Old MB Safety Pen

[Bo Bo Olson]

My wife was at a local street flea market and after talking to a stamp collector and buying something from him, he went back in the house and gave my wife an old pen that didn't work for spare parts.

Missing the snowflake that was once there....a white one, not the earlier red cap. 

Occording to Lambrou's book, as I read it: a MB pre-24 Safety Pen. Hard Rubber, old dull and slightly browned.

 

Nib....

Simplo

Pen Co

6

No gold markings.

Weak Kneed Wet Noodle......defiantly in the middle of the dip pen flexibility.  I have 2 &X wet noodles, (and a hand full of dip pens. so know this is what John Swoboda the English nib grinder invented this nib flex description.

 

I had run into a Weak Kneed Wet Noodle once before at a live auction thumbnail testing a MB Safety Pen in much better condition other than missing the tipping of one tine.

 

The tines are just fine. My fancy letter is a capitol L...., Dipped 4001 Pelikan Brilliant Green looks good ...some shading. I'll be sending it to Francis Goossen to be properly re-corked and perhaps a bit more. I use Francis in he boils the fitted cork in oil and beeswax and then slathers it with silicon grease.

 

 

 

I'd had problems with the first safety pen I'd ever seen. Not realizing no one had stolen the nib and feed, just I had to twist it out. The woman behind the counter wouldn't be one to play poker with, she didn't even smile much less grin.

The owner couldn't get the nib out....didn't know how to twist the piston knob.  It worked of course right off the bat for me.

Ch. Niedling Efort was the original owner. Neat to put the city on the pen so it could be delivered to the right police department. to be returned.

 

Safety pen body before the nib is pushed out.

 

Probably get my jeweler to make me a slip on clip....from the era...Snake?

I'll have time to think about that.

[como]

@Bo Bo Olson Huge congratulations! This pen will be awesome after finial reconstruction, new cork fitting and some ebonite de-oxidation etc. Size 6 nib, wow!

[Bo Bo Olson]

was me when my wife handed it to me....

Then I pressed that Simplo  nib against my thumbnail.

I'm going to have to learn to write..........I never expected to own a Weak Kneed Wet Noodle.

I don't take the time to really use my wet noodles, but to have a weak kneed one leaves no excuse.

[Michael R.]

That is a really great find!

Also the cap top can be restored and definitely worth it.

 

Cheers and enjoy in good health! Can't wait to see how this one will turn out.

Michael

[Bo Bo Olson]

3 minutes ago, Michael R. said:

Also the cap top can be restored and definitely worth it.

 I hope so, but wonder if I should do it in green or blue instead of white.

Red is solid and before the snow flake.

[NoType]

Bo Bo Olson, I second como’s and Michael R.’s felicitations to your lovely wife and you on this fascinating find. Please, could you expand a little on “wet noodles” and their difference from “weak-kneed wet noodles” for those of us less experienced with the panapoly of nib characteristics available in the vintage market?  

I will leave others to advise on the colour of the cap top, but in regards to a bespoke slip-on clip, I seem to recall reading somewhere on this forum that adventurous and stylish Montblanc owners before the Second World War commissioned clips fashioned not only in snake shapes but also other animal forms such as monkeys and elephants.  Unfortunately, a quick internet search failed to find any of these other-than-snakes clips or I would have included a few examples here.  I do admire the sterling silver snake clip of my WE A. Christie, but I thought it might be a fun idea for you to branch out to another animal form for this safety pen, provided perhaps that it isn’t more ornate than that of the 1993 Imperial Dragon, and less ostentatious than the dragon clip of the 2000 Year of the Golden Dragon, although I must confess to admiring both dragon clips, finding their baroqueness a good foil to the sobriety of the pen design.
 

[Bo Bo Olson]

I developed a @ system of halves in pressure that works for me.

 

Nail/manifold 1X no tine spread. P-51 and the modern 800.

