MB released 146 Flex in resin

[txomsy]

9 hours ago, Nabado said:

I think I went through almost all levels of MB customer service with my pen because there did not seem to be a lot of experience with how these pens work and/or are supposed to write at the first support levels, which somewhat surprised me as the 149C at least has been around for quite a while now.

 

Which, OTOH, may also mean that flawed 149C or 146C are so rare that support hardly sees them.

 

Going through some hardships, I only wish MB will maintain the lines long enough so I can get my hands on one once I recover.

[Doggy Daddy]

@Nabado, I had a similar experience with my 146C. Hard starting and random skipping, plus what I considered to be poor flex performance. In short, just an all around disappointing experience, so I returned it to Iguana Sell and they forwarded it on to Montblanc for adjustment. That was 2 months ago next week and no word yet on when I might get it back.

On a positive note, I was fortunate enough to purchase a 149C, also from Iguana Sell, and it has preformed beautifully on Montblanc Permanent Black & Permanent Blue for quite a while now. I am careful to thoroughly flush the pen until clear every time I refill it and I have had no problems. Just thought I'd pass that along in case you want to give the MB Permanent inks a try.

[bunnspecial]

I am ready for mine to visit the service center, although I dread dealing with MJR stateside(again) and what will be a ~$60 round trip even on what should be a warranty trip.

 

Basically just using a light hand unflexed, mine will generally start right up when it's sat for a little while(could be a half hour, could be a week). For about two lines(A4) it will write perfectly-smooth, wet, no skipping, and even do fine if I add in a tiny amount of flex.

 

Then, it will start being troublesome. Lifting it to go to the next line will give me a hard start, but it will keep going.

 

1-2 lines later it will hard start again after I finish a word, and after that any time I lift it off the paper(even mid-letter) it will hard start again.

 

Cap it, let it sit for a little while, and the whole process above repeats.

 

At this point, I've removed the nib unit and sonicated in soapy water to try and clear any manufacturing residue that could be causing issues. I've flushed the pen with plain water, soapy water, and dilute ammonia to make sure it's spotless.

 

I am currently only on the third ink I've tried in the pen. First was MB Royal Blue, second was Permanent Blue, and currently Midnight Blue(dye based). If it's going for service, I'm hesitant to stray outside MB inks, although I realize something else might perform better. I MIGHT give Waterman Blue, going back to the old rule of "If it won't work with that ink, it won't work with anything" and it would be a tough hill for them to climb to say that it had damaged the pen.

 

So far, though, this is my most disappointing MB purchase of the better than two dozen MBs I've owned and handful bought new.

[como]

@Nabado Thanks for sharing you MB 146C service story. I absolutely agree that if one feels something is not right about the pen after being patient with it for a while, it’s time to send it in to get sorted out. I am happy to hear that you are enjoying this pen again.

 

@Doggy Daddy Sorry to hear about your 146C trouble. Hope MB fixes it and sends it back to you soon. I am quite sure they are capable of it. They know how this nib should perform. Congrats on your new 149C. This pen promises a long pen honeymoon!

 

@bunnspecial May I suggest that, when you send in the pen, accompany a writing sample and description of the problems with it to help explain. Be specific on the type of ink and paper you used. So they don’t second guess this and that. Good luck! It’s worth sorting it out with Montblanc. Though it’s a nice looking classic pen, we need it to perform properly too! One can’t live on the looks alone 😀.

[Arcadian]

19 hours ago, bunnspecial said:

I am ready for mine to visit the service center, although I dread dealing with MJR stateside(again) and what will be a ~$60 round trip even on what should be a warranty trip.

 

Basically just using a light hand unflexed, mine will generally start right up when it's sat for a little while(could be a half hour, could be a week). For about two lines(A4) it will write perfectly-smooth, wet, no skipping, and even do fine if I add in a tiny amount of flex.

 

Then, it will start being troublesome. Lifting it to go to the next line will give me a hard start, but it will keep going.

 

1-2 lines later it will hard start again after I finish a word, and after that any time I lift it off the paper(even mid-letter) it will hard start again.

