Do you allow your nibs to patina or polish them from time to time?

[AzJon]

A discussion from elsewhere on the internet regarding patina on nibs got me wondering: how many of you allow the gold on your nibs to patina? Is patina on the nib something that adds value to a pen in the vintage world? I've only ever seen vintage sellers offering pens with well polished nibs.

Thoughts?

[Hawk]

I don't know if the group feels this is related. Why do people leave ink on top of the nib especially when the pen is photographed. My wife and I always wipe the ink off of the nib because it bugs us.

[jar]

I have never polished a nib.

I often leave signs of nib creep on when taking pictures since it is normal.

[Kaputnik]

On the rare occasions when I take a nib completely out of the pen, I clean it very thoroughly all over, but that's not exactly polishing it. And I never do more than wipe it off when it's in the pen.

Nib creep within reason doesn't bother me, and I even like the way a bit of ink on the nib looks.

[mhosea]

I take care when the nib is plated, especially 2-tone Parker nibs of yore, but also, for example, many vintage 14K Sheaffer nibs. No polish, no rouge cloth, no Sunshine cloth. The plating will thin and eventually come off.

But I have no objection to using a Sunshine cloth or jeweler's rouge cloth on an unplated solid gold nib. I suspect that collectors are less concerned with whether such a nib has a patina than they are with what other things might have been done if they see that the nib has been shined up. They like as-found condition so that restoration, if it is to be done, can be restricted to competent hands. However, bear in mind that collectors are a tough market for individual pen sales, anyway. They are cheapskates unless the pen is hard for them to find, so if we're talking about an easy-to-find pen, I don't suspect that patina helps any.

[KrazyIvan]

If I buy the pen and it has the patina already, I'll leave it that way. If it's polished, I'll keep it polished. Ink on the nib used to bother me but not anymore. As long as it's not dripping, I just leave it and clean off the section only.

[AzJon]

Ok, so it seems to be a relative non-issue. I was told that the patina is sought after and something that adds value to the pen. True for most older things like coins or guns and such, but seemed an odd notion to me with fountain pens.

Also, I don't wipe the nib creep. Never really bothered me.

[Scooby921]

A discussion from elsewhere on the internet regarding patina on nibs got me wondering: how many of you allow the gold on your nibs to patina? Is patina on the nib something that adds value to a pen in the vintage world? I've only ever seen vintage sellers offering pens with well polished nibs.

Thoughts?

As mhosea said, I think it depends on the person and the nib. To me things should be shiny. If the manufacturer intended the nib to be dull and boring they wouldn't polish it or plate it in the first place. A nice clean, shiny nib is part of the visual appeal to writing with the pen. Patina has it's place on copper statues or a brass / bronze watch, but not on a gold nib. Care should be taken if choosing to clean up a plated nib vs. solid gold, but I still think a clean, shiny nib looks better. Perhaps a collector of vintage pens likes the pen to look as old as it is, but I think most would-be buyers want to see it clean and glimmering in the light. A clean pen appears to be a cared-for pen.

I don't know if the group feels this is related. Why do people leave ink on top of the nib especially when the pen is photographed. My wife and I always wipe the ink off of the nib because it bugs us.

I had the same question for a while, and then owned a nib which was difficult to keep clean. Wet writers flow ink very easily. Some nibs have complex patterns stamped into them. What you get is a network of rivers with a source which is happy to supply. Try to soak up an ink spot and you only pull more out through the hole or slot in the nib. It becomes acceptance of a battle which can't be won and has no impact on how the pen writes.

[frmamede]

About the patina, I would not be drawn, or pay extra, to have it on a nib. I have a rouge cloth and use it from time to time. Gold is meant to be shinny in my opinion!
And the nib creep depends on the nib. Some nibs look great with it, some don't. If it looks cool, I leave it there.

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[FredRydr]

Do you allow your nibs to patina or polish them from time to time?

I polish only from time to time. I don't like having to remove Wenol from the slit and breather hole. If you opened the drawers of my pen cabinet you'd see tarnish, and it wouldn't bother me. On the other hand, I will polish a pen in use when a nib looks grotty.

Fred

[amk]

mhosea makes a good point about plating. I tend to leave nibs alone, though if I have to fix the nib in other ways I will generally give it a good clean and (if gold) polish before putting it back in.

Always grateful when I find a completely ink-covered and grotty nib in a pen at a flea market, as the pen will probably be going cheap instead of "that's a gold nib I want £50 for it" :-)

[Sandy Fry]

Never polished a nib. Won't ever polish a nib. If it needs cleaned I will clean it and that's it.

David

[FredRydr]

I see mention of a rouge "cloth." Is it something that leaves no particulate matter behind unlike Wenol or real rouge?

Fred

[frmamede]

I see mention of a rouge "cloth." Is it something that leaves no particulate matter behind unlike Wenol or real rouge?

Fred

I don't know If it leaves anything behind. But I always wash the nib after using it, and never had any problems. It is that red jewelers cloth, that has a yellow cloth inside, for final polishing.
I'm on tapatalk and can't (don't know how to) upload a pic...

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[popcod]

I'm not as allergic as some might be to polishing 14k nibs, even those on vintage pens when I've received these unrestored. I've found that sometimes it's the only way to remove unidentified funky objects from the surface that mock all solutions and ultrasonic efforts. As with all things in restoration, however, care must be taken and hamfists pocketed. On the other hand, I don't think I've ever re-polished a patinated nib, preferring a jeweler's cloth or simply letting it alone. Someone mentioned vintage Sheaffer nibs. The appearance of two-tone nibs on these in particular is much improved when they develop a patina IMO, as on this one from a Sheaffer I recently sold:

[ms8109]

I like to keep my nibs, as i do my pens, nice & clean


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Best Regards,
Mike