Talk:Catalin

Catalin company trademarks
There is a TALK user of this site who is in violation of USPTO trademark's and copyrights. In their posting information about Catalin with links to catalin_rod_mfg@yahoo.com they are subject to federal prosecution. The American Catalin website and all trademarks and materials on the site are copyright and trademark protected. Beware anyone using these protected materials are subject to legal prosecution under United State Trademark laws. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Americancatalin (talk • contribs) 22:43, 18 March 2008‎

Best known? Hardly!
"Catalin is, perhaps, worldwide the most recognized plastic,", I never ever evere heard the name in my life and I enjoy phenolics for 30 years. What it really is is a Baekelite, nothing else. They just made it in some colors and that is it. There are myriads of independent phenolplast manufacturers, who independently developped their own phenolic resins with colors and phenolics resins were made all around the world, and nearly none of them had any patents acquired from anyone. Seriously. The whole article is thus an advertisement of an obsolete company. It does NOT meet the standards. Catalin company needs to supply documents proving that they sold their licenses and patents abroad. Otherwise they are full of hot air!

Bakelite advertisement diproves claims of the Catalin company
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Bakelite_color_chart_1924_Gifts_to_Treasure_Embed_Art_Company_Jewel_only.tif&page=1 Catalin claims that only they developped marbled and colored phenolic condensates, their claim is bullshit. Schedule for deletion. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.64.9.185 (talk) 08:39, 16 February 2016 (UTC)

Best known/colorless?
I agree, I never heard of Catalin until I collected old radios and knives in the '90's. And, I was a Chem major! I'd heard of polypropylene (polythene to you Brits), etc. Catalin  is not even mentioned in Life's Science Library under the Giant Molecules volume!

Catalin is almost always yellow in manufacture. Perhaps the pure form is colorless, but it was a replacement for ivory. Hence John Wayne's catalin-gripped revolvers--he had even stained them in tea to make them look more like ivory. He got a lot of flack from groups who though they were real Ivory!

1 year Chemistry, Time/Life's Nature/Science library .65.129.191.3 (talk) 16:26, 3 December 2016 (UTC)


 * I was aware of Catalin from my childhood and I'm 77. My mother and her friends were avid Mah Jong players and they all went wild when Dad gifted Mom with 'the very latest in Mah Jong sets' which featured the 'just like ivory' Catalin tiles. I still have the complete set. The once white tiles are golden now, from aging and the frequent games played in bright sun at the community pool, the women's hands covered in their home-made 'tanning cream' which was colored by mercurochrome.  Boardwalk Babe (talk) 19:53, 22 December 2023 (UTC)

"acquired the patents for Bakelite"
Maybe what is actually meant is: "acquired a licence from Bakelite to manufacture their phenolic resins". Or else the Bakelite company wouldn't have been allowed to make the stuff any more themselves, right? --BjKa (talk) 11:43, 12 July 2017 (UTC)

Bakelite patents expired in 1927, not sure why it says acquired the patents for bakelite. Going to fix when I get a chance.Joheinous (talk) 19:17, 13 August 2021 (UTC)

More Detail
"first produced in 1927 by the American Catalin Corporation. Catalin is actually a variant of phenol formaldehyde (Bakelite) made without fillers. The strength of Bakelite stemmed from the fillers used (commonly wood flour) in its composition. However, using fillers limited Bakelite's potentially vast range of colours to only dark ones, like black or brown, as dark pigments helped to conceal the fillers which would otherwise have been visible. Catalin dispensed with fillers and was cast rather than compression-moulded, then hand-finished by skilled workers. Catalin, once hardened, had an attractive translucent, marbled lustre. The two-stage production process made Catalin radios more expensive than Bakelite ones, which meant their production was not feasible after America's entry into the Second World War." "Catalin was first available in 1927, it is a variation on the usual recipe for phenol formaldehyde resin, better known as Bakelite. Bakelite's strength comes from the use of fillers, such as wood flour, in its production. Bakelite could in theory be any colour, depending whether pigments were added during its production, but dark colours were favoured because they concealed the fillers. Catalin, a liquid resin, dispensed with fillers, which allowed a dramatically expanded range of colours. Catalin products were cast, hand-finished, and assembled. Its two-stage production and luxury, transparent finish meant that it Catalin products tended to be expensive. After 1940, it became unfeasible to manufacture Catalin products in any quantity" Both quotes taken from https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O369377/fada-model-115-radio-fada-radio-electric/ --BjKa (talk) 12:23, 12 July 2017 (UTC)