Titanium Gold Jr. Retro Kits

[gerryr]

In this thread, http://www.penturners.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=31883 Aaron was offering Ti Gold Jr. Retro rollerball kits for sale that he is buying directly from Dayacom. A couple of people questioned whether they were really Ti Gold. I ordered 10 Ti Gold and 10 Rhodium and stated I would sacrifice a part from a gold kit on my buffing wheel loaded up with White Diamond. Aaron kindly included an extra part and I got my kits today.

I put my buffing wheel on the lathe and really charged it good with White Diamond. I had a 10K Jr. Retro kit that I won at the Rendezvous last year and took the end cap from that kit to the buffing wheel. The 10K plating was gone in less than 5 seconds. I then tried the extra part than Aaron sent. Even after a minimum of 20 and probably closer to 30 seconds against the wheel, the plating looked perfect. This is VERY durable plating.

Now I just need to order some Jr. Gent fountain pen kits in Ti Gold and Rhodium so I can have some Ti Gold Jr. Retro fountain pens.

For those who don't know, CSUSA sells the Jr. Retro kits, but not in Ti Gold, for some inexplicable reason. So, if you want these kits in Ti Gold, Aaron is your man.

 

[GaryMGg]

Thanks for the update. Sounds good.

 

[Ron Mc]

That is DARN good to know!!
Thanks for doing this for us.

 

[OKLAHOMAN]

Thanks,Gerry great to know!

 

[IPD_Mrs]

Gerry,
Thank you for not only checking the quality but also taking the time to share with us. I was one of the people that questioned the Ti gold, mainly because I won't buy the 10k Jr Retros. This is great news. Aaron if I insulted you by questioning the platting I am sorry and look forward to doing business with you in the future.

Mike

 

[thewishman]

Thank you, Gerry, for your sacrifice on behalf of the advancement of penturning. And thanks for sharing your results.

Chris

 

[Ligget]

Thanks Gerry for confirming this for us, I was one of the ones who thought they might have been 10k but I am very happy to be proved wrong![]

Sorry Aaron!

 

[makaiolani]

Thanks Gerry! I'm glad you are satisfied. I've never done a test like that on parts before. Very interesting. Don't worry everyone. I was never insulted.

 

[Jim15]

Thanks Gerry.

 

[airrat]

Thanks Gerry

I know everyone's concerns when trying a product that has not been tested or is known to be of good quality. I am glad this worked out in Aaron's favor and glad he sent the extra piece for the test.

Thanks for understanding Aaron.

 

[arioux]

Thank you very much Gerry, A nice gesture from you to sacrifice a kit and share the result with us. The other great news is that CSU don't have the exclusivity (and plrice control) over those higher end kit anymore.

Alfred

 

[johncrane]

Done and dust-ed thanks Gerry!![^]

 

[Rifleman1776]

That is great information. Thanks for doing the test.

 

[ed4copies]

Thanks Gerry,

Sounds like you will have one pen that will really SHINE!!!

Glad to hear it IS Tn - I also will become a customer.

 

[redfishsc]

Ti gold seems to stand up against white diamond fairly well, but I can assure it, on experience, that it does NOT stand up to muriatic acid.

I do a lot of closed-end pens, and I decided to "acid test" Tigold, Rhodium, and Black Ti, since the ti gold and rhodium from CSA have been pitting like nobody's business. I suspected that the culprit was a lousy plating job coupled with normal hand crud.

After about four seconds in a pure muriatic acid bath (which is actually about a 30% +/- solution of hydrochloric) that 100% of all three platings came off. I don't care how hard they are, the chemical durability wasn't much compared to the acid.

That being said, if you run across anyone who's hand crud is as strong as muriatic, lol, DON'T SHAKE HIS HAND!!</u>

 

[OKLAHOMAN]

My only question is Why!

Originally posted by redfishsc

Ti gold seems to stand up against white diamond fairly well, but I can assure it, on experience, that it does NOT stand up to muriatic acid.

