Polishing properly?

[penmainiac]

Does anyone know some good ways to polish mb precious resin? I don’t really mind the micro scratches, but there are some scuffs that detract from the pen. And no, I’d rather not send my pen to MB.


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[Jon Szanto]

Novus 3-Step Plastic Polish, small kits available on Amazon. Use sparingly, go easy at first, but this is not highly abrasive. #1 is a clear liquid cleaner/polish, #2 has just a bit of silica abrasive suspended in a lotion. I would try only doing 2 and 1 first; if the area still is scuffed, then try #3 - 2 - 1. I would also highly suggest you do this on a junk pen or some other object before touching an MB - not that the product is bad, but user error can be a thing.

[penmainiac]

Novus 3-Step Plastic Polish, small kits available on Amazon. Use sparingly, go easy at first, but this is not highly abrasive. #1 is a clear liquid cleaner/polish, #2 has just a bit of silica abrasive suspended in a lotion. I would try only doing 2 and 1 first; if the area still is scuffed, then try #3 - 2 - 1. I would also highly suggest you do this on a junk pen or some other object before touching an MB - not that the product is bad, but user error can be a thing.

Are there any safer ways? I will try the 3-Step polish, but there is always the chance I might screw up.


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[Jon Szanto]

Are there any safer ways? I will try the 3-Step polish, but there is always the chance I might screw up.

Sure: just buff it with a very soft cotton cloth. Buff it repeatedly like that, by hand, with nothing more than the cloth and you might have some lustre and smooth out the surface. At some point, though, you are talking about a roughed-up surface, right next to smooth, polished surfaces, that needs to get cleaned up. The three step I gave you is only about the next step from a plain cloth. I'd also just try #1, which is not abrasive at all, and I'd try it on a similar item or - barring that - maybe just on the blind cap (end of barrel) where it wouldn't be obtrusive.

See, the thing is, the reason people send stuff to professionals is because the pros know how to do this. When you do it yourself, there aren't any guarantees. But what I say above, used wisely, should cause no issues.

[Wile E Coyote]

You're not getting those scratches out with Novus. If you don't sand them first, you'll end up with shiny polished gouges.

If you do screw it up, you still have the option to send it to MB.

[FredRydr]

You're not getting those scratches out with Novus. If you don't sand them first, you'll end up with shiny polished gouges....

+ 1

[Jon Szanto]

You're not getting those scratches out with Novus. If you don't sand them first, you'll end up with shiny polished gouges.

Well, ok. Penmainiac, listen to these guys. To my eyes they didn't seem that deep, and while I might try a limited amount of work with the polish, I'd never trust myself to use micromesh on a pen this quality. If you can wait a few months, I know a fellow who does very good exterior repair work on pens, but he is taking a break for the moment.

[FredRydr]

...I'd never trust myself to use micromesh on a pen this quality....

+ 1 again. When I want a high polish on a pen I'm selling, I have a colleague with the supplies, including jeweler's rouge and a buffing wheel, do the honors. I'm not patient enough.

[penmainiac]

You're not getting those scratches out with Novus. If you don't sand them first, you'll end up with shiny polished gouges.

If you do screw it up, you still have the option to send it to MB.

What do you mean?


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[KBeezie]

You're not getting those scratches out with Novus. If you don't sand them first, you'll end up with shiny polished gouges.

If you do screw it up, you still have the option to send it to MB.

What do you mean?


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The Novus stuff is a 'light scratch' remover type of deal. If you try to tackle an area of slightly deeper scratches than the rest of the pen you'll pretty much just keep smoothing it out where the deeper part will remain as the whole thing gets polished. The only way around that is to sand down the surface area so that it's level enough to be polished evenly.

In those cases it may be best to just live with the wear until you can send it out to someone who can professionally polish it even (or fill and polish if such a thing is possible on that era's material).

The option to send to MB is usually a flat rate, as of today based on this service chart : https://www.montblanc.com/content/da...2019-WI-US.pdf

The area shown in orange would be a flat price of $100 (a level one service), and usually because a 149 is still a 149 in Montblanc's eyes, they'll just replace whatever part they feel needs replacing (which means some people have sent out vintage 149s to have it come back with a brass threaded piston instead of a plastic one changing it's weight, or having the nib replaced with a brand new one if they deemed it in need of replacing to meet their expectations). So one of the things to make sure to tell them is to not replace the original nib if you like how it is (and generally speaking that's a good part to always keep even if they end up making the whole pen modern-ish).

So yea, you can screw it up (better not to in the first place doing a DIY stuff yourself without experience), but you have that option for a bit of money (not a lot of other brands/models have that option available).

[penmainiac]

You're not getting those scratches out with Novus. If you don't sand them first, you'll end up with shiny polished gouges.

If you do screw it up, you still have the option to send it to MB.

What do you mean?


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The Novus stuff is a 'light scratch' remover type of deal. If you try to tackle an area of slightly deeper scratches than the rest of the pen you'll pretty much just keep smoothing it out where the deeper part will remain as the whole thing gets polished. The only way around that is to sand down the surface area so that it's level enough to be polished evenly.

