Us Nibmeister Needed For A Mb 149

[shawnee]

Question: If I have to send my 149 out for nib repair to Mike, do you think he can fix my leaky 146, too? That is if it's really leaking around the collar. I've never used him and I don't know if he's just a nib guy or if he can do full restoration. Sorry if that's a newbie question. I looked at his site and couldn't figure it out. xo

[Wolverine1]

Shawnee- also try contacting a fellow FPN member, Eric Nicksh. He is usually here on the MB forum, and he is an expert on all things MB. He might be able to help both your MB 149 pen as well as your MB 146. He is located somewhere in Colorado.

You can use FPN's Personal Message system to contact him

Edited January 25, 2019 by Wolverine1

[tinta]

Shawnee, I have put my trust in Pendleton Brown (in Georgia) for all my nib grinding, tweaking, setting, straightening, feed modification. Fantastic communicator, excellent modifications. (no affiliation)

Have used the services of most other well known nib techs mentioned. I don't know Eric but may give him a try.

 

*(my avatar image is of a Pendleton butter-line-stub, using a 14c Kaweco/Bock "B" nib)

Edited January 24, 2019 by tinta

[tinta]

Hi zaddick. Our posts crossed! I thought it looked a bit too 'pointy' for a M - but, I bow to your experience.

I also think it looks looks pointy for an M. The tip looks like someone may have ground the two sides of the tipping to make it finer. It's a lovely nib & should be restored.

[shawnee]

I also think it looks looks pointy for an M. The tip looks like someone may have ground the two sides of the tipping to make it finer. It's a lovely nib & should be restored.

 

I agree especially after using it (will post writing sample in a minute). It's a 'F' nib. It wrote like a scratchy fine and I definitely need to find a nibmeister for sure.

[shawnee]

 

Okay, for those who are interested. Heres the 149 with Montblanc Midnight Blue ink.

[BlueJ]

Shawnee:

Your 149 nib doesn't look very far off normal to me, based on your pictures. Two more photos would enable us to assess its alignment better:

 

1. Head on, looking straight at the tip from in front.

2. Inverted, making a 45 degree angle with the vertical, and viewed horizontally from the front. The idea is to make a silhouette of the actual writing surface.

 

Concerning nibmeisters, not all of them do repairs beyond nibs and feeds, so you may need to send your 149 and 146 to two different people. Also they tend to get busy and may not be open to new jobs at all times, so you should check their websites carefully.

[jhsd1124013561]

Go to a pen show, find Richard Binder.

[shawnee]

Thanks all. I've sent it off to Michael Masuyama. It'll take a while to come back, I know, but he had lots of recommendations here. I agree that the 146 has to go elsewhere. Probably back to Montblanc if I can convince myself they aren't going to try to just replace the pen entirely. Meanwhile, I'm working on cleaning my new vintage 342.

 

I can't tell if I'm stressed out or having fun with my 'baptism by fire' approach. I need to stop buying MBs off of Ebay, I suspect. LOL.

 

xo

shawnee

[shawnee]

So the saga continues and Im posting this in case anyone else has had issues using UPS to ship pens to Michael.

 

In my infinite wisdom, I decided that I would ship my 149 to Michael via UPS and not USPS. Ive had a couple of non-pen items via USPS show up that look like a gorilla threw it out of the truck and stomped on it. I was trying to be safe with my precious 149.

 

So I got to the UPS store, the pen is packed well in the box, I hand it over to employee Chris and ask him if I can insure it and he says sure but tell me whats in it first. So being the paranoid person I am, I simply say a pen. So Chris sounds like hes bored out of his skull when he says how much right up until I say 1,080. He stops, looks up, and literally shouts did you say 1,080? Basically the whole store knows the value of my poor pen at this point. I politely say yes and he replies with obvious derision well it must be some pen - at which point Im either about to snatch my box back or rip off his face. He then calls his fellow employee over and says can you believe there is a pen worth over 1,000 bucks in this box.

 

Now youre probably wondering why I didnt snatch my box back. I have to tell you as a woman, Im not good with conflict on the spot. Plus, this is UPS. The pen is insured for full replacement value (at the tune of $40 ship with signature). I double check that the pen is insured and the guys says to me yes, if you can prove its worth that much. Im not kidding, I was ready to go over that counter.

 

So fast forward to now. That was over 10 days ago. The pen still hasnt arrived at Michaels Its had bad weather delays and now NOW the status is that the delivery address is wrong EVEN THOUGH IT ISNT and trust me, I called UPS and had them check. Michaels address is a valid address.

 

And here is the irony. I shipped 2 pens via USPS priority last Friday and lo and behold they were delivered yesterday while my poor 149 has been in transit for close to 2 weeks.

 

Im half tempted to have the package returned to me and ask for a refund. Go via USPS and chock it up to a lesson learned. But before I do, I wanted to relay my UPS horror story and see if anyone else has had similar issues before making the final decision.

