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MatthewZS

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2nd question, boy I'm full of it today:)

Anyone know offhand where a person might get non-plated pen kits? I'd love to find solid copper or stainless or titanium or even silver kits.

Thank you:)
 
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I thought some of the black or gold titanium were solid and not plated but I honestly don't know.

I thought that was why the titanium is not supposed to chip or pit because it is not plated?
 
ALL pen kits are plated with some kind of plating , there are no commercially available kits made of solid precious metals or unplated metals . Mike (mredburn) does make some nice looking Solid Silver parts to make your own pens with but if I'm not mistaken these are just kitless parts .

The Titanium is just a colored Titanium plating that is then replated with gold or a gun metal plating , the base metal for most of the kits made is brass or white metal . If the Gold or gun metal starts to wear off the colored Titanium plating hides those defects for a longer lasting finish .
 
I can supply the parts either way ala cart or I can supply them as complete kits, including the tubes and trannies. Or you can replace the existing parts on a kit you have. If you have any questions Pm or email me.
Mike

edit in. I have also adapted parts for clients to fit other tube sizes. I made the atlas style nib to fit 8mm tubes.
 
ldb2000 said:
ALL pen kits are plated with some kind of plating , there are no commercially available kits made of solid precious metals or unplated metals . Mike (mredburn) does make some nice looking Solid Silver parts to make your own pens with but if I'm not mistaken these are just kitless parts .

The Titanium is just a colored Titanium plating that is then replated with gold or a gun metal plating , the base metal for most of the kits made is brass or white metal . If the Gold or gun metal starts to wear off the colored Titanium plating hides those defects for a longer lasting finish .
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So there is a plating over a plating, which makes the titanium a more sturdier product then regular gold plating? But eventually it will wear off thus exposing the base metal? I am asking this because I have been thinking of selling nothing but high end kits but thought about putting a lifetime warranty on the plating. If they could wear off then I may just stick with my normal warranty that I offer right now. I'm confused:confused:
 
rjwolfe3 said:
So there is a plating over a plating, which makes the titanium a more sturdier product then regular gold plating? But eventually it will wear off thus exposing the base metal? I am asking this because I have been thinking of selling nothing but high end kits but thought about putting a lifetime warranty on the plating. If they could wear off then I may just stick with my normal warranty that I offer right now. I'm confused:confused:
Click to expand...

any plating CAN wear off. but the Platinum/Rhodium and Titanium platings are much more durable. In terms of years more durable.

I know a couple of the vendors have descriptions of the plating process that explain how the Titanium platings are done. I recall them being "sputtered" with real gold at some point.

Here you go http://www.bereahardwoods.com/Merchant5/merchant.mvc?Screen=cp-about-plating
 
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So if I have a gold titanium plated pen and it begins to pit after less then 2 years use, what should I do? I ask this because I use one for my daily use and it is beginning to pit rather badly. I did not make the pen, I received it in a trade and absolutely love the pen. I am just annoyed that this plating did not last longer because I am using that as a selling point for my customers.
 
Arizona Silhouette advertises a sterling silver Baron or Sedona, but don't be fooled... it's silverplate and will wear off, although it seems to be fairly sturdy.

I've asked about a source for precious metal pen kits here before and many commented that it would be price prohibitive for anyone to offer genuine sterling silver or 14k gold kits with precious metals trading at all-time high levels.

... but I still want them! I'm making very expensive segmented pens now and I guess I will have to get into jewelry making to make my own clips and nib feeds.

There's a market for someone to get into this business, albeit small. The link to the silversmith selling those sterling silver kit parts didn't impress me. The overall quality of the workmanship could be far better.
 
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Parson said:
I've asked about a source for precious metal pen kits here before and many commented that it would be price prohibitive for anyone to offer genuine sterling silver or 14k gold kits with precious metals trading at all-time high levels.
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case in point. Mike's Inlaid Sterling Silver slimline kit is $98. Silver sells at $18.23 an ounce today. Compare that to gold at $1197 an ounce (and I didn't leave the decimal out). Now he has a Sterling nib at $8, I'm betting a similar 22k Gold one would run you close to $100. Even a 10k would be pricey.
 
rjwolfe3 said:
So if I have a gold titanium plated pen and it begins to pit after less then 2 years use, what should I do? I ask this because I use one for my daily use and it is beginning to pit rather badly. I did not make the pen, I received it in a trade and absolutely love the pen. I am just annoyed that this plating did not last longer because I am using that as a selling point for my customers.
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Rob, many factors go into how fast a metal will pit. Your body may be producing just the right chemical balance to pit the titanium, whereas mine doesn't. So a pen may last a lot longer with me than you. Who knows.

What do you do if you offer them, you make sure the customer is educated on it. tell them, that "Although we can expect the plating on this pen to last years, it will eventually wear. I offer a replacement if the plating is defective and wears within X time, and if you would like to replace the hardware at a point after that time I will do so at a minimal fee for parts." or something like that.

Mikes parts are great. They won't wear off, but they will tarnish due to the copper content in the Sterling. So yet another hurdle.

Mike, if you read this, is there any chance of you using Argentium Sterling?
 
Rob , I have this statement about platings on my website to avoid problems .

"Because of the high cost of Precious Metals , all of the manufactured hardware used to create our pens use some kind of Electro-Plating as a finish . They range from our economy 24K gold finish to our Best Platinum/Rhodium Finish and while they all will look good when new they ALL will wear over time
The amount of wear depends on allot of factors such as the type of plating the , amount of use , the care of the user even the environment and the body chemistry of the user can effect the amount of wear that occurs"

If you are selling high end pens and you want to give a limited lifetime warranty you should put a little away from each sale to cover losses incase you have to replace any kits or components , a kind of "Self Insurance Policy"
 
De-oxidized sterling and argentium are not the same. Sterling is 92.5% silver and 7.5% copper. Argentium is at least 92.5% sterling, at least 1.2% germanium and the balance copper. The germanium oxidizes preferentially over the copper and the silver. Germanium oxidation is clear, so the oxidization (tarnish) is not visible.
 
wear

Russianwolf said:
any plating CAN wear off. but the Platinum/Rhodium and Titanium platings are much more durable. In terms of years more durable.

I know a couple of the vendors have descriptions of the plating process that explain how the Titanium platings are done. I recall them being "sputtered" with real gold at some point.

Here you go http://www.bereahardwoods.com/Merchant5/merchant.mvc?Screen=cp-about-plating
Click to expand...

If the Chrome platings are real chromium they will wear well also, Chromium is a pretty hard metal. I think now, that you need to be more interested in the wear properties of clear epoxy which is applied over gold (and my guess would be some others too) to increase durability.
 
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