A Söffhaas 234 1/2 restoration
I’ve been asked to post some of my Montblancs in my first introducing post. So I’ll begin showing a restoration of a Montblanc pen that meant a greater challenge than usual and I'd like to share with you.
At this point it seems unnecessary to present the Montblanc brand, so I'll just write about this particular model. The brand had changed their name to Montblanc-Simplo GmbH and introduced pens with a plunger filling mechanism in 1934, shortly after they will patent a telescopic system (RP 652405, to which I’ll refer later) that has much more spanning than Kovacs patented system, which was already being used by Pelikan in their model 100 from 1929 on.
At this moment, Montblanc also change the method of naming models, introducing a system of numbers where the first figure refers to the model, the second, to the system load and the third to the size of the nib. So, this pen is a model 234 ½, where 2 indicates a mid-line model, the piston filling by a 3 and 4 ½ the size of the nib, also intermediate, between the most used 2 and 6.
Specifically this pen was produced in the first period around 1936 to 1938 and still carries the plunger mechanism on a separate piece of threaded body ebonite. Thus we see two sections at the end of the pen, rather than a single piece (the blind cap that hides the rotating plunger button) made of the same body’s celluloid, as in these models in the 40s. Another difference of this first design is in the cap, also ebonite with the snowy summit in casein, and the striated clip, while the later are all fully made of celluloid.
A peculiarity of this model is that it belongs to those which were redistributed by a major wholesaler of Hamburg at the time, that used to mark his pens with his brand name STÖFFHAAS on the other side of the Mont Blanc engraving. Many people still confuses it with an owner name engraved.
The pen was at a good price and only looked poor due to discoloration of the ebonite parts, very brownish. Although the seller said something about the piston bad condition, I wanted to believe that it could be only the usual cork seal deterioration and dry ink. I was very disappointed when the pen arrived. Apart from the visible damages, the place for the seal was occupied by a shapeless mass and loading mechanism had a deplorable appearance. It did not move at all, although the button turned crazy. That is, all the symptoms of a broken and incomplete system. The first impression was that I just might save the nib and feed and little else, that is, the bargain had become a wasteful spending.
After that first disgust I thought that no hurt will be cleaning all parts and afterwards I’d see. After removing most damageable parts of ebonite, I left the plunger shaft several hours dipped in ammonia. After several attempts (and gallons of dirty water from iron gall ink) I got off the telescopic system. I also removed the remains of cork and a harden putty used to stick the cork, and I noticed that there was only one piece lacking: the threaded hard rubber washer that holds the seal cork in place. I ordered a new one to a friend and I was able to return the pen to life.
Let's see some pictures of how the pen arrived
Here, a seller’s photo as a reference
A detail of the plunger mechanism
The putty hardened punch, after removing the deformed cork
The telescopic system came unstick after intensive baths with ammonia and hard brushing. There, the threaded nut lacking to fit the cork seal, can be observed.
Note that the plunger shaft is divided into three sections with two worm screws concentric system. This enables the system to be completely contained in the section of the culotte and once deployed; it reaches the tip of the pen. This spanning is much higher than other contemporary pens which piston which were based on the mechanism invented by Kovacs. I dare say that there wasn’t any other German pen at this time to load more ink than this.
The nib is engraved with the Montblanc brand name and its famous snowy summit, inside which is the size of the 4 ½ and the richness of gold below, 14 C (carats). Lower and hidden by the section, HAMBURG appears, city of origin. In models of the 40s these prints will also undergo a change, so this is another indicator for the dating of the pen.
Ebonite feeder is flat and smooth by its bottom.
The pen disassembled in all its parts, ready for final assembly. I must indicate that the ebonite section is threaded to the body of celluloid. I did not unscrew it because this operation is very delicate, since these celluloids are usually very fragile, and there was no need for it in this particular restoration.
Finally some details Pen
The engraving of the brand still separated by the profile of the mountain that gives name to it can be seen here.
Finally, a comparative size photo with another classic of the era, the Pelikan 100N
I hope you liked it.
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