 

If I get back an empty box, Im going to go ballistic.

[Barry Gabay]

Hello Shawnee,

 

So sorry for your problems with postage and with the 149 nib. Following a couple of very late and worrisome deliveries from UPS years ago, I have relied on USPS Priority Post for all pen shipments, both inexpensive and some packages insured for over $2000. Totally pleased with the service. Have only once had a problem with USPS, but after some research and phone calls, I was able to locate the package which was sitting unattended & ignored in the wrong post office. It eventually reached its destination.

 

By the way, I was told the same thing as you when I approached UPS about a package which was still missing after 3 weeks between my home and Montblanc Service Center when it was in NJ. "Sure, just show us proof of purchase for its value." "Well, it's an old pen, which I bought for almost nothing, restored, and is now worth nearly a grand. I sent it for some fine tuning from the manufacturer's expert technician." "Sorry, we'll need proof of purchase to reimburse you if it's truly lost." What burned me so much, as it does you, was the fact that the carrier had accepted my declared value when I mailed the package, but later said formal proof of value would be required for a refund. I suppose the fine print had always included that caveat, but I neglected to read it. It eventually reach NJ and was returned to me following service.

 

Good luck and keep us posted.

Best wishes,

Barry

[shawnee]

 

The eagle has landed. I repeat .... the eagle has landed!

 

After a harrowing two weeks and daily phone calls to UPS, I got confirmation from Michael that the pen arrived safely. Hallelujah, but honestly, never again with UPS.

 

I’m pretty excited to see the results and will let you guys know how it goes. This is my first pen with Michael. I’ll post pictures and writing samples once it comes home.

 

xo

Shawnee

[graystranger]

The eagle has landed. I repeat .... the eagle has landed!

 

After a harrowing two weeks and daily phone calls to UPS, I got confirmation from Michael that the pen arrived safely. Hallelujah, but honestly, never again with UPS.

 

I’m pretty excited to see the results and will let you guys know how it goes. This is my first pen with Michael. I’ll post pictures and writing samples once it comes home.

 

xo

Shawnee

 

Hi Shawnee,

 

Glad Mike got your pen. Please let us know what the problem with the nib is and show us how it writes when you get it back. I think someone tinkered with the tines, got them too wide apart and then bent the tips together so they are touching, You said they make a "clicking" when you did the hash tags. I had a gold nib that had the tips touching slightly and when I wrote in certain directions one tip moved up above the other one making a "click" feel. I could "click" it back down in line with the other tip. Bottom line - they were touching with enough pressure that they would change positions with writing pressure, one snapping above and then below the other. I very carefully spread the tines just a hair and solved the problem. Your nib looks a lot worse than mine, I think Mike is your best way to go.This pen may have other nib problems that he can diagnose and correct.

 

I don't think the UPS Store is part of UPS, I don't think their employees are UPS employees. I'm sure there is a UPS facility in your city that you probably should have used. I think the UPS Store is a company that contracts to handle receiving, boxing and packing then delivering to UPS for shipping.

 

My only contact with a UPS Store had them providing boxing and packing for an unusual item being sent to the manufacturer for repair. A UPS facility does not offer boxing and packaging at all. By the way, the item shipped through the UPS Store cost me something like $75 to ship. The manufacturer who repaired the item and returned it used UPS shipping back to me, the cost was $23.

[BlueJ]

Gray's conjecture about UPS Stores is correct; it is a separate company. UPS itself has hardly any direct retail customer contact.

 

I use USPS Priority Mail to send pens and have never encountered a problem doing so. One pen coming in from Germany by international airmail was somehow lost by the carrier on the way to my house, but I was reimbursed by USPS for the full value.

[Donald2]

PITA

[shawnee]

Its baaaaack.

 

So my 149 is back from Mike. I have mixed feelings about it. Mike definitely fixed the nib, but I didnt have him do a grind because I really didnt know how it would write (before the fix it seemed like a F to me) but in hindsight, I shouldve had him do a grind to a MF because its definitely a wet M. But Im planning on going to the DC show and Ill talk to him about it in person.

 

For your viewing pleasure....

[Paul80]

Nice job Mike has done there.

 

re UPS

 

Given all those YouTube videos showing UPS drivers just leaving parcel on peoples door steps only to be stolen by the scumbags following the van, I am surprised anybody still uses them.

 

They one of the companies I never use over here.

 

Paul

[georges zaslavsky]

Mike 's work is stellar, very happy that you have a pen that writes well and accordingly to your wishes.

[SpecTP]

compared with your prior picture, it looks like the ink flow is much improved. that's probably why it's looking more like a M line. Mike can grind it to a finer line for you.

[NeverTapOut]

Shawnee,

I can vouch for Brad Torelli. I call him the MB Genius in the US. He lives in CT. His website is old however he does outstanding work.

Regards,

David