Semi-nail 2X a light down stroke when Well Mashed..........a touch softer than a nail...P-75 or the modern post '97 Pelikan 400/600 nibs.

 

In a 3 X tine spread set; regular flex, semi-flex and maxi-semi-flex. . One don't want to try to get more tine spread in that leads to a sprung nib. I have @ 35 semi-flex and 15 maxi-semi-flex....will mention a few MB's for the hell of it.

 

Regular flex when Well Mashed will give 3 X a light down stroke. One can't write with the nib so spread.  '74-90 146 x2, W.Germany 149, 2006 Virginia Woolf.

 

Vintage mostly German Semi-flex will give 3 X tine spread with half the pressure of a regular flex. (234 1/2 Deluxe, rolled gold 742)

 

Vintage mostly German Maxi-semi-flex will give 3X with half the pressure of a semi-flex or 1/4th the pressure needed to mash a regular flex to 3 X. (Medium large '50-60 146. Better nib and IMO better balance than the later large 146.)

@ 1 in 5 of the '50-70 (before also in Deugssa (the gold and silver maker in Germany)made the gold band wheels, and the  company they took over the Osmia nib factory  in 1932 for debt. Osmia made semi- & maxi semi-flex nibs.....

I think later sometimes folks got what ever ribbon wheel was handy. The only company that differentiate between semi-& Maxi was Osmia (a coupe guys with with lots of them tell me there too there are Supra nibs that are not Maxi... ) One would think having a nib a bit more flexi than someone else could be a selling point....but it may have been too much effort....for MB, Pelikan, Geha ......

 

My superflex guide is for those rather new to superflex.

 

Mauricio, sells superflex pens. He says it takes a hell of a lot of fiddling, getting the nib and feed 100% right for max flex.  He says the defining lines blur the more superflex you have. He's right.

However .......

""""

*** For beginners or folks without a lot of Superflex, I have three levels of superflex in my system of halves. Easy Full Flex, (have some 5-6-9) of them, Wet Noodle (only 3), and and none (then) of John Swobada/Oxnard on the com's, Weak Kneed Wet Noodle.....

....The more superflex pens you have the less my system works because of the great variance. But for the start it is hand grenade or horseshoe close.

.....it's only @ but it's better than the none from other's before.

 

I do have dip pens that make a wet noodle look uncooked......My new Weak Kneed Wet Noodle is in the middle flex range of my assorted dip pens.

 

Not All Waterman 52's are superflex, not all are Wet Noodles...........you have to buy from someone who knows what he is doing................many sellers over stress the nib to show how wide it spreads for them...........could be they have ruined the nib. Buy for more from someone who knows what they are doing.....and are willing to back up that they sent you a healthy nib........Well you can ruin one in a day....

Not all Superflex nibs do EEF-BBB. I have two. I really have to sweat to get my Hand light enough to make it EEF....I have to think to make it EF...and still a tad heavy handed, the pen writes to an F most of the time if I'm not after wider.

 

Richard Binder has a great 100% must read article in his Com.....his whole site is a 100% need to read....nibs, filling systems, good advice on inks, and so many pens....will only take you three days if you put your mind to it.

So having taken Richard's (one of the three or four folks here ID'd just by his first name) article to heart, strive to never take my Waterman 52 or Soennecken to more than BB..........instead of maxing it to BBB.

 

I have an Easy Full Flex Pelikan 100n superflex that does 5X tine spread, but I only take it to 4X as a max.......I want that nib as is. For $$$$ you can get a sprung nib repaired....I doubt if it's going to be as 100% as it once was.

 

 

Superflex, 4, 5-6 mostly or even the rare 7 X tine spread vs a light downstorke..........require less pressure than the rest to reach their max.

 

Easy Full Flex, 1/8th the pressure needed to make a regular flex mash to 3 X.............it does help to have a bit of experience to know where a max width feels like. Would recommend if buying from a reputable seller what he thinks is it's max.