 

Cap it, let it sit for a little while, and the whole process above repeats.

 

At this point, I've removed the nib unit and sonicated in soapy water to try and clear any manufacturing residue that could be causing issues. I've flushed the pen with plain water, soapy water, and dilute ammonia to make sure it's spotless.

 

I am currently only on the third ink I've tried in the pen. First was MB Royal Blue, second was Permanent Blue, and currently Midnight Blue(dye based). If it's going for service, I'm hesitant to stray outside MB inks, although I realize something else might perform better. I MIGHT give Waterman Blue, going back to the old rule of "If it won't work with that ink, it won't work with anything" and it would be a tough hill for them to climb to say that it had damaged the pen.

 

So far, though, this is my most disappointing MB purchase of the better than two dozen MBs I've owned and handful bought new.

 

This mirrors my experience with the 146C exactly. It is so frustrating! 

 

 - P. 

[Arcadian]

On 5/22/2022 at 12:01 AM, Nabado said:

 
It’s been quite a while, but I finally want to make good on my promise to report back on my 146C warranty case from all the way back in January.
 
Almost four months later, I have been through hell and back with customer service but finally seem to have a perfectly working 146C in my hands. I have had it back with me for almost a month now and wanted to make sure there are no issues with it before I share my experience.
 
I think I went through almost all levels of MB customer service with my pen because there did not seem to be a lot of experience with how these pens work and/or are supposed to write at the first support levels, which somewhat surprised me as the 149C at least has been around for quite a while now. At one point they even had the pen shipped back to me without being able to tell what they had done to fix the problem I had. Needless to say, whatever they did, if they did anything at all, didn’t fix it.
But the service experience is another story for another time.
Eventually, my persistence was more than worth it, though.  
I feel confident to report that the 146C now finally writes flawlessly, similar to the numerous wonderful samples posted in this thread in the meantime by @como et. al.
It lays down a smooth and very slim line when unflexed and used without much pressure, a finer one than my regular EF even, similar to the EEF lines described by @bunnspecial, and it writes flawlessly when using the flex. Skips are virtually non-existent. It has the slightest tiny bit of feedback when writing, which I also like a lot in other pens, but that is just my personal inclination.
 
I am now more than pleased with the 146C. While it is somewhat stiffer than the 149C, it delivers a very pleasing writing experience to me, and the smaller form factor of a 6-size calligraphy nib makes it easier for me to control the flex.

It may very well become my new favorite pen.

 

 

For my everyday writing with it I mostly use Iroshizuku inks, but the 146C has been very well-behaved with other inks (MB, Diamine, Waterman), too. I have been too much of a coward to try the MB permanent line, though.
Hard starts have not been my experience with Iroshizuku inks in my 146C at all, but as others have already pointed out, hard starts may be caused by lots of other different factors than inks alone.
 
But the moral of my warranty experience is:
If a 146C does not write consistently well with any ink, as was the case with mine: that's definitely not right, and you should have that checked out.

 

 

I'm glad to hear you finally got it back, and that it now performs as it should. I gave up on mine last week, and handed it in for service. Now the looong wait for it to return has begun. It's particularly frustrating with the 146C, because I get the sense from the few moments of perfect performance that this has the potential to be the most sublime writer of any pen I have tried, and yet it won't really get out of the chute, so to speak. 

 

 - P. 

 

[maclink]

My 146C is fine. Lovely writer especially on good paper. However, my 149C is not quite right.  I’ll keep at it and haven’t yet contemplated sending it in. 

[Jreugenl]

I had a MB 149C which worked flawlessly. Then I dropped it nib down. Off to be repaired it went. I bought another one, since I really loved the pen. The new one did not work as well. Skipped quite a bit, especially on down strokes unless held very steeply. Then I got my old pen back with replaced nib and feed. This one behaves the same. Skipping. I'm quite hesitant to send them back to be fixed until Montblanc communicates the problem (which seems to be quite common) and a fix. 

 

 It's a wonderful pen when they get it right. But I have quite a few pens (with and without flex) and none is this unreliable. 

 

 

Hopefully the 146C line will be more consistent.  

