# Plating for dummies?



## Skye (Nov 1, 2006)

Ok, so I dont really know what's 'upgraded' about upgrade gold. I'm wondering if I should stop buying the cheapie finishes now, but not sure what version of gold is worth while or if any gold is worth it.

So, my question is what platings do you prefer?


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## Huzzah (Nov 1, 2006)

Skye - These links might help somewhat for you:

http://beartoothwoods.com/catalog/faq_plating.php

http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/catalog/plating101.html

Steve


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## JimGo (Nov 1, 2006)

This comes from http://www.arizonasilhouette.com/Berea_Hardwoods_Pen_Kit_Images.htm regarding Berea's platings:

An explanation on plating

Gold Plating:  Gold plating is ultimately not durable when exposed to abrasion.  There just is no "free lunch".  Gold plating can be made more durable depending on the method used to plate, additives to the gold and techniques employed during plating.  However, no matter what is done to the alloy, ALL gold plating will wear off over time when abraded.  This is simply a fact of physics.  Platings other than gold can be very durable.  The following is an explanation of the various platings used by Berea Hardwoods:

Upgrade Gold:  All gold plating used on the Berea kits is 24k "upgrade gold".  Upgrade means that the parts are plated using the rack method and that small amounts of cobalt or palladium are added to the plating chemicals.  This enhances the durability of the gold plating.  This plating does not last forever but it wears a lot better than standard 24k plated parts.

Titanium Gold:  Titanium plating produces an extremely durable and the most durable finish.  The process uses what is called PVD (particle vapor deposition).  Titanium oxide matched to the color of the gold is molecularly bonded to the part and the 24k gold is bonded (sputtered) on the parts to achieve a color match to the other gold parts.  The parts are again re-plated after this step.  The final result is that the parts will virtually never show wear.  Berea Hardwoods pioneered this process for writing instruments and are not aware of another company using the exact process that they use.

18k Swiss Rose Gold:  This is a very rare and unusual plating.  Copper and gold are combined in such a way that they both plate with their atoms equally mixed together.  The parts to be plated are specially treated before plating and the plating is deposited in a very thick layer.  Not only does this produce a beautiful sumptuous look but is it very durable.  It has been indicated that there are only two companies in the world able to do this plating and that under regular careful use the plating should hold up for several years.  The copper in the alloy can cause Swiss rose gold can tarnish but it's beautiful luster can be brought back by lightly buffing the surface.  A coat of Renaissance Wax will also help protect the plating.

Chrome:  This is an extremely durable plating.  Under normal use this plating should hold up for many years.

Platinum:  This is also a very durable hard plating.  Berea uses real platinum rather than rhodium and it should be expected to hold up under normal careful use for many years.

Black Titanium:  This is a titanium oxide molecularly bonded (PVD) process.  This plating is unbelievably hard and durable and much tougher than titanium nitride.  It will last for many, many years.

Sterling Silver:  the Baron rollerball and fountain pen kits feature this plating.  The parts receive a restaurant grade 20 micron plating to ensure the beauty lasts for many, many years.


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## mick (Nov 1, 2006)

Skye,
 If your gonna sell your pens. I think , and notice I said I THINK, you should use Gold Titanium. Yes I know it costs a butt load more, but you'll never get a return because the plating wore off. On the other side of the coin I use Chrome over Platinum because while it's not as soft looking it is just as hard and anyway I mostly use chrome on my homebrews. If it's something really nice like say a Star n Stripes pen from Ken Nelsen I'll go with a sterling silver kit...or platinum depending on whats available for whatever pen style I'm making. JMHO..although Connie says I'm never humble


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## Skye (Nov 1, 2006)

Yeah, I think my next order is going to have to be when I decide to start hitting the quality platings. Hate to have that in the back of my mind, better to sleep soundly, lol


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## Rifleman1776 (Nov 2, 2006)

The plating on my personal Baron with 'upgrade gold' lasted about six months with daily use. That is unacceptable. I still have some 24K slims and Euros but will never buy any kits from now on that aren't Tn or equally durable like Rhodium. I ain't gonna do no junk.


