Jump to content

What to know about Urushi


MartinPauli

Recommended Posts

I have seen many questions in the forum about urushi, regarding, quality, technique, cleaning, prices and so on.
So I thought I should take a time and write an essey on this toppic.

Feel free to download the pdf from the library on my website.
There is also a German version for download

Best regards,

Martin
https://www.manupropria-pens.ch/angularmomentum-manupropria/uploadfiles/static/88c232f/16aa8898-3970-472c-bccc-cf3dda069e75.pdf/What%20to%20know%20about%20Urushi.pdf

screenshot_01.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 10
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • MartinPauli

    3

  • mke

    1

  • Karmachanic

    1

  • awa54

    1

Top Posters In This Topic

Posted Images

Thanks for this Martin. I will enjoy diving into this carefully. 

 

I would like to engage regarding the industrialization of urushi. In modern times the topic of industrialization of urushi seems to better fit operations like Sakamoto Urushi https://japan-product.com/ads/sakamoto-urushi-manufacturing-co-ltd-urushi-surface-manufacturing/.

 

The Namiki patent and process, according to my reading of the patent, and to my understanding based on the memories of Gonroku Matsuda, seems to be aimed at making ebonite a suitable substrate for urushi. As you are no doubt aware ebonite varies in quality even batch to batch. The untreated substrate was not deemed suitable to direct application of finish coats or maki-e due to instability. Ebonite, not being a natural product, also seemed to best require a base preparation technique that was a mix of modern and traditional. This is actually very interesting--urushi is so adaptable! The fast industrial way would be to polish the ebonite, maybe after aging it a bit under heat and vacuum, and proceeding directly to urushi finish. It would be years or decades before the inferior quality would potentially be revealed. Seems like Namiki was thinking about the long term stability and beauty of their products. 

 

Please let me know your thoughts.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, jandrese said:

....Ebonite, not being a natural product....

 

well, not "natural" like wood, but it *is* derived from tree sap, as is urushi.

however it's much more natural than say, acrylic resin which also gets decorated with urushi these days.

 

I do get your point though, that the process of turning raw latex into hard rubber is one that introduces other compounds (making it a manufactured substance) and can produce finished material of varying quality.

while I'm no chemist, it certainly seems like residual or outgassed sulphur could be a real issue in the longevity of any coating on an ebonite item.

David-

 

So many restoration projects...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Jandrese for the link and comments on Ebonite.

There are not many Ebonite manufacturers left. There are some in France and in the US, but they only make balls for bowling and Plectrum for Guital playing.

I buy my ebonite from Nikko in Tokyo. It is a "dry" ebonite and for lacquering the best quality I aassume. There is another ebonite company in Germany, Schöneberger Ebonite Manufaktur. They make excellent black, colored and patterned ebonite.
Namiki buys the black material there for tobacco pipe mouthpieces. Polished, it is really flawless and jet black.
German ebonite is also mostly used for ink feeders. Schöneberger adds lamp black to the raw rubber and sulfur. The problem in this case is that the adhesion of Urushi is poor because of the oily lampblack.

 

By the way, Bock experimented with Nikko ebonite for feeeds but found that the tools become dull faster than with the German, slightly oily material.

 

Cheers,

 

Martin

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, MartinPauli said:

There are not many Ebonite manufacturers left.

and in India?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 5/8/2022 at 8:03 PM, jandrese said:

The Namiki patent and process, according to my reading of the patent, and to my understanding based on the memories of Gonroku Matsuda, seems to be aimed at making ebonite a suitable substrate for urushi.

Thank you Martin - very interesting!

 

I think that the aforementioned patent's use of the words "patterns or figures" relates to chasing etc. (to prevent it from oxidizing and flattening out/returning to shape by (hand)heat) and not to maki-e or other lacquer techniques? I believe the patent predates Namiki's idea to decorate the objects with maki-e (for the European market!) - this is how I interpret Matsuda Gonroku's account. I could be wrong.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Most Contributions

    1. amberleadavis
      amberleadavis
      43844
    2. PAKMAN
      PAKMAN
      33494
    3. Ghost Plane
      Ghost Plane
      28220
    4. inkstainedruth
      inkstainedruth
      26627
    5. jar
      jar
      26101
  • Upcoming Events

  • Blog Comments

    • Shanghai Knife Dude
      I have the Sailor Naginata and some fancy blade nibs coming after 2022 by a number of new workshop from China.  With all my respect, IMHO, they are all (bleep) in doing chinese characters.  Go use a bush, or at least a bush pen. 
    • A Smug Dill
      It is the reason why I'm so keen on the idea of a personal library — of pens, nibs, inks, paper products, etc. — and spent so much money, as well as time and effort, to “build” it for myself (because I can't simply remember everything, especially as I'm getting older fast) and my wife, so that we can “know”; and, instead of just disposing of what displeased us, or even just not good enough to be “given the time of day” against competition from >500 other pens and >500 other inks for our at
    • adamselene
      Agreed.  And I think it’s good to be aware of this early on and think about at the point of buying rather than rationalizing a purchase..
    • A Smug Dill
      Alas, one cannot know “good” without some idea of “bad” against which to contrast; and, as one of my former bosses (back when I was in my twenties) used to say, “on the scale of good to bad…”, it's a spectrum, not a dichotomy. Whereas subjectively acceptable (or tolerable) and unacceptable may well be a dichotomy to someone, and finding whether the threshold or cusp between them lies takes experiencing many degrees of less-than-ideal, especially if the decision is somehow influenced by factors o
    • adamselene
      I got my first real fountain pen on my 60th birthday and many hundreds of pens later I’ve often thought of what I should’ve known in the beginning. I have many pens, the majority of which have some objectionable feature. If they are too delicate, or can’t be posted, or they are too precious to face losing , still they are users, but only in very limited environments..  I have a big disliking for pens that have the cap jump into the air and fly off. I object to Pens that dry out, or leave blobs o
  • Chatbox

    You don't have permission to chat.
    Load More
  • Files






×
×
  • Create New...