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Repairing A Broken "cigar" Montegrappa


fountainbel

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Hi All,

 

Just repaired a broken "Montegrappa cigar"

 

This surely is the most complex pen I've ever repaired.

 

Specially the cam driven mechanism to make the hidden ink window visible is mechanically impressing !

 

Unfortunately the plexiglas barrel broke at its weakest point , the wall being only 1.25 mm thick at this spot.

 

On the first picture you can see the broken pen and a section drawing I made , showing :

 

- On the upper half : the original design

 

- On the lower half : the way I've repaired the pen

 

The uncapped pen broke falling nearly flat on a wooden parquet floor.

 

Being a heavy pen - the uncapped pen weighs 50 grams – the thin wall could not withstand the inertia forces generated at contact with the floor.

 

The customer , being very disappointed - did not want a repair "as original" by Montegrappa, being afraid it could happen again.

 

He insisted in having a stronger design which could withstand breakage when it would happen again

 

As shown on the lower half of the drawing, I've made a threaded fixation of the ink window housing in the section, secured with epoxy..

 

The "ink window housing" is made from light brown Ketron Peek, a very though an hard high-tech plastic.

 

Making a 6mm long collar on the plexiglas barrel end, the just fitting housing was then installed over the barrel end and secured with epoxy

 

The barrel/section fixation is now mechanically much stronger to withstand breakage .

 

And aesthetically rather pleasing, at least I think .

 

 

Comments and critique are welcome as always.

 

Francis

 

PS :This is a huge pen, rather disappointing to see it can only hold 1ml of ink ( after the repair only 0.9ml)

 

http://i62.photobuck...ppaCigar002.jpg (Broken pen & drawing)

 

 

http://i62.photobuck...ppaCigar001.jpg ( New ink window housing)

 

 

http://i62.photobuck...ppaCigar003.jpg ( Ink window mechanism revealed)

http://i62.photobuck...ppaCigar004.jpg ( Fully assembled : New ink window retracted)

http://i62.photobuck...ppaCigar005.jpg ( Fully assembled : New ink window visible)

Edited by fountainbel
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  • Mookli

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Nice pen ! Great work, well done !

http://i973.photobucket.com/albums/ae218/petitdauphinzele/midnightblue-1.png

aka Petitdauphinzele

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Amazing work! I hope Montegrappa pays some attention to your design.

The Moonwalk Pen - honoring Apollo lunar landings
4-x-2-advertisement-copy-reduced-size.jp

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  • 4 months later...

Wow, How a great job.

I also have a Cigar pen. But the piston system is very tight. I do not know how to treat it.

Do you have the same problem? and how to treat it?

 

Best

 

hjc

 

Hi All,

 

Just repaired a broken "Montegrappa cigar"

 

This surely is the most complex pen I've ever repaired.

 

Specially the cam driven mechanism to make the hidden ink window visible is mechanically impressing !

 

Unfortunately the plexiglas barrel broke at its weakest point , the wall being only 1.25 mm thick at this spot.

 

On the first picture you can see the broken pen and a section drawing I made , showing :

 

- On the upper half : the original design

 

- On the lower half : the way I've repaired the pen

 

The uncapped pen broke falling nearly flat on a wooden parquet floor.

 

Being a heavy pen - the uncapped pen weighs 50 grams – the thin wall could not withstand the inertia forces generated at contact with the floor.

 

The customer , being very disappointed - did not want a repair "as original" by Montegrappa, being afraid it could happen again.

 

He insisted in having a stronger design which could withstand breakage when it would happen again

 

As shown on the lower half of the drawing, I've made a threaded fixation of the ink window housing in the section, secured with epoxy..

 

The "ink window housing" is made from light brown Ketron Peek, a very though an hard high-tech plastic.

 

Making a 6mm long collar on the plexiglas barrel end, the just fitting housing was then installed over the barrel end and secured with epoxy

 

The barrel/section fixation is now mechanically much stronger to withstand breakage .

 

And aesthetically rather pleasing, at least I think .

 

 

Comments and critique are welcome as always.