 

Wet Noodle, half  pressure of Easy Full Flex....or 1/16th the pressure needed to mash a regular flex. (Have two.)

 

My system of halves  falls completely apart ...even more than I had expected. I had expected lower end of dip pens say 1/32nd WAG....not the middle or @  1/64th???

 

The other MB Safety Pen I pressed against my thumb nail at a live auction house warned me it was dip pen flexible....but there was crowd of old guys, older than me... wanting to fondle the pen....I  and knew I stood no chance of winning it....

But sitting here with as much time as I want to 'test' the nib.... I am not maxing it...but testing it against dip pens means one does test it...often enough.

 

 

Weak Kneed Wet Noodles ......middle flex dip pen neighborhood..... A Brause 328M or Mullers #9 oblique is more flexible by a tad...

Is @ = to my Soennecken # 11 or my Hunt Drawing.

 

Not equal to the hunt 99-100-101....Don't have the fabled  Gillette 303/404

 

My '52s taught me a lot.....Mauricio sent them to me....do read what he has to say, he is one of the true experts of superflex.

He said my system was too simple....he's right. But he deals with superflex having seen hundreds to my few, and half of superflex is setting the nib and feed perfectly into the pen. A lot of fiddly work.

My system does let newer folks...no one should be a noobie by the time he gets to superflex....unless he'd bought the Brooklyn Bridge. .

[NoType]

Bo Bo Olson, goodness!  This is so generous of you and deserving to be pinned as a reference.  I respectfully request that the moderators do so.  I cannot thank you enough for this masterclass guide to nib flexion. 

[NoType]

Bo Bo Olson, I will set aside some time to devote to Richard Binder’s site (https://www.indy-pen-dance.com/reference-pages.html) and then Mauricio Aguilar’s site (http://www.vintagepen.net).  I am much indebted to you for these referrals.

[Bo Bo Olson]

I came back to fountain pens after 40 years and found out we didn't know much in the old days...not even to clean our pens.

Others passed me information....I lucked out with some pens...and am happy to pass on what little I've learned, and refer to where I also learned.

 

And we all turn OCD for a while....and I lucked into my subjunctive half pressure system....that works for me. Electric scales don't seem to work. Which would get too fiddly anyway.

One needs a regular flex nib....and there are vintage US nibs that are regular flex. The Pelikan 200 is a very good one, and reasonable.

 

Then one needs a semi-flex nibbed pen. US Wahl- Eversharp made some in the '40's there were a few by Shaeffer in the early '50's,

but are most easily found with German '50-70 pens.

 

Once you have those two  you have an idea of basic flex and can build from there.

[NoType]

Bo Bo Olson, this is wonderful and sage advise for the likes of me, and I very much appreciate it.  I will record notes to myself to which I will refer when contemplating the next acquisition.

[Bo Bo Olson]

My main advice has always been work one's way up the flex ladder.

 

One learns how much the tines spread at what pressure. One lightens one's Hand.**

 

Too many want to jump into the deep side of the pool with out their water wings and go directly from nail to superflex....

There are modern nibs that are ground with slits or half moons that can do superflex, and who cares if they break!!!! But I fear old irreplaceable nibs in the hands of a well to do noobie, who due to pictures in Ebay and youtube nibs being sprung, think superflex is Olympic splits in tine spread.

 

Some 11-12 years ago, a year after I got back into fountain pens. I had read of the 'fabled' semi-flex nibs. I am an American living in Germany.

One presses the nib against one's thumbnail, to see how stiff a nib is. 1 X, 2 X or regular flex 3X.

 

So I was at a flea market and ran into a Pelikan 140. I knew from my reading it was semi-flex. As soon as I pressed it against my thumb nail, I suddenly knew what all the fuss was about.

 

After a year back I was still a hand fisted noobie....(Owning a pen that was locked up in my wife's jewelry prison for 30 years didn't count.)

