Please see the Services page at out new site, FPGeeks.com, for current services and prices.
Thank you
Categories
- Customer Comments (2)
- Electronics (2)
- For Sale (8)
- Fountain Pens (12)
- Guns (1)
- Ink (7)
- Motorcycles (2)
- Paper (2)
- Photography (1)
- Sold Pens (48)
- Uncategorized (6)
Blogroll
September 2010 M T W T F S S « Aug 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Tags
146 Akribos Alibi Aurora 88 Casey Stoner Clairefontaine Esterbrook Exaclair flex nib For Sale fountain pen Give Away Greg Minuskin grind Indianapolis ink italic J. Herbin Levenger Mont Blanc MotoGP music nib Namiki Nicky Hayden notebook Parker Parker 51 Pelikan Piccadilly Quo Vadis review Rhodia Rohrer & Klingner Sheaffer Sheaffer Balance shotgun Snorkel Sprint Stoeger stub Vacumatic Valentino Rossi Vanishing Point watch Waterman
@Daniel I’m thinking about have a jeweler plate mine. I’ve seen it done and it is stunning. The Platinum 146 is on my list too.
@Mary It definitely took a little getting used to after using my 146.
It’s good to “feel like a kid.” We should all do it more often. Congrats on your new acquisition.
Cheers — Larry
2048 still available?
Hello all. I’m the lucky owner of the seven pens Dan worked on (6 for nib crafting). I have to tell you, he does beautiful work. All six turned out wonderfully, and are a true pleasure to use. You can’t go wrong with Dan’s work!
Some very nice pieces in there!
Wonderful!! Thank you for sharing this.
Good work.
I like this design since the end cap or filler knob does not change position during the refilling cycle. The only issue I have is this, what keeps the nib in place in the X direction. I understand that it does not rotate but if it is slid into position and held fixed, this must mean that it is held into position by means of an interference fit, also known as pressure fit.
If indeed it is a pressure fit, this requires the manufacturing tolerances to be more exact then necessary for the equipment and materials of that era. Remember this is a tricky or challenging process because of the shrinkage of those synthetic materials, i.e.; hard rubber feed and plastic hood or section. Of course, this method is more cost effective.
However, they did something right for these pens to last decades with superior performance. Also, the nib-feed-hood design allowed them to have a relatively, very small nib minimizing the expensive gold content.
Nice pictures and explanation.
Cheers,
Frank
That is probably the most fun about ebay, the anticipation of delivery and the of opening the box.
The best is the combo of winning an auction ala sumgai, the anticipation of waiting for the mail, and the grand finale of opening the box and exploring what is inside.
I also went through the anti-MB attitude based solely on the snob marketing, the general public thinking it is the only high quality pen, (much like Rolex watches), and the inflated price and re-sale value.
Then I got a 146 for a steal and discovered that they are great performers. I have had them inked and setting months without use and uncap it and it writes perfectly like it was filled 5 minutes ago.
Sumgai’ed again: I was offered, and jumped on, the 149 Special Edition, brand spanking new, for $325; half the retail price. The nib is as big as my thumb, darn ‘purdy,’ and the flow is perfect. Just touch the paper and these beaut’s start writing. I probably only have it in the rotation about once per year and but oh what a joy!
I saw a new one sell two days ago on ebay for $1,025; not bad for a $325 investment.
I still think their products are overpriced and laypeople still think it is the only fine writing instrument. That latter point is meaningless though. Why should I care as long as the pen performs as well or better than any other brand out there? The anti-MB phenomenon is most strong among hard-core vintage collectors and this still makes me laugh; leaves more pens for me.
So if you can get a MB for a price competitive with other brands, do not take a pass, grab it.
I agree. I’ll probably never buy anything MB new from a boutique, unless I land a job where I’m making 6 figures a year. I’m more than happy with my second hand pens.
Enjoyed your comments. Absolutely agree. Love my Aurora 88 and Montblanc 146 but the 146 is definitely superior and my favorite writer. I also love it’s elegance. 146 will always be a winner in my books.
Ahoy Danny!
THANK YOU so very much for this great pictorial tear-down of one of my favorite vintage pens. I’ve often searched for just this information and I’ve always come up empty-handed. You’ve done a great service to all vintage A88 owners.
The only problem I see is that having read your article, I’m now itching to take my pen apart!
=) Eric
I agree wholeheartedly about the cursive “Aurora” on the cap band. It just doesn’t look right to me. That’s why I opted for the chrome cap, which comes with “AURORA” in nice block letters.
I also agree that the MB nib is much better looking than Aurora’s. Then again, any two-tone nib is going to catch my eye over a mono-tone. I suspect that the larger and simpler scroll work on the Aurora nib was a cost saving decision.
