13 replies to this topic

[piscov]

Good Morning!

This is the latest addition to my collection and one I am very please to add and that was a pleasure to do all the repair work.

The pen had a few problems, the biggest ones being a burn mark in the body and the lack of  Casein star. The lack of the star is very common because as casein swells when in contact with liquids and  tends to force his way out of the hard rubber " star hole"

It also had a gold nib of a 146 and a feeder of the late 50s so not original to the pen. Fortunately  I had a steel nib and flat feed that are correct to this 148.

 

This are the before shots:

 

 

 

 

 

List of repairs:

1) Cap - Polishing all the scratches and polish the metal ring- Easy
2) re-blacking the top of the cap (hard-rubber) that was completely brown
3) Fitting a new of new star in casein -
 

•       I used an original MB star that I had at home from an old  136 cap. First I had to re-profile the base of the star to fit     the new cap hole, I used patience, files and sandpaper
•      Isolated of the base star with epoxy resin so that the star doesen't contact with the ink in the future.
•      Fix the star in place by heating the hard-ruber so it adapts to the new star shape and locks the star in place.
•      reduce the height of the star by sanding to be perfectly "smooth" and framed in the " new hole"

4) Repair of the body - Sanding the burn and polishing the barrel. Luckily it was not necessary to do any filling. Sanding and polishing the rest of the body to be risk free.

5) Disguise pliers marks  in the filling mechanism. Not gone completely, but are heavily mitigated. I did not want to risk removing the knurled that are really good in the process,.

6) Make a new cork and fitting it.

7) Installation of the palladium nib and flat  feed so that they are  historically correct with the pen unlike the feed  that came with it.

Now I'm hesitant to paint the body inside black to cover some transparency. It is possible and easy to do and looks good, but I'll probably leave it like like it is now : "Demonstrator stlyle".


Today I'll ink it and try it, before putting it a honorable position of my collection.

 

Still missing the 139 to end the 13X series....

It feels great to bring some pens to  "active life" again!!

 

After pictures:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cheers,

 

Vasco

Edited by piscov, 01 November 2014 - 11:23 AM.

[farmdogfan]

Looks good!

[AZuniga]

Vasco,

 

Thanks for sharing the whole process, it looks great ! and very instructive...

I have a 138 with the same transparency in the barrel and I believe you are right to leave it as it is "Demonstrator style"

 

Ariel

Edited by AZuniga, 01 November 2014 - 04:29 PM.

[Christof Z]

Vaso

Congrats on the new pen and restoration job! Did you straighten or change the nib?

The 138 is probably the Meisterstueck with the widest variation of different clip design. I have seen four different clips at least on 138's.

My own bears a ball or drop clip:



C.

Edited by Christof Z, 02 November 2014 - 06:11 AM.

[soot]

The repaired 138 looks really wonderful! Good for you, Vasco!

[piscov]

Thank you farmdogfan and Soot!!

 

@ Ariel

 

Vasco,

 

Thanks for sharing the whole process, it looks great ! and very instructive...

I have a 138 with the same transparency in the barrel and I believe you are right to leave it as it is "Demonstrator style"

 

Ariel

 

Hi Ariel, I will leave it as is, age also adds charm....

 

@ Christof

 

Vaso

Congrats on the new pen and restoration job! Did you straighten or change the nib?

The 138 is probably the Meisterstueck with the widest variation of different clip design. I have seen four different clips at least on 138's.

My own bears a ball or drop clip:



C.

 

Hello Christof,

 

Thanks!The nib that came with the pen was a gold one from a late 136 or early 146, was monotone because the rhodium was gone and had the typ a bit bent indeed. I had a steel 136 nib at home and as I believe that a steel nib ( I believe is a Palladium but there is no P engraved in it) was more common in the MB 138  decided to use it.

 

Those times in Montblanc and probably in other German pen makers probably forced them to change materials often and that probably cause the several nibs and clips used.

 

I have seen the most common MB 138 clip also used in the 234 1/2 deluxe pen, the one in yours and the one in mine. I am missing one, which one??

 

Best regards!

Vasco

[piscov]

Getting back to the clip variances on the 138 Montblanc. Here is a pictures with some of my 13X series pens that show different clips used in this series during the production run.

 

 

 

 

1) MB 132 fluted clip

2)MB 134

3)MB 134 clip similar to the one use on the 246 Danish and Germna production pen but with larger clip ring

4) MB 134

5) MB 136

6) MB 138

 

If you know of any other clip used in the 13X series, please post pictures here. It would be also nice to know the name our community or MB called the lips showed above.

 

Best regards

 

Vasco

[Christof Z]

I have seen a MB 138 with the fluted clip from the earlier Meisterstück series. Unfortunately no picture, was not my pen.
c.

[AZuniga]

Just another picture to complete the Vasco series of 13X

 

 

134, 136, 138 (Jewler ring and clip, shown here before in another topic) and 139

[Christof Z]

Yes, that is the clip I meant, the fluted one on the left.
Thank you Ariel.
C.

[specialk0449]

You did a fantastic job on the restoration of the 138. Thank you for sharing it with us. 

[specialk0449]

Ariel I love your all of your pens especially the 138 and the L139 pictured above. 

[playtime]

masterful work! thank you for sharing:)

 

J

[Readymade]

Bravo!