Acrylic, Ebonite and Celluloid

[holmqer]

This is probably a really dumb question but lots of folks, myself included, make PR or Alumilite blanks.

I see folks selling Acrylic, Ebonite and Celluloid blanks.

Are Acrylic blanks synonomous with either PR or Alumilite, and if not, are they practical for the hobbiest to make?

Are either Ebonite or Celluloid blanks practical for the hobbiest to make?

 

[sptfr43]

don't know about the " plastic " blanks but ebonite is not something you can make without some crazy cash outlay ( and a degree in chemical engeneering would be helpful ). The big rubber people like goodyear/ goodrich have trouble with it. Basically all it is is hard rubber but the process is more difficult and some of the pigments have become unavailable due to the health risks.

 

[stevers]

I know very little about acrylic, but what I have heard is it's not for the novice. They say it takes large equipment, high pressures and some temperatures. Not my thing ya know. Just something I remember hearing.

 

[holmqer]

Thanks, I was not sure whether the lack of easily available supplies to make the stuff was due to difficulty of hobbiest use, or low demand.

 

[Gary Max]

Cost ?????? If you only want a few ----save yourself the trouble and just buy them.
There's always a part that most don't figure in---all the screw-ups and wasted material and time.
The stuff I sell here----I am using myself ---I just make enough extra to sell some.

 

[penmaker56]

Ebonite is the trade name of the Ebonite Corporation, that manufactures bowling balls (still in existence today) which used to be made of hard rubber. The name ebonite has become generic in meaning (like kleenex) to mean hard rubber. It is currently manufactured in Germany, India, and the Orient.

Celluloid is the "brand name" for the early plastic containing nitrose celluloid which was made from cotton fibers (and combustible), and becomes brittle with age (early movies were made on celluloid film) . The last known manufacturer of actual celluloid was in Italy, but stopped manufacturing it several years ago, when they stopped manufacturing all their pen plastics in Italy and moved it to China. Most of what is currently marketed as celluloid is not actually true celluloid.

Acyrlic is a generalized term in which most of the plastic pen blanks fall into, ie polyesters, polycarbonates, acetals, etc.

Hope this answered your question.
Richard Greenwald

 

[dfurlano]

Acrylic is a specific formulation of material and has different properties then the others.

Ebonite is vulcanized rubber or known in the pen world as hard rubber. It is natural or synthetic rubber cross linked with sulfur. Typically it has to cure in ovens above 100 degrees C for many hours.

All these materials need a certain level of process control and machinery that would be a fairly major capital investment. You can buy thermoplastic pellets and mix and re-mold them but to get the colors and quantities you want would be very costly.

PR or what people use to cast materials on this form use a catalyst which causes a chemical reaction to occur. The other materials are more complex.

Dan

 

[holmqer]

Thanks for all the info, I was curious if it was feasable to play around with making synthetic blanks other than PR / Alumilite and it would appear that it is not. I'll stick with the easy stuff, and maybe someday I'll actually figure out how to make cool looking patterns like some of folks manage to pull off here.