 

A vintage OB-B is still a writing nib not a signature nib....runs 1/2 + a width narrower than modern...MB or Pelikan.

 

Semi-flex is a tough nib. I being ham fisted I wrote for some 6 weeks at often enough max of 3 X....before I could get down to 2 X mostly and by the end of 3 months, I was down to 1X and a bit of 2X flair on letters one normally writes harder. Line variation. Natural semi-flex flair. When I wanted a fancy decender at the end of a paragraph, I could call it in.

 

When one has lightened one's Hand enough, one can have the advantage of semi-flex which is Line Variation On Demand.

Nail/semi-nail stub or CI is line variation all the time. IMOIt's about all one can do to such nibs to liven them up a tad.

 

Do Not waste your money on any nail.semi-nail or regular flex oblique nibs. With nail or semi-nail there is no line variation ..... with regular flex one needs a Honking Big Magnifying Glass to find it. Where as in semi-flex it is there. A slightly wider line variation pattern of wider to narrower letter shapes.

 

Not even the Pelikan W.Germany slightly more spring than the '90-97 Germany nibbed regular flex nibs show much line variation.....compared to semi-flex oblique.

Left handers can stop reading now.

 

There is a trick to real oblique I came up with** We use to have many, many posts asking how to write with an Oblique and I came up with this trick.

(I have some 15 of them in a mix of 15&30 degree grinds; in semi and in maxi.)

 

....OB is wide and it is easy to learn to cant the nib just a touch. Other obliques OM and OF, being narrower and more precise require a trick to have the pen cant naturally & comfortably. If not canted one thinks the nib scratchy.

 

((( I'd not had my Mercedes BCHR semi-flex pen in my hand for a while. I was astounded....it was scratchy!!!! I was reaching for my micro-mesh when it came to me to check the barrle marking of the pen. It was a OM, so if not held canted...is scratchy. A slight rotation of the nib in my hand to set the cant angle, solved that mistaken scratchy. ))))

 

In I have so many obliques and was so OCD, I discovered most oblique nibs are factory ground to 15 Degrees. There are some that were factory ground to 30 Degrees. I've found none at 22 degrees....yet.

 

If you have vintage semi-flex OBB, OB OM or OF...(I think OEF to be to narrow to really show a pattern, but that is me). First hold the nib up to the light to see what angle of grind it has.

If 15 degrees. post  the cap so the clip is aimed in between the slit and the edge of the shoulder. Grip the pen in air, put to paper and write.....don't do anything fancy ; twisting fingers,  hand, arm or hanging from the chandelier. The nib will be canted/(some call that rotated) so it hits the paper exactly right.

 

If a 30 degree grind, aim the clip at the right shoulder of the nib. Grip in air, put the pen to paper and write.

 

Some folks still had problems, so Richard said, if so, then hold the paper at 90 or 180 degrees instead of the normal 45 degrees.

After that there were very few posts of how to write with an Oblique.

Of course I keep reminding folks of that...could be why there are less posts on how too.

[NoType]

Bo Bo Olson, all of this is invaluable information!  
 

I have no vintage nibs, and wish I had known earlier not to spend money with modern oblique nibs before I acquired these five obliques: a 1970’s 14C bi-colour OM in a 149 (with an Ariel Kullock “Hibiscus” vermeil overlay); a 1980’s 18K bi-colour OB in a 144 (Solitaire Doué Vermeil Bordeaux); a 1990’s 18K bi-colour OB in a 146 Solitaire Silver Barleycorn; and two 2020’s OBB 18K nibs, one each in a 146 Solitaire Silver Fibre Guilloché and a 146 Solitaire Pure Silver.  My next purchase will be a vintage semi-flex oblique.

 

I’ve always wondered why the “semi-flex” nibs create more line than the “regular flex.”  The terminology almost seems to me to be backwards; I would have expected “semi-flex” to be “semi-flexible” and create a portion of the line variation of “regular flex”, which would in my misapprehension be more flexible than “semi-flex.”  So thank you for correcting me here.

