Need some suggestions from some MB old hands. I have a 1980s 146 and a new 145. I have tried to use Noodler's Black-Blue regular but it seeps out of the slit on the nib so bad I have given up on it. Right now I am using Waterman Blue-Black because I don't have that problem with it. Does anyone have any suggestions on other blue-black that works without seeping?

Hey,

if you want to hear my oppinion, i wouldnt use blue black inks. blue black inks are iron gall inks, and that means that you have to clean your pen very good to avoid corrosion. i have seen how this "damaged " a 144..
and for new fountain pens i would use Mont Blanc ink-because of the guarantee..

greetings
argiro

Very few modern blue-blacks are iron gall, although the MB one is. You should get good results from Waterman, Parker, and Noodler's blue-black among others. The creep you desccribe is a property of Noodler's bulletproof formulation and doesn't trouble not-bluuetproof inks in their range.

And we've been through all this guarantee stuff here a number of times. Use any ink you like, as long as it's fountain pen ink. Using non MB ink will only impact your guarantee if it can be shown that it is use of the ink that caused the damage you are seeking to be fixed, a highly unlikely situation. As others have pointed out, it would be difficult to establish what ink you've been using in any given pen after a flush or two in any case.

Ray

The only commonly available iron-gall blue-black inks are Mont Blanc and Lamy (same formula, different bottles), and Diamine's Registrar's ink.

Blue-black ink from Pelikan, Waterman, Sheaffer, Parker, Noodler, Diamine (non-registrar), Visconti, Private Reserve, Caran d'Ache, Omas, Herbin, etc, are all non-iron-gall inks and won't clog a pen that way (however, if you let the ink dry in the pen for a few months, it will still clog).

I also concur with Ray here, using a non-MB brand of fountain pen ink will not void the guarantee. For a definitive answer on this, give Mont Blanc customer service a call.

I am not worried about warranty due to using a non-Montblanc ink, I am concerned about ink seeping out of the slit in the nib like Spiderman 3 and taking over the nib! Darn Noodler's!

Okay, Louis, relax...you're in safe hands...

Ray and Kalesssin are quite right. You may use Parker Quink blue-black for your Montblanc with no adverse affects. I've used my own mixture of Quink-black and Sheaffer-Skrip blue, black and Quink blue (I had a lot of random cartridges around. I cut them open and mixed them all together in an empty bottle...it came out a beautiful dark purply blue! ) and I've never regretted it.

General rule of thumb is that if the ink is fountain pen ink, you can use it in your fountain pen (obviously). And I've never known Quink or Skrip blue-black to ever leak out of the nibs of the pens which they were put into.

(My Montblanc is a 145 too, so I speak from personal experience, here).

In my experience, the "big name" commercial inks generally don't have any problems creeping out onto the nib. I have had problems with some colors from Noodler's and Private Reserve. Your mileage may vary.

Private Reserve brand inks also work well.