Montblanc Piston Tool, 146, 149

[chas0039]

Even though this subject has been covered before, it took me quite a bit of digging through a number of posts and threads before I came up with everything I needed to make the ideal tool.

 

Many posts talked about home made machining and custom work that they or others had done, but it was only after searching through Google images that I came up with the ideal material and also, the measurements needed.

 

So, the ideal material is an old fork. It has exactly the right strength to do the job, unlike a paper clip, and it has the perfect handle and material; just strong enough to work and just bendable enough to fix with an ordinary pliers. The best feature is that the tines are already near to the correct size so just a little bend and grind with a Dremel and it is ready to go.

 

First, you bend two tines out of the way back toward the handle. Then you bend the two remaining tines about 10 mm apart. Grab the end or each tine close to the tip and bend 45 degrees. You only want 1 mm or so at the tip. Next, grind each tine so that it is 1.2 mm or so square and deep. Think of the notches in the brass fitting as cubes measuring about 1-1.2 mm on each side. Last grind off the curves on the top and inside of the bend to get the part as flat as you can so you can close the blind cap down to hold things firmly.

 

The entire process took me less than 5 minutes.

 

So, you need a fork, a Dremel, a needle nose pliers and a caliper. The tine tips need to be 1-1.2 mm square and long, and 10 mm apart.

 

As I said, I couldn't find this post as it was 9 months old except for looking at a lot of images. As it is an on going issue, I figured it would not hurt to fill in newer users or people who missed it the first time through. All the info in one spot helps a lot and after going through all kinds of scrap material around the garage, the fork is near perfect with a minimum of effort.

 

 

Credit where credit is due.

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/258071-home-made-piston-removing-tool-for-the-mont-blanc-146/

[I like mango cheesecake]

 

Mine is post#18 in the thread you linked

[meiers]

I purchased a professional tool from Max Schrage. Now all my 146 and 149 pens have perfectly smooth piston action.