[TheDutchGuy]

I doubt that ink supply to the feed and nib is the issue. Probably the nib itself. Flex nibs with a very thin tip can be fickle. An ever-so-tiny misalignment can cause problems, or slight rotation, or varying the writing angle. Personally, I’d ask a good nibmeister to check the pen instead sending it back. 

[arcfide]

I'm pretty sure that these nib designs are just pushing the envelope a little bit and that it's quite easy to get them wrong, especially since I'm sure the nibmeisters at MB probably aren't dedicating a huge amount of time to verifying the subtle properties of each every time they grind one. They're probably looking at the basics, dipping the nib and seeing if it does what they want, and then sending it on its way. When I got my 149C I tested all the models that they had in the store and picked the driest and finest lined one, but you could tell that there was variation in the nibs even then. However, because I chose the driest one, this means I have to put up with that dryness sometimes on some papers. 

[TheDutchGuy]

Well put. I’ve tried quite a few 149C’s and as you say, they varied a lot.

[Arcadian]

9 hours ago, arcfide said:

I'm pretty sure that these nib designs are just pushing the envelope a little bit and that it's quite easy to get them wrong, especially since I'm sure the nibmeisters at MB probably aren't dedicating a huge amount of time to verifying the subtle properties of each every time they grind one. They're probably looking at the basics, dipping the nib and seeing if it does what they want, and then sending it on its way. When I got my 149C I tested all the models that they had in the store and picked the driest and finest lined one, but you could tell that there was variation in the nibs even then. However, because I chose the driest one, this means I have to put up with that dryness sometimes on some papers. 

 

Good point. I recently tried two different JFK's, both medium nib, and they differed wildly when I put them to paper. 

 

 - P. 

[TheDutchGuy]

Had the chance to try a 146C today and was impressed enough to buy it on the spot. For a pen in this price range, that is rare for me. The 146 has always been a pen that just suits my hand very well and I cherish my old 146 with 14C EF nib (which is actually an architect). So I felt right at home with the 146C.

 

About the nib. I discussed the nib of my 146C with an experienced and well-known nibmeister, who shall remain anonymous. We both tried my pen, peered at the nib and were blatantly nerdy. We agreed on three points:

1. That Montblanc creates the calligraphy nibs by removing tipping material from a standard tip, probably a Medium. The toolmarks of this are clearly visible on my 146C nib, see photo below.
2. That there are various angles and edges left, which are clearly visible in the photo below.
3. That this is probably done by hand, which  explains the significant variation in these nibs.

 

What we did not agree on is whether this is an issue. To me, all that matters is how the nib performs and how it feels. So far, mine performs perfectly. And it feels great. The nibmeister, however, feels that this way of shaping the tipping is, well, dodgy… to say the least. Based on the above photo of my nib, I’d say it’s a valid point. It’s highly doubtful that a pro nibmeister would deliver a nib shaped like mine. Note that everything looks fine when seen from above:

 

^—The uneven nib slit is an illusion caused by nib creep of the ink; the slit is cut perfectly.

 

Whether or not this degree of workmanship is fitting for a pen in this price range is a personal judgement. When I first wrote with mine, I was hooked at once. I’ve tried many 149C’s and was disappointed by most of those, but my 146C is such that I am finally fully convinced by @fpupulin’s enthousiasm for his wonderful 149C. It’s early days yet, but my 146C might just be the ultimate modern pen for me. Not just for calligraphy but especially as an EDC pen for intensive daily use. 

 

 

[arcfide]

8 hours ago, TheDutchGuy said:

The nibmeister, however, feels that this way of shaping the tipping is, well, dodgy… to say the least.

 

I'd love to hear a more detailed breakdown of what in particular might be the dodgy part of this. Obviously, all the small nibs are ground by starting with a larger bit of tipping and then shaping that as appropriate, but I suspect there was something in particular that the nibmeister objected to? Depending on how purist you wanted to go with designing a flex nib pen, I could easily see an objection to the Calligraphy grind on purely technical choices between those wanting a less round tipping for a EEF flex point and those who want something more forgiving. Just as an example, there's a very clear difference in the technical considerations made between a Platinum UEF nib and the grind on a Calligraphy nib, even after discarding the differences in nib flex. 

