A Small Evolution of the Montblanc 149

[vintagefplover]

Hello everyone, this is my first post here, please tell me if I have done anything wrong or if there is any wrong information here. 

Here is a small evolution of the MB 149 from ~1972-1989

I guess I was just bored and decided to take apart my Montblanc 149s 😛

IMG_8583.HEICIMG_8582.HEIC

 

Nibs: Went from bi-colour 18/14C to bi-colour 18/14K

Softness has been significantly reduced after MB switched to the ‘K’ nibs. Old ones display more softness/flexibility.

An interesting marking is to be seen on the back of the 18K dual tone nib. Any information would be appreciated.

IMG_8589.HEICIMG_8591.HEICIMG_8590.HEIC

 

Feeds: Went from solid ebonite to split ebonite.

The split ebonite is really innovative, when you press on the nib, half of the nib bends with the nib and stays contact, preventing railroading and keeping ink flow good.

IMG_8592.HEICIMG_8593.HEIC

 

Caps:

The font changed 3 times. In the oldest font, diagonal recession lines form the text.

The middle one has fully recessed letters, with further recessed diagonal lines.

The newest one is similar to the middle one but with more rounded corners and similar to modern models.

The derby used to directly be screwed onto the cap top, with a protruding screw at the top. Then it switched to be using a screw to screw on the derby.

IMG_8587.HEICIMG_8584.HEIC

 

Clips:

The marking ‘GERMANY’ seemed to be more precise in the later clips, where it used to be hand-engraved. The design also changed, top of the clip became more squared from the curved design. The protruding part at the bottom of the clip also became more rounded.

IMG_8585.HEIC

 

Piston:

The piston remained the same and it was half plastic with plastic threads. It later was changed to fully brass in later models.

IMG_8594.HEIC

 

Barrel:

They are all single-unit barrels with a small step down below the threads. Dual-unit barrels can also be found in the mid-late 1980's, they have a different end to the section, and the section can screw off. (not in the images)

IMG_8597.HEICIMG_8596.HEICIMG_8595.HEIC

 

I hope you would've found this information interesting and useful, thank you for reading!

IMG_8582.HEIC

Edited January 12, 2021 by vintagefplover

[vintagefplover]

I'll share my restoration of a 1960's Montblanc 149 with a friction fit piston soon, along with a comparison of the features of that pen with the others. Stay tuned!

[Mr.Rene]

Interesting but try to load photos...do not atacched files,please. Regards.

[Barry Gabay]

Happy New Year and welcome to the website, vintagefplover. Thank you for your research. Look forward to seeing your photos, but I am unable to open them now. Have you seen the 149 chart at the top of this section of the website? It is titled "Updated Montblanc 149 Trends Table"  Quite interesting & comprehensive. It will help with further 149  research.

 

One more comment, please : Line one under your topic: NIbs.  The two-tone 18K nib did not appear in North America until 1992.  Perhaps in other places the two-tone 18K nib was present in 1989, though I have not read or seen documentation of that. 

 

Thanks again for your research & photos. 

Best wishes, 

Barry

[CS388]

Welcome to FPN.

 

I'm very much looking forward to see how you removed the friction fit filler.

Never done that one, yet.  Tricky and scary.

 

You could try to use the upload function to include your photographs in your post - located in the header bar, when you're writing a post.

 

Enjoy.

[Mr.Rene]

Yes scary...that is why I prefer screwed piston filler. A friction fit can be a pain in back..GOOD LUCK...

[vintagefplover]

https://imgur.com/a/hJyaSQN

Here are the images that I have posted above in this link. Sorry it is my first time posting here so wasn't familiar on how to work out all the things. Thank you for the feedback. 

[vintagefplover]

15 hours ago, Barry Gabay said:

Look forward to seeing your photos, but I am unable to open them now. 

 

The photos are uploaded to an imgur link, unfortunately I cannot edit the post now so the link is below in the replies.  

