# About Rhodium plating durability...



## chrisk (Jun 3, 2019)

Hi all,
Recently, a good customer of mine brought a couple of fountain pens he purchased from me some time ago, in order to retrofit some Bock calligraphy nibs. As far as the durability of Dayacom's rhodium plating is concerned, the picture below speaks for itself... It's the section and body to cap threads of a Dayacom Emperor kit. Conclusion: expensive but quite cheap... To be fair, my customer is a frenetic writer but what a result...


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## Ironwood (Jun 3, 2019)

That doesn't look good. I would have expected better from it.


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## SteveG (Jun 3, 2019)

Your (and your customer's) experience with this runs counter to all I have read and understood about the durability of rhodium plating. I avoided 'quick wear' platings, thus only rarely received feedback from customers when the plating failed on a pen. But I cannot recall having issues with rhodium. I am curious if others have had similar problems. This is a lousy result, especially on a high-end kit! Dayacom normally is considered to be on the high end of the quality spectrum.


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## johncrane (Jun 3, 2019)

it's not the first time  i've seen it, but i think this is the worst i've seen i would return it to the supplier


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## jttheclockman (Jun 3, 2019)

I would be very interested in this also. I have never heard feedback along these lines before. Could have been a bad batch or as it has been noted before that just about all platings will break down unless it is solid material like solid gold. This is due to oils in the skin. Some people their chemical make up is more acidic than others.  Did you try to talk with people from Dayacom??  Maybe a thiung to do. Keep us informed if you find out info.


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## More4dan (Jun 3, 2019)

Seeing the plating missing from the front edge where there shouldn’t be wear, looks like it could be the result of sitting in corrosive inks. Pitting in the grip area is also not indicative of wear but of corrosion. 

Danny


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## magpens (Jun 3, 2019)

Frankly, I would not put the blame on the plating, without knowing the age of the pen. . It certainly looks to me that there has been considerable abuse on all parts shown in the picture.


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## MRDucks2 (Jun 3, 2019)

magpens said:


> Frankly, I would not put the blame on the plating, without knowing the age of the pen. . It certainly looks to me that there has been considerable abuse on all parts shown in the picture.



Your comments interest me, Mal. Please help me by quantifying abuse vs wear from your perspective. For example, it appears to me there is a lot wear from use and some pitting that is out of place. 

Just trying to get an understanding of wear vs abuse, not trying to start anything and I respect Mal’s perspective on a lot of stuff. Anyone else can chip in, too. 


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## leehljp (Jun 3, 2019)

My middle daughter has skin allergies and when outside, her sweat is the most corrosive that I have seen. She can't wear jewelry unless 18k gold (not plating). Silver turns black on her. So she doesn't wear jewelry or stay outside for long periods of time. (that is just a quick overview, not detailed).

That plating reminds me of some of my daughter's early jewelry. 

IF it is caustic oils, then this is not a cure but a prolonging of usability: Ask him to clean and wax it daily, and if not daily at least two to three times a week.

I have seen varing degrees of this too. I have probably NOTICED more of it than most because I tend to observe things different from others instinctively, but it happens, and that is why I also caution newbies on the use of a good finish that stand up to hand oils and pocket sweat. It happens, and in varying degrees,


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## chrisk (Jun 4, 2019)

Thank you all for your comments and thoughts. You helped me to reconsider my initial thought and to explore further the eventual causes of this wearing (or corroding?) issue.

Some precisions: I didn't notice this plating issue when the customer brought the 2 fountain pens (an Emperor and a Statesman). I saw this when I took the nibs apart to clean the housings and feeders in order to fit the new Calligraphy nibs. This plating issue was only noteworthy on the Emperor's section and not in the Statesman's one. As far as I know the Emperor is the everyday fountain pen of the customer, a physician who is a frantic fountain pen writer.
I didn't address this issue with my customer but I rather wanted first to share some thoughts/experiences with my colleagues of the IAP.

I have to check this but I think I sold him these pens 3 to 4 years ago.

Now I think the next step is to be in touch with the customer and ask for further details. For sure I will update this thread with any details that could help us understand this issue that quite of destabilized me for I sold a lot of such rhodium plated pens.

Anyway thanks again for your help.

Kind Regards.

Christos.


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## leehljp (Jun 4, 2019)

With a good customer, it is sometimes the best choice to keep him satisfied even if it costs you more. Keeping a GOOD customer happy has its rewards!


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## Pierre--- (Jun 4, 2019)

καλή ημέρα Χριστού !

Sure it has something to see with sweat, its acidity, inks, the number of hours of writing, the rhodium quality etc. 
My kit supplier, a guy who searches, who tries every kits he wish to buy and sell, who gives them to metal specialists and gather information, says that one main criteria is the thickness of the platings. He asked his two main Chinese suppliers to tell him about the thickness, they never did. He managed to make it measured: it changes from time to time, even within the same batch (something like the components OD, see what I mean?), from one to four units of thickness. In one word, you cannot have any control on that. You may happen to spend money on expensive platings, and you may happen to get that. You may try to write Dayacom of course who in the best case will send you a tenth of the same kit, so what?

The answer would be to make them. Easier said than done...


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## DrD (Jul 22, 2019)

Pierre is absolutely on point.  Plating durability on kit parts is both a function of deposition - plating - method, and thickness of plating.  Generally speaking, the "titanium" platings - gold and black - tend to be more durable.
I have limited my "up-scale" pens to Churchills (selling a few for over $200.00 each) and El Grandes in titanium gold or black.  Aside from the need to ensure quality tuned nibs, I have absolute trust in the durability of the plated components.


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## More4dan (Jul 24, 2019)

DrD said:


> Pierre is absolutely on point. Plating durability on kit parts is both a function of deposition - plating - method, and thickness of plating. Generally speaking, the "titanium" platings - gold and black - tend to be more durable.
> I have limited my "up-scale" pens to Churchills (selling a few for over $200.00 each) and El Grandes in titanium gold or black. Aside from the need to ensure quality tuned nibs, I have absolute trust in the durability of the plated components.



Titanium platings are typically Rockwell C70-80 in hardness. High end knife blades are typically C60. They should be the most durable there is. 


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