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Found 4 results

  1. WestLothian

    Pelikan Pitting Repair

    After more than a dacade of regular use, my Pelikan pens have developed deep pitting corrosion at the gold ring at the nib end of the section. I wrote to my original supplier and they gave be contact details for an approved repair service. This did not give me a fixed price to replace the ring but requested the pen to be sent to them for a repair assessment. The charges for just the assessment and post and insurance have put me off completely. I decided to have a go at a repair myself starting on an older, cheaper pen. I started by cleaning and getting as much of the dark material away from the holes. The next step was to deposit copper into the pitting using a basic electroplating kit and copper solution. This took several layers and rubbing back to get level with the original gold plating surface. I then decided to increase the protection of the base materials with a layer of nickel plated over the copper and hopefully thick enough to avoid porosity. This layer looked quite dull at first but eventually became brighter after polishing and replating a few times. The final step was to reapply a decorative gold plating layer and get the surface back to the original bling. I have used the pen plating kit before for decorative restoration but this was the first attempt at filling the pitting craters. I feel more confident now. I will use the M600 for a while with the 4001 ink and see how it survives before attempting the process on my M800, which has a rough edge and one deep corroded pit hole.
  2. I posted this in the Waterman forum as a response to someone who was concerned about brassing on his celluloid bodied pen clip. I thought it might be of use to the entire forum. So I post it here. Home plating is not difficult. The hardest part is the surface preparation of the metal before the plating. Before you get started, mask any areas which you are NOT plating. It protects those other parts from physical abrasion and chemical attack. Step 1, get it smooth, often that rolled gold finish has a sharp edge and the underlying brass is intentionally rough, to enhance adhesion of the rolled gold to the brash. Polish it all until it is equally smooth, and no apparent transitions from where the rolled gold remains, and where it has worn/torn away. Step 1b, if any original engraving was obliterated during the polishing phase, restore it. There are two general families of engraving. The first is machine or displacement engraving (stamping, rolled imprint, diamond stylus) which pushes the metal out of the way (like a bulldozer) but does not remove it. The second is classical chisel style engraving, which actually carves metal away. The latter type is seen in some of the precious metal bodied pens which have artful hand engraving on them. Step 2, clean, I mean super meticulously clean, with the masked off parts safely covered, get them visually clean, then don latex gloves, get out alcohol wipes, then wipe the surface down (you are about to plate) to remove any oils your skin put on the metal. Residual oils can interfere with the plating process. Rinse the surface with distilled water to remove any trace of what was left behind by the alcohol wipes. Step 3, Plate, basic gold kits are less than $100, and you can buy the replacement "plating solution" for about half that price. In your application, you will likely want "brush plating solution" as versus "dip solutions" which require immersion. My photos below are using the dip method. Step 3b, rinse, rinse rinse, rinse all of that plating chemical off your pen. It may affect color or other characteristics if left in place. Step 4, With a jewelry cleaning cloth, buff aggressively, the initial finish after plating will look rough and discolored. Only with buffing will your initial horror abate. The underlying brass contaminates the solutions and places a layer of rough dark copper on the surface (you will believe something went horribly wrong with your plating). Did I mention buff with a jeweler's cloth, yes, I meant it. Step 5, Admire. Below is an example of a practice piece which was only lightly cleaned, there was no pre-plate polishing (no Step 1 was performed, for test reasons, I wanted to evaluate adhesion with poor surface preparation). Then the part was plated for about 30 minutes (at 140 degrees F) and the plating solution was carefully rinsed away, so it would not chemically attack the other parts over time. It was buffed with a jewelers cloth. Pictures: Before Plating, During Plating, After Plating. Once again, this was initially a parts pen purchased for $53 to do cruel experiments on, pity it not. Note the extensive Brassing in the Before picture (the first picture). Due to the lack of surface polishing before the plating, you can see a change in smoothness in the plated areas, as that area was rough brass instead of the glossy rolled gold. This is to be expected if you skip the surface polish stage prior to plating.
  3. I noticed the following disclaimer in the box of my Sailor 1911 Black Luster (sic) pen and would like comments, please. Are they just covering themselves, like Montblanc? I don't think that 'standard' inks like Diamine; Pelikan 4001; Waterman; Quink and Sheaffer Skrip would do any harm whatsoever, so just wanted the opinion of you lot out there. I can see their point but one might avoid certain inks in some pens anyway. No need to mention names!
  4. Check this... http://zobeid.zapto.org/image/pens/bexley_clip.jpg That's what the pocket clip on my Bexley "America the Beautiful" looks like now. It sure didn't look like that when it was new! I understand that thin platings do wear off, and supposedly "brassing adds character", but... This pen isn't all that many years old, hasn't been used all that hard, nor polished excessively. It almost seems as though the plating is just... evaporating? What gives? BTW, this was the model with "rose gold" plated trim, which also includes the cap bands.





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