51 Cap Rough Arrow

[jackoguit]

OK- You guys got me lookin' at my 51 caps. I noticed this before and I finally took some decent photos of it.

These two 51's were one owners- the same attorney owned both of them since new, they both sat in a drawer since he retired in 1981; he sold them both to me two months ago.

They are both aero or technically squeeze fill 51, post date coding, maybe from the late 50's. They are both dark green. One has a gold filled cap with lines and the other, the one I'm interested in right now, has a lustraloy cap with a gold filled arrow clip.

Here's the thing- the arrow on the lustraloy has a rough surface on the top of it- what should be a sharply defined angle is flattened, by maybe 1/16" It appears not like it was scratched or worn down, almost like it was cast that way. Under a loop, the "shearing off' of the top edge of the arrow is very consistent from the feathered area to the arrow head. There are no machine/grinder marks. Again, almost like the arrow was miscast and that edge didn't fill the mold that far.

I might not have even noticed this except for the fact that I got a nearly identical one from the same man at the same time and I held them up together and noticed this.

Hope the photo can show what I mean ... .

Edited June 25, 2006 by jackoguit

[Richard]

Two things have happened. The irregular area near the top of the flattened area is pitting. The flattened area itself, as shown by its brown color, is serious wear (aka brassing).

[jackoguit]

Hi Richard-

 

I'm pretty sure the rest of the cap would also reflect the serious wear required to take off the top edge, and it doesn't. There are no dents, serious scratches or localized wear anywhere else on the cap, or elsewhere on the pen. The brushed chrome finish is as close to pristeen as any daily user might be expected to appear.

 

The provenance also is the same for both pens- the gold cap and the lustraloy cap.

It's like they were two tires put on the same car and run the same number of miles, subjected to the same conditions.

 

I might take this to someone at PSU who specializes in medalics and see if it is a casting issue.

 

Anyone else have an example of a flawed (Gasp!) Parker?

[Richard]

Trust me, I know whereof I speak. The cap is not brushed chrome, it is stainless steel, and it is a bloody lot harder than the brass and gold plating of the clip. The clip's wear is typical of the wear that occurs when a pen is clipped into a shirt pocket by a man wearing a suit -- the suit jacket rubs on the exposed part of the clip. I have many "51" caps that show similar wear.

[kirchh]

To my eye, this condition is indicative of excessive buffing. This may itself have been triggered by some flaking of the gold layer long ago, perhaps due to a metallurgical condition; that would eventually show as a dark spot, which would prompt some polishing. The polishing would take off more of the gold, and the vicious cycle has started.

 

This is not a casting issue, as these clips were stamped, not cast, according to Don Hiscock. Furthermore, the fact that the gold layer is missing in the misshapen areas is a clear indicator that the damage occurred after manufacture.

 

You'll notice that all the most-prominent high spots are worn; I bet there's wear to the top edge of the clip ring that encircles the jewel at the top, too. This is an extreme example of classic overbuffing, the primary cause of brassing.

 

--Daniel

Edited July 20, 2006 by kirchh

[jackoguit]

Thank you.

I have learned more through this exchange than I could have imagined.

Edited June 25, 2006 by jackoguit

[fibreglass_works]

This is an extreme example of classic overbuffing, the primary cause of brassing.

 

--Daniel

So can any one share the light to slove "this" problems???????

[fibreglass_works]

The clip's wear is typical of the wear that occurs when a pen is clipped into a shirt pocket by a man wearing a suit -- the suit jacket rubs on the exposed part of the clip. I have many "51" caps that show similar wear.

A very good logic

[jackoguit]

I bet there's wear to the top edge of the clip ring that encicrles the jewel at the top, too.

Yep.

[kirchh]

The clip's wear is typical of the wear that occurs when a pen is clipped into a shirt pocket by a man wearing a suit -- the suit jacket rubs on the exposed part of the clip.

I disagree. This looks like over-agressive buffing to me. Note the wear on the sides of the arrowhead -- an area that would not contact the inside of a suit jacket (which, I note, would typically be lined), and I suspect there is wear on the top ring also located in areas that would not be in contact with a jacket.

 

Jackoguit, Look at the underside of the clip, particularly up at the top where it bends into the top ring. Do you see a (white, red, pink) residue lodged in the crevices? If so, it is likely polishing paste of some sort. Does the other pen's clip (the one in good condition) have such residue?

 

--Daniel

[fibreglass_works]

Ok, ok, quick, quick, Now anyone Care to share to slove the problems cilp?

How should the cilp be dress to match the steel cap again? Tks :bonk:

[jackoguit]

Jackoguit, Look at the underside of the clip, particularly up at the top where it bends into the top ring. Do you see a (white, red, pink) residue lodged in the crevices? If so, it is likely polishing paste of some sort. Does the other pen's clip (the one in good condition) have such residue?

 

The lustraloy does have white residue under the feathered area and under the arrow's shaft; the gold (the one in good condition ) does not have any residue at all.

 

Good Heavens! If I was truly my father's son (he was a detective, and a good one I'm told) I would have examined this pen much more thoroughly. In a way, this make the pen's story more intriguing. I will return to the man from whom I purchased them- the 2 green 51's, a teal 51 Special and a Sheaffer Imperial III- and ask him more about them: how he cared for them; which one he favored, etc.

 

To reinterate fibreglass' question- any way treat brassing- maybe even just stop the erosion?

Edited June 26, 2006 by jackoguit

[Richard]

At this point I'm going to retrench and say that Daniel's hypothesis as to the cause of the brassing is more probably right than mine. It's a vivid demonstration of what not to do to keep your pens beautiful.

 

To reinterate fibreglass' question- any way treat brassing- maybe even just stop the erosion?

No, there is nothing you can do to save that clip. (All you need to do to stop the erosion is to refrain from buffing the clip, but it's still IMHO a lost cause.) Either the clip or the entire cap should simply be replaced. (If the cap were of some valuable and exotic material it would be worth the cost to swap clips, but a plain Lustraloy cap can usually be found for the cost to have the clip swapped.)

[london]

My bit of hypothesising...

 

Maybe a small spot of brassing started originally through the rubbing in the jacket pocket thing. Then the original owner, not liking the dull brass contrasting with the gold, regularly polished it so that it matched the gold. The steel obviously wouldn't be visibly affected.

 

- Mark