Maintenance

[AMaverick]

I have read the posts about the various ways to 'polish' pens. I am new to the fountain pen arena & have purchased several good quality fountain pens. Pelikan M800, Sailor 1911, Sheaffer Legacy II etc... I am not a collector. Mainly because I would rather use them. I enjoy writing. (Hard to believe huh?) I use these pens on a rotating basis. Most never leave my home, except to show a new purchase to another admirer of fountain pens.

 

I purchased an oblong heavy , (I really don't know what it is!) object at a thrift store for 25 cents. I cut out some stiff cardboard sections & slipped them in the opening of this "thing". It made for a very nice pen holder. I am by know means rough with my pens but they seem to get superficial scratches or rub marks on them.

 

I would like to know if there is one preferred way of dealing with this? I really noticed it when I received a new Sailor 1911 in black yesterday in the mail. It was very beautiful with not one blemish. Is there a fairly easy way to keep them nice & shiny? I have flitz that I use on my knife collection & gun barrels. But I never considered using it on my pens.

 

Thank you very much for your time,

 

T. Fountain

[wildblueink]

HI AMaverick,

I don't have any specific advice about polishing plastic or celluloid pens, because I've never really been concerned about superficial signs of use. For silver pens, you can use a jeweler's polishing cloth, which is a very gentle but effective way to remove tarnish. These cloths also work on metal trim.

It sounds like you've come up with a nifty do-it-yourself protective sleeve for your pens. There is a huge variety of pen storage and transport options available to protect your pens at all times (except when you're writing--it's up to you to not drop the pen when composing love letters and whatnot ).

I'll put in a plug here for Pendemonium.com. They have a large assortment of pen storage (scroll the left nav pane until you see Pen Storage) to get you started.

 

So I guess I do have some advice here--protect rather than clean up after the fact.

 

Elizabeth

[Keith with a capital K]

Flitz is an excellent polish for pens but Elizabeth makes a good point in that protecting your pens is good preventative maintainence.

 

I'll have to give Elizabeth a plug as she makes some rather wonderful, affordable, hand-made pen wraps that are perfect for this task.

 

If I didn't make my own I'm sure I'd be a customer.

 

Finally, and this should have been first, welcome to FPN!

[AMaverick]

I thank everyone for the help with polishing. Let me add one other thing. Since I started on the fountain pen venture I have learned a lot of do's and don't's. One of the things that comes to mind is always keep your pens that have ink in them in the nib up position. That is one of the reasons I bought the "thing" at the thrift store. When I made the partitions, (out of cardboard) I have enough slots for 6 pens. This thing is as I said is extremely heavy, (won't be falling off my desk, A small child wouldn't even be able to lift it.) and is what looks to be frosted lead crystal. Keep in mind I said LOOKS like lead crystal. I don't know if it is or not. These thrift stores sometimes don't know what something is and you can really get a good bargain. Especially here in New Orleans, there are tons of them!

The pens still rub against the glass, so what I do with my more expensive ones is to use a paper towel and roll them up in it, them stand them up in the thing. That saves me money to buy more pens with! I use Viva pick-a-size because the size is just the right width and length and they are very soft!.

 

Thank you for reading my boring tale. Other folks have given me some good ideas to work with, so if I can pass on something I've learned that is a little off the beaten path it makes me feel better.

 

Tommy Fountain

[wimg]

Hi Mav,

 

(don't mind me calling you that, I hope)

 

A well washed (i.e. often) pice of cotton flannel works nicely too, as does a microfibre cloth, like the ones used for, e.g., glasses/spectacles. Neither are abrasive, and will take away grease marks.

 

The little surface scratches I wouldn't bother about. I consider them to be a badge of honour, as they arise from using a fountain pen, rather than just storing it somewhere.

 

HTH,

Kind regards,

Wim

[georgem]

I agree that an ounce of prevention....

 

For silver, I've used either a polishing cloth, or sometimes Wenol polish.

 

Some months ago, there was a thread discussing the use of NOVUS plastic polishes on this board. I bought some, used it for a number of items (including a Sheaffer Triumph that had gotten more than usual signs of use) and can report that it does a very nice job on plastic surfaces.

[wimg]

Hi George,

 

Thank you for that piece of information!

 

Do you know of a site where they sell Novus, and give a little more info on the product?

 

TIA.

Kind regards, Wim

[georgem]

I found the site that sells the products from a previous post in this forum:

 

Hi guys,

 

I learnt this from the zoss list and I thought you all may benefit from it. For all of you who have pens made of plastic and are dull through extended use. Here are some products that might help.

 

http://www.tapplastics.com/shop/product.php?pid=113&

 

Let me know the result if any of you care to try.

 

The manufacturer's website is:

 

http://www.novuspolish.com

 

 

Hope this helps.

[Maja]

oops! double post---sorry!

Edited March 15, 2005 by Maja

[Maja]

Hi Tommy and welcome to FPN

 

I store my modern plastic/metal/brass over lacquer fountain pens in a couple of nice wooden glass-topped display boxes that I got from the Bombay Company, as well as a cheap cherry-wood type wooden box with two drawers I got from a grocery store . I rotate what pens I have 'on display' there, so that discoloration (to the plastic ones) doesn't occur from excess exposure to light (I keep them out of direct light too)

 

I keep my vintage pens in the above boxes' drawers or in a few leather pen cases that hold 40 pens or so each. Since they are made of metal, I display my gold- and silver-plated vintage pens in the glass cases.

 

When I carry my pens around, I use a couple of two-pen leather pen holders.

Edited March 14, 2005 by Maja

[bandaid]

Welcome, from another newbie. IMO, it doesn't matter what position fountain pens are stored in. They work by capillary action, which is only slightly affected by gravity. Anyway, I have a Parker 51 desk set, and the fountain pen is always point down.

 

LL

[wimg]

Hi George,

 

Thank you very much for the link to Novus. It was very useful. Now to find it over here .

 

Kind regards, Wim

[usasoccerboy]

I thank everyone for the help with polishing. Let me add one other thing. Since I started on the fountain pen venture I have learned a lot of do's and don't's. One of the things that comes to mind is always keep your pens that have ink in them in the nib up position. That is one of the reasons I bought the "thing" at the thrift store. When I made the partitions, (out of cardboard) I have enough slots for 6 pens. This thing is as I said is extremely heavy, (won't be falling off my desk, A small child wouldn't even be able to lift it.) and is what looks to be frosted lead crystal. Keep in mind I said LOOKS like lead crystal. I don't know if it is or not. These thrift stores sometimes don't know what something is and you can really get a good bargain. Especially here in New Orleans, there are tons of them!

The pens still rub against the glass, so what I do with my more expensive ones is to use a paper towel and roll them up in it, them stand them up in the thing. That saves me money to buy more pens with! I use Viva pick-a-size because the size is just the right width and length and they are very soft!.

 

Thank you for reading my boring tale. Other folks have given me some good ideas to work with, so if I can pass on something I've learned that is a little off the beaten path it makes me feel better.

 

Tommy Fountain

Hi, I live in Thibodaux and sell on ebay as usasoccerboy and my friend Bob sells as Aristotles and lives in Houma. You should get in touch with us if you want to talk pens.