Materials - Resins, Plastics Etc.

[InkingBishop]

I really wish pen manufacturers were clearer (no pun intended) about what they make their plastic pens from. In some cases, descriptions are deliberately misleading, to distance the pen from the perception most people hold that plastic is a cheap material. But even where this is not the case, it's extremely difficult to find out what even cheap pens are made from most of the time.

 

Expensive manufacturers use the term resin, or even precious resin, instead of plastic. As far as I can gather this is nonsense. All plastics are a type of resin. It's like describing steel as metal - it's factual, but it's useless information.

 

But generally speaking, I gather most pens described as resin are made from acrylics which are cast and machined rather than injection molded?

 

Of the injection molded pens, which are more likely to be described honestly as plastic rather than misleadingly as resin, there is still rarely clarity on the type of plastic. I know my Lamy Safari is made of ABS. I know TWSBIs are made of polycarbonate (but only because I read their blog post where they had explained the reason behind their cracking problems - it wouldn't otherwise have been mentioned). I assume cheaper pens are made of polystyrene?

 

Am I alone in wanting to know what the things I own are made from in this much detail?

Edited May 2, 2016 by InkingBishop

[jar]

Yup, pretty much alone.

 

AbE:

 

As you said, plastics are pretty much plastics and which plastic to choose is really a manufacturing decision. I've never noticed much difference in feel or looks between different plastics. Granted some finishes can feel different; for example the Lamy 2000 or Montblanc 220 brushed finish.

 

I do appreciate knowing things like if the body is ebonite (hard rubber) or celluloid since they do offer tactile differences and even different aromas.

 

And Montblanc's use of Precious Resin was not really to make it sound fancy but rather a translation artifact.

[casualmerlinconstant]

I find the material information fairly interesting.

 

From what I gather there seems to be three major types of plastic in use at the moment:

 

1.injection moulded ABS like plastics

 

2.Cellulose Acetate for some of the higher end Pelikans etc. These do feel a bit more dense and seem to have higher hardness - giving it a bit more premium feel IMO

 

3. Some kind of plastic resin matrix embedded with glass aka Montblanc Precious Resin. This does indeed give the pens a very deep shine indeed. Feel is similar to others however.

 

The exact composition of some these materials may be trade secrets or some such and the materials themselves are not really that exciting. Plus, most of this information probably won't mean much to the average consumer, So I suppose we get marketing speak instead..

Edited May 2, 2016 by superglueshoe

[majolo]

Not alone at all. I was interested in trying to test inks for staining pens (especially demonstrators) but not knowing the exact materials makes it hard to know what to use as a material stand-in.

[InkingBishop]

I find the material information fairly interesting.

From what I gather there seems to be three major types of plastic in use at the moment:

1.injection moulded ABS like plastics

2.Cellulose Acetate for some of the higher end Pelikans etc. These do feel a bit more dense and seem to have higher hardness - giving it a bit more premium feel IMO

3. Some kind of plastic resin matrix embedded with glass aka Montblanc Precious Resin. This does indeed give the pens a very deep shine indeed. Feel is similar to others however.

The exact composition of some these materials may be trade secrets or some such and the materials themselves are not really that exciting. Plus, most of this information probably won't mean much to the average consumer, So I suppose we get marketing speak instead..

As I understand it, montblanc use an injection molded thermoplastic resin (in other words injection molded plastic).

[casualmerlinconstant]

As I understand it, montblanc use an injection molded thermoplastic resin (in other words injection molded plastic).

I stand corrected

[martinbir]

I find the material information fairly interesting.

 

From what I gather there seems to be three major types of plastic in use at the moment:

 

1.injection moulded ABS like plastics

 

2.Cellulose Acetate for some of the higher end Pelikans etc. These do feel a bit more dense and seem to have higher hardness - giving it a bit more premium feel IMO

 

3. Some kind of plastic resin matrix embedded with glass aka Montblanc Precious Resin. This does indeed give the pens a very deep shine indeed. Feel is similar to others however.

 

The exact composition of some these materials may be trade secrets or some such and the materials themselves are not really that exciting. Plus, most of this information probably won't mean much to the average consumer, So I suppose we get marketing speak instead..

 

Glass reinforcement in plastics does nothing for the appearance. It is there purely to add strength and will tend to make black look dull and mottled. That is why Lamy use the brushed finish on the 2000, to mask that unappealing finish - another clever design feature.

[lyonlover]

The Parker 51 (hood and barrel) is made of plastic, but it is machined on a lathe. Acrylic ("Lucite") is very difficult to make into a shape via injection mold for reasons, and large-scale acrylic manufacturing, as far as I know, is not seen anywhere as there would be a very high rejection rate due to manufacturing defects.

 

I can't say with conviction why injection molding acrylic isn't practical, but I know it has something to do with the melting and decomposition temperatures being very close, so I guess you can kind of picture it.

 

I know Brad Torelli and Ralph Prather make custom pens out of rod stock, with Torelli formulating his own acrylic, according to his website. Prather makes a pen out of a fascinating-sounding plastic called Vespel (made by DuPont). I've never seen any of their work, but Vespel sounds fascinating. I'm sure a material tough enough for NASA is tough enough for a pen . If someone could make Vespel (or just acrylic) hoods for the Parker 61, that would be groundbreaking. Then there'll be no more shrinking/cracking polystyrene problems and the P61 can finally get its deserved position in fountain pen-dom.

[FarmBoy]

Poly(methyl methacrylate) aka Lucite can be injection molded, compression molded, cast and extruded with low to near zero rejection rates.

 

Vespel is a polyimide and the name used by Du Pont. There are many formulations. Making pen parts from Vespel is not anymore difficult than machining almost any other material. I suspect the barrier would be cost. Figure I would charge you around an obnoxious amount to make a 61 hood. Add another almost obnoxious amount if you want an arrow on it. Why so much you may ask, I don't want anyone asking me to make one.

[Pensei]

It sounds like a good question to me. Any information concerning which makers use what materials would be of interest to many of us, I'm sure. That said, I think "precious resin" is a rather absurd locution. "Nice plastic" would be fine with me.

[lyonlover]

It sounds like a good question to me. Any information concerning which makers use what materials would be of interest to many of us, I'm sure. That said, I think "precious resin" is a rather absurd locution. "Nice plastic" would be fine with me.

 

I read somewhere that "precious resin" was a result of a bad translation from German that was never fixed because it sounded so good already.

[rwilsonedn]

 

I read somewhere that "precious resin" was a result of a bad translation from German that was never fixed because it sounded so good already.

 

In one older sense of the word, precious seems to me entirely appropriate to MB.

ron