 

Francis

 

PS :This is a huge pen, rather disappointing to see it can only hold 1ml of ink ( after the repair only 0.9ml)

 

http://i62.photobuck...ppaCigar002.jpg (Broken pen & drawing)

 

 

http://i62.photobuck...ppaCigar001.jpg ( New ink window housing)

 

 

http://i62.photobuck...ppaCigar003.jpg ( Ink window mechanism revealed)

http://i62.photobuck...ppaCigar004.jpg ( Fully assembled : New ink window retracted)

http://i62.photobuck...ppaCigar005.jpg ( Fully assembled : New ink window visible)

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Hi hjc,

I don't own the pen, only repaired it.

Ther were no problems with the piston seal, it moved problem free

I only applied a small amount of silicone grease to the piston seal when assembling,

Francis

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Hi, Francis

 

Thanks for your kind response.

I think even remove the nib from the section could not add any silicone grease to it. I found a small white metalic pin in the plastic holder of the piston, but cannot remove it, it also too tight not likely in the 360 revolution FP of OMA.

 

Anyway , very appreciate.

 

hjc

 

Hi hjc,

I don't own the pen, only repaired it.

Ther were no problems with the piston seal, it moved problem free

I only applied a small amount of silicone grease to the piston seal when assembling,

Francis

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  • 3 years later...

Greetings Fountainbel

I have a Montegrappa Cigar with the notorious snapped off section damage, and the additional issue from some genius deciding to try to fix it with super glue.

It has some other body damage that also will need to be addressed.

I read you bio, and we could be kin, I am a machinist, engineer, etc, retired with a compulsive need to fix things.

So I think I am up to this, and the only thing that scared me is the super glue thing. (I hate that stuff)

I have movement on the piston, but not on the ink window, or main assemble.

How did you remove the mechanism from the body?

since there is some glue in play I need to know exactly how to approach this.

Thanks in advance.

 

Mark

http://www.maryhatay.com/Mark/Fountain-Pens/Mixed-Pens/i-qv5h3mN/0/O/atramentum%20Digitis%20small.jpg

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Greetings Fountainbel again,

Sorry for the panic post, but I found the bypass cam path and pen is now completely dissembled.

It was a problem as the internal assembly was glued to the barrel.

I froze the pen with liquid nitrogen and gave the internal assembly a sharp rap with a wooden dowel and the glue popped loose. Domestic super glues cant' handle cold!

I will need to do some cleanup from the glue damage, but your fix should still work.

I will study your drawing in detail and drop you a line if needed.

Thanks

m

http://www.maryhatay.com/Mark/Fountain-Pens/Mixed-Pens/i-qv5h3mN/0/O/atramentum%20Digitis%20small.jpg

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Greetings Fountainbel again,

Sorry for the panic post, but I found the bypass cam path and pen is now completely dissembled.

It was a problem as the internal assembly was glued to the barrel.

I froze the pen with liquid nitrogen and gave the internal assembly a sharp rap with a wooden dowel and the glue popped loose. Domestic super glues cant' handle cold!

I will need to do some cleanup from the glue damage, but your fix should still work.

I will study your drawing in detail and drop you a line if needed.

Thanks

m

Hi Mookli,

Just read your posting and want to wish you success with the repair !

i highly recommend using the Ketron Peek for the new connection nipple you'll have to make

This material - being very hard and though - will ensure its a lifetime repair!

Francis

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Thanks for the response,

I agree Peek is a great material. and If I had had some in stock I might have used it,

So I got to thinking, if piston service is needed, like in 40 years, there is no way to access it.

I decided to use the same technique as you did, but make it removable.

O ring up front to seal and retaining fingers that clip into a grove. For the front coupler I chose titanium, clean and springy, reasonable to machine. Polycarbonate for the barrel. (The old barrel was beyond repair).

The front coupler works quite well. The clips can be pried up and a small piece of shim stock inserted under the catch, then it slides right off.

When assembled, strong and secure.

 

I did a bench assembly today, to check fit and am reasonable content.

 

 

 

http://www.maryhatay.com/Mark/Fountain-Pens/Mixed-Pens/i-hHBkpzL/0/L/20150421_111555-L.jpg

 

http://www.maryhatay.com/Mark/Fountain-Pens/Mixed-Pens/i-4xcJncf/0/L/20150421_150847-L.jpg

http://www.maryhatay.com/Mark/Fountain-Pens/Mixed-Pens/i-qv5h3mN/0/O/atramentum%20Digitis%20small.jpg

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Nice alternative approach, congratulations !