 

I never post my pens, and so I didn’t quite understand the significance of your trick with oblique nibs.  I presume that when one writes with a pen that is posted, one always holds the pen in such a way that the clip remains in a certain direction relative to one’s writing hand, so that if one follows your directions to post the pen with the clip in a particular orientation relative to the nib, the way one holds the pen while writing will guide the oblique nib to make full contact with the paper.  I can speculate that one would hold the posted pen so as to prevent the clip from digging into the writing hand, but that still leaves a variety of directions for the clip to face.

 

Writing with pens that are not posted, I am afraid I must content myself with rotating the pen until the nib “finds” it’s proper position and writes smoothly.  To avoid suspending myself from various ceiling appurtenances I sometimes also rotate the paper, but only about 30 to 45 degrees.

 

I am still practising writing with obliques and I am sure I will continue to refer to your helpful advise.

[Bo Bo Olson]

A posted pen seeks it's own balance point...in you are supposed to hold a fountain pen lightly. 

 

I use the forefinger up method of grasping a fountain pen, an automatic light grip. Takes three minutes to learn and up to a week to get use to it. (Down below I'll toss in a couple of pictures....that have nothing to do with obliques. )

 

After you have placed the pen on the paper you can remove the cap if it bothers you like it should with the 149.

 

Soon enough you will learn how to cant any pen enough.

Posting and aiming the clip will be just a guide................or if you ever feel one of your Obliques as scratchy; you are holding the nib too straight and not canted enough.

 

The 146 retains being fairly nimble and fairly light for a Large pen....................The thin Snorkel (a large pen) is much better balanced...ok un-posted...great posted..

You can get away with writing with the cap on or posted with a 146.

I prefer the 146 posted, in it feels to me a bit short un-posted.

 

I grew up in the era of mostly standard or medium large pens and B&W TV.

 

I normally use standard sized pens like the old greatly balanced  MB234 1/2, or Pelikan 200/400 or P-75  that have great balance posted as they were made to be used.

Same goes for medium large pens like the great medium large '50-60 146 or Pelikan 600 or P-51..

 

The old 146 is a total of  1 cm shorter than it's larger lesser balanced  big brother.

I assume the 144 is a tad thinner and smaller than the 146 therefore should have a slight bit better balance. Should be a medium-large pen.

 

The 1 cm smaller 1950-60 medium-large 146 has great balance, and a great nib.

 

Forefinger up grip....can make large un posted pens feel a bit small.

 

Holding lightly can be a problem....it can take up to 6 months or more of effort to lighten one's grip using the classic tripod. It has that pesky press down 10-2 problem.

Forefinger up cures hand pain, fatigue and using too much pressure in gripping a fountain pen.

 

For an automatic light grip learned in three minutes. go to....

 

Help! How Do You Hold Your Fountain Pen?

 

There is a lot of how to place your thumb to set the angle of where your fountain pen rests.

Is also a reason I post my 146's.

 

[NoType]

Bo Bo Olson, thank you for that link!  Even with the forefinger-up “tripod” method, I still manage to maintain too-tight a grip, though not the “death grip” of my original “quadrapod” of childhood.  Clearly, I need more practice.

 

Most of my pens are heavy, and the added weight of the cap as well as fear of scratches have guided me to writing with “unposted” pens.  I’m so accustomed  to it now that it would take a very conscious effort to post a pen, but I appreciate your notes on the balance of particular models being improved by posting them, which I will keep in mind should I be fortunate enough to be able to acquire any of those.

[NoType]

Bo Bo Olson, I’ve just read your post and seen its many photos in the thread “Help! How Do You Hold Your Fountain Pen?” and I now realise that it is because I use a ‘classic tripod” grip that I am still holding the pen too tightly.  I will have to spend weeks, probably months, writing with the thumb positioned at or past the forefinger’s first knuckle crease . . .

