The Meisterstück 149 Calligraphy Appreciation Thread

[dftr]

Thanks for sharing your experience @maclink 

I am a new MB owner and in addition this is first pen I've bought that hasn't been tunes/evaluated by a nibmeister in a long time.  

 

I first tested the pen by dipping in Waterman Mysterious Blue and it wrote perfectly.  I filled it w/ Diamine Ruby Blue.  I I have had no issues w/ railroading, but I am noticing some hard starts and an occasional skip.  I turned to my trusty Iroshizuku Kon-Peki but it does not seem to help.  I appreciate your warning about Iroshizuku though I haven't noticed any issues w/ the piston.

 

I have no MB inks so I will try ordering Irish Green and Permanent Blue.  

 

In reading through threads here, I see some people also do a soak of their 149?  Is this still recommended?  To submerge the pen in filtered/bottle water with a drop of dishwashing soap over night?  Are we using enough water to just cover the nib?   

[fpupulin]

1 hour ago, maclink said:

There has been some discussion about the best inks to use with this pen.  I thought I'd share my experience so far.  The first ink that I tried was MB Lavender Purple.  This didn't work well with railroading with just normal writing with the occasional increased pressure on the downstroke. 

 

I decided to go Iroshizuku - I tried Shin-Kai and it worked a treat.  When that fill went low, I decided to flush it to try another Iroshizuku ink, i.e., Yama-Budo.  The piston was stiff during the flush and got so stiff that I decided to see if the nib would unscrew and I'll be darned, it screwed right out with ease.  I cleaned the barrel and greased the piston which loosened it nicely.  I filled with Yama-budo and this ink worked well also.  Close to the end of the fill, I decided to flush again because I was growing suspicious about what was happening.  The piston was worryingly stiff again while flushing .... but loosened as the Yama-budo ink thinned.  Towards the end, the piston was very smooth requiring minimal torque to operate.   I filled with MB Permanent Black and will be staying away from the Iroshizuku inks with this pen.  I'm quite acquainted with MB Permanent Black and know that it doesn't at all stiffen the piston.  

 

These are older bottles of Iroshizuki inks.... I haven't bought any from the new line of inks.   I was really surprised about this.  I've never tried Iroshizuku inks in any of my Montblanc pens.  In fact, I've only used MB inks in my MB pens.  Of course, I'm not claiming that other inks will not work well, but I was just surprised that the Iroshizuku inks would do this.

Thank you for reporting your experience with different inks, and also for confirming first hand what invisuu posted earlier on this thread about the nib-and-feeder being easy to simply unscrew from the section. This will surely help in maintaining the perfect functionality of the 149 Calligraphy.

[fpupulin]

1 hour ago, dftr said:

Thanks for sharing your experience @maclink 

I am a new MB owner and in addition this is first pen I've bought that hasn't been tunes/evaluated by a nibmeister in a long time.  

 

I first tested the pen by dipping in Waterman Mysterious Blue and it wrote perfectly.  I filled it w/ Diamine Ruby Blue.  I I have had no issues w/ railroading, but I am noticing some hard starts and an occasional skip.  I turned to my trusty Iroshizuku Kon-Peki but it does not seem to help.  I appreciate your warning about Iroshizuku though I haven't noticed any issues w/ the piston.

 

I have no MB inks so I will try ordering Irish Green and Permanent Blue.  

 

In reading through threads here, I see some people also do a soak of their 149?  Is this still recommended?  To submerge the pen in filtered/bottle water with a drop of dishwashing soap over night?  Are we using enough water to just cover the nib?   

In my experience, with some time and use the 149 Calligraphy becomes a very tolerant pen as to the inks she can work with. I never tried Irish Green in my pen, but it is my opinion that the other ink you bought, Blue Permanent, is in absolute one of the better combinations with the 149 Calligraphy. 
 

As you already inked and flushed your pen a few times, I think it would be quite useless soaking the nib in water, but surely doing it does not harm… The body, the section, the collar and the feeder of the 149 are all made of plastic, so do not worry about the level of the water to submerge the pen.
 

I am pretty sure, from what I read on this forum, and particularly on this thread, that your pen will behave perfectly with most inks within a couple of months of use, when the nib will assume its natural configuration according to your writing style.  This has been the experience of most users.

 

Enjoy your pen, and happy writing.

[maclink]

17 minutes ago, fpupulin said:

Thank you for reporting your experience with different inks, and also for confirming first hand what invisuu posted earlier on this thread about the nib-and-feeder being easy to simply unscrew from the section. This will surely help in maintaining the perfect functionality of the 149 Calligraphy.