 

15 hours ago, Barry Gabay said:

Have you seen the 149 chart at the top of this section of the website? It is titled "Updated Montblanc 149 Trends Table"  Quite interesting & comprehensive. It will help with further 149  research.

Yes indeed! I have done a lot of reading there and also read your article on pen world magazine. I have learnt a great deal from all the contributions of you and other members here. I also greatly respect your work, thank you for your research!

 

15 hours ago, Barry Gabay said:

One more comment, please : Line one under your topic: NIbs.  The two-tone 18K nib did not appear in North America until 1992.  Perhaps in other places the two-tone 18K nib was present in 1989, though I have not read or seen documentation of that. 

I have probably made a mistake in the dating of the nibs, but I have found that the 18K dual tone nibs generally mentioned to be after 1992 usually have the jewellers marking below '750' and have two holes at the base of the nibs. By this time, the design of the tines, shape of the nib has already become extremely similar to contemporary 149s. 

 

Mine seems different from that variation, its shape and tines resemble the 14K dual tone nibs that immediately succeeded the 14C ones. It also does not have holes at the base of the nib, and lacks the jewellers mark on the front. So I suspect it to be a French market version that was produced alongside the 14k nibs from the mid 70s to 80s. 

I am still quite new, so please point out any errors that I may have made! 

 

Thank you for your kind reply.

 

 

[Dione]

 

On 1/12/2021 at 2:16 AM, vintagefplover said:

Hello everyone, this is my first post here, please tell me if I have done anything wrong or if there is any wrong information here. 

It's a shame but I can't see any images in the posts and don't like clicking on links so was only able to read text.😟  Maybe you could look at how to make images appear in posts?

[vintagefplover]

Finally able to get the photos up! Sorry for all the inconveniences with the photos. 

[bunnspecial]

Thanks for the great photos.

 

That's really interesting with the ebonite feed. The only split ebonite I have is on my 146, and I've never had the nib out of it. I don't normally think of room temperature ebonite as being that flexible.

 

BTW, my 149 is old enough that it should have come with split ebonite, but has a factory plastic service replacement. I've always preferred ebonite anyway, but it seems that they really did me no favors putting plastic on it.

[vintagefplover]

-1960s Montblanc 149 restoration journey-

 

I bought a 1960s Montblanc 149 off Japanese yahoo and it came in horrible condition. Scratches everywhere, the metal doesn’t even shine. The piston was extremely tight and ink stains were everywhere.

I first soaked the pen in water for an hour to get the ink out of the feed then slowly took it apart. Yikes! The ink was literally sticking to the walls of the collar.

 

I used baby wipes to clean them, then I carefully pulled out the piston. The piston just needed some simple cleaning and lubrication.

 

The method that I used to take out the notoriously annoying friction fit piston was using the long black stick (it is a stylus for those old resistive touch trackpads) in the picture + a thin guitar pick. I used a thin guitar pick to slip it in between the piston ring and the barrel to get a small gap, then i slowly used the stick and pushed the piston out from the nib end. It was extremely difficult and i needed to be really careful. In the end, I did not break the barrel or the piston, phew!

 

Then I cleaned out all the ink from the barrel, feed, collar, cap and metal areas, then gave them a good polish. I was unfortunately unable to get the ink window clean again.

Photos of after the restoration are at the end.

After a full day of restoration, the pen is now in beautiful working order.

Please enjoy the photos

[vintagefplover]

51 minutes ago, bunnspecial said:

Thanks for the great photos.

 

That's really interesting with the ebonite feed. The only split ebonite I have is on my 146, and I've never had the nib out of it. I don't normally think of room temperature ebonite as being that flexible.

 

BTW, my 149 is old enough that it should have come with split ebonite, but has a factory plastic service replacement. I've always preferred ebonite anyway, but it seems that they really did me no favors putting plastic on it.

Thank you for your reply, just hope to share my small research and findings to help further knowledge on the MB 149. 

Well you probably shouldn't flex the feed like that... but it is definitely an interesting finding. MB never preserves old parts, they only replace not repair unfortunately. Ebonite feeds are better from my experience in terms of ink flow, I get a river of ink flow with my ebonite feed on my other 149 with an M nib, much more compared to the modern plastic feeds. 

