Rhodium Re-Plating?

[stilllo]

Something crossed my mind the other day. Say you have a Pelikan M1005, the one with the completely Rh plated nib. Obviously this is an heirloom piece of writing history, so, say in 45 years you've still got it hanging around but the nib is showing its age... Would it be possible to simply have the nib re-plated in rhodium? If the plating process is only a few microns thick I can't imagine it interfering with the slit. To be safe, of course, you could put something sheet-like in the slit while it's plated in the bath. Sounds like a pretty solid idea to me for restoration of a gorgeous pen. Any opinions on this? I'm (almost) too young to have a wife or any older jewelry but I know my grandmother had a bunch of hers replated recently as part of a birthday gift. Let me know what you think!

Edited March 19, 2014 by lowfiwhiteguy

[kirchh]

I've performed many such restorations.

 

--Daniel

[stilllo]

Wow, thats fantastic to hear! Cheers for the response.

[Dutchpen]

It's quite easy to replate rhodium.

I perform this restoration too.

 

 

Lennard

[Chrissy]

I get my white gold rings rhodium plated almost every year. I can't see why a nib couldn't have a similar treatment.

[Ron Z]

It can be done, but the solution used is important. Some will react with the ink and corrode in the slit, even if the acid is neutralized.

[paolino_paperino]

Would you be willing to share which solution might be more safe and effective?

Thanks

[FarmBoy]

I would be inclined to vapor deposit Rh before I went the electroplated route. I recognize that not everyone would have access to such equipment but vapor deposition is clean whereas electroplating is not. If an evaporative technique was not used originally one should have been.