a few days ago I bought a very nice Esterbook from Brian Anderson (see topic!).

There is a tiny, little bit of rust on the nib (halfway between the section and the point). Is this a danger to the material health of my pen? Will the rust spread? can I wipe it of with fine sandpaper, or is this not necessary?

Thanks!

p.s., i could ask Brian, but this way others can perhaps benefit....

The steel nibs Esterbrook used respond well to polishing , so you might as well use one of the usual methods (powered or not) to return it to it's original appearance (or better).

Rust is not usual, but I have seen some pens that must have been allowed to be in contact with a corrosive liquid for some time - and actually had perforations through the nib. Although this looked horrible, it didn't affect the writing, since the damage wasn't anywhere near the tip.

If you have a Dremel, a small felt wheel charged with jewellers rouge will fix the problem quickly. If not, polishing with some of the mylars used in nib smoothing will work.

Even a metal polish like Simichrome would likely work well.

Good luck.

Gerry

Hi Gerry,

Thanks for your advise! But you do not recommend using sandpaper?

Well, I mentioned the Mylar abrasives - which *are* a form of sandpaper - but very fine. The autobody wet & dry sandpaper you can get in auto stores usually runs from 220 grit to 1500 grit. anything below 1000 grit will be pretty coarse and will leave scratches on your nib that will be harder to get off.

If the rust pit is deeper than you expect, you might have to resort to coarser grades of paper to remove it, but be prepared to work your way up to very fine papers/mylars if you want to return to a highly polished finish on the nib.

The Mylar film I'm referring to is also *sandpaper*, but it employs sophisticated techniques for producing and grading the abrasives, which can range down to 0.3 micron in size - perhaps 12,000 grit or finer.

It's difficult to advise, not having access to the nib to see the damage. For a deep pit, aggressive sanding/grinding/polishing is necessary - for surface discolouration, much gentler methods work better, without unnecessarily removing material and possibly damaging the pen. Start with a gentle method - perhaps a Q-tip and toothpaste/baking soda to see if it removes easily. Progress to more aggressive methods as necessary.

Yes, sandpaper can be used and if you won't be bothered by the appearance of fine scratches or sanding marks - you'll achieve your goal of removing the rust quickly. As I mentioned, I'd start no lower than 1000 grit though, until you see the actual surface condition under the rust.

Cheers

Gerry

Hi Gerry,

Well, it is very, very much surface rust, so I'll consider the gentle options. It's just a small optic thing....