Edited January 13, 2021 by vintagefplover

[Barry Gabay]

Hello vintagefplover, 

 

Thank you for your wonderfully comprehensive photo essay of your 1960s friction-fit 149 restoration. Great job!  You are a brave person to remove a friction-fit piston. I have two cracked 1960s 149 barrels which attest to my ineptitude at pen repair. I no longer work on friction-fit 149s. Congratulations on your very impressive work and excellent photos. 

 

Your 18K nib in the first series of photos is very interesting. You are correct that two-tone 18K nibs have a pair of windows or holes cut from the nib's tail. Yours does not have those, and it is quite unusual. 

 

The barrels for all three pens in the first series of photos are single-piece barrels which disappeared around 1982. During 1983-84, the two-piece 149 barrel with protruding collar appeared with 14C nib and split-ebonite feed. Your two-tone 18k nib was not introduced until around 1992 and was set with the first-generation plastic feed. I suspect the third pen with single-piece barrel and split ebonite feed had a nib replacement at some point. That would account for a one-piece barrel and split ebonite feed with an 18K nib which was not in production until after the barrel and feed were discontinued. 

 

Finally, thank you for your very kind words about the Pen World story. Hard to believe that it was written nearly 20 years ago. It has errors; I have learned much since that time. I learned quite a bit reading your post and photo essay. Thank you for being our teacher. Congratulations on your 149 research and restoration. 

 

All the best,

Barry

[jann3]

14 hours ago, vintagefplover said:

-1960s Montblanc 149 restoration journey-

 

I bought a 1960s Montblanc 149 off Japanese yahoo and it came in horrible condition. Scratches everywhere, the metal doesn’t even shine.

Thank you for your comprehensive description of the restoration work.

 

I would be interested in how do you polish the resin exterior? What kind of wipes or tissues do you use? Do you also use some kind of polishing substance? Is there any special tips for polishing the metal parts?

I just bought my first vintage MB 149, which shoud arrive soon. Based on the images, the pen might need at least a light polish, but I obviously don't want to damage it.

[vintagefplover]

5 minutes ago, jann3 said:

Thank you for your comprehensive description of the restoration work.

 

I would be interested in how do you polish the resin exterior? What kind of wipes or tissues do you use? Do you also use some kind of polishing substance? Is there any special tips for polishing the metal parts?

I just bought my first vintage MB 149, which shoud arrive soon. Based on the images, the pen might need at least a light polish, but I obviously don't want to damage it.

I use simichrome with a soft cloth for polishing my MB resin pens, it works really well. For the metal parts, I also apply simichrome but very very lightly and go very careful with it, as you wouldn't want to strip the gold plating. 

 

Congratulations on your first MB 149! Have fun writing with it. Good luck!

[jann3]

11 minutes ago, vintagefplover said:

I use simichrome with a soft cloth for polishing my MB resin pens, it works really well. For the metal parts, I also apply simichrome but very very lightly and go very careful with it, as you wouldn't want to strip the gold plating. 

 

Congratulations on your first MB 149! Have fun writing with it. Good luck!

Thanks! I might try something like that, if necessary. On the other hand, the smallest scratches don't bother me. Those are kind of part of the character of the vintage item. 

[gyasko]

How did you get the piston assembly out?

[vintagefplover]

5 minutes ago, gyasko said:

How did you get the piston assembly out?

As explained in the essay, 

'The method that I used to take out the notoriously annoying friction fit piston was using the long black stick (it is a stylus for those old resistive touch trackpads) in the picture + a thin guitar pick. I used a thin guitar pick to slip it in between the piston ring and the barrel to get a small gap, then i slowly used the stick and pushed the piston out from the nib end. It was extremely difficult and i needed to be really careful. In the end, I did not break the barrel or the piston, phew!'

Thanks!

[gyasko]

Oops.  I guess quotes are black on black in dark mode.  I can see it in regular mode.  Thanks.