I do a lot of closed-end pens, and I decided to "acid test" Tigold, Rhodium, and Black Ti, since the ti gold and rhodium from CSA have been pitting like nobody's business. I suspected that the culprit was a lousy plating job coupled with normal hand crud.

After about four seconds in a pure muriatic acid bath (which is actually about a 30% +/- solution of hydrochloric) that 100% of all three platings came off. I don't care how hard they are, the chemical durability wasn't much compared to the acid.

That being said, if you run across anyone who's hand crud is as strong as muriatic, lol, DON'T SHAKE HIS HAND!!</u>

 

[txbatons]

Roy...Maybe redfish sells a lot of pens to Batman and Robin and they need pens that will withstand being dipped in vats of acid. []

 

[gerryr]

The point of my test was not to determine if the plating was impervious to everything imaginable, only to determine if it was actually Ti gold. Try putting solid gold in straight muriatic acid and see how it does.

 

[Rudy Vey]

Gold will not be dissolved in Hydrochloric acid. To dissolve gold in acid, one needs a mixture of 3 parts concentrated HCl (Hydrochloric or Muriatic Acid) and one part of HNO3 (Nitric Acid). This mixture is also called "aqua regia", since it will dissolve Gold, Platinum and other noble metals, like Rhodium.

I don't understand why someone would expose pen parts to concentrated Hydrochloric acid. None of my pens, TiGold, Black Ti, Rhodium or Chrome plated, has shown any signs of chemical attack. I work in the chemical field and use these acids nearly daily.

 

[Jarheaded]

Oh shoot. I was planning on storing all my pens in acid,thinking it would preserve them and make it tastier to chew on...[:0]

 

[redfishsc]

Originally posted by OKLAHOMAN

My only question is Why![/b

Well, for about the same reason lil kids mix vinegar with baking soda or fry ants with a magnifying glass. The parts were leftover butt ends from closed-end pens and totally useless. Add one mad scientist brain and viola.

 

[redfishsc]

Originally posted by Rudy Vey


I don't understand why someone would expose pen parts to concentrated Hydrochloric acid. None of my pens, TiGold, Black Ti, Rhodium or Chrome plated, has shown any signs of chemical attack. I work in the chemical field and use these acids nearly daily.

I obviously didn't clarify myself. The parts I nuked were leftovers from closed-end pens that were totally useless. I wouldn't waste a good pen part.

 

[Rudy Vey]

Today I took a TiGold clip from a Berea Slimline and a cap from a Rhodium Retro to work. I put the parts in about 32% Hydrochloric Acid.
First the clip went in and it started to show tiny gas bubbles after ca. 30 seconds. I took the clip out of the acid after 1 minute and rinsed it with water. The golden clip had some weird look to it, like small dark spots: the coating could be wiped off easily with a wet finger, and under it the steel clip was nicely shiny, like polished steel would look like.
Here is the clip in the acid, one sees the tiny gas bubbles:

Then the retro cap went in. The cap also started to bubble within approx 15 sec and I took it out after one minute. The whole cap had small bubbles all over. The plating, however, could not be wiped off.

Here is the clip and the cap after rinsing in water and drying with compressed air:

One may note the shiny steel of the clip, looks nearly like the Rhodium cap. My theory behind all this is that these (very thin) platings have microscopic pores and the acid attack the underlying metal through these pores. This eventually loosens the plating and it can be wiped off. The TiGold coating could be wiped off or it was the very thin gold plating that Berea applies over their TiGold and the TiGold was dissolved in the acid - had not enough parts or time to play around. The Rhodium stayed on, though - it may have come off after a longer immersion time. The Retro cap looked later like it looked before. I am not sure from what the cap is made, it is not steel (not magnetic), I would say brass or so (got to make a scratch to find out). The clip was definitely made from steel.

These minute pores in the plating would explain what happened to some of our friends here with the Rhodium plating from CSUSA. Aggressive sweat, i.e. acidic, may have over time have the same effect as the short exposure to concentrated Hydrochloric Acid.