on this pen. Had I known it could have been removed, it might not have taken me so long to clean it! I think I may search around to see if I can find a different nib to put on it. This would allow me to keep the original nib (untouched) but allow me a nib that feels more comfortable with my writing style. For now, I will keep trying to write with and see if I can train my hand to make it work.

 

MichaelR - I was quite surprised it still wrote right out of the box as well! We were talking on the phone when she told me and it completely baffled me...and she was baffled by my surprise! It was quite fun to chat with her about fountain pens! I agree with you...I would love a new Montblanc this year for my 5 year anniversary! Not going to happen, but I a girl can dream!

[OngL]

@Denbuh,

 

It is interesting that your grandmother wrote (Oma) in her letter. This is typically a closer name for grandmother in some Asian countries. I know some European words had been absorbed to local languages due to colonisation period. In this specific example, it could be a Dutch word that is adopted in Indonesia during colonisation.

[_Stormin_]

"Oma" is the German word for "grandma."

[meiers]

What a beautiful story.

This pen is a treasure.

The oblique medium nib needs to touch the paper at a specific angle but I am sure you are figuring that out.

I love the look of that nib.

[jsolares]

Lovely story!! and congratulations on your new pen, Try to align your index finger to the side of the nib and not the center of it, kind of like the lamy safari forces you to do because of it's indentations and see how that works out.

 

Best of luck!

[perth]

There's nothing better than receiving an heirloom you can use.