Kaweco Brass FP, speed up brass patina

[thott]

I like when the brass parts of my pens developed over the period  of usage a patina.
But it takes time...

At my new Kaweco Brass FP I want to speed up this process.
It is not a expensive or rare pen...
 

With all the suggestions found in the net to create at brass a patina I choose 
vinegar essence with salt.
I put the parts above the liquide level in a closed box together with the vinegar and salt.

After 3 hours, the high glossy surface was gone and the brass has a nice patina.
The green rust was easy to remove mit water....
 

Now no fingerprints at the surface, no micro scratches and high glossy surface....

The pen has also a much pleasurable feeling.

Before:

  


After 3 hours together with the vinegar......

 



After washing:




  



Thomas

[Karmachanic]

For a funkier look bury it in a flower bed, or compost heap for a week.

[thott]

2 hours ago, Karmachanic said:

For a funkier look bury it in a flower bed, or compost heap for a week.

I think this would be too extreme 🙂 

[como]

@thott Very interesting, thank you for sharing! I am tempted to try it at the right opportunity just for the fun of it!

[Karmachanic]

1 hour ago, thott said:

I think this would be too extreme

 

Steampunk variegated patina. 😁

[txomsy]

I feel tempted, mostly for the green patina, which looks gorgeous. Yet, I think I almost prefer to wait for the real, irregular thing.

 

Thanks for the heads up!

[Gomer]

Doesn't most brass contain some lead?  Do you wash your hands after using the pen?

[silverlifter]

4 minutes ago, Gomer said:

Doesn't most brass contain some lead?

 

The Kaweco brass pens are manufactured from Eco Brass, and are lead-free. I would not expect the cheaper clones would use this material.

[txomsy]

6 hours ago, silverlifter said:

 

The Kaweco brass pens are manufactured from Eco Brass, and are lead-free. I would not expect the cheaper clones would use this material.

Which might -highly hypothetically- explain why the clones are all varnished.

 

Interesting, I hadn't thought of this but now you mention it, the clones I've had rattling in a pocket and which are now losing the coating, seem to have a silvery color underneath instead of the "goldish" color of the Kaweco, which has had me thinking for a couple of weeks if they were not made of a material other than brass (or a different quality one). Now I wonder if there is an easy test to tell lead content in brass.

 

As Alice would have it, "Curiouser and curiouser!".

 

[thott]

For better machining and fabrication brass can contain lead. 

Within the European Community is since 2018 a declaration for brass and bronze and other

copper-lead-phosphor alloys necessary:

 

„The classification requires the creation of a 
safety data sheet (SDS) and its transmission 
to the customer. 
This applies to all lead-containing alloys 
with more than 0.3% lead content or 0.03% 
for lead-containing powdery material, 
in which the protective measures when 
processing these substances are also 
pointed out.“
Translated from: 
German Kupferinstitut

From Kaweco is no data sheet at their web page available. I guess that therefore the lead content is below 

0.3%

But I wrote a Mail to them for confirmation.

 

Thomas

[thott]

10 hours ago, silverlifter said:

 

The Kaweco brass pens are manufactured from Eco Brass, and are lead-free. I would not expect the cheaper clones would use this material.

You are right……!

I just found at their web page:

„It is made entirely in Germany from the well-known eco brass and only has to go through very short transport routes. The brass used is lead-free and as it is untreated, an individual patina develops over time through use.“

 

Thomas

[silverlifter]

8 hours ago, thott said:

You are right……!

 

No need to sound so surprised!