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## mick (Nov 2, 2006)

> _Originally posted by Rifleman1776_
> <br />The plating on my personal Baron with 'upgrade gold' lasted about six months with daily use. That is unacceptable. I still have some 24K slims and Euros but will never buy any kits from now on that aren't Tn or equally durable like Rhodium. I ain't gonna do no junk.


This is in no way intended as a hijack of this thread......I just have strong feeling on this........lol
I've never understood this....we spend hours selecting or building a blank More time drilling and gluing and all the stuff that goes along with the preperation and that's BEFORE we turn. Then we spend anywhere from 45 minutes to hours (depending on style and finish of choice)turning said pen. Then we slap it on a $1.70 slimline pen kit. Lets get real here, while I fully realize that some are on budgets and pinching pennies, there are those of us that are selling pens. I'm not going to go through the process I just detailed and then have a pen come back after 6 months like Frank mentioned, because the plating wore off. I got lucky investing in my first batch of TN slimline kits. Connie won one of the drawings when Johnny Wooten hosted the pen auction for that childrens hospital. It was a gift certificate from Steebar for 250.00 needless to say I stocked up on TN and Platinum slimline kits. Since then I've alway took a big part of my show profits and reinvested in good quality kits. I still have some of the less expensive kits and still build em from time to time but usually it's for a give away pen or one I'll carry for awhile. and my youngest is always wanting a "new" pen. Anyway go for the better kits when expenses allow they will pay for themselves in the long run.


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## tone (Nov 2, 2006)

I have a 24K slimline that has been bounced around and abused by me for more than a year and still looked fine till I lost it.  Recently I had a customer bring back to me a rhodium slimline not even 6 mo old with the plating completely worn off the ball of the clip and some also off the nib and center band. The owner is a nurse and has not exposed the pen to any acids or solvents, just frequent in and out of the pocket friction. I dissassembled and replaced the hardware at my expense. Both the 24k and rhodium kits were from pennstate. Only the 24k kits are guarranted against wear!

I don't mind spending the extra money on kits but this has shaken my confidence in the more expensive platings.

Tony


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## Skye (Nov 2, 2006)

I think it was Billy (alamocdc) who has carried a 24K for a year with no probs too. It's odd how some wear the way they do. Wonder if a person's PH levels have a effect on it.[?]


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## alamocdc (Nov 2, 2006)

Yep, it was me... in my pants pocket no less. I've not had the same luck with CSUSA or Berea Gold platings. I've been rotating a Berea Cigar out as my pants pocket pen for a few weeks now and it is beginning to show wear. Knock wood, but so far, all of the 24k Gold pens (PSI) that I have sold (at least the ones I see regularly) still look good. All that being said, I've quit ordering gold plated kits. It's just not worth the risk of them coming back.

On another note, just b/c a plating is one of the harder ones doesn't mean it can't or won't have problems. It depends on theplating process. I'm guessing that the Rhodium SL that Tony mentioned didn't get properly cleaned prior to the Rhodium being plated or it would have adhered better and not had the problem mentioned. Sometimes it's a crap shoot.


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## ctEaglesc (Nov 3, 2006)

With the better platings it gives you a chance to sell the "sizzle" not the steak.
If you tell a customer that it is a Tn gold plating, it opens the door for you to explain the plating is more durable than the throw aways they can buy at a chain store.Though it is an alloy the color will remain even if any protective coating wears off.
(A while ago I noticed that you don't see many gold colored pens in Walmart.)


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## tone (Nov 3, 2006)

The pH thing may be very true. I spoke to a guy yesterday that said his Dad uses Cross pens (the real ones) and goes through them every few months. The finish wears right off.


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## Dario (Nov 3, 2006)

I no longer make pens other than kits with Chrome, TN, Rhodium and Platinum.

That said, I used a lot of the regular plated slimline as well as 7mm Euro's from BearTooth and 2 years later, the ones I gave away still looks good.  Of course it is possible that the ones that wore off were discarded already (hence I can't see them)  [)] LOL


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## Hexhead (Nov 3, 2006)

I buy the cheap pen hardware and powder coat it with clear, last forever I can do many other colors too. Of coarse you have the expence of a powder coating system (as cheap as 99 HFreight)but you coat anything else you have as well.


