Red and orange hard rubber

[rhr]

Over on Pentrace they’re talking about red and orange hard rubber, and I thought I’d post a version of my response here where we have an archive, before my post disappears from their message board. Here's the thread.

 

http://members2.boardhost.com/pentrace/msg/372151.html

 

Syd is right when he talks about orange hard rubber. Red hard rubber pens weren't "red in the first place". They were orange. Well, that's not always true either. The lighter ones sometimes darken where the cap fits onto the barrel, but they were originally brighter in color. Some people say it's the other way around, but I don't buy it.

 

Some batches of rhr have iron oxide, or hematite in them, which makes them brownish red to start off with. It is the pigment most often used in soft elastic rubber. But the major constituent coloring agent of rhr is cinnabar, or vermilion, which is red in color. Chinese and Japanese lacquer are colored with it, and are typically called "red lacquer". Another red pigment that was used in rhr was minium, or litharge, or red lead. In Japan, where cinnabar and litharge are used as artist's pigments, it is well documented that the red colors in paintings unpredictably darken and often turn rusty brown over time, so the same kind of thing probably goes on in rhr as well. The red pigments actually revert to black versions of the natural minerals. In the case of cinnabar, the culprit is light. When exposed to light, it turns black. The substance responsible for turning red lead to black is sulphide, and since sulphur is the vulcanizing agent in hard rubber, any rhr that darkens in the absence of light probably has a high percentage of litharge in it.

 

In order to make the rhr brighter in color, scarlet antimony and golden antimony were added to the mix, as well as other yellow pigments. Black and white pigments were also very important in attaining the right shades. I’ve seen a lot of early formulas and recipes for rhr, and they all contained these pigments to various degrees. These deadly heavy-metal pigments are no longer allowed for safety reasons, and the contemporary substitutes just don’t cut it. That’s why Chris Thompson is having such a hard time approximating the old color in the red rod stock he is having made for him. Parker used a synthetic dye in the middle and late rhr Duofolds called Vulcafor Orange, which made the rod stock lighter in weight as well as in color. It is why those later rhr Duofolds look so glorious.

 

Some companies had their own supplies of rhr, and their own proprietary formulas for their distinctive shades of red rod stock. Sheaffer red is much darker than Parker Duofold red, and Wahl Eversharp red is almost a creamy coral. The brightest oranges are the Onotos and the Conway Stewarts and the Duofolds, but then I've seen darker ones as well. There's no general rule. Sometimes Waterman's red is light, and sometimes it's dark. It's highly unpredictable and very infuriating. Some of the early Parker rhr is slightly darker, but the Vulcafor Orange Duofolds make up for it. After those glorious rhr Duofolds, the red plastic ones are a huge disappointment.

 

George.

 

ninja archivist

:ph34r:

Edited February 22, 2005 by rhr

[rhr]

You may remember a year or two ago, Victor Chen, was theorizing that the red hard rubber that came out of the Day factory for Waterman was built up over a core of black hard rubber. I wonder if Victor might not have mistaken a chemical blackening inside the hard rubber for a black core?

Hi Rob,

 

If that were the case, then one would expect the blackening to occur all the way through, not just at the core. Victor posted a message on Zoss about finding an article in an issue of "The Pen Prophet" that mentioned this black-core method.

 

http://www.escribe.com/collecting/pens/m110451.html

 

David Nishimura weighed in on the subject in this response to Victor's post.

 

http://www.escribe.com/collecting/pens/m110463.html

 

I think that's a separate issue that has little bearing on the issue of pigment discoloration. Still, I wish they both gave more than just anecdotal references.

 

George.

[Maja]

Interesting discussion, gentlemen......Now just one question for you, George: why is your FPN member name "rhr"?

[rhr]

why is your FPN member name "rhr"?

I can't explain. All I can say is that I choose to see red hard rubber through a glass, lightly. And now abideth red and orange, these two, but the greatest of these is orange.

 

G.

[Maja]

why is your FPN member name "rhr"?

I can't explain. All I can say is that I choose to see red hard rubber through a glass, lightly. And now abideth red and orange, these two, but the greatest of these is orange.

 

G.

Good answer!