Maintaining Antique Dip Nibs
 

Hey all,

Does anyone have any recommendations for guides or just plain old
advice for what I would need to do to maintain antique or new old
stock nibs? I know that I take basic precautions, like making sure
that the nibs are cleaned after use, but I was curious if anyone else
had any guides or advice that might extend beyond the normal, "Make
sure you clean your nibs," advice, which is pretty broad.

Aaron Hsu

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Maintaining Antique Dip Nibs
 

On 2008-10-06, Aaron W Hsu wrote:
Hey all,

Does anyone have any recommendations for guides or just plain old
advice for what I would need to do to maintain antique or new old
stock nibs? I know that I take basic precautions, like making sure
that the nibs are cleaned after use, but I was curious if anyone else
had any guides or advice that might extend beyond the normal, "Make
sure you clean your nibs," advice, which is pretty broad.



The only thing I can think of is that you might want to test
one of the firearm metal protectants on a cheap replaceable
nib. Something like tuff-glide...then again most of these are
"water displacing" it comes in a "tough-cloth" package but is a
little pricey for something that may make your nibs unusable.


matthew

Maintaining Antique Dip Nibs
 

In ,
Matthew wrote:

On 2008-10-06, Aaron W Hsu wrote:
Hey all,

Does anyone have any recommendations for guides or just plain old
advice for what I would need to do to maintain antique or new old
stock nibs? I know that I take basic precautions, like making sure
that the nibs are cleaned after use, but I was curious if anyone else
had any guides or advice that might extend beyond the normal, "Make
sure you clean your nibs," advice, which is pretty broad.



The only thing I can think of is that you might want to test
one of the firearm metal protectants on a cheap replaceable
nib.

Or in general, try to head off corrosion -- dry the nibs quickly after
cleaning, and polish the metal if it starts looking dull or tarnished
(before tiny dark spots start appearing, which of course are really little,
but growing, corrosion pits in the underlying metal). If there are nibs
that sit in storage most of the time, I guess you could wipe them down with
oil and clean it off if you decide to use them.

Brian
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Maintaining Antique Dip Nibs
 

"Brian Ketterling" writes:

In ,
Matthew wrote:

On 2008-10-06, Aaron W Hsu wrote:

Does anyone have any recommendations for guides or just plain old
advice for what I would need to do to maintain antique or new old
stock nibs? I know that I take basic precautions, like making sure
that the nibs are cleaned after use, but I was curious if anyone else
had any guides or advice that might extend beyond the normal, "Make
sure you clean your nibs," advice, which is pretty broad.

The only thing I can think of is that you might want to test
one of the firearm metal protectants on a cheap replaceable
nib.

Or in general, try to head off corrosion -- dry the nibs quickly after
cleaning, and polish the metal if it starts looking dull or tarnished

Do you happen to have suggestions for good ways to polish? I don't own
much in the way of polishing materials. Usually I just wipe my nibs clean
and the like, but on some of them, it does result in corrosion, if I
forget or do not clean them properly.

Aaron Hsu

--
+++++++++++++++ ((lambda (x) (x x)) (lambda (x) (x x))) +++++++++++++++
Email: | WWW: http://www.sacrideo.us
Scheme Programming is subtle; subtlety can be hard.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++++++++++

Maintaining Antique Dip Nibs
 

In ,
Aaron W. Hsu wrote:

Do you happen to have suggestions for good ways to polish?

My favorite is 3M Tarnishield. It does most of its work chemically instead
of with abrasives (the abrasive content is very low), it works well and
quickly, and it's water-based (it doesn't stink, and the residue rinses
off). It's really meant for cuprous metals, but works on most things
(there's also a Tarnishield specifically for silver). It does leave a thin
film that's meant to retard future tarnish, but that'll wipe off with
ammonia solution (it's great for gold FP nibs, BTW).

For heavier-duty polishing, you could try Flitz followed by Mothers Mag &
Aluminum Polish, both applied with terry cloth or cotton (not synthetic)
flannel. If there's a thin copper plating on the metal, though, they may
well take it off.

Brian
--

Maintaining Antique Dip Nibs
 

On 2008-10-09, Brian Ketterling wrote:
In ,
Aaron W. Hsu wrote:

Do you happen to have suggestions for good ways to polish?


For heavier-duty polishing, you could try Flitz followed by Mothers Mag &
Aluminum Polish, both applied with terry cloth or cotton (not synthetic)
flannel. If there's a thin copper plating on the metal, though, they may
well take it off.

Brian

semi-chrome is nice too.

Maintaining Antique Dip Nibs
 

In ,
Shiva Das wrote:

In ,
Aaron W. Hsu wrote:

Do you happen to have suggestions for good ways to polish?

FWIW I've been using the same dip pens for drawing with waterproof ink
since about 1976. Never done anything other than wipe the ink off when
done using them... Have never lost one to rust.

Seems like a good way to polish :) . Probably one of the best.

Some are antique mapping points, most are illustrator's nibs from the
1950s...

Sounds pretty cool -- wish I could see them.

Brian
--

Maintaining Antique Dip Nibs
 

In ,
Shiva Das wrote:

The elderly gentleman who sold them to me showed me his massive file of
drawings done by the very cartoonists he sold nibs and ink to --
including Pat Oliphant, Charles Shultz, Chick Young ("Blondie"), Al
Hirshfeld, Charles Addams, and hundreds of others from both sides of the
Atlantic.

Wow. I'd love to try it out. Do you remember if Winsor McCay was in the
file?

The illustrator's nib is inscribed:

"C. Brandauer & Co's Scribbler Pen Birmm England"

The names of their pens are great.

Thanks for posting the photo!

Brian
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