However mounting your new connector internally - inside - in the barrel will restrict the piston stroke in my opinion…...

Or am I wrong ?

Francis

Thanks for the response,

I agree Peek is a great material. and If I had had some in stock I might have used it,

So I got to thinking, if piston service is needed, like in 40 years, there is no way to access it.

I decided to use the same technique as you did, but make it removable.

O ring up front to seal and retaining fingers that clip into a grove. For the front coupler I chose titanium, clean and springy, reasonable to machine. Polycarbonate for the barrel. (The old barrel was beyond repair).

The front coupler works quite well. The clips can be pried up and a small piece of shim stock inserted under the catch, then it slides right off.

When assembled, strong and secure.

 

I did a bench assembly today, to check fit and am reasonable content.

 

 

 

http://www.maryhatay.com/Mark/Fountain-Pens/Mixed-Pens/i-hHBkpzL/0/L/20150421_111555-L.jpg

 

http://www.maryhatay.com/Mark/Fountain-Pens/Mixed-Pens/i-4xcJncf/0/L/20150421_150847-L.jpg

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Hi,

The end with the M5 is external to the plastic cylinder, there is no internal obstruction. Since I made a new cylinder, I could make it as long as needed.

That being said, I did make it shorter on purpose. The outer barrel, with the brown celluloid was also damaged. I removed 2 mm to clean it up. So i shortened the cinder assembly by the same amount.

Yes, I do realize that I reduced the volume of ink but I can hardly imagine anyone writing a manuscript with a cigar! It more a expensive toy to impress the guys at the golf course!.

http://www.maryhatay.com/Mark/Fountain-Pens/Mixed-Pens/i-qv5h3mN/0/O/atramentum%20Digitis%20small.jpg

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Well the cigar is fixed!

Despite a whole bunch of problems, she writes again, and does it well.

What would Freud say, "Sometimes a cigar is just a pen!"

 

http://www.maryhatay.com/Mark/Fountain-Pens/Mixed-Pens/i-qWdQRQ2/0/M/20150422_152524-M.jpg

 

http://www.maryhatay.com/Mark/Fountain-Pens/Mixed-Pens/i-NbVWZcG/0/M/IMG_7197-M.jpg

 

http://www.maryhatay.com/Mark/Fountain-Pens/Mixed-Pens/i-kSrQg7T/0/M/IMG_7205-M.jpg

 

http://www.maryhatay.com/Mark/Fountain-Pens/Mixed-Pens/i-qdSmNXt/0/XL/20150422_152926-XL.jpg

http://www.maryhatay.com/Mark/Fountain-Pens/Mixed-Pens/i-qv5h3mN/0/O/atramentum%20Digitis%20small.jpg

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Correction !!!

The method above is a poor solution.

The whole aesthetic element got lost in the mechanical reinforcement.

I remade the cylinder, close to the original part with a little more material around the section area.

I like this one a lot more, Now that's a ink window!

 

http://www.maryhatay.com/Mark/Fountain-Pens/Mixed-Pens/i-CBfffGn/0/L/IMG_1121-L.jpg

 

http://www.maryhatay.com/Mark/Fountain-Pens/Mixed-Pens/i-9G3rjZt/0/L/IMG_1123-L.jpg

 

http://www.maryhatay.com/Mark/Fountain-Pens/Mixed-Pens/i-m8mZWgN/0/L/IMG_1128-L.jpg

http://www.maryhatay.com/Mark/Fountain-Pens/Mixed-Pens/i-qv5h3mN/0/O/atramentum%20Digitis%20small.jpg

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Logic thinking, well done Mookli !

Given the existing polycarbonate barrel was beyond repair, this is the optimum repair approach !

Although you should try to polish the new polycarbonate barrel better so it becomes really transparent……...

Francis

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Yes, I probably will polish it out.

http://www.maryhatay.com/Mark/Fountain-Pens/Mixed-Pens/i-qv5h3mN/0/O/atramentum%20Digitis%20small.jpg

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