Polishing And Waxing Of Pens

March 20, 2018

I do think if you wax a new pen....it is beneficial in the long run. New pens of course don't need polishing.

Invsuu asked...."Bo Bo it would be really nice if you would be willing to write up a guide of sorts; exactly what to buy and how to do it - polishing and waxing. It would probably be a lot of work for you, but I know for mysef I'd follow it."

Matlock commented...

Over the years here, certain waxes have fallen out of favor big time, Renaissance Wax, that was used by museums for decades proved to be a mistake. It was once recommended here, until the truth came out.

The problem was with a Benin bust which was made of metal and required considerable effort to remove the wax build up. That problem should not concern us with pens.

That is very good to know.....in that was not talked about when Renaissance Wax was reported not 'now' good for pens. So that's two waxes good for pens.

One does not need a polish wax, in it has abrasives in it to take the dullness of a car's paint off. One needs a pure wax.

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It's simple....and I learned it here, ages ago. Polishing and waxing of pens. This has fallen out of the threads, in the last five years, cheaper Chinese pens have come in strong. Before most 'noobies' were after a well made cheap vintage pen....that needed a bit of loving care...a bit of polishing

Now unlike then, vintage pens are not looked at as a way to work one's way up to the better pens. Chinese pens or Japanese are the starter pens, not an Esterbrook or a Safari, one of the many Sheaffer or Parker pens.

Don't palm slam your cap on if you post, there is no need to screw it on if it don't have a screw mechanism as some pens do. Medium-Small, Standard, Medium-Large pens were made to post, in that is where the balance was.......the only Large pens I've found that post with great balance is the Snorkel (could be a Touch Down also) and the P-45 has good balance...both need to be posted for best balance.

So if you wax your pen you will have no mars.............do check the cap threads for roughness. I've not had any but my old pens were 'worn in'.

Back then we had Semi-Chrome a lighter metal polish......never ever use Brasso.

It's much too rough.....something to rip a polish on military brass....

Then something called Nova (I think) came along, a three step polish, that actually from my reading, only the first two are needed on pens. Nova refused to mail to me in Germany :angry: :angry: ....back in the day. It is or was used to polish the plexiglass of jet fighters. So will be best.

You might or might not need the third and last polish level.

Even an Esterbrook could be ruined if you go at it with a Dremil. It's finger polish....not finger in a rag polish.

Rub in the metal polish into the pen body with just your fingers, which Semi-Chrome was and is....very much used in the old days....Let dry for a couple of minutes, buff up with a piece of flannel. Often enough I had to polish a pen twice. occasionally a third time...........but I was only after the 'well maintained' look for a 50-70 year old pen.............not NOS..........which being lazy was too much work. If you want to do that, repeat the finger polishing a few more times.

Nova may be the trick with it's third level of polish.

Where ever you have a imprint cover it with a just enough masking tape.....(You can always chalk and cheat the imprint to give more a NOS impression)....I don't, so don't know if the wax will hold it well, which I think it would. If you just polish and chalk and wax and then sell it as that, good. There is nothing wrong with selling a first class refurbished pen....if sold as refurbished and not NOS.

You could mask the gold plated cap rings too....take off the clip, if possible.....some older pens it's not.

For gold plated cap rings and clip....even if a bit brassed.....try a gold cloth first.

If the cap rings and clip are well brassed.....OK....then you use your Semi-Chrome...(or similar) or Nova and polish the brass. You will have to do that more often than if there is still gold plating on the parts.

If you wax the brassed parts after polishing, it will keep tarnish at bay.

It is not the end of the world that your pen is so old it brassed....and the some I have I don't have to go at it all that often to have it still look good.

If I would have to go after the brass, to make it shine again...it's only a couple of minutes....one application of Semi-Chrome.

M16 Professional Paste Wax....in you do not want ANY oils or synthetic junk....if in the States or perhaps anywhere Amazon would be a good bet.

Sterling Silver P-75 Cisele or any other....well I like gunmetal silver tone of patina.......I don't like the shined till someone asks, is that Chrome?

But every once in a while if the pen is not used often, silver will get sort of grungy. A light polish of the silver cloth...if you polish a bit too much that the dark lines of the cross hatched blocks...Cisele vanish, they will come back with in weeks. They come back first. The best way if you don't want to have a Chrome pen, and have some patina, is to use the pen regularly. The finger oils are enough to keep grungy tarnish at bay......... gunmetal silver patina is Not Grungy!!! IMO of course, in there are folks that want a gleaming silver pen.

I once had a chrome pen..... what a finger print trap.....spent more time polishing the finger prints off than writing...some three weeks later I released it back into the wild. A Waterman Graduate I believe it was. I have no idea if wax would keep finger prints off of it.