In those cases it may be best to just live with the wear until you can send it out to someone who can professionally polish it even (or fill and polish if such a thing is possible on that era's material).

The option to send to MB is usually a flat rate, as of today based on this service chart : https://www.montblanc.com/content/da...2019-WI-US.pdf

The area shown in orange would be a flat price of $100 (a level one service), and usually because a 149 is still a 149 in Montblanc's eyes, they'll just replace whatever part they feel needs replacing (which means some people have sent out vintage 149s to have it come back with a brass threaded piston instead of a plastic one changing it's weight, or having the nib replaced with a brand new one if they deemed it in need of replacing to meet their expectations). So one of the things to make sure to tell them is to not replace the original nib if you like how it is (and generally speaking that's a good part to always keep even if they end up making the whole pen modern-ish).

So yea, you can screw it up (better not to in the first place doing a DIY stuff yourself without experience), but you have that option for a bit of money (not a lot of other brands/models have that option available).

I don’t think I have any deep scratches, from my view, they look relatively light, is there anyway to tell?


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[KBeezie]

I don’t think I have any deep scratches, from my view, they look relatively light, is there anyway to tell?


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Does your fingernails bump along them?

[Chuck Naill]

I've used Mother's Mag and Aluminum polish on all of my Esterbrook restorations. I just had it for another hobby and decided to try it. It has produced a nice luster on all of the plastics including black.

[Jon Szanto]

I've used Mother's Mag and Aluminum polish on all of my Esterbrook restorations. I just had it for another hobby and decided to try it. It has produced a nice luster on all of the plastics including black.

Um.... I’ve used Mother’s on a number of non-pen projects, but I’d be very leery of vintage or any kind of particular plastic, as that polish has a lot more additives and chemicals in it. Things that can react with plastic, celluloid, and other materials over time. You may introduce elements that don’t necessarily show problems immediately but start to work on the body of the pen and create issues down the road. That is a metal polish and I’d restrict it to that use.

[penmainiac]

I've used Mother's Mag and Aluminum polish on all of my Esterbrook restorations. I just had it for another hobby and decided to try it. It has produced a nice luster on all of the plastics including black.

Um.... I’ve used Mother’s on a number of non-pen projects, but I’d be very leery of vintage or any kind of particular plastic, as that polish has a lot more additives and chemicals in it. Things that can react with plastic, celluloid, and other materials over time. You may introduce elements that don’t necessarily show problems immediately but start to work on the body of the pen and create issues down the road. That is a metal polish and I’d restrict it to that use.

Should I stick with novus then?


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[Chuck Naill]

I've used Mother's Mag and Aluminum polish on all of my Esterbrook restorations. I just had it for another hobby and decided to try it. It has produced a nice luster on all of the plastics including black.

Um.... I’ve used Mother’s on a number of non-pen projects, but I’d be very leery of vintage or any kind of particular plastic, as that polish has a lot more additives and chemicals in it. Things that can react with plastic, celluloid, and other materials over time. You may introduce elements that don’t necessarily show problems immediately but start to work on the body of the pen and create issues down the road. That is a metal polish and I’d restrict it to that use.

What other chemical and additives are you referring? Why would something happen over time? Is your opinion based on experience or speculation? I used it again after 2500 wet dry sand paper on a highly scuffed up Parker 21 with very nice results. No residual feel or any type. If you've used Mothers and had negative outcomes, let me know what and how. Thanks, John.

[Deb]

There's a difference between polishing and scratch removal. The latter requires some patience and skill if you don't want flat spots or obvious depressions in barrel or cap.

[Chrissy]

If you've polished Parker 51 pens using some sort of plastic polish, then you could also carefully use that on the Mb resin. However, first you could try starting with something simple like a Sunshine cloth. I believe Ron Zorn once said that was all he used.
I use a Sunshine cloth first to see how well the plastic comes up, then consider using Novus or other plastic polishes only if there are deeper scratches.

Sending the pen to Mb would mean it would come back looking like a new pen for a very reasonable price, and it would get a full service and replacement parts included in that fee. You could always say you didn't want the feed changed if you want to keep it as original as possible.

Edit: I just spotted that the Sunshine cloth has already been discussed on your other thread about the section collar...

[penmainiac]

If you've polished Parker 51 pens using some sort of plastic polish, then you could also carefully use that on the Mb resin. However, first you could try starting with something simple like a Sunshine cloth. I believe Ron Zorn once said that was all he used.
I use a Sunshine cloth first to see how well the plastic comes up, then consider using Novus or other plastic polishes only if there are deeper scratches.

Sending the pen to Mb would mean it would come back looking like a new pen for a very reasonable price, and it would get a full service and replacement parts included in that fee. You could always say you didn't want the feed changed if you want to keep it as original as possible.

Edit: I just spotted that the Sunshine cloth has already been discussed on your other thread about the section collar...

Can I find them at jewellery supply stores?


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[FredRydr]

...Can I find them at jewellery supply stores?

Jewelry stores have them.