Montblanc 149 feed

[theverdictis]

Hi All, 

 

I was wondering, on the current models of 149's are they plastic or ebonite feeds? 

 

Thanks, 

 

Ben

[bunnspecial]

Plastic for about the past 30 years(I think the change was some time in 90-91 window).

 

 

[theverdictis]

Is ebonite better than plastic? Or the other way around? 

[zaddick]

from a performance perspective you should not notice a difference. The only significant performance difference is you can heat set an ebonite feed for better flow, but cannot really with resin. Most people don't have any need to do this. the rest of the arguments are generally aesthetics or period accuracy as to which is preferred.

[niksch]

On 2/26/2021 at 10:33 AM, zaddick said:

from a performance perspective you should not notice a difference. The only significant performance difference is you can heat set an ebonite feed for better flow, but cannot really with resin. Most people don't have any need to do this. the rest of the arguments are generally aesthetics or period accuracy as to which is preferred.

I concur.

[bunnspecial]

Given the choice between two otherwise equal pens, I will gravitate toward the ebonite feed.

 

Properly treated(there's a blog written by a former Lamy engineer who described the process of developing plastic feeds), a plastic feed can deliver ink just as effectively to the nib as an ebonite one.

 

With that said, my preference is purely subjective. I LIKE them better. Not all of my MBs are equal writers, and my favorite are writers ebonite. With that said, I could hand you an outstanding plastic feed, an okay one, an outstanding ebonite, and a just okay one.

 

What does sell me on ebonite, and again as a subjective preference, is that making an ebonite feed did/still does require some level of skilled labor. Plastic can effectively be mass produced.

 

The newest ebonite MBs will be ~30 years old now, and a lot can happen to a pen in that amount of time. Again, subjectively, it seems to me that ebonite feed pens tends to more consistently write to my preference given a random example than their plastic counterparts. I've wondered if that's from the work required in ebonite resulting in more time being spent with the pen in production, or if that's just luck of the draw from my sample size.

[niksch]

I generally concur with bunnspecial with respect to ebonite feeds.  While I also prefer ebonite feeds, it's because I much prefer the nibs that were positioned on ebonite feeds.  I much prefer the mono-color 14C and 18C nibs on the 1970s 146s to the stiff nibs of the 1990s to present.  I much prefer the tri-color 14C and 18C 149 nibs and subsequent 14C and 18C bi-color 149 nibs to the stiff nibs of present offerings.  

[aurore]

What about the early 90s 1st gen. plastic feeds vs. later (current) production?

[bunnspecial]

2 hours ago, aurore said:

What about the early 90s 1st gen. plastic feeds vs. later (current) production?

 

I have a first gen plastic 149 in my pocket now.

 

I'm indifferent to it. The nib it's paired with is a fairly wet writing M. I do like the first gen plastic for its relatively short production run(92-96 per the charts) and also the fact that on first glance, it LOOKS like an ebonite feed at least to me(the first one I bought I thought was).

 

I've had two M nib 149s with first gen plastic. Both had/have pleasantly springy but not exactly what I'd call flexible 18K bi-color nibs(a combination I don't seem to see as often 14K bi-color).

[Barry Gabay]

Interesting thread. I'm a genuine fan of the 149 and have owned far more with ebonite feeds than with newer plastic feeds. I prefer ebonite feeds; however, the plastic feeds perform very well. They are generally easier to remove from the 149 section than older ebonite feeds.  Shown below are 5 feeds from approximately the past 55 years.

 

Left to right:

ebonite with grooved face ca. late 1960s-late 1970s, solid ebonite ca. late 1970s-1984, split-ebonite 1985-1991, first generation plastic 1992-95, second generation 1996-ca 2010. More recent plastic feeds resemble the last one in this photo, but fit differently into the enclosing collar and section.  The dates above are for 149s sold in the US.

 

However, there is one caveat which must be mentioned. A very knowledgeable member of this forum, stoen , purchased a 149 in Vienna with a split-ebonite feed years before that feed appeared anywhere else.  

Edited April 28, 2022 by Barry Gabay
grammar error

[agentdaffy007]

@Barry Gabay, could you show us the top side of the 5 feeds. I would like to see how it looks. Thanks.

[Barry Gabay]

agentdaffy007     Hello agentdaffy007.

 

Attached is a photo of four of the five feeds you asked to see. The photo shows the feeds viewed from the top as you requested. They are the feeds in positions 1, 2, 3, & 5 in the earlier photo.  Sorry, but I have sold the first-generation plastic feed since taking the photo. This is a very poor quality shot, but hope it helps. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Phonz]

Does someone know where to buy an ebonite feed for the 149? Thanks!

 

[aurore]

4 hours ago, Phonz said:

Does someone know where to buy an ebonite feed for the 149? Thanks!

 

 

Forums, Ebay, pen shows, pen collectors, pen repairers...

[Karmachanic]

I've had success here

[Phonz]

Thanks Karmachanic!

[aurore]

21 hours ago, Karmachanic said:

I've had success here

 

Quite a bit overpriced...

[Karmachanic]

4 hours ago, aurore said:

 

Quite a bit overpriced...

 

Feel free to provide us with a link to a more reasonably priced vendor.

[aurore]

7 hours ago, Karmachanic said:

 

Feel free to provide us with a link to a more reasonably priced vendor.

 

No clue if you are in a hurry and dying without it, but when I used to have such I was selling them for 30 USD and so do many others collectors 🙂

[Karmachanic]

15 hours ago, aurore said:

I was selling them for 30 USD and so do many others collectors 🙂

 

Year or so ago I searched extensively for an Ebonite split feed and was only able to find one at NWF.  Maybe I'll have better luck next time.