My Famous Montblanc 149

[watch_art]

Oye... I'm silly...

 

Edited to add some pics!

 

Some comparison shots with my other two big boys...

 

 

 

Guider Jumbo

MB 149

Edison Herald Grande (with a swapped out nib)

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5249/5251629259_e576d1a5db_b.jpg

 

 

 

The Guider and MB nibs are nearly the same exact size.

 

 

TWSBI, 149, L2K.

 

 

See the hairline crack?

 

THen my first written words with this pen.

the turquoise was the first ink I loaded... and it skipped and wrote poorly... but i wasn't deterred. no. i was excited to take it apart!

 

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5245/5250385447_21ce79222d_z.jpg

mb skipping by watch_art2010, on Flickr

 

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5281/5250385191_281e5463ae_z.jpg

mb cracked1 by watch_art2010, on Flickr

 

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5048/5250385307_2d6dd420a0_z.jpg

mb cracked2 by watch_art2010, on Flickr

 

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5166/5250989686_0a9eff5e0a_z.jpg

mb 1 by watch_art2010, on Flickr

 

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5205/5250385739_73e4c21890_z.jpg

mb 2 by watch_art2010, on Flickr

 

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5121/5250989972_88e0d3c99a_z.jpg

mb 3 by watch_art2010, on Flickr

 

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5290/5250990112_5b554d3f81_z.jpg

mb 4 by watch_art2010, on Flickr

 

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5203/5250990236_459c7c0b94_z.jpg

mb 5 by watch_art2010, on Flickr

 

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5283/5250386529_5c696f44a6_z.jpg

mb 6 by watch_art2010, on Flickr

 

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5244/5250990378_7c8b3f1e8c_z.jpg

mb 7 by watch_art2010, on Flickr

 

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5049/5250386423_293284bc60_z.jpg

mb 8 by watch_art2010, on Flickr

 

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5287/5250990778_8e5c467e4d_z.jpg

mb 9 by watch_art2010, on Flickr

 

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5289/5250386825_72f3728fe2_z.jpg

mb 91 by watch_art2010, on Flickr

 

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5162/5250991106_acd4204163_z.jpg

mb 92 by watch_art2010, on Flickr

[Guest Pjay]

Commiserations on the broken section. Maybe a MB warranty repair?

[watch_art]

Nah. I've already bought a new section from ebay from a seller in Israel. Cheaper that way @ $40 shipped.

[watch_art]

Oh yeah, and there's this.

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/177234-dating-a-149/page__view__findpost__p__1778886

Dating my 149...

[stevlight]

CONGRATULATIONS!!!! MB nibs are NOT "smooth" like a Sailor or Shaeffer nib--it has "feedback" or "tooth"--what ever you call it --I like that I feel more connected to the paper--can feel the paper when drawing. I think you will love it over time. New section on the way--that is good. Ron Zorn {of Main Street Pens} sold me some resin at a pen show to apply to the part where the section and barrel meet. The first time removing a strange 149 that may have bubblegum sealant I heat it with a blow dryer to soften what ever sealant some one might have used--then I use silicone so I don't have to do that in the future. See I told you the Herald Grande and the MB 149 were the same in size!! ENJOY!!

 

Now you just need a Pelikan M1000!!!!!!!!!

[watch_art]

Thanks! Yes I do love it even with it's little bit of tooth. It is much smoother than it was though, but I think most of that is due to the ink flow issue it was having at first. The person I bought it from said he had no problems with it, and probably so, especially if he wrote with it twisted more than I like to do, as it wrote beautifully on its side from the get go, but I grab a pen one way and have to make them all write for ME.

 

The MB does seem a bit short compared to my Herald Grande, though. The body is shorter but the nib makes up for it. Might have to ask Brian to make a new section for me with a very little edge on the end of the section. I seem to really like that.

 

As for the Pel 1000... hmmm.... maybe down the road??

[CS388]

Congratulations, great pen, great review.

 

Man, that section crack must have driven you insane - but pleased that you have sourced a reasonably priced replacement (reasonable by MB standards, anyway). Do you think the pink bubble gum caused it? By not allowing the threads to move independently of the sleeve? Would heat have helped? Just guessing/stabbing in the dark.

 

I like your tweezer tool. I made one from a section of copper pipe, with two teeth cut and ground out of it - but when I tried it, there was no movement and I was using so much force that, in the end, I gave up on it. I didn't need to open it for any reason, it was just curiosity. Maybe sometime in the future, I'll give it another go.

 

I'm sure that you will get many years of joy from this pen. I was a confirmed 146 disciple, before I finally got a 149. Now I feel a change coming on.

 

Here's to a bright new future. (I know there are much more important things in our lives than pens. But, still, the 149 made a big impression on me!)

[watch_art]

Hey cs388!

Thanks!

Yeah, the section crack bummed me at first, but not for too long, especially since MB warranty is always an option, and the fact that I can still use it as is. I don't even notice the crack with my finger. I can see it in the right light, and juuuust feel it with my fingernail, but not too bad. If I had used heat, I wouldn't have had the mess that I did. I knew better, but I just didn't know the sleeve and section attached the way they did. I thought the sleeve was just threaded in, and the section was threaded on separately with the pink stuff.

 

I'll definitely enjoy this pen for a long time to come (I already have these last few days).

[ballboy]

Wow! That was a brave, if nobly foolhardy way to explore a precious icon :bonk:

Well done

[watch_art]

well, i had to fix it. it was too dry for me. like somebody said in a different thread about the mark twain WE, I like my pens sloppy and wet. and now it is. sure the section cracked, but that's a cheap enough part to replace.

[Thornton]

well, i had to fix it. it was too dry for me. like somebody said in a different thread about the mark twain WE, I like my pens sloppy and wet. and now it is. sure the section cracked, but that's a cheap enough part to replace.

 

A kindred spirit! Whenever I see on thread in Inky Thoughts about getting a dry ink for a wet writer I think, "Why would you want too?" Great review, BTW.

[watch_art]

well, i had to fix it. it was too dry for me. like somebody said in a different thread about the mark twain WE, I like my pens sloppy and wet. and now it is. sure the section cracked, but that's a cheap enough part to replace.

 

A kindred spirit! Whenever I see on thread in Inky Thoughts about getting a dry ink for a wet writer I think, "Why would you want too?" Great review, BTW.

 

Yaay wet nibs!

 

And thanks!

[stevlight]

Yaay wet nibs!

 

+1

[tanalasta]

Congratulaions on such a lovely pen. And the handwritten story with diagrams. Great sketches!

 

Commiserations on the section crack and hope you manage to fix it with the replaced section. I can somewhat emphasise as I purchased a 1960's MB 149 with a similar section crack. Alas, it was still leaking despite attempts at sealing it ... and that model has a one piece barrel/section which cannot be so easily replaced. I'm still waiting on it to come back!

[georges zaslavsky]

Congrats on the 149 and thanks for the review I have never had a single crack like that in any of my 149s.

Edited December 18, 2010 by georges zaslavsky

[watch_art]

Got my new section in the mail today, from an ebayer in Haifa, Israel. Yay!!

 

No more crack!

 

And it was only about $40 shipped.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/MONTBLANC-PARTS-149-92-BARREL-GRIP-CONECTOR-BRAND-NEW-/320629246152?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4aa6fe08c8

[Nirmal]

Wow. Great thread. Learned tremendously.

I just got 149, still waiting on it to arrive. It had 18c tricolor nib. So it probably dates back to the 1960s using the "David" chart (from another thread in this wonderful site).

Amazing sketches, and narration. Truly a fountain penner aficionado.