[Bo Bo Olson]

Scratch3es....a half a life time ago...or seven years....just before Chinese pens flooded the market, everyone use to buy old used pens and polish them up some.

I only went for a well maintained look....in I was too lazy to work hard for NOS....new old stock.

Semi-chrome was real big back then....bare finger polished, not with cloth, then buffed with flannel. Took three or four times. (Any light chrome polish will do.)

 

Since then there was some sort of jet plane canape polish; whose name I forgot, (tried to order some but they didn't ship to Germany so I can't remember the name.)that has three levels. That is what you want.

Someone will know the product's name.

 

Once you removed the scratches , use renaissance wax and you will never have mars again from posting.

 

I've not waxed my 146's but I post gently so have no mars.

[Bo Bo Olson]

1 minute ago, NoType said:

because I use a ‘classic tripod” grip that I am still holding the pen too tightly.

At 10-2 you are pressing down (pinching) and your finger tips are close, so you can't control where your pen lies. You forcefully hold the pen at an angle, when it might want to rest a bit more into the web of the thumb.

 

I kept reading it can take 6 months of constant effort to lighten up a classic tripod grip.

 

Having nerve pain at the nail junction of my middle finger, hand fatigue from pinching the pen, when someone who can write from the writers section came over to the regular section with that 'Forefinger up' method of grasping a fountain pen. I went for it. Pain will do that for ya.

I use grip for Tripod in that infers to me a harder grab than grasp.

 

It does take only 3 minutes to learn....then a week of using it and tripod until Forefinger Up becomes comfortable.

Will give you a light hand.

It is important that the long flat thumb be at 08:30 so it don't pinch, press ... it just there for the barrel to rest on.= no pressure.

The forefinger lays on top....just supporting not pressing....much....just enough that the pen don't do somersaults out of your hand. A problem with joyful pens.

[NoType]

Bo Bo Olson, regarding scratches, I should have clarified that I meant scratches on polished metal barrels, not on celluloid or resin (although in the early versions of the black resin Heritage Collection 1912 fountain pen, the cap seems to scratch the barrel every time one closes the pen).  
 

I’m not sure if this is the product you are referring to, but earlier this year I purchased the Novus 7100 Plastic Polish Kit, based on a forum member’s recommendation, that has three numbered and named bottles in different colours: “1 Plastic Clean & Shine” (blue), “2 Fine Scratch Remover” (red), and “3 Heavy Scratch Remover” (green).  I haven’t used it yet — I ultimately decided against purchasing the heavily scratched Writers Edition A. Christie for which I’d preemptively purchased the polish kit — but if memory serves, the forum member had recommended that for Montblanc precious resin, one is supposed to skip “3” altogether, start with “2”, and end with “1.”  At the moment I have just a few resin Montblanc’s, which happen to possess that “well maintained” look, so the polish kit remains unopened, perhaps waiting for a vintage semi-flex to arrive (I will need to research if Novus 7100 is safe for celluloid).
 

Regarding the “classic tripod” grip, thank you for this extra information!

[Bo Bo Olson]

9 hours ago, NoType said:

Novus 7100 Plastic Polish Kit,

Yes; that's the polish....what I tried to order ages ago....and they wouldn't ship to Germany. So for my own use, a light chrome polish still does the trick...in I' lazy enough that a well maintained look, is better than near mint.

 

I switched over to Forefinger up a decade or so ago. There are only a few of us that use it. But it is an option. It does give you a light Hand in three minutes....for me it took a week of switching until I was using just Forefinger Up...except on my American P-75 tripod grip...or my similar gripped  Lamy Joy (a long body Safari).

 

For the below....check the repair section, perhaps you need to take some sand paper lightly to the inner threads.

Could start a thread with that.

 

9 hours ago, NoType said:

the cap seems to scratch the barrel every time one closes the pen).