What Mbs Are You Using Today?

[Andrew_L]

42 minutes ago, Bo Bo Olson said:

1000?.... I think of it as regular flex.

 

You're wrong - this nib isn't even semi-flex, it's just a soft nib. But I agree with your opinion that a lot depends on the papers and inks.

[yubaprof]

Thanks everyone for your comments regarding my Pelikan M1000 fire hose. As for paper, I use Rhodia and have tried various inks. Robert Oster seems to be the driest, but I really have tried the whole range of inks in it. I also try to write with very light pressure when using this pen. I will follow advice given and send it off for evaluation and adjustment, but not have it ground.

[Frank C]

1 hour ago, yubaprof said:

Thanks everyone for your comments regarding my Pelikan M1000 fire hose. As for paper, I use Rhodia and have tried various inks. Robert Oster seems to be the driest, but I really have tried the whole range of inks in it. I also try to write with very light pressure when using this pen. I will follow advice given and send it off for evaluation and adjustment, but not have it ground.

It appears that you live in Northern California. Next weekend is the San Francisco Pen Show. If you make it over there, there will be several nib experts who can make your pen write almost any way you want.

[Bo Bo Olson]

3 hours ago, Andrew_L said:

e wrong - this nib isn't even semi-flex, it's just a soft nib.

Of course it's not semi-flex....It's regular flex. You are thinking of 'flexi' something that was in use some 15 or more years ago, before the term superflex superseded it.

When Bock took over making Pelikan nibs to Pelikan's then new specs in 1997....the 1000 was semi-flex. I tested that vs a a semi-flex nibbed pen of mine.

 

Somewhere about 2012 Pelikan finished taking the Bock made nibs In-House with the 1000 being the last nib.

It was no longer a semi-flex nib but regular flex.

 

You do need to have a regular flex pen to see how my system works.

 

Regular flex, (Japanese-soft.) Pelikan 120 school pen, Geha School pen, Pelikan 200/ semi-vintage '82-97 400's,  some Esterbrooks (had), most Wearevers and a number of other makes like an Artus (sub-brand of Lamy)...are some I have. An English made P-45 (softer nib than US made Parkers because of Swan competition.)..of the top of my head.

 

.........................These nib flexes will safely go to 3 X....to push them further courts sprung nibs, sooner than later.) .............

 

Regular flex when well mashed will spread it's  tines to 3X....(it's really able to write so hard mashed.) = to Japanese Soft.....Soft +.

Semi-flex takes 1/2 that pressure to go to 3 X. Soft ++ (have @ 35)

Maxi-semi-flex, half of semi-flex pressure to reach 3X, or 1/4th the pressure of a well mashed regular flex. Soft +++.

 

Superflex, spreads it's tines between 4 (have 1..was a tad disapointed, but was noobie....don't bug me today), mostly 5-6 and very rare 7Xoutside of buy my sprung nib Ebay sales and other nib abusers. It's more about ease of spread than width of spread. (Mauricio deals in selling superflex pens. I have two from him that are wet noodles. He disagrees with my simple for noobies divisions. He's right.....but most noobies don't have 5 or 6 superflex pens to find out my definition blurs.

By the time one reaches superflex, one should have worked his way up the flex ladder, so one can tell when a nib is reaching max, with out pushing it over into whoops...sprung the nib.

Unfortunately many jump form nail to whoops I sprung my superflex nib. Been reading about that  for @1 1/2 decades here on the com.

 

Still working with my system of half's.

What I call....

Easy Full Flex, takes 1/2 the pressure of a maxi, or 1/8th the pressure of a regular flex to reach what ever width that nib has as a max.....Soft ++++

(I have 6-8 of them....after awhile they are just there. A good one to get is a Ahab Mod/Pilot mod Ahab...which is two half moons Dremmeled or Swiss round filled into the  shoulder of the nib....which takes a real hard Ahab semi-flex and turns it into a fun Easy Full Flex nib. Got to dig that pen out sometime)

 

Wet Noodle takes half of that pressure to max, or 1/16ths the pressure to max a regular flex to 3 X. Soft +++++

I have three, These two are on Waterman 52's; one is a smooth 6X, one is at two stage 7X and my smooth 7 X is a Soennecken.

