What you need for doing this:
One Dremel (or other similar) power tool with adjustable speed
A hard felt polishing cone attachment for the power tool
A tiny bit of the fine Dremel polishing compound or other very fine polishing compound suitable for polishing silver/chrome
An ultrasonic cleaner (30 to 50 watts are ideal)
Some good smooth paper like Clairefontaine, Onionskin or Tomoe River, smooth copy paper is also okay
A loupe (should magnify at least 12x)
A lamp for your workplace so you actually see what you`re doing
A bottle of ink
A piece of cloth
The fountain pen(s) you want to treat this way
How it works:
First of all you prepare the felt polishing cone by putting a bit of polishing compound or creme onto it. Rub it into the cone surface and then wipe off all excess compound with a piece of cloth. You only want a tiny bit of compound/creme on the cone for you want to only highgloss polish the tip of your nib and not grind it to death.
Then you unink the pen. If you don`t then ink will spray all over your workplace when you polish.
Then you insert the felt cone attachment into the power tool and fix it. Now you can uncap the pen.
Adjust the turning speed of your power tool at 8000rpm and switch it on. Now you`re ready to rumble.
Hold the power tool in the right hand with the rotating tip pointing away from your body. It should rotate clockwise. If the tip rotates counter-clockwise hold it in the left hand with the rotating tip pointing away from your body.
Now take the pen with the other hand and hold it just like you want to write with it in a relaxed grip. No cramped "death grip" please.
Now you lightly touch the surface of the rotating hard felt cone with the iridium tip of the pen. Please take care that the angle between the pen and the powertool is 90 degrees and that the cone rotates in the direction away from the pen which should be if you have done everything right until now.
If the cone rotates towards the pen it will catch and splice your nib! So never do that.
Hold the nib`s iridium tip on the cone surface for a few (3to5) seconds and release again. Relax. The pressure you apply should be a bit less then what you apply when writing on a paper sheet. Because you want to polish the tip and not grind it.
Do this a couple of times to get a feeling for this kind of work.
Then continue by writing little O`s on the surface of the rotating cone for about 10 seconds. Then release again and put the nib tip back on the cone for 10 seconds, this time holding it straight first then slightly tilting it to the one side of the nib, then to the other so the sides of the iridium tip get polished, too.
Now switch off the powertool and put it aside. Take your good smooth paper and wipe off the nib with a piece of cloth. Then dip it into the ink and write something. Feel how smooth the nib is now.If you like its`smoothness clean it in the ultrasonic cleaner(3minutes at 50 watts) to get rid of the oils of the polishing compound.
If it still isn`t smooth enough repeat the polishing process until you are satisfied. In this case you should take your loupe and check the iridium tip between the polishing rounds to make sure that you don`t damage it or grind it down. After smoothing it out put it in the ultrasonic cleaner and clean as described above.
Then ink your pen and you`re done. It should write smoother now.
I have been able to make some EF and EEF nibs buttery smooth this way. One was smooth after one round, the other needed two.
You can also use this method to smooth out dip pen nibs, by the way.
This method takes some practice, so you should start with cheaper pens to gain some experience before you use it on your gold nibs. Nibs that come buttery smooth out of the factory can`t be improved this way, so don`t try it.
Now good luck and happy polishing.
Regards,
Moxoftritonytes
PS: you should keep in mind that ultrasonic cleaning can remove the plating of goldplated nibs, so there you better use a cloth and rubbing alcohol or ammonia to clean your nibs.
Bookmarks