Polish Out Scratches On Nib?

[LK&T]

Just finished putting together a Chic slimline for a customer with the rose gold finish. I was pretty careful with handling and assembly but still got some marks on the nib from pressing the pen and even a light scratch (insert mad face here). The assembly instructions say the rose gold plating is epoxy coated. Anyone have real world experience (no guessing please) about polishing out these furnishings?

 

[Kenny Durrant]

My experience wasn't good. I'd already pressed a pen together and saw a few light scratches. I didn't want to take it apart so I tried buffing them out while assembled. It didn't take much to buff the plating right off. It happened with gold and the gun metal platings. That was with a buffing wheel on a lathe so be extra careful with whatever method to try. Good Luck.

 

[LK&T]

My experience wasn't good. I'd already pressed a pen together and saw a few light scratches. I didn't want to take it apart so I tried buffing them out while assembled. It didn't take much to buff the plating right off. It happened with gold and the gun metal platings. That was with a buffing wheel on a lathe so be extra careful with whatever method to try. Good Luck.

Thank you Kenny. That kind of info is exactly why I asked! A buffing wheel was my first thought. I'm also thinking about hand polishing with the plastic polish used to finish CA coatings. If they are indeed epoxy coated like the instructions say, that should work.

 

[Pierre---]

I would not trust an IPG plating... Too thin.

 

[sorcerertd]

Try a jewelry buffing cloth. If you aren't too aggressive, it will probably do the trick for you. They are embedded with a very mild abrasive made specifically to polish precious metals like that.

 

[LK&T]

I've decided to try the plastic polish and hand rubbing. I figure it can't make it worse. There'll be before and after photos for posterity.

 

[LK&T]

Here's the result. The first pic is before using the Craftics 20/20 Plastic Polish. Obviously some marring on the nib that's undesirable.
Second pic is after using the plastic polish. I put a dab on a clean cotton cloth and spun the pen so the nib rotated around in the polish. Did it three times. Definitely better and probably hard to notice without magnification. Although, the polish made some concentric scratches around the nib I didn't like. Pic three is using the plastic polish again, but wiping longitudinally along the nib instead of around in circles. Big improvement! (insert happy face here)

 

[sorcerertd]

Looks like that worked well.

 

[magpens]

Well done !!

Thanks for leading us through this !!!

 

[LK&T]

Try a jewelry buffing cloth. If you aren't too aggressive, it will probably do the trick for you. They are embedded with a very mild abrasive made specifically to polish precious metals like that.

I researched this and found out the cloths are made for buffing metals, not plastics. Would probably be too abrasive on the epoxy coating.

 

[sorcerertd]

I researched this and found out the cloths are made for buffing metals, not plastics. Would probably be too abrasive on the epoxy coating.

Thanks. That is good to know.