Low dip pen range....I'd say about 2/3 and more down from a Hunt 99-100-101.

Really nothing special...in dip pen nibs.

 

Weak Kneed Wet Noodle was a term invented by the English nib grinder, John Swoboda(sp)........I never expected to have one...swore off wanting one in I was 'supposed' to learn how to write if I ever got one.
Nib flex rate....between 1/32 and 1/64th of a mashed regular flex.  Soft++++++ or even +++++++ (I'm not going to argue with my self is it's soft 6 or soft7....softer than hell for a fountain pen.)

Middle of the dip pen range....if one has a Hunt 99-100-101. Very good flex.

 

My wife was giving some guy advice on what he should charge for items on a street flea market and asked if he had any inkwells or pens. He only had a pen that didn't work. My wife said, she'd take it for spare parts.

 

Francis Goossen up in Belgium took this horrible shaped pre'24 MB Safety pen, and made it immaculate. It has a Simplo # 6 nib...from before MB stamped it' nibs with MB.

It's inked....haven't used it in a couple of weeks.....will pull it out after this post.

It was the second MB Safety Pen I'd had in my hand and both had Weak Kneed Wet Noodles.

Francis said it was a pain to polish...and I believe him, in I'd not expected much more than a working pen. Not the grand pen I got back.

Being 100 years old it needed a new gasket.

 

I do have a second Safety pen, a '30's Fendomatic...made in Milan, but it's only Easy Full Flex.

 

The cap's top was rebuilt...the gizmo with the spike is the old cap.

Using a dry R&K ink.

Can well be this Simplo # 6 is a 6X nib, it don't 'feel' like a 7 X one.....and I don't want to push it....in there is no reason.

 

I try to stay one width under max as is. I have a Pelikan 100n, in Easy Full Flex that will go 5 X, so I strive to only take it out to 4 X. I don't want to spring a nib.

 

Richard Binder has a great article on metal fatigue, that impressed me to not try for max all the time.

 

With all my pens I strive to stay under max. 6 X for a 7 X nib is quite wide enough....so with 5 x for a 6 X nib.

 

The guys who can write want fast snap back to a thin line more than trying for Olympic splits in how wide can I make the nib write.

If so go dip pens, some of mine go 8-9X...If I was into measuring. (With dip pens, its the rail roading that determines how wide a nib will go.)

 

Wet noodle 52 vs weak kneed wet noodle.

 

The Fendomatic, with permission of Penboard.de, in they make great pictures. Mine has a slightly different chasing pattern.

My first thought at a live auction viewing, was not only had someone stole the nib, but the feed too. I'll never play poker with that lady behind the counter. She twisted the end and up cam the nib.

[Andrew_L]

16 hours ago, Bo Bo Olson said:

It's regular flex. You are thinking of 'flexi' something that was in use some 15

 

Thanks for info and discussion. 

I see that you have a lot of experience and a lot of pens, but your system is too complicated for most average users and is more suited to a seller of pens that fans will stare at with their mouths open. Mine is much simpler, it is just from the point of view of a buyer/user with big experience: there is full-flex, semi-flex, modern "flex", soft-nib, regular/usual nib, hard/rigid nib. The difference between line under pressure and without pressure can be any, it is not so important, the sensitivity of nib is more important for classification.

 

ps: for the sake of understanding, I have tried most of the pens which you described, both fountain pens and pointed dip nibs, even repaired them and wrote some reviews, so I am also a little experienced, as now says "in theme":)).

 

pss: I have M1000 with PF, which was theoretically made from 90s, and was M1000 from 2015-2016 - I did not feel the difference in softness as you described, most likely those who described it were simply different people and did it not at the same time. The softness of 1000 nibs is achieved mainly by their size and thinness of the metal sheet.

[Bo Bo Olson]

I had taken a Geha 725 semi-flex F, to town to test the 1000, in there was a lot of folks saying it was semi-flex and others saying it was only a springy regular flex. They were both right. Bock made them in semi-flex, and Pelikan in regular flex.

How ever I was looking for it. Were you? If you are not looking for something, one can miss it.

