Five 149 Nibs

[Bronze]

Wonderful pictures and drawings!

[fpupulin]

Dear FPNers, I thought you perhaps may like to have a close look to MB 149 nibs through some very enlarged photographs. I took them with a Leica MZ9.5 stereomicroscope fitted with a Leica microscope camera. Strong enlargements are a way to appreciate the great craftsmanship of MB nibmeisters. I have to complete the series with photographs of B, OB, OBB, and O3B nibs, but I still need to buy the pens before...

 

 

As kindly requested by kandarp, I prepared some writing samples of the five nibs to post. They are all made on Moleskine 5 x 8" sketchbook paper. The five samples are not completely comparable, due to the different inks, but I just had the pen inked this way... On the other hand, they all have the same texts with the same lettering to facilitate comparison. These include: normal handwriting, uncial, foundational hand, Medieval insulanum, and gothic alphabets.

 

[ozwill45]

Wonderful post..

[A1979]

 

As kindly requested by kandarp, I prepared some writing samples of the five nibs to post. They are all made on Moleskine 5 x 8" sketchbook paper. The five samples are not completely comparable, due to the different inks, but I just had the pen inked this way... On the other hand, they all have the same texts with the same lettering to facilitate comparison. These include: normal handwriting, uncial, foundational hand, Medieval insulanum, and gothic alphabets

 

Beautiful, thanks a lot for your contribution.

It's almost impossible (at least for me) to notice the difference between EF and F.

Your opinion?

Edited October 3, 2011 by A1979

[floydee1]

Exceptional post. These are points of reference (pun not intended).

Edited October 3, 2011 by floydee1

[fpupulin]

 

As kindly requested by kandarp, I prepared some writing samples of the five nibs to post. They are all made on Moleskine 5 x 8" sketchbook paper. The five samples are not completely comparable, due to the different inks, but I just had the pen inked this way... On the other hand, they all have the same texts with the same lettering to facilitate comparison. These include: normal handwriting, uncial, foundational hand, Medieval insulanum, and gothic alphabets

 

Beautiful, thanks a lot for your contribution.

It's almost impossible (at least for me) to notice the difference between EF and F.

Your opinion?

 

Dear A1979, my EF and F nibs are very similar indeed. May be you can notice that the EF is a bit more "pointed" when writing, and the F is smoother on the paper. This depends, I think, by the shape of the nib point, which is slightly rounded in my F sample. Of course, this perhaps applies only to my nibs, as any MB nib is unique in its character.

[New_Falcon]

Just wanted to add my thanks too.

 

Excellent post and even though I'm not a Montblanc owner, one that I thoroughly enjoyed and will be bookmarking.

 

Thanks again.

[Dave149]

Excellent pictures and a great reference source. I now want OB to replace my B nib

Here's a picture of it* taken with a budget USB microscope - so that everyone can appreciate even more the quality of fpupulin's work and his fantastic gear

 

* - 149 B 1994 (it looks like 17 years of use resulted in a slightly slanted nib, due to my handwriting, so I guess I'm already half way to OB nib )

[A1979]

Dear A1979, my EF and F nibs are very similar indeed. May be you can notice that the EF is a bit more "pointed" when writing, and the F is smoother on the paper. This depends, I think, by the shape of the nib point, which is slightly rounded in my F sample. Of course, this perhaps applies only to my nibs, as any MB nib is unique in its character.

 

Thank you for the explanation!

I would like to buy my first 149 with F or EF nib, and was just trying to collect some information on this subject. I already tested both, but only for few minutes.

[dannzeman]

Very awesome! Thank you for sharing.

[Mikale]

I found this thread to be very helpful in learning the nib sizes, for us newbie fpn users. I put in my vote to pinned this thread

[fpupulin]

Excellent pictures and a great reference source. I now want OB to replace my B nib

Here's a picture of it* taken with a budget USB microscope - so that everyone can appreciate even more the quality of fpupulin's work and his fantastic gear

 

* - 149 B 1994 (it looks like 17 years of use resulted in a slightly slanted nib, due to my handwriting, so I guess I'm already half way to OB nib )

 

Hi Dave 149, good to see another FPNer with a 149 under the microscope... Your nib looks fantastic. I also want to try a B nib: not sure, but I feel I will like it very, very much for daily use.

[nicholasyeo]

This brings me memories of the Japanese pen magazines. Only the Japanese have been as

detailed and obsessed about their fountain pens to take such close ups of the nibs! I saw a

Sailor nib in that magazine this up close, it was luscious and beautiful!

[Dave149]

 

Hi Dave 149, good to see another FPNer with a 149 under the microscope... Your nib looks fantastic. I also want to try a B nib: not sure, but I feel I will like it very, very much for daily use.

 

Thanks I wish I could photograph it with better lighting and a decent lens, but this microscope has built-in LED light, which I cannot control, unfortunately, and the resolution, well, you can see ... Incidentally, the avatar pic which I did with the same microscope is not too bad iMO, but as you go closer, its limitations are more obvious.

 

Despite having a rather extensive Montblanc collection, I only have one daily use fountain pen, and it's my trusty old 149 - I have a suspicion, that over the years I've broaden the B nib somewhat, and I like it even better now I've yet to try non-MB ink though, and after reading some posts here, am going to shortly.

Edited October 14, 2011 by Dave149