Restoring Gold Chasing

[stefanv]

I have just acquired a black Pelikan M200 from somewhere between 1985 and 1997. The cap top has the engraved Pelikan logo, chased (is that the right word?) with gold or some gold like substance. Some of that has flaked off. Does anyone have any suggestions for restoring it?

 

The first idea that popped into my head was to apply gold paint carefully with a very fine brush, and then wipe off the excess. Once it's dry, a little sanding with MicroMesh pads should smooth up the surrounding surfaces without pulling the gold out of the engravings.

 

Are there any other approaches that anyone is aware of or can think of?

 

Thanks,

Stefan

[Guest Subvet642]

I have just acquired a black Pelikan M200 from somewhere between 1985 and 1997. The cap top has the engraved Pelikan logo, chased (is that the right word?) with gold or some gold like substance. Some of that has flaked off. Does anyone have any suggestions for restoring it?

 

The first idea that popped into my head was to apply gold paint carefully with a very fine brush, and then wipe off the excess. Once it's dry, a little sanding with MicroMesh pads should smooth up the surrounding surfaces without pulling the gold out of the engravings.

 

Are there any other approaches that anyone is aware of or can think of?

 

Thanks,

Stefan

 

Actually, I did that with the colored rings of a Vintage Conklin Endura, but without using the Micro-Mesh. It worked pretty well.

[stefanv]

The operation was a success! What I ended up doing was working a bit of gold paint (Testor's Model Enamel) into a paper towel, and rubbing it into the chasing. I followed this by wiping with a soft cloth very slightly dampened with paint thinner (not lacquer thinner or acetone, which would attack the plastic precious resin). I repeated this about three times to get enough gold paint to stay in the engraving. Afterwards, I polished up the cap a bit with #12000 MicroMesh, followed up by some 0.5 micron mylar lapping film.

 

There were a few places where the plastic had worn down to almost the depth of the engraving. I carefully re-engraved a few of these (using an sharp X-acto blade), but there were a few fine lines I didn't attempt (like the back of the bird's neck). Some of the gold also went into scratches on the pen, but overall, I feel I made a great improvement in the appearance. I didn't get a very good "before" picture, but here's the "after" shot:

 

[publishing guy]

The operation was a success! What I ended up doing was working a bit of gold paint (Testor's Model Enamel) into a paper towel, and rubbing it into the chasing. I followed this by wiping with a soft cloth very slightly dampened with paint thinner (not lacquer thinner or acetone, which would attack the plastic precious resin). I repeated this about three times to get enough gold paint to stay in the engraving. Afterwards, I polished up the cap a bit with #12000 MicroMesh, followed up by some 0.5 micron mylar lapping film.

 

There were a few places where the plastic had worn down to almost the depth of the engraving. I carefully re-engraved a few of these (using an sharp X-acto blade), but there were a few fine lines I didn't attempt (like the back of the bird's neck). Some of the gold also went into scratches on the pen, but overall, I feel I made a great improvement in the appearance. I didn't get a very good "before" picture, but here's the "after" shot:

 

Nice work. Looks great. I'm always a little afraid of paint.

[fpnnm]

Edited February 22, 2011 by fpnnm