Newbie Questions About A 149

[debwolfe]

Total fountain pen newbie here. Although I've had the pen for years now, I only recently got motivated to give my Dad's 70s vintage 149 a good cleaning and fill it with fresh ink. It's working well, but I have a couple of questions.

 

Is there any way to tell what size the nib is? It makes a thicker line than my husband's Nemosine Fission, which I'm sure has a medium nib. I understand that Japanese nibs tend to be finer for the same rating, so my guess is that it's a medium.

 

The feed and the nib are not perfectly aligned. The pen seems to be writing just fine, so is this something I should do something about?

 

Somewhere along the line, the cap that moves the piston has decided to not tighten down against the pen body. This started after I'd cleaned the pen to change inks. I fear that I may have gotten something out of whack during the number of cleaning cycles it took to get the pen working in the first place. Can I live with this, or is it an indication of something bad?

 

Thanks for your thoughts.

[Chrissy]

I think your best option would be to send it to Montblanc for a service. It will cost something like $70 and will come back looking as good as new. The piston should definitely be tightening down against the pen body, so something has gone wrong there. For Montblanc, that will be a simple fix = a complete new piston assembly.

 

You should ask them to look at the alignment of the nib and feed too. That will be included in the 1st level service.

[zaddick]

If yuo can post a picture and a writing sample it will be fairly easy to tell you the nib size. Otherwise they are unmarked and they can vary because they are all hand finished and yours will alos likely have wear.

 

Yes, the piston cone should sit flush. it is likely that the piston rod is a little off. I had this happen when i took apart a 146 and put it back together too fast. i then lost the tool so I cannot take it back apart. It should not afffect function, but it is not correct. Same witht he out of whack feed.

 

Sending to MB, they will just replace any parts and you will get a different pen back, not your dad's. If you want to keep the pen closer to it's current state I recommend Brad Torelli to restore you pen and give it a service. He can preserve all the original parts (unless they are broken) and leave the pen as it is, except totally functional. If you want it polished up a bit he can do that too. It should probably be cheaper than MB service and likely faster if he is not backloged.

 

I have not affiliation other than being a long time happy customer. he makes great custom pens and used to even be an MB delaer many years ago.

[Tom Kellie]

[jar]

You have not said where you are located but it's likely that all that's needed is a service by someone who knows what they are doing. If you tell us your general location I'm sure we can make suggestions.

[debwolfe]

(I don't seem to be able to upload images to this site, but I seem to have managed to find a way. Guess I'm still too new to FPN.)

 

I live in the Dallas/Fort Worth metromess. I just managed to miss last month's annual pen show, but I've joined the Dallas Pen Collectors Club and hope to get to a club breakfast or a meeting soon.

 

There's definitely a decision to be made about whether to send the pen to MB or to have someone like Brad Torelli fix it with minimal changes. It does have a certain amount of sentimental value. I'm pretty handy, and wouldn't mind learning to fix these things myself, but this is not the pen to learn on!

 

And here's the writing sample!

 

http://debwolfe.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Montblanc149-WritingSample-Rhodia.jpg

[Tom Kellie]

~ debwolfe:

 

That's lovely!

Thank you for posting the handwriting sample.

It writes well.

I admire your interest in learning to work on it.

Tom K.

[jar]

(I don't seem to be able to upload images to this site, but I seem to have managed to find a way. Guess I'm still too new to FPN.)

 

I live in the Dallas/Fort Worth metromess. I just managed to miss last month's annual pen show, but I've joined the Dallas Pen Collectors Club and hope to get to a club breakfast or a meeting soon.

 

There's definitely a decision to be made about whether to send the pen to MB or to have someone like Brad Torelli fix it with minimal changes. It does have a certain amount of sentimental value. I'm pretty handy, and wouldn't mind learning to fix these things myself, but this is not the pen to learn on!

 

And here's the writing sample!

 

 

If you decide to get it serviced (and that's what I would do) you can expect it to cost no more than if you sent it to Montblanc and get a far happier outcume. MB is great if there are broken pieces parts or a cracked body but not for general service. MB is a replace philosophy while others are restore.

 

Brad is a great option among many great options. Just down the road in Houston there is Dromgoole's on Rice Blvd and they too are a treasure.

[meiers]

Welcome to FPN. The 149 is a treasure. Thanks for all the cool writing samples.

[meiers]

Tom. What paper are you using?

[Charles Rice]

I would not worry too much about the nib and feed being perfectly in-line. For some reason my got slightly off, and it was not problem to gently re-allign it by hand.

[jmccarty3]

Debwolfe,

 

So glad to hear from someone else in this area! It's a shame you weren't able to make it to the show, but you should enjoy the activities of the Dallas Pen Club. I have to come from some distance away, so it's not possible for me to make it to the regular meetings held during the week, but I have had a wonderful time at the Saturday breakfasts, and I hope to meet you at the next one.

 

I strongly second jar's recommendation to send your pen to someone like Brad Torelli rather than to Montblanc for service. If your pen is from the '70s, you will not want to risk having its nib and feed replaced with the current inferior ones, which Montblanc is likely to do. Brad has an impeccable reputation, and repairing your pen will be an easy job for him. You have a valuable heirloom that should provide years of writing pleasure. Congratulations!

[Tom Kellie]

Tom. What paper are you using?

 

 

~ Student homework paper from the university where I teach.

I cut off the top with a garish logo, trim both the sides and lower area.

I purchased a pad last week to test its suitability for an OBBB or BB nib.

To my surprise, it works well.

Tom K.

[debwolfe]

So glad to hear from someone else in this area! ...

 

Well, howdy, neighbor! I see you are in Fort Worth. I'm up/over in Keller. I'm looking forward to meeting more pen people.

[Zdenek]

(I don't seem to be able to upload images to this site, but I seem to have managed to find a way. Guess I'm still too new to FPN.)

 

I live in the Dallas/Fort Worth metromess. I just managed to miss last month's annual pen show, but I've joined the Dallas Pen Collectors Club and hope to get to a club breakfast or a meeting soon.

 

There's definitely a decision to be made about whether to send the pen to MB or to have someone like Brad Torelli fix it with minimal changes. It does have a certain amount of sentimental value. I'm pretty handy, and wouldn't mind learning to fix these things myself, but this is not the pen to learn on!

 

And here's the writing sample!

 

http://debwolfe.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Montblanc149-WritingSample-Rhodia.jpg

 

 

Hi debwolfe and welcome to 149 club.

As to the cleaning a piston filler pen: I rinse the pen only several times with water. Then I fill the reservoir (leaving no air bubble in it) of the pen with water and immerse the nib and a part of the section into a glass with clean water. I recommend to let the process undisturbed - it is interesting to observe the flow of coloured stream flowing from the feed. It is very efficient way how to clean an FP. I call this "MB process" for myself. A lady who worked for MB boutique and trained in service recommended me that.

I can estimate the nib as M.

Edited October 22, 2016 by Zdenek

[Zdenek]

 

 

 

 

Hi Tom,

It appears your handwriting gets better. Maybe the narrower nibs fit better your writing style. On the other hand the thick nibs are great, aren't they? :-)

Edited October 22, 2016 by Zdenek