Translations:Ebanite/8/en

The natural color of ebonite is black, the only other colors that can be obtained with relative ease are orange, thanks to the use of cinnabar, or dark red (with the use of hematite).[1] This has given rise to several processes, from the classic red hard rubber, to the various combinations of red and black ebonite (Mottled, Rippled, etc..) up to the production, carried out essentially by the Waterman[2] in its obstinacy not to abandon this material, of colours such as green, blue, yellow and pink. But in the end none of these colours could compete with the brilliance offered by the new materials, and in particular by the celluloid, and ebonite has been progressively abandoned as a material used for the body of the pen, remaining however used until today in the production of the feeds.[3]

External References

  • [1] Article about red ebonite
  • [2] On the degradation of vulcanised rubber
  • [3] A forum discussion about ebonite cleaning
  • [4] A discussion on the reconstruction of ebonite with cyanoacrylate

Notes

  1. for more technical details you can refer to this article.
  2. even if some Tibaldi models in coloured ebonite are known.
  3. even if today this happens only for the most valuable pens, since this material cannot be moulded.