I recently bought a pen made by the Eagle Pencil Co. The cap and barrel are black with red streaks, almost like wood grain. I think I'm looking at hard rubber, here. The clip and cap band are really ugly looking. At first, I thought they were badly corroded. After a good squint with a microscope and some very careful shaving with a sharp knife, I found the furniture is gold plated. Someone painted the metalwork with something (shellac, lacquer, varnish?) and it has turned an ugly dirty black color. The coating is very uneven, so I don't think polishing through it is going to be an option. I am thinking about trying to strip the grunge. Naptha is probably a bad idea on HR. How about lacquer thinner or denatured alcohol?

Paddler

If it's lacquer or shellac, denatured alcohol will remove it. Use q-tips, and be as careful as possible not to spread the alcohol onto the hard rubber; it won't eat it, but it can soften the oxidized surface layer temporarily, rendering it more easily damaged.

Thanks for the info, Richard. I will try Q-tips very lightly moistened in alcohol. I guess the trick is going to be keeping the alcohol from wicking into the seam between the cap and the metal band. Slow and easy does it.

This summer I took a chance and bought a Mabie Todd gold plated pen that some dolt (probably the seller) had saturated with WD40. The feed is now very flexible and distorted. The softening process does not appear to be reversible. This is why I am very cautious about using solvents around HR.

Paddler