Notice anything different about this little Aurora 88P?
I’ve owned this one for a while now, and really enjoy it (the vintage Aurora 88 models are absolutely top-notch pens), but I really got tired of it showing fingerprints all the time. So, one night while watching TV, I decided to give it a satin finish. Out came the abrasives, and a few hours later I had a nifty satin-y finish that feels GREAT in the hand, looks really elegant (the satin & chrome combo really looks good, in my opinion), and is almost impervious to fingerprints! Since the 88P is an all-celluloid model (there were a handful of different versions of the 88 – read my friend Andrea’s outstanding profile of this iconic pen here), it took the satin finish very nicely and very evenly, too. The best part about it is that it’s totally reversible with a little bit of polishing (I didn’t remove much material at all, so it should be able to be polished back out to a glossy finish without disturbing the imprints on the section).
At any rate, it doesn’t take much to do this, so if you’ve got a pen that you want to experiment with, grab some soft abrasives (I use these in 1000, 2000, and 4000 grit) and start with the finest grade and work backwards until you get the finish you’re looking for! Experiment with wet and dry sanding, and see what happens! You might be surprised the way your pen responds to a satin finish!
(*Disclaimer: You’re doing this at your own risk…if you choose to do this to an Omas Arco Paragon and you don’t like how it turns out, I can’t take responsibility for that. In fact, if you DO decide to give this treatment to an Arco Paragon, please email me your address because I’m gonna find you and kick you for even thinking of it. You’ve been warned…) 🙂
Brassing Adds Character 
Good looking pen, buddy. I really like that pen rest too!
Very nice!!
Nicely done. But you’re a braver man than I am – I’m likely to ruin a pen if I did that!
No way, Thomas…you’d do just fine. Stick to plastics & celluloids, and start with the finest grade you’ve got (or come over and borrow my stuff) and work slowly. When you get it where you want it, leave well-enough alone and enjoy it!
(I include that last admonition simply because I’m prone to NOT doing that…) 😦
That is *amazing* … have you ever seen it bring out any additional detail?
Hey Steck, thanks for the comment! I’m glad you like it!
As far as extra detail, it really hasn’t brought out any extra, although I think that if it were to be done to a pen with some patterning in the celluloid, it could. Might have to try that on an old celluloid pen to see what happens. If anything cool shapes up, I’ll definitely post something about it.
I got to try this one out while passing through Des Moines. Nice looking pen, even better writer.
Poor baby!!!
And what about the cap? Isn’t it boring? Let’s satin the cap Ryan!!
Ciao,
[…] day weeping for lost strangers– I set to work on some pens. Two Parker Vacumatics and an Aurora 88P, all belonging to someone else. Two of them are repaired and await return to their owner, while […]