[como]

I’ve seen various things done to a nib to try to achieve flex and softness. If there is any “dodginess”, the 146C and 149C nibs are among the least “dodgy”. @TheDutchGuyPerhaps the nibmeister was just a little jealous of your perfect MB 146C nib 😀!

[TheDutchGuy]

Well, as the photo shows, MB did not go to great lengths to round the sharp corners that remained after grinding the nib. Looks like they did the grind, checked if it wrote and shipped it.  The finishing touch and removing tool marks, which would have been a quick and easy job, seems to have been skipped. When I compare the 146C nib to my old MB nibs (a soft ‘50s mini stub, an OB and an EF with architect grind) then the difference is profound. Those older nibs are masterpieces.  Visually, the 146C looks like a hack job. On paper I have no complaints at all.

[como]

Here I did a silly and fun experiment with reverse-writing my 146C, as I once did with my 149C, plus some comparisons with normal-writing 146C, and flex comparison with 149C.

 

Line 1-5 written with 146C reverse-writing, needle point width I would say. I added some highlights here and there, just for the fun of it (I know, fake flex hahaha). This is light pressure. Otherwise it would feel scratchy.

 

Line 6 written with 146C normal writing, light pressure.

 

Line 7 149C flex sample

 

Line 8 146C flex sample.

 

Ink:

 

146C with Caran d’Ache Organic Brown (this wet ink is bleeding like crazy on Moleskine paper, but I am just using it to practice alphabet and I like its wetness on my other pens, or on a different type of paper).

 

149C with Montblanc Royal Blue, stable trusty ink, but also bleeds on Moleskine paper of course.

 

I don’t flex anywhere near its potential (aka danger zone). I would make this suggestion to new users of this pen too. Unsolicited advice is worth every penny you pay for 😀, so take it however you like.

 

On reverse-writing the MB Calligraphy, it’s inconsistent from pen to pen. Of my three MB Calligraphy pens, 149C No.1 is 10/10 with reverse writing, 149C No.2 is too scratchy to reverse write for long (4/10), and this 146C is about a 8/10. It seems a luck thing.

 

@TheDutchGuy Congratulations to your new 146C! Enjoy it for calligraphy or daily writing! Hope you will overlook the “toolmarks”. I have two 149C and one 146C. All are clean cut edgy-looking like a typical MB modern nib. Though the cuts are different from the normal nibs, the characteristics are typical of Montblanc, machine like cuts (and I am sure hand-finished).

[TheDutchGuy]

Thank you, Como! I’m already enjoying it very much. Wonderful pen.

[SpecTP]

I've noticed that I have pretty consistent nib behavior holding from 90deg to 40deg. anything lower than 40deg and the line width gets larger.

[arcfide]

9 hours ago, TheDutchGuy said:

Well, as the photo shows, MB did not go to great lengths to round the sharp corners that remained after grinding the nib. Looks like they did the grind, checked if it wrote and shipped it.  The finishing touch and removing tool marks, which would have been a quick and easy job, seems to have been skipped. When I compare the 146C nib to my old MB nibs (a soft ‘50s mini stub, an OB and an EF with architect grind) then the difference is profound. Those older nibs are masterpieces.  Visually, the 146C looks like a hack job. On paper I have no complaints at all.

 

I'd be interested in knowing what the nibmeister is worried about with the sharp corners. I have more defined edges and corners on a number of my best writing nibs, including a custom ground formal italic, a broad Sailor KOP, the Platinum UEF and Music nibs, and all my Montblancs. They all show some degree of tool marks as well, except maybe the Sailor, some more, and some less. Functionally, my thoughts are that if you rounded the corners, you might encourage a less precise line on the page, but I'm sure the nibmeister would know more about that than I would.

 

I will say that the precision on my 149C is greater than the precision I have seen from Waterman and Lamy nibs, but I'm not sure how high a standard that is, even if they all write perfectly. The vast majority of my nibs exhibit some level of lack of symmetry at the nib point level.