Dating 1960s-1980s Montblanc 149s+Restoration Journey

[Opooh]

4 hours ago, stoen said:

With due respect to Mr. Westerich and penboard-dot-de, how did you come to the conclusion that this particular wax he’s selling is the right kind of wax that you need for early 149 nib units?

 

I have restored quite a few early 149s, and did not find any “tar and resin based waxes” that you’d have to dig out with pre-heated knives there. More of the regular, soft, low melting point “beeswax type” of wax. 

 

Even without wax sealants, the 149 collar-section interface doesn’t leak. Putting any high melting point pre-heated wax there may make any future servicing attempt unjustifiedly difficult.

Apologies, I only do servicing on my modern 149’s and other Covids. As for the real stuff, there is Fountainbel, living at  75 km from home. As a matter of fact he recently gave a scruffy 139 I bought on Catawiki a fresh barrel with long striped window.

 As for Tom, I regularly visited him in the Italian mountains untill 10 years ago but nowadays no more big Montblancs on penboard anymore. It might be his wax doesn’t work on 149 but it certainly works on 138 and 139, at least on those I bought from him. I could always chose the nib I wanted on them and they were instantly mounted in the section with that wax. They are inked regularly, at least once a year and untill now no problem at all. I had the cork replaced by O-rings to make them more user friendly.

[Seney724]

14 minutes ago, Opooh said:

Apologies, I only do servicing on my modern 149’s and other Covids. As for the real stuff, there is Fountainbel, living at  75 km from home. As a matter of fact he recently gave a scruffy 139 I bought on Catawiki a fresh barrel with long striped window.

 As for Tom, I regularly visited him in the Italian mountains untill 10 years ago but nowadays no more big Montblancs on penboard anymore. It might be his wax doesn’t work on 149 but it certainly works on 138 and 139, at least on those I bought from him. I could always chose the nib I wanted on them and they were instantly mounted in the section with that wax. They are inked regularly, at least once a year and untill now no problem at all. I had the cork replaced by O-rings to make them more user friendly.

Fountainbel is THE Master!

#1 in the world.

Only 75 km away?? Lucky you!

[stoen]

18 hours ago, Opooh said:

It might be his wax doesn’t work on 149 but it certainly works on 138 and 139, at least on those I bought from him

This is a wholly different matter, and I find the above statement somewhat oversimplified, because it does not make clear to which parts of pens of which generation the sealant is applied.

 

13x are celluloid made pens with two-part bodies: barrel and section have to be unscrewed apart for recorking. This also applies to all celluloid 14x barrel section interface.

The barrel/section threading interface is close to where you hold your pen while writing, and your body heat transfers to the pen and can contribute to ink leakage to your fingers, if the sealant melting temp is not high enough (45+ deg. centigrade).

This is where the penboard sealant comes handy and helpful.

 

On the other hand, 13x and the earliest 14x (except for early 149) had nibs and feeds which plug directly into the section, i.e. no seelant is needed to plug them in and keep them in place.

 

Later celluloid 14x have screw-in nib units, which may use some beeswax, but no heavy sealant is needed to hold it in place or prevent leakage.

 

All plastic 149s (1960-1993) have one-piece bodies, so there’s nothing to be sealed there. They also have screw-in ebonite collars which hold the nib unit in place, like in late celluloid models.

They need no heavy sealant to hold the threads in place or to make the nib unit function properly, without leaking. It’s deep inside the body.

 

Beginning of 1990s is when the 149 got substantially re-designed, and that is when the two-component pinkish sealant comes in.

 

What I’m writing here is *not* a wild “educated” guess, but sharing my decades of hands-on experience.

🙂

 

18 hours ago, Seney724 said:

Fountainbel is THE Master!

#1 in the world.

 

Undisputed, most knowledgeable Master, no one comes even close to him. I also understand that he is 70+ and may well retire some time soon…

So, in case some early MB serious restoration is needed, it is advisable get in touch with the gentleman.

 

 

 

 

Edited January 8 by stoen
quote

[CS58]

On 1/16/2021 at 12:49 PM, vintagefplover said:

PART 2:

Now, I am going to compare the features of the Montblanc 149 from the 1960's compared to later generations (70s-80s).

Flexibility wise, they are similar. From the many 14C and 18C models from different eras I have handled, flexibility is really varied, and most pens with 14C/18C nibs seem to have at least a bit of flex. Both of the nibs pictured are quite soft.

 

 

 

Am curious from a restorer POV if the deletion of gold from the nibs, circa 1986, creating two slots in the nib shank, makes feed/ nib alignment much easier or more accurate?
Also, regarding nib softness, spring and flexibility, were vintage 149s ever produced that might rival what everyone appreciates from antique Waterman No.2 nibs?

[JCC123]

Stoen is correct. I've only seen plain wax on the vintage 149s. I've restored about 8 so far...

[Opooh]

@stoen Fountainbel is over his eighties. He continues to design new pens like a new Conid Maximalistica in Carbonfiber.

He recently replaced a scruffy barrel in one of my 139 by a new one with long striped window.