And speaking of cost… shouldn’t a head-to-head comparison like this include each pen’s MSRP? I honestly don’t know the cost of new 146, but I’m confident that the A88 would come out the winner of the price category.
=) Eric
Eric,
I think you’re probably right about including a cost comparison, in which case the Aurora would probably win, although I can’t say for sure. The only reason I didn’t include the prices was because I don’t buy pens at retail. I only buy them used and they’re both similarly priced in that market, at least for the gold trim versions.
Dan
I’m still too ignorant to be buying vintage pens. And I’ll prove it by asking a couple of dumb questions.
Does ‘extra shipping services’ include shipping internationally if paying by paypal ?
Do these pens have gold nibs, gold plated nibs or some other material ?
Also, thank you for you efforts in maintaining the forum software.
Cheers,
bmorison.
Yes, I will ship internationally, but it’s not included in the free shipping I offer when I sell a pen.
All these pens have gold nibs unless stated otherwise.
I never had an anti-MB phase, but there’s simply no way in hell I’d ever buy one new in a B&M store- but that goes for all but the least expensive mpens. Even a Lamy Safari costs quite a bit more at a Paradise Pen than at a fave like Pendemonium or Pear Tree.
I do have a very strong inclination towards vintage Montblancs, though. A lot of FP folk are surprised when they get their first MB and realize that they actually are nice pens… And those folks usually have their minds blown when they get a 13x or a 146 from the 1950s.
I’ve had good experience with the more modern 146 and 149 I’ve owned, but no pen I’ve ever owned- or held- beats my 1950s vintage 146. Worthy of being both a grail pen and a desert island pen.
Flexible MB nibs from the 30s-50s are pretty special. They’ve a feel that is unlike the flexible nibs from Waterman, Wahl, Pelikan, Parker and others.
I’ve never seen a 50s vintage 149 in the flesh, but I’d love to have one someday. I do have a 60s/70s 149 that I really, really enjoy. It has the plastic filler threads, which I prefer to those with the hunk of brass at the end of newer 149s. It has a flexible three-tone 14C nib and an ebonite feed. Flexes to 2 mm- between the big grip and long tines you put out some nice looking writing.
Hoo-baby…someone’s gettin’ a nice pen! I had the chance to write with this one on Tuesday, and lemmetellyawhat…that’s a delicious nib. Someone grab this one quickly!
Interesting that you mention the soft tines of the Pelikan. I have 2 Pelikans, a 100 and a 200 and both of them have hard nibs that write very stiffly. For that reason alone I use them only rarely. They also have poor inkflow and write with a very dry line that skips a lot. Perhaps the 205 nib is better?
Hi there-I got word from you that you11 days ago that you had receive my paypal payment. The pen still hasn’t arrived and I’ve not received an email that you mailed it. Could you tell me if you have mailed the pen and if so, when? Of course weekends will slow things down a bit, but Iowa and Indiana aren’t that far away from each other so I am wondering what’s up. Thanks-M
Quite a beautiful pen. If I had a little more spending money it would be mine.
Hi Dan–thanks for the packing! Got it and it writes great!
Does the nib on this (beautiful!) pen have any flex?
Unfortunately, no. But it is pretty sweet for a rigid nib.
Could you email me when the medium stubs are ready?
Thanks
Sure thing. Email on its way…
Hi, would you consider accepting $100 for the Lamy 2000? Thanking you in advance for a reply,
Best,
George Linn (Central Ohio)
Email response on its way…
What do I need to do to purchase the Q2 1945 Cedar Blue Vac? (also described as: Another beautiful blue vac this time with gold trim.)
Is this pen still for sale? How much is shipping to the UK?
I’m sorry, the pen has been sold.
I have this pen in a medium nib. I can attest to the description. It’s an instant starter of good weight and balance posted or not. One of my favorite Levenger pens.
Hi, is this still available? Please let me know. Thanks, Hope
Awesome post as usual, thanks for posting all this helpful stuff on a regular basis.
Very nice! I think the Parker Vac goes very well with it.
Hit that clay, and and let me whip out my Vac to keep track of my percentage!
So the 88 P’s have lost their flex? Seems to me that the barrel is slimmer than prior 88’s as well. Still an outstanding looking and performing pen.
I’m interested in the Faber Castell
I’m not sure why it wasn’t marked as such but that pen has been sold for quite some time. Sorry.
A good, useful comparison. I love my Aurora 88 piston filler although I do wonder what they were thinking every time I look at that scroll work on the nib. When compared against the MB 4810 or Pelikan Souveran nibs, lets face it, it’s pretty ugly! That said, it writes magnificently although my 14k Medium is very toothy albeit nice and fine when used in reverse.
Dan, these pictures are great! Really good my man! Wow!
What is the nib size, Mr. D.?
Looks great!