Sooner or latter we all find ourselves staring at that new pen we aquired last year or that vintage pen aquired 2 or 3 years ago wondering how that scratch or brassing got there.

So out of curiosity and for the sake of scientific research, how do you react to the first scratch or trace of brassing on a pen? Do you not care much and continue to use it? Do you go bunkers and your head pops off like a volcanic eruption? Do you cry ?

What about vintage collectors, is this even an isue with you or do you buy a vintage pen with trace brassing or small signs of modest wear to begin with?

I polish from day one. I have some scratch remover stuff and that helps. A bad scratch and off it goes for a professional polish or to one of the major shows for the same by one of the meisters there.

My pens are all users, even the vintage family ones
that are soon off to be restored.

Scratches I can live with.

Dropping them and bending the nib, like
I did last night at work for the first time
ever, on the other hand.

I'm still in shock.

Hi,

To be honest whilst I try to be careful, the odd scratch/scrape is pretty much a fact of life if you use pens daily, so don't tend to lose too much sleep over it, lots of things in life more precious than pens, even expensive ones.

Andy

I buy the pens used, pre-scratched. Makes things a lot easier.

Same with me - then I'm still careful with the pen, but not obsessive.

This is a sensible approach. A thought as a thing-a beauty.

Here are my 2 cents on this topic:

I use all my pens and after a while small scratches and smidges of brassing are inevitable. To me they are as beautiful as a pristine fpuntain pen thats still mint after 80 years.

The mint FP has beauty in the sense that it still shows its full glory as it was meant to be seen in the display case in the store nearly a century ago.

My used ones are beautiful in the sense that they have been put to use and have served faithfully previous owners for almost a century and now serve me faithfully in turn. Every little scratch tells a story, every smidget of brassing tells this pen was loved so much that it was used ditifully.

I also love buying new pens and likewise starting them down on the road to hopefully decades of use with me and with whomever happens to aquire hem long after am gone. I hope they too will sherish them and wonder about the owner(s) that came before them, as I do now with my vintage pens.

PS: All my modern FPs are piston filled, so as long as there is liquid ink, they shall continue to be used.

I kind of like the colors silver turns as it tarnishes and I love to use my pens. Any scratches or dings are signs of use and love.

Me too!
My daily users are vintage pens.
I bought some new pens, too. But I prefer the vintage nibs and so the new pens are stored in a chest of drawers.

Yeah, a scratch or nick that is not overly large is just part of life. I understand why someone might want to get a big scratch removed or smoothed out or get a crack repaired.

What strikes me as odd is the people who examine the pen with a magnifying glass and then go totally screaming bonkers at the smallest flea bit. Some times it is hard not to reply, "Get a life" when these kinds of posts come on.

I guess if someone wants to put the pen under glass and freak at the slightest imperfection, that is their right. But it seems unhealthy to me.

I do confess.......I would rather not drop my pens any more than absolutely necessary. j

I agree to all of the stuff above.
I use every pen I buy, otherwise I wouldn't buy it. I don't clean it often.
Well, actually, I clean it but I don't polish it etc.
I wash and flush with distilled water etc prior to ink changes but I don't need to polish etc. since every pen I have is very often in my hand; the writing, the opening and closing fills the bill. The more the scratches, the more the use. What seemed to be the problem here???

Mike

I don't know what the problem is, but there is one......believe me

I have read posts where people here talk about the dissapointment they got when they went to a pen show to buy a vintage and they found out that almost every vintage pen had a small scratch or two and/or some brassing. That they walked away feeling let down.

I have also read of people here who polish the pen after every single use as to buff out the slightest imperfection and sign of use.

But Herr Doktor, I couldn't agree more with you.

What a bunch of ahh, y'know...

I've never been to a pen show yet but when I would have been there and seen a FP that appealed to me, I'd buy the darn thing (after a wet run)!

If it ever had a scratch or two and/or any brassing, then who cares, the main thing is that it is now on sale here!!

Finally, as re polishing as said above, I don't need to polish. When I use the darn thing every day or two, it polishes itself!!!

Those freaks should sell everything!!!! Man!!!!!

Mike

I do not collect my pens as an investment, so I am not concerned if their value is lessened by scratches or dings. Of course, I hate getting the first as much as anyone, but it is unavoidable since I use my pens on a regular basis. I get wrinkles and my pens get wear marks too. I can live with that. /Craig

Like many members here, I collect to use, not to look at - and I don't like the idea of things being locked in a cabinet and untouched. I also have a small collection of straight razors - and once a collector told me off for handling his razors by the steel, since they take fingerprints! That's like saying you shouldn't hold a pen by the section!

It depends on the type of material. One of the reasons I am drawn to plastic is that scratches can be removed. metal, enameled or lacquer (urushi included) pens however demand even more care because you can't home fix scratched enamel. At least I don't know how without leaving some trace of the effort. When a scratch does occur I think...its all mine and personal. Sometimes its ugly and sometimes its not. If the part can be replaced it gets replaced. If not, I learn to live with it. Despite whatever cost you put into these things they are, after all, just pens.

Ghost Plane wrote:

"I kind of like the colors silver turns as it tarnishes ... "

Same here. I have some silver furniture that has toned into lovely rainbow colors. I hesitate to polish it.

Like so many of the other posters, I am a pen user so scratches "consistent with use" are a norm for me. I also do not hesitate to buy used pens and vintage pens with signs of use. I call those scratches "beauty marks."

A pen is like a surfboard, you can't really enjoy it until after the first ding!

I don't worry about scratches. I buy my pens for use, not display.

It's good to read all these very sane opinions about whether one should worry about scratches. As a relative newbie and someone who really wants pens he can use, I've cringed at every scratch or ding. But you're right, they're part of the life of the pen - and it wouldn't be any fun to just have them sitting at home in velvet-lined boxes!

On the other hand, I've now learned to recoil when my students ask to borrow my pen...

At least you learned your lesson, don't let anyone borrow your fountain pen