Montblanc 146/149 Nib and Piston Assemblies

(From the posts by Hari317 on the Fountain Pen Network, compiled by Jigesh)

Please work on your pens at your own risk!

CONTENTS

Taking Apart the Montblanc 146 Nib Assembly ................ 2 Taking Apart the Montblanc 149 Piston Assembly ............ 8

Taking Apart the Montblanc 146 Nib Assembly

I received this modern 146 a few weeks back. Bought it from a reputed ebay dealer and it was all the more attractive to me because of the 18K two tone nib fitted to it. The pen was in pristine condition when I received it, except that the dealer had not flushed the pen before sending it to me. Despite cleaning the cap, I was still getting inky fingers of the previously filled ink, Ink had seeped between the section and the nib carrier, necessitating its removal and refitting. The Indian MB service wanted too much money to do this, so I set out to buy the tools to do this job, I looked at the usual sources, but then discovered that the slot on my latest 146 was different from the slots on my 80's 146, MB had changed the slot design in its modern 146 nib carriers and the older extractors did not fit, this was confirmed to me by our ever helpful FPNer Niksch who patiently answered all my questions. Thanks Niksch! However I could figure out the new slot position geometry and then got in touch with our pen wizard Francis Gossens aka Fountainbel. He immediately set out to design a nib removal tool from the very rough sketch that I had drawn up and had the prototype ready to ship the very next day. Well it arrived today at my home and yes the tool worked very well. Thanks Francis!

The slots on an old 146:

Hari317

The slots on a newer 146:

The Fountainbel 146 tool:

Hari317

Hari317

The tool slid onto the nib carrier:

Hari317

Hari317

The nib carrier unscrewed halfway:

Hari317

Hari317

The nib unit completely removed:

Thread details:

Hari317

Hari317

The MB "bubblegum" sealant remains:

The original sealant comes out like pencil shavings as you unscrew the nib carrier, I am pretty sure it is a Sil-RTV kind of sealant. [Added Later by Hari: I have used a generous amount of silicone grease, but I plan to use a locally made single part Silicone RTV sealant called Anabond 666 available in 100gm tubes. Pls take care not to overtighten the feeder case while refitting, high likely hood of it breaking.]

The section without nib carrier:

Hari317

Hari317

You can see the step that holds the threads for the nib unit. There is no sealing between the nib carrier lip and the lip of the section, ink can seep into the annular gap while filling the pen and slowly leach out. I hope this photo guide will be helpful in case any one wants to re-seal the nib units and always consider myself lucky to have found and joined FPN where everyone is so eager and free to share knowledge. Cheers, Hari Link to the original post: http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=123234

Taking Apart the Montblanc 149 Piston Assembly The pen that I had been patiently waiting for in the mail for around 18 days, arrived today from USA. A modern 149 with the tricolor STOD nib which I won on ebay. The nib was advertised as a medium, but much to my pleasant surprise it turned out to be what I am guessing an OBB from the width it makes. Wow what a nib! The piston was just a tad stiff, so I decided to take apart the filler (with shaking hands) to investigate and lube it up. I had got the piston filler removal tool from Francis Goossens (fountainbel) who hand makes these tools for MB DIY enthusiasts. The modern meisterstuck piston fillers share the same slot dimensions so a common tool will fit all the modern pens. The filler is screwed into the barrel with RH threads, the spanner tabs should be engaged into the slots and the filler cone should be closed over it to prevent tool slip. Holding the spanner, I rotated the barrel and the filler unit unscrewed out neatly. The filler unscrewed from the pen and the lead screw and the piston rod disengaged from the brass connector.

A close up of the connector, the green stuff is some sticky sealant that MB had used, I had to pick/thread it out with a brass shim. Also observe the trim ring at the filler cone, it has a flat face and the other side has a small step, the filler shoulder mates flush with this step. I did not use any sealant while putting it back.

A close up of the piston seal, it is the later type inverted cone seal as documented by Niksch in another illustrative post.

Hari317

Hari317

[Later added by Hari in response to a question: what did you use to lube up the piston with? What did you use to reseal it? I used Dow Corning Hi-vac silicone grease for the elastomer seal. I have not sealed the piston filler brass threads (green area in picture) since ink never gets there and that part does not need sealing, MB put a sealant in there probably to prevent inadvertent unscrewing out of the filler unit, more like a retainer, the remains of the old sealant did that job in my case.] The filler unit is all ready to be assembled back into the pen. It is quite fun to re-adjust the stroke of the piston rod till you have optimized it so that the filler cone closes flush and also max. piston extension is obtained.

Hari317

MB precious resin, fragile? Will shatter at a mere breath? Look at the barrel thickness, as thick as my ebonite pens.

Hari317

I hope you would have found this useful. Cheers, Hari Link to the original post: http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=125061

Hari317

INDEX

B

Barrel Thickness, 11

C

Close up of the Connector, 9 Close up of the Piston Seal, 9

F

Filler Unit Ready to be Assembled Back, 10 Fountainbel 146 Tool, 3

N

Nib Carrier Unscrewed Halfway, 5 Nib Unit Completely Removed, 6

P

Piston Rod Disengaged, 8

S

Sealant, 7 Section Without Nib Carrier, 7 Slots on a Newer 146, 3 Slots on an Old 146, 2

T

Taking Apart the Montblanc 146 Nib Assembly, 2 Taking Apart the Montblanc 149 Piston Assembly, 8 Thread Details, 6 Tool Slid onto the Nib Carrier, 4