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I have a Sheaffer silver plated pen where the cap is slightly darker (plating loss?) near it's base than the barrel, which is still bright and shiny.
I've been looking at different ways of sliver replating for the bottom of the cap. Has anyone ever done such a thing? Please can you tell me what method you chose? Painting on some silver plating liquid, using a metal plate, or using a sliver plating bath? I would love to know all about your results. Thanks. :)
I've never attempted to plate metal at home. I've seen the lackluster (pun intended) quality of one pen show vendor who offered his kitchen-table plating services.
kirchh does this type of work, and top pensmiths refer metal pen parts restoration and plating to him. https://danielkirchheimer.com/restoration/
My main problem is that the cap probably needs the internal clutch removed. Whether the gold plated clip would also need removing is also a distinct possibility. It may be a difficult job....
As luck would have it, I saw a sequence on The Repair Shop where a renowned silversmith used a brush plating kit to plate two items with silver.
Getting the kit isn't cheap, but it looked like a neat kit and it made a decent job of it.
What model pen?
--Daniel
Here is a UK company selling a silver plating solution, appears to obtain good results
https://www.kernowcraft.com/jeweller...ating-solution
Thank you and yes, I have been considering buying a bottle of silver plating solution. I've even been advised by an expert that it will work as long as I add new solution to the cloth very frequently as the small amount of silver will disappear straight away.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fermata
Despite the reviews on Amazon being a bit up and down, that may be the way I will go. :)
I think some jewellers offer rhodium plating, that might work.
It's more a case of whether or not they will charge more than the pen is worth to do it though. The expert UK silversmith already quoted me £45 plus postage. That's as much as a brush plating kit. :(Quote:
Originally Posted by Fermata
I have called my jeweller and asked for an indication, his prices start at £40 to replate a white gold ring so a cap and barrel would be way too high compared the pen's value.
If you go ahead with the kit it would be great to see a photo essay of the process.
My worry would be - could I make it worse.
Actually rhodium plating a white gold ring is much more expensive than silver plating. I know that from my own experiences with white gold. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Fermata
I'm still trying to decide whether to try the bottle of sliver plating liquid, or to buy a brush on silver plating kit that I might possibly use only once. I know I won't be able to use a silver plating bath because I'm not sure I can remove the gold plated clip from the cap, and that would need to be removed before it could be dunked in a bath. The cap is the only part that really needs doing, and it's only around the open edge. Not that much of an area to do. Maybe a bottle will work.
Plating at home is not hard. Surface prep is incredibly important, cleaning with alcohol followed by a distilled water rinse is important. Wearing latex gloves through the process (to avoid hand oils from affecting the surface) is important. And remember, a final finish will never be smoother or better than the surface BEFORE it was plated. Brush plating is good for things like replating a clip, dip plating is better for doing things like pen bodies. Electroless plating solutions tend to leave a less bright finish than electroplated finishes. Yes, I have plated at home with gold, to get rid of brassing on a Waterman pen. So this is not theoretical knowledge. Back when I made printed circuit boards at home, I would deal with both etching and plating at home. Like any craft, it requires care and caution. Read, research, watch videos... and if you live in the area with someone who plates metal... call them over for a beer. As a final note: If the base metal of the cap is steel (a magnet sticks to it), you will need to copper plate it, then silver plate it. If it is brass, then you can usually go straight to silver.
I had this problem a few years ago. With a Diplomat Exellence A which had lost the plating off the clip. I got a quote for a new clip and it was £25 and a new cap was £30. I ended up going for a new cap and selling the pen soon after. Making a big fat loss on the pen of around £40 on a pen that I'd got into pristine condition.
I think if I were you and I still liked the pen and I was keen on having one in better condition. I'd look for a better example and I would sell mine.
The main issue is the barrier of entry is probably too great to warrant buying the kit yourself and there's no guarantee you will get a good result. Getting someone else to do it would probably end up with you paying over the odds.
Making finding a better example the cheapest option.
Top Pen is spot on, provided you will only plate one pen the entirety of your life. Once you master plating, you can consider pens which are at a value price, which have "brassing/worn-plating" and add them to your collection. There is no shortage of pen owners who are scared of plating, and will dump their otherwise perfect pens at a bargain price. Some parts on pens are not readily removeable, such as bands on hard rubber or celluloid caps. Those parts can be replated without removal (but with the surrounding areas masked). But, if you are a 1 pen 1 users kind of guy, then this may not be viable for you. There are many people here who own more than 1 pen.
I decided it was too expensive for me to buy a silver replating kit, as I wouldn't ever have enough items to use it on and recoup the initial expense. Instead I bought a bottle of Antiquewax silver plating solution that isn't bad. It hasn't brought up the metal exactly like I thought it would and maybe it's because the cap and barrel could really be chrome plated rather than silver plated. In any case the silver plated part looks slightly less shiny than the original.
I've bought a replacement pen that had a broken nib unit, but decent barrel and cap. At least the broken nib unit allowed me to work out how to remove the small shrouded nib and feed from a Sheaffer Lady type pen.
I now have a hex key with a hole drilled in it that goes over the cartridge piercer, and unscrews a small circular disc that holds the feed in place. This also enabled me to establish that there are two different disc fittings that can be used inside these pens. The other version (in my excellent gold nib unit) needs a similar sized torx key with a hole drilled in it.