I'm one to balk at attempting to unscrew nib units.  For instance, I've never unscrewed aurora nib units.  The two pens I have, I gently tried and they wouldn't give, so I backed off.  I'm all too aware of throwing the nib/feed alignment off by screwing/unscrewing these units with excessive force.  Not so with the 149C.  There's a little rubber seal at the base of the threads of the nib/feed unit.  Other than that, things are straightforward as with a Pelikan.  This is a really fabulous discovery.  I'll still be getting the nib tool since, as I still dislike gripping nib and feed, then turning it.  If there's a way to avoid it, I will.

[JulieParadise]

42 minutes ago, maclink said:

I'll still be getting the nib tool since, as I still dislike gripping nib and feed, then turning it.

 

Maybe you phased it not exactly how you'd handle it in reality, but just a small reminder to everyone concerned:

 

When screwing in/out nib units, do nit turn the nib unit itself, but hold it steady while screwing the pen body. This may sound like a subtle detail, but prevents distorting the alignment.

[barutanseijin]

Also, if one is concerned that unscrewing the nib unit will disturb the alignment of the pen, one can easily remove the piston with the proper spanner.  I haven’t opened mine to confirm, but one would think the 149C has the same threaded piston mechanism that other 149s have.  Removing the piston is the usual way of getting at the barrel in any 146 or 149 with the modern threaded piston mechanism.

Edited February 20, 2022 by barutanseijin

[maclink]

1 hour ago, JulieParadise said:

When screwing in/out nib units, do nit turn the nib unit itself, but hold it steady while screwing the pen body. This may sound like a subtle detail, but prevents distorting the alignment.

Yes, agreed.  I did explain myself too loosely there. Thanks for that important clarification.

[Keyless Works]

I just ordered mine today from Iguana Sell. They have them back in stock.

 

The Montblanc boutique in San Francisco told me they would get one in for me in November but that turned out not to be true and then when I was having my old 149 repaired last month they told me the 149 Calligraphy would not be coming back and that the only way to get one is to do a bespoke order which adds something like $1k to the price.

 

I love that Montblanc has a great physical retail presence. It is a huge benefit to owning Montblanc but I also am frequently annoyed with the sales people. I wish they would say "I don't know" when they don't actually know. More than once they have told me I would get a pen that they were not ultimately able to get for me. I always try to make a deposit or full payment if they let me. If I had bought the 146 Calligraphy they tried to sell me or did a bespoke order I would not be happy right now.

[Sinistral1]

I just looked at the Iguanasell site and it says that the 149 Flex Nib Fountain pen has a Flex M nib.

[dftr]

1 hour ago, Keyless Works said:

36 minutes ago, Sinistral1 said:

I just looked at the Iguanasell site and it says that the 149 Flex Nib Fountain pen has a Flex M nib.

 

 

Well, I ordered it from them and I can tell you it is actually the XF nib.  But, it is confusing.  I had initially asked and they had told me the XF was sold out and what was going to be available is the next batch which was Medium...  I decided to preorder and they literally got stock the next day.  I am very happy with it though I had been willing to play w/ a Medium flex   For what it's worth, my Spencerian Namiki Falcon has a thinner/sharper line but I enjoy the 149 for overall writing, for work.  

[Keyless Works]

2 hours ago, dftr said:

 

Well, I ordered it from them and I can tell you it is actually the XF nib.  But, it is confusing.  I had initially asked and they had told me the XF was sold out and what was going to be available is the next batch which was Medium...  I decided to preorder and they literally got stock the next day.  I am very happy with it though I had been willing to play w/ a Medium flex   For what it's worth, my Spencerian Namiki Falcon has a thinner/sharper line but I enjoy the 149 for overall writing, for work.  

According to the product page

Quote

It features a hand-crafted 18K solid gold / Au750 flexible nib that allows a range of line widths from approximately 0.3 mm to 1.6 mm depending on the amount of pressure applied during writing.

So I think it is the same XF flex nib. I could be wrong though. I don't mind either way as long as it is equally "flexible". The Montblanc product code on Iguana Sell is MB119699. This matches the pen on this page: https://www.montblanc.com/en-us/fountain-pens_cod46353151655664320.html

[dftr]

@Keyless Works Good luck.  There's some confusion which I think is unintentional.  I am hopeful you will be happy w/ your purchase as was mine.  I had settled into expecting to wait 1-2 months for a medium nib w/ flex so it was awesome getting the pen the same week w/ the original XF nib.  