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## joe59golfer (Nov 5, 2006)

I just stumbled upon this very interesting thread. Lots of opinions out there on plating. Here's my 10 cents on this also.

Having spent the past 26 years in the production plating industry both as a plater and a supplier, and having first-hand knowledge of the plating cycles used by a well-known high-end pen manufacturer, I can confirm that plating pens is indeed challenging.

Any electro-deposited metal used as a decorative plate including, chrome, silver, rhodium, pure gold and gold alloys, is at a major disadvantage from the git-go when used on pens. That problem is quite simple. Wear. And as any jeweler will tell you, the human hand is tremendously abusive to objects in contact with it. Even occasional contact like writing instruments. And then when you couple that fact with the relative thin nature of plating films, overcoming this problem is not easy.

The bad news for smaller enterprises wishing to do the plating is that there are no real easy and inexpensive ways to achieve superior results with plating, particularly when trying to achieve the unique, rich look of gold. Plating that is both beautiful and lasts is very expensive to do, whether one undertakes it themselves or seeks out a third party.

Without going into all of the details of the multi-layer processes and deposits used on high-end pens, if one is trying to keep the finishing process rather simple and the budget modest, the advice previously given to use chromium is probably the best. Its wear properties are excellent.

And if a gold-color is desired, it is very difficult to beat the performance of a plasma vapor deposited material like titanium nitride (sometimes referred to as TiN coating), as the bathroom faucet manufacturing industry will attest. On the downside, it has to be jobbed out but it lends itself nicely to small batches and small parts.

The bottom line is that if plating of lasting quality is needed then acceptable substitutes are indeed far and few.

Thanks for the opportunity to offer my opinion.


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## Rifleman1776 (Nov 5, 2006)

> _Originally posted by alamocdc_
> <br />Yep, it was me... in my pants pocket no less. I've not had the same luck with CSUSA or Berea Gold platings. I've been rotating a Berea Cigar out as my pants pocket pen for a few weeks now and it is beginning to show wear. Knock wood, but so far, all of the 24k Gold pens (PSI) that I have sold (at least the ones I see regularly) still look good. All that being said, I've quit ordering gold plated kits. It's just not worth the risk of them coming back.
> 
> On another note, just b/c a plating is one of the harder ones doesn't mean it can't or won't have problems. It depends on theplating process. I'm guessing that the Rhodium SL that Tony mentioned didn't get properly cleaned prior to the Rhodium being plated or it would have adhered better and not had the problem mentioned. Sometimes it's a crap shoot.



   Have to agree with that. Rhodium is a very durable plating. I wear a necklace with a bear claw on it that is Rhodium plated silver. I have been wearing this chain for thirty years. In that time it has been off for no more than a few hours TOTAL (during surgeries and x-rays). The plating is still good.


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## baldysm (Nov 6, 2006)

As a tool and die maker, I can absolutely assure you that your skin chemistry does affect the wear on your pens. The term used in a couple shops I worked in was "**** fingers" for those with bad skin chemistry. Some of the tooling I worked on was highly polished. If a guy with **** fingers put his hand on a mold while leaving, when you came in the next morning, you could see where he placed his hand in rust. Can't imagine it would be different with the platings on pens.


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## myname1960 (Nov 6, 2006)

Working in a machine shop myself i can vouch for what baldysm just said. We had a guy that had chew or chaw ( whatever you want to call it ) in  his mouth at all times. When he was done working in a lathe and if he didnt clean it up real good the next day you could actually see his fingerprints on some of the lathe parts. It seemed to look like rust as well. Not sure if his chewing habits is what caused it but something just wasnt right.


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## Skye (Nov 6, 2006)

Baaahahahaahaaaaaa!


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## tone (Nov 6, 2006)

I would like to see unplated pen kits. Solid nickel shouldn't cost all that much. Even unplated brass would be nice antique look with natural wood.


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