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Parker 51 Silver Cap Coating Removal


goldennib

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Should be able to have the rhodium electrostripped.

 

I have a memory -- though no reference at hand -- that rhodium is not susceptible to electrostripping.

 

--Daniel

"The greatest mental derangement is to believe things because we want them to be true, not because we observe that they are in effect." --Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet

Daniel Kirchheimer
Specialty Pen Restoration
Authorized Sheaffer/Parker/Waterman Vintage Repair Center
Purveyor of the iCroScope digital loupe

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi

I too have a Sterling Silver 51 cap, and it looks awful. I also have a Silver sonnet with the same poor coating problem.

I found this article:

Method of stripping rhodium plating, Patented Oct. 13, 1936

http://www.google.com/patents/US2057271

 

It seams it depends on a under plating of nickel that can be attacked.

 

 

Are we convinced it is indeed rhodium plating and not some other metal.

I have a Caran D'ache that is rhodium plated and it looks different than the Parker coating. The Caran D'ache rhodium finish is very chrome like.

 

Mark

http://www.maryhatay.com/Mark/Fountain-Pens/Mixed-Pens/i-qv5h3mN/0/O/atramentum%20Digitis%20small.jpg

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Hi

I too have a Sterling Silver 51 cap, and it looks awful. I also have a Silver sonnet with the same poor coating problem.

I found this article:

Method of stripping rhodium plating, Patented Oct. 13, 1936

http://www.google.com/patents/US2057271

 

It seams it depends on a under plating of nickel that can be attacked.

 

 

Are we convinced it is indeed rhodium plating and not some other metal.

I have a Caran D'ache that is rhodium plated and it looks different than the Parker coating. The Caran D'ache rhodium finish is very chrome like.

 

Mark

We are convinced that it is Rhodium on the surface of the silver Parker 51 caps.

San Francisco International Pen Show - The next “Funnest Pen Show” is on schedule for August 23-24-25, 2024.  Watch the show website for registration details. 
 

My PM box is usually full. Just email me: my last name at the google mail address.

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Is there any consensus on the best way to bring 51 Sterling / Rhodium plate cap back to its once illustrious beauty?

http://www.maryhatay.com/Mark/Fountain-Pens/Mixed-Pens/i-qv5h3mN/0/O/atramentum%20Digitis%20small.jpg

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Is there any consensus on the best way to bring 51 Sterling / Rhodium plate cap back to its once illustrious beauty?

The rhodium coating should not have been shiny but rather somewhat dull or at least that is the nature of a thin rhodium coating. I've had a number of near NOS caps and they are more of a matte finish than shiny.

 

If I were of a mind to recoat a cap, I would vapor deposit the rhodium and not try plating though plating may work fine. I do not know how Parker coated the caps but vapor coating would seem the obvious way to me but that is what I did for years at my day job.

San Francisco International Pen Show - The next “Funnest Pen Show” is on schedule for August 23-24-25, 2024.  Watch the show website for registration details. 
 

My PM box is usually full. Just email me: my last name at the google mail address.

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The rhodium coating should not have been shiny but rather somewhat dull or at least that is the nature of a thin rhodium coating. I've had a number of near NOS caps and they are more of a matte finish than shiny.

 

If I were of a mind to recoat a cap, I would vapor deposit the rhodium and not try plating though plating may work fine. I do not know how Parker coated the caps but vapor coating would seem the obvious way to me but that is what I did for years at my day job.

Sounds like limited options.

Thanks

M

http://www.maryhatay.com/Mark/Fountain-Pens/Mixed-Pens/i-qv5h3mN/0/O/atramentum%20Digitis%20small.jpg

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