Newbie question about plating

[jkingsley]

My experience in penturing spans a couple of weeks, so please pardon my ignorance. So, I open up my questions to the learned ones. I understand that the 24 kt plating wears, but what type of wear are we talking about? Flaking, pitting, etc. Is there anything (like one would topcoat brass, for instance) that can be applied to mitigate the wear ? I have searched the many opinions and have only arrived at the conclusion that 24 is a poor choice, regardless of the source that provided it. Lastly, is my small investment in 24 kt from PSI just for making practice pens ? Thanks for you help.

John

 

[MobilMan]

I had a professional pen turner "Steve Russell" tell me once at the Woodturners' Show that he uses a thin coat of "Renaissance Wax" on all of his pens. It dries super hard & helps prolong wear & keeps finger prints off. I've used it on all of mine since. Woodcraft carries it. $25.99 but you use a very thin coat.

 

[Rudy Vey]

Gold coatings all will wear away over time. This time can be as short as a few weeks to months. My experience is with the 10k from CSUSA and the Upgrade Gold from Berea (I have no experience with PSI kits since I don't use them). If someone "fingers" a pen a lot and even has sweaty fingers, the gold goes away pretty fast (plus corrosion starts from under the gold, through very fine, minute pores in the very thin gold plating, the acidic sweat will eventually start to corrode the base substrate, which is mostly steel - clips ect).
But the good news is that there are platings that last very long, if not forever. The gold colored coatings are Titaniumgold (actually Titanium Nitride, a very hard coating used a lot on tooling). Chrome, Platinum and Rhodium (all pretty much silver in color) are all also long lasting. I use them all the time, and have still have to get a pen back where the plating failed. The Satin Nickel (I use it only on Barons) is also very good. If you like you can do a search here on IAP, Lou (DC Bluesman) did some abrading testing a few years back.

 

[CrazyBear]

Richard

Do you use renaisance wax on all of your metal kit parts. I have never used it. Do you buff it on the beal or simply polish with a soft cloth

 

[curlyjoe]

So if I read correctly the plating is good but, the chemistry of different people cause the platings to wear faster then normal.
I use Berea's kits in all platings and had no problems.

 

[redfishsc]

Originally posted by MobilMan

I had a professional pen turner "Steve Russell" tell me once at the Woodturners' Show that he uses a thin coat of "Renaissance Wax" on all of his pens. It dries super hard & helps prolong wear & keeps finger prints off. I've used it on all of mine since. Woodcraft carries it. $25.99 but you use a very thin coat.

To respectfully disagree with this statement, I've used Ren wax on well over a hundred pens so far and it does absolutely nothing, in my experience, to avoid wear and tear-- it merely makes the pen look shinier and feel more silky in the hand. Think about it-- how is a wax, something very soft compared to metal, going to protect a metal surface, which is extraordinarily hard compared to wax.

Ren wax is good stuff. I recommend it. I use it on every pen I make. But only as a means of dolling up your pen, not protecting the plating.


Gold plating (10K, 24K w/epoxy, or "upgrade" 24K) will wear, mostly via scratches and being worn off. There is nothing that can be done to stop it.

 

[Johnathan]

Originally posted by redfishsc

Originally posted by MobilMan

I had a professional pen turner "Steve Russell" tell me once at the Woodturners' Show that he uses a thin coat of "Renaissance Wax" on all of his pens. It dries super hard & helps prolong wear & keeps finger prints off. I've used it on all of mine since. Woodcraft carries it. $25.99 but you use a very thin coat.

To respectfully disagree with this statement, I've used Ren wax on well over a hundred pens so far and it does absolutely nothing, in my experience, to avoid wear and tear-- it merely makes the pen look shinier and feel more silky in the hand. Think about it-- how is a wax, something very soft compared to metal, going to protect a metal surface, which is extraordinarily hard compared to wax.

Ren wax is good stuff. I recommend it. I use it on every pen I make. But only as a means of dolling up your pen, not protecting the plating.


Gold plating (10K, 24K w/epoxy, or "upgrade" 24K) will wear, mostly via scratches and being worn off. There is nothing that can be done to stop it.

I respectfully disagree too. Its not really the air that is making the biggest impact on the metal finish, it's all the crap on our hands. All the oils, acids, dirts, and chemicals in the skin. The Ren wax can help create a protective coating or barrier between you and the metal. For those that do shows, clean or wipe down your pens, you can even get a PH balance hand sanitizer for people to use.

 

[makaiolani]

I agree. It's actually the acidity in a person's sweat. I have a friend with very moist hands that helps me with my pens and every tool or mandrel he touches will show rust in one day. That's why I gave him his own tools. Wax will help very little. You can use car wax to help protect it, but you must apply it very regularly.