Genuine Or Fake - Montblanc Meisterstuck Tribute To The Mont Blanc Fountain Pen 106844

[rusty-pie]

I am using cartridges of Montblanc mystery black ink. I mostly use the pen on commercial printer paper, as I have to mark up and sign printed documents, or on standard notebooks. I have also tried and on a large notepad found in a upmarket hotel room with paper more absorbing than normal, and it was a bit wetter even though the edges weren't as crisp.

 

Is there any recommended nibmeister in the south of England?

 

Also, is there any cleaning worth trying before visiting the nibmeister, e.g. I've read about immersing the nib and feeder in a mug of hot water?

[CS388]

Also, is there any cleaning worth trying before visiting the nibmeister, e.g. I've read about immersing the nib and feeder in a mug of hot water?

 

I'm not sure if I'd do this, owing to the metal section?

 

How many cartridges of ink have you put through it? If it is a brand new pen, it may take a while for the feed to become fully saturated in ink, this can be a cause of skipping in new pens. I'd hold it over a sink (eg) and squeeze a few drops slowly through it. Once the feed is full, it should keep writing nicely.

 

If it is a used pen, it may have dried ink in the channels. In this case it may need a thorough cleaning. You can buy pen-flush solutions and run them through the section using a converter. Or, it may need a long soak.

I wouldn't use hot water, myself.

 

I'd keep a nibmeister as a last resort. Try cleaning or saturating the feed first.

 

Good luck.

[Pravda]

I would say definitely use a converter. Montblanc ink has been iffy in my Montblanc pens last few years. They're not the wettest of inks. That being said, cartridges go bad easily for a number of reasons. And when they don't go bad, my experience air bubbles and what not made them a big no for me. Converters I have found to disperse ink much more readily

[parban]

"Also, is there any cleaning worth trying before visiting the nibmeister, e.g. I've read about immersing the nib and feeder in a mug of hot water?"

 

That could be used to make the flow normal but wont make the nib smooth.

[rusty-pie]

I would not say that the pen is used, it seemed rather that it had been handled previously, maybe it was a display item or a piece from a collection. Obviously someone could have maliciously washed, cleaned and refitted the factory empty cartridge to make it look unused, I don't think there is any way of finding out.

 

This morning I've noticed that if I drag very gently (with no pressure) my fingernail side by side across the slit between the tines, it catches slightly left to right but not right to left, as if the right tine is slightly raised compared to the left. It is not visible, it must be by a few hundreds of mm. Could this be the problem? Can i resolve it at home?

[CS388]

Well ... yes, you can. You can gently manipulate it with finger and thumb (or fingernail and thumbnail) and by applying gentle pressures on a writing pad, until you get the writing experience you're looking for.

 

BUT - it's an expensive pen to experiment with, if you've never done it before.

 

Have you got some old 99p fountain pens lurking in an old drawer, somewhere. far better to practise on this sort of thing, than on your pride and joy.

[rusty-pie]

Are there any other brands of ink cartridges that are recommend instead of the montblanc ones? Unfortunately I cannot use bottled ink for practical reasons......

[CS388]

Standard international cartridges. Available at low cost from W.H. Smith, Staples etc etc.

[TheRealMikeDr]

My brand new 146 (purchased from an MB boutique) with an EF nib was pretty scratchy out of the box. I smoothed it myself (no guts no glory) with some micromesh and mylar and it's now a pretty smooth writer!

 

From my experience there isn't' much correlation between price paid and smooth writers!

[TheRealMikeDr]

I would not say that the pen is used, it seemed rather that it had been handled previously, maybe it was a display item or a piece from a collection. Obviously someone could have maliciously washed, cleaned and refitted the factory empty cartridge to make it look unused, I don't think there is any way of finding out.

 

This morning I've noticed that if I drag very gently (with no pressure) my fingernail side by side across the slit between the tines, it catches slightly left to right but not right to left, as if the right tine is slightly raised compared to the left. It is not visible, it must be by a few hundreds of mm. Could this be the problem? Can i resolve it at home?

 

Do you have a loupe? That's a fairly easy one to fix but you will 100% need a good loupe before trying to align the tines.

[rusty-pie]

I've popped in staples to buy some different ink, they only had cheap stuff 50 cartridges for £2.99, seem to be somehow better than the montblanc, is there any risk of damaging the pen though?

 

Also managed to level and straighten the nib using my fingernails, as the tip seemed to point upwards a bit, is it supposed to be like that?

 

Regarding the suggestion to smoothen the tip, I believe my nib is rhodium coated gold, would not damage the coating if I use any kind of abrasive?

 

In staples I've also picked up a pilot disposable fountain pen for.......... £1.99!!!!! Smooth as a babies bottom and has not skipped once. Are expensive pens meant for display cabinets and not for writing?

[Harunie]

 

Do you have a loupe? That's a fairly easy one to fix but you will 100% need a good loupe before trying to align the tines.

 

While risky, i have noticed that if you have a mirror with a decent chunk of glass in front of it, you could actually put the nib to the glass on the mirror and see/teste the alignment of the nib as the distance between the glass and mirror should provide you enough of a background to carefully see the alignment. Granted, if you had a loupe this would be even better of an option.

[parban]

"Are expensive pens meant for display cabinets and not for writing?"

 

Smoothness of nib is a matter of luck ofttimes.But in general I rarely found scratchy nibs in expensive pens.Exceptions being Fine or Extra Fine points for obvious reasons.

[TheRealMikeDr]

I've popped in staples to buy some different ink, they only had cheap stuff 50 cartridges for £2.99, seem to be somehow better than the montblanc, is there any risk of damaging the pen though?

 

Also managed to level and straighten the nib using my fingernails, as the tip seemed to point upwards a bit, is it supposed to be like that?

 

Regarding the suggestion to smoothen the tip, I believe my nib is rhodium coated gold, would not damage the coating if I use any kind of abrasive?

 

In staples I've also picked up a pilot disposable fountain pen for.......... £1.99!!!!! Smooth as a babies bottom and has not skipped once. Are expensive pens meant for display cabinets and not for writing?

 

Those Pilot Varsity pens are actually pretty nice for what they are - but they write a bit wet and broad for my tastes.

 

I use my 146 on a daily basis and it's probably one of my better writers - but it's been my experience that any pen, regardless of the price, may need some tweaking before it writes the way I want it to write.