256 F<- : What does the arrow next to the F mean?

[GeoffMartin]

I've just acquired a 256, and the imprint on the blind cap reads "F<-".

 

What does the arrow indicate? 

 

Thanks

geoff

[Michael R.]

Some have 1/2 arrow, some just a "-".

Unfortunately nobody really knows. Even a recent request with Montblanc directly did not reveal final answers.

 

What a curious mystery! I cannot imagine how this knowledge got lost.

Cheers

 

Michael

[CS388]

Congratulations on the 256. Love those big wing nibs!

I have a 256 with a BB nib, great for long writing sessions.

 

As Michael R says: no-one really knows the reasoning behind the extra symbols.

There was an excellent thread on this subject, some years ago in this forum, in which members posted the odd symbols on the turning knobs and blind caps of their MB pens. The idea was to see how many variants there were and to investigate any patterns that emerged which may offer an explanation. It ended up with a wonderfully odd collection of arrows/half arrows/dashes/dots - but nobody had any firm answer as to what they stood for.

 

Enjoy the mystery - and the pen.

[kazoolaw]

Off the subject, but about the MB 256. 

I scoffed at warnings about not pushing hard to post the cap for fear of cracking, an often reported problem.

Not my 256 I scoffed again, it hasn't and won't happen to me.

Until it did. 

Enjoy a wonderful MB.

[CS388]

I think that the cap cracks by snapping it over the clutch ring on the section. The flexible inner cap (sprung metal blades) flex and then snaps over the ring. The rigid cap cannot flex this much and cracks.

 

However, I have found that the 25x caps will stay on firmly without pushing them over the snap ring.

 

Just my own experience.

 

 

[GeoffMartin]

Yeah... this one had some serious cracks down the length of the cap when I bought it. However, after:

• spreading the cracks open a wee bit with a custom-turned dowel pushed into the cap
• scraping out the cracks' inner edges with a dental pick
• a week of daily building up thin layers of CA glue, initially working it into the cracks with a finger wrapped in cling film
• some patient and gentle scraping, sanding, and polishing of the cap on the lathe (taking care not to cut into the original material - just bringing the CA glue down to meet the surface)

... my "new" 256 is back in action again. I've been using it at work all week with some vintage Watermans ink. It's not as fine as point as I was hoping - nor is it as flexible. (I might just take it down a bit later - but I'll live with it for a while before making any modifications to the nib.) However, it's a very smooth writer and is nicely balanced.

 

The crack without any material missing is now invisible unless you know where to look. The one that had a couple of chunks broken out of the surface is now a cloudy gray visible against the black. However, a little attention paid to the alignment of the clip covers up the worst of it.