Plating questions about pen hardware

[R. C. Rutter]

Greetings all,

New to pen turning and have been reading a lot in the Library. Several have alluded to the different finishes on the pen metal. From reading, I get the impression that the best is Titanium. Are there other finishes that are good?

What are some other options?
How do the pens from Penn State perform?
What would you recommend?
What would you NOT recommend?

For example, I got this from the Woodpeck.com web site after ordering one of their kits. Has anyone had experience using these? Will they hold up?

Upgrade Gold
All gold plating used on these pen kits is 24K "upgrade gold". Upgrade means that the parts are plated using the rack method and that small amounts of cobalt or palladium are added to the plating chemicals. This enhances the durability of the gold plating. The tumbled method, which is not used on the kits we sell, produces an inferior gold plating and is less costly.

Chrome
This is an extremely durable plating. Under normal use this plating should hold up for many years.

Titanium Gold
This method produces the most durable plating. This process is called PVD (particle vapor deposition). Titanium nitride matched to the color of the gold is molecularly bonded to the part and then 24K gold is bonded (sputtered) on the part to achieve a color match other gold parts on the kits. The parts are again re-plated after this. The final result is that the parts will virtually never wear. The manufacturer we use pioneered this process for writing instruments and are not aware of another company currently using this exact process.

Platinum
This is a very durable hard plating. The manufacturer uses real platinum rather then rhodium and it should be expected to hold up under normal use for many years.

Black Titanium
Titanium oxide is molecularly bonded (PVD) to the parts. This plating is unbelievably hard and durable. It will last for many, many years.

Thanks,
Richard

 

[egnald]

I find it interesting that your source indicates PVD for Titanium Gold and Black Titanium. Titanium is often anodized (a chemical/plating type process) to change it's color and colors run the entire gamut including the multicolored "Oil Slick" appearance (photo below). Compared to sputtering, anodizing is much less expensive and is much more cost effective especially when higher volumes are required.

The company I retired from did both anodizing/plating processes with Palladium, Platinum, and Gold as well as sputtering of Titanium Nitride, Gold and other precious metals. The cost differential and capital requirements between the two processes is huge.

In comparing black for instance, PVD black on Titanium is usually a very dark dark black where anodizing usually produces a lighter black more like a dark or near-black gray color.

Dave

 

[monophoto]

I don't routinely get the CSUSA catalog, so I don't know what it currently says. However, I have an old (2014) catalog that lists the wear resistance ratings of various platings. In order of decreasing quality:

Rhodium/Platinum​

Titanium​

Chrome/Gun Metal​

10K Gold​

24K Gold​

Various satin platings​

Black Chrome​

​

I'm not a metallurgist, but it seems to me that this listing only addresses the withstand capability of the plating material. A major factor also has to be how (what method, and how competently) the plating is done, and I'm not aware of an objective means of assessing that consideration.

 

[R. C. Rutter]

I find it interesting that your source indicates PVD for Titanium Gold and Black Titanium. Titanium is often anodized (a chemical/plating type process) to change it's color and colors run the entire gamut including the multicolored "Oil Slick" appearance (photo below). Compared to sputtering, anodizing is much less expensive and is much more cost effective especially when higher volumes are required.

The company I retired from did both anodizing/plating processes with Palladium, Platinum, and Gold as well as sputtering of Titanium Nitride, Gold and other precious metals. The cost differential and capital requirements between the two processes is huge.

In comparing black for instance, PVD black on Titanium is usually a very dark dark black where anodizing usually produces a lighter black more like a dark or near-black gray color.

Dave
View attachment 243661

Thanks Dave. That's quite an education.

 

[R. C. Rutter]

I find it interesting that your source indicates PVD for Titanium Gold and Black Titanium. Titanium is often anodized (a chemical/plating type process) to change it's color and colors run the entire gamut including the multicolored "Oil Slick" appearance (photo below). Compared to sputtering, anodizing is much less expensive and is much more cost effective especially when higher volumes are required.

The company I retired from did both anodizing/plating processes with Palladium, Platinum, and Gold as well as sputtering of Titanium Nitride, Gold and other precious metals. The cost differential and capital requirements between the two processes is huge.

In comparing black for instance, PVD black on Titanium is usually a very dark dark black where anodizing usually produces a lighter black more like a dark or near-black gray color.

Dave
View attachment 243661

Thanks Dave. That's quite an education.

 

[R. C. Rutter]

I don't routinely get the CSUSA catalog, so I don't know what it currently says. However, I have an old (2014) catalog that lists the wear resistance ratings of various platings. In order of decreasing quality:

Rhodium/Platinum​

Titanium​

Chrome/Gun Metal​

10K Gold​

24K Gold​

Various satin platings​

Black Chrome​

​

I'm not a metallurgist, but it seems to me that this listing only addresses the withstand capability of the plating material. A major factor also has to be how (what method, and how competently) the plating is done, and I'm not aware of an objective means of assessing that consideration.

Thanks. I will check out csusa