 

I have used the MB Permanent blue and I like it better than my usual safe ink, Kon Peki.  There is no nib creep  and the hesitation/hard starts have for the most part resolved.  The only time I  see it is when starting a downstroke like a stem for a capitol 'T' or 'D.'  I am left handed and usually have trouble pushing the nib up but this pen works beautifully and never hesitates on the upstrokes.  I have begun to make an adjustment by adding a little hitch starting w/ a small upstroke before bringing the nib down on my capitols.  

 

I am nearly out finished w/ my first fill and am happy to say that there is no evidence of ink staining the window.  To be sure, I'll clean it w/ 20 flushes before refilling.  I don't know why the drier ink doesn't hard start compared to Kon Peki (which I felt also gave me a thicker/less satisfactory line).  This ink is also great for work.  

 

The only downside is that it's not my favorite color of blue... I tend to dislike Royal blues like Pelikan 4001 (my other safe ink) b/c it reminds me of ballpoint blue...  I prefer something Waterman Mysterious Blue or a blue-black.  I don't know if I can add some drops of Herbin Perle Noire safely to the Permanent Blue?  or if I have to get a bottle of MB Permanent black to do the mixing.  Perm Black seems to be out of stock currently.  

 

Ink seems to go quickly or I enjoy writing too much w/ this pen

[RitwijMishra]

1 hour ago, dftr said:

 

 

Edited February 25, 2022 by RitwijMishra
I felt I was digressing from the thread.

[fpupulin]

This was done with a particularly wet ink, Diamine Tobacco Sunburst. The 149 Calligraphy behaves very well, even though this is not the better paper you can use, being a bit porous. After more tha one year just alternating the Black and Blue Permanent inks bybMontblanc, I now find that my pen is very tolerant to a lot of different inks, and never skips. 

[Keyless Works]

Thanks @dftr! Is there really a medium nib version of this pen?

[maclink]

32 minutes ago, Keyless Works said:

Thanks @dftr! Is there really a medium nib version of this pen?

Good question! 🤔

[barutanseijin]

2 hours ago, fpupulin said:

This was done with a particularly wet ink, Diamine Tobacco Sunburst. The 149 Calligraphy behaves very well, even though this is not the better paper you can use, being a bit porous. After more tha one year just alternating the Black and Blue Permanent inks bybMontblanc, I now find that my pen is very tolerant to a lot of different inks, and never skips. 

 

Amazing indeed.

 

 I am awed by your skill.

[dftr]

I am happy to report no staining w/ the First fill of MB perm Blue.  I swapped to Waterman Mysterious Blue and the color suits me better.  I think perm. blue has more purple which I don't care for in a blue.  I do plan to go alternate fills w/ Perm. blue b/c it's useful at work and seems to help keep the pen/piston working great.  I realize others have given great examples/comparisons of the MB Calligraphy to a Spencerian modified Falcon.  I felt it worthwhile to show my basic hand to help manage expectations.  

 

 

The Spencerian nib is clearly the better tool if you wanted to learn or focus on spencerian writing, but I want to point out that I  let the Spencerian nib sit for a year or two after getting frustrated trying to use it/getting ink splattered when the nib got caught.  The MB is just super easy to use and although it isn't a needlepoint, I can probably get a similar degree of line variation (once I get confident to push it   )  The MB is also is much more useful if I have to dash out a pen to print something at work (which is how I use my pens most commonly) so for convenience it comes out ahead.  Seeing the examples of writing here w/ the MBs encourage me to work w/ it and learn how to use it better.  I am also fascinated by how it's being used for Italic and Gothic calligraphy as opposed to a broad edge nib.  

[fpupulin]

I am quite impressed by the quality of your Spencerian and the beautiful strokes you are able to do with the Spencerian modified Falcon.   I have no doubts that, among the two, it is the better nib to formally approach Spencerian writing.

 

I agree with you about the versatility and easy of use of the Calligraphy nib. Today, it is the nib (and pen) I use the most, and for most time. If your nib behaves like mine, I am also sure that taking confidence with it you will learn how to obtain narrower strokes (it writes with almost NO pressure at all) and broader engrossed strokes, resulting in a greatest line variation. 

[Uncial]

That's my experience so far - it takes a bit of time to get used to it. Day one I felt slightly underwhelmed and worried I'd followed hype over function. Day two I was getting more of a "oh, that's pretty good" moment. Day Three was the period of more discovery and so forth. I feel I'm now at the point where I'm really admiring the engineering of the thing. I'm very impressed that they've been able to pull off the seemingly impossible. Only a few days ago I addressed a letter with it and a few hours later sat looking at it thinking, did my hand actually produce that?