I had a 400nn OF that originally I thought was just a semi-flex like the 140 OB.

It wasn't until I discovered maxi-semi-flex that I discovered that 400nn was actually a maxi.

 

I have @ 35 semi-flex and @ 15 maxi-semi-flex. (A term I invented, but that's another story.)

I go into in other threads,  that other pen companies bought their gold ribbon wheels from Degussa the German gold and silver maker. Degussa took Osmia' nib factory for debt in 1932, and continued making semi&maxi gold nib wheels for Osmia. It is my contention in no other company bragged their maxie's that Degussa took down what ever gold ribbon wheel that was handy. And the other companies didn't know.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I had left out nails like the P-51 or semi-nails like the P-75 or the post '97 Pelikan 400/600.

In I seldom use them....but when I do the Full Monte system description,, they are of course included. I even have the nail's nail...the D Pelikan nib.

 

If one has a regular flex nib, or soft Japanese nib, I find my system simple....just half less pressure down the scale...........How ever many people don't or don't know that regular flex was a normal flex to be had in the '50-60's, as normal school pen flex.

Esterbrook, Wearever, Venus, ...tell you the truth I don't remember what my Sheaffer school pen's flex was.....not that we were interested, but it was stolen faster an any and all my fountain pens.  A P-45 was more an  adult pen than a school pen in the workers kids schools. I don't recall seeing any.

 

Of course it's subjunctive...............thankfully I didn't have an electronic scale to screw up something simple.

 

I do recommend a Geha School piston*** pen, the best buy of regular flex nib pens,  bought on German Ebay for @ E 19 instead of bought in the States for your basic $89.00. I see the Geha 790 semi0-flex as the Best Buy for semi-flex...E-60-80.

**Never buy a Geha cartridge pen, in no one makes a cartridge that fits them.

 

A semi-flex nib (at least in OB) is robust enough to withstand a heavy hand.....like I had.     Took some two-three months. At firs, much to all of my writing was fat full 3X, then slowly I got use to using less pressure.

 

In it takes a lighter hand to have line variation....in your writing has to be light enough that when you demand line variation, you can go from thin to thick.

 

I can remember here on the com, when to many flexi was anything but a nail. I can remember when we went over to superflex than flexi...........definations keep getting refined.

I had a hell of a time trying to find a flexi Swan on English Ebay** , in I wanted more than semi-flex; and there was no way to tell if it was or not...until I lucked out to a superflex No Name German war pen.....and stopped looking.

 

Then they fell into my hands with out even knowing they were Easy Full Flex. No one selling Gramp's pens had an idea either.

 

** I'm sure I looked at the very good sites (the best I found chasing Swans in Great Britain (I live in Germany) were perhaps by Marshal and Oldfield, not that I could find a name and/or I'd not bought their Pen Repair book and wouldn't have known who they were.

So ill defined....couldn't tell if they were talking about semi-flex, or what somewhat flexi was, or the plain 'flexi'. Definition was lacking. Not even Wet Noodle. Which as a noobie searching for flex, I'd avoided as too much of a good thing for a ham fisted.

 

In finding a regular flex pen seems to be a lost art, if one has a Japanese 'soft' nibbed pen, then my system is easy.

[Andrew_L]

Well, thank you. 👍
I already have Degussa, Osmia and some Geha that I kept for myself.

[Andrew_L]

Friends, I have a question. Does anyone have MB JFK and  regular 146. Does the cap from JFK fit to the 146/LeGrand or they have different thread. I see in the pictures that it is metal thread on JFK body, but I don't understand the size. Thanks

[Frank C]

From then MB USA website:

 

Legrand: DIMENSIONS 5.74 0.61 inches PHYSICAL WEIGHT 25.42 g

 

JFK: DIMENSIONS 5.82 0.65 0.65 inches PHYSICAL WEIGHT42.29 g

 

So the JFK is slightly longer, slightly wider, and heavier. 

 

I don't have a JFK, so I don't know about interchangeability. I do like the JFK Navy Blue ink; it is a nice dark blue. 

[Frank C]

On 9/16/2022 at 9:20 AM, Andrew_L said:

Friends, I have a question. Does anyone have MB JFK and  regular 146. Does the cap from JFK fit to the 146/LeGrand or they have different thread. I see in the pictures that it is metal thread on JFK body, but I don't understand the size. Thanks

I am planning a trip to the MB Boutique in the next few days—I have to retrieve my 149 Calligraphy, which is back from repairs. If they have a JFK, I'll check. 

[Andrew_L]

1 hour ago, Frank C said:

I am planning a trip ...  I'll check. 

 

Thank you. The JFK has a step before section and thread, so it can be assumed that body it is slightly thicker than 146.

[Frank C]

1 hour ago, Andrew_L said:

 

Thank you. The JFK has a step before section and thread, so it can be assumed that body it is slightly thicker than 146.

From the photos on the website, the threads appear similar. It would be easier to use a standard thread size for similar pens. Of course, MB has tremendous manufacturing capabilities; they could use any thread size they want. 

[Frank C]

On 9/16/2022 at 11:24 AM, Andrew_L said:

 

Thank you. The JFK has a step before section and thread, so it can be assumed that body it is slightly thicker than 146.

I went to one of the local MB boutiques today—we have two. They had a Navy blue JFK in stock. I had my 146 Calligraphy in my pocket. The threads on the cap are the same size. The JFK cap will screw onto the 146, although it is a larger outside diameter. The 146 cap cannot engage the threads on the JFK pen because of the aforementioned step before the section. Hope this helps. By the way, I showed the manager at the boutique some of @Andrew_L's pen and ink drawings. He wanted to know if you would make a drawing from a photo. I told him that for a 149 Calligraphy, you might do almost anything. I told him to send you a PM through FPN. 

 

To stay on topic, I picked up my 149 Calligraphy from service at MB. I had clogged it up with MB Permanent Blue ink and MB fixed it under warranty. I took my 146 Calligraphy with me as well. I took the Fritz-Schimpf Italic Edge 149 with me, too. The people at the MB store love that 4B nib and the Glacier Blue ink. 

[Andrew_L]

9 hours ago, Frank C said:

I went to one

 

Thank you very much Frank!

[Andrew_L]

vtg. Montblanc Meisterstuck 146 from 80s with earlier Montblanc Royal Blue ink

 

 

Detailed: http://lenskiy.org/2022/09/montblanc-146-meisterstuck-from-1980s/

[Frank C]

6 hours ago, Andrew_L said:

vtg. Montblanc Meisterstuck 146 from 80s with earlier Montblanc Royal Blue ink

 

 

Detailed: http://lenskiy.org/2022/09/montblanc-146-meisterstuck-from-1980s/

I have a similar pen from that era with the gold color 14K nib and bluish ink window. Mine has a fine nib. It is one of my favorite pens. I always used Montblanc Washable Blue ink in it. It was my exam pen when I had to write essay exams. I could write with that pen all day long, if I had to. 

 

I like your drawing as well. Mother and Child is a very classic rendering. 

[Andrew_L]

Thank you!

If ink window is blue, it must be an earlier model, approximately 1975-1976. I wonder, is you have a springy nib also or semi-flexible? My ink is also semi-vintage)), I think about 1990-2000, still in the "shoe" with smooth corners, but the color is similar to modern Royal Blue.

 

ps: I know mother, but I haven't seen her in a long time))

[Le Vieux]

Beautiful pen, excellent drawing, thank you for sharing it.

 

My MB's currently on my desk are shown here. Sorry about the writing sample, it looks like camera plays tricks with the shiny paper (Rhodia) and the thin lines are not helping either.

 

 

[Andrew_L]

Cool pens, especially the first one, I have never seen such a color. Is this a button filler? I also have a Montblanc with a triangle on the nib, but mine is a military time interval with piston-filler, if I'm not mistaken 334 1/2

ps: by the way, I like your handwriting

[Le Vieux]

Thank you, Andrew. The first pen is indeed a button filler, no. 326. The nib is marked Warranted "C" in a triangle, which is historically correct for this pen, I believe. The body is engraved "Simplo - Original Montblanc Patent".

 

Pictures attached for your perusal.

 

Again, thank you!