Casein

[Deb]

I said that I would post on Wednesday but that turns out to be a very full day for me whereas Tuesday is just about manageable. Sorry to mess you about!

Casein has a bad reputation. To an extent it's justified. It's not the most stable material. However, if you get an old casein pen that isn't crazed or cracking and you look after it, it will be fine. The problem is that casein absorbs water and the surface distorts leading to that craquelure that is sometimes seen. If you follow the pernicious practice of soaking pens and happen to accidentally do it with a casein pen the whole barrel and/or cap will distort irremediably. It will never happen to me. I don't ever soak pens, but that's another story.

Sheaffer used casein briefly and found that it would not survive the conditions of high humidity and high heat in some states of America. They used their stockholding of casein pens as loaners for a time, then withdrew them completely.

Despite its failings, casein is a wonderful material, allowing for a depth and subtlety of colour and pattern that even celluloid cannot emulate. The climate in Britain being a little kinder to casein, some British manufacturers continued to use it. Both before and after World War II, Conway Stewart used casein to great effect, both in its highly colourful Dinkie range and in larger pens. In some of its post-war casein pens the surface crazing has developed while others are perfect. Jonathan Donahaye's explanation was that the good ones probably spent years in their box in a drawer.

The worst examples of how bad things can be occurs in some post-war Burnham pens. It's such a pity because the patterns are some of the most beautiful ever made. Perhaps Burnham didn't cure their casein as well is Conway Stewart did but the crazing is more prevalent and some pens even disintegrate. I once bought a box of assorted post-war casein Burnhams. They were new old stock and had been stored together for many years. Some pens and some parts were unaffected and I was able to assemble some good pens. The rest were affected with "casein rot" to varying degrees. Many had disintegrated into sad jewel-like fragments of patterned casein. It's my guess that storing them together will spread the affliction to good pens.

Let me emphasise that far from all Burnhams are affected in this way; many are in excellent condition. If you get a good one, keep in dry conditions and it will remain in good condition forever, or at least as long as other fountain pens will last!

[dfo]

How does the feel of pens made of casein and celluloid differ?

I love the warmth of celluloid pens. To be honest, I never looked into casein pens until seeing your post. The color depth and patterns look to about the same to me, but I have no knowledge of casein.

[Deb]

They're very similar to the touch.

If you go here: http://jonathandonahaye.conwaystewar...ook/cslist.htm

and have a look at the Dinkie 540 pens, some of them are casein and in colours that other materials of the time could not achieve.

[fountainpagan]

Very nice thread, Deb, thank you.

I love casein, it is a fresh and warm material when in hand.

I am still to find the available Burnham that will make fall inlove of its patern, and become mine. I totally agree with you, Deb, some of the finest casein paterns in fountain pens.

Here are some of mine, all french made.

[Deb]

These are wonderful, fountainpagan! Many of these are in patterns I haven't seen before.

[fountainpagan]

Thank you, Deb.

The first one in the left is a modern pen: cream/white translucide casein and mapple burl, made by Thierry Testud. But the old ones have beautiful paterns, indeed

[jar]

Casein was also used extensively for everything from buttons to combs & brushes to radio housings since it could be shaped and made to look like so many other more expensive things like tortoise shell.

[Deb]

It's a lovely pen. I'm glad to hear that casein is still being used.

[Deb]

Yes. Very useful stuff at a time when there wasn't much else of a colourful nature for those purposes.

[penwash]

Deb, you are one of the SEVEN indeed. Thank you.

And the content of your post is very useful indeed. When you said Casein, it immediately reminds me of the very gentle swirly material of some pens I've handled. And my memory was confirmed by fountainpagan's post above. Those are exactly the patterns that I remembered.

Now here's a question. Do you think this is casein:

[jar]

Deb, you are one of the SEVEN indeed. Thank you.

And the content of your post is very useful indeed. When you said Casein, it immediately reminds me of the very gentle swirly material of some pens I've handled. And my memory was confirmed by fountainpagan's post above. Those are exactly the patterns that I remembered.

Now here's a question. Do you think this is casein:

IIRC and looking at all my 388s it seems to be plastic not casein.

[Deb]

Warm it a little - rubbing will be enough. If it smells faintly like cheese, it's casein.

[ShugPug]

Slightly off-topic, until today my only knowledge of casein was as a protein supplement (in my non-FP Geek life I am very in to my physical fitness) and I had no idea that it could be used to make beautiful things! Thank you for a fascinating post!

Sent from my SM-J700T using Tapatalk

[Deb]

My pleasure.

[penwash]

Deb, you are one of the SEVEN indeed. Thank you.

And the content of your post is very useful indeed. When you said Casein, it immediately reminds me of the very gentle swirly material of some pens I've handled. And my memory was confirmed by fountainpagan's post above. Those are exactly the patterns that I remembered.

Now here's a question. Do you think this is casein:

IIRC and looking at all my 388s it seems to be plastic not casein.

I agree. The pattern on that pen has a slight "fractured edges" to them, unlike the gentle swirl.

I found the photo I was searching for:



I think this one is made out of casein.

[Seattleite]

A while back, I decided to sand out a scar on an early Sheaffer desk pen's red taper. Smelled like wet dog hair (my description of casein smell - guess I haven't smelled enough British cheese). Casein! This caused me to think about American casein pens. Not much came to mind. I only have a few; all of them from the "Flat Top" era. I'll have to get my picture uploading act together later but, here is a list of what I have:

Sheaffer (desk pen - taper only)
Gem
John Holland
Union (Morrison sub brand)

Where casein did find a broader use Stateside was in trim and end plugs for hard rubber pens, as a way to introduce color. I think that the color bands on Waterman #5 & #7 caps are casein, as well as some Dunn filler knobs.

Being non-fossil based and having the ability to break down in water makes it "Green", if anything. I don't imagine any long lost Conway Stewart's are still floating in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

Bob

[fountainpagan]

Deb, you are one of the SEVEN indeed. Thank you.

And the content of your post is very useful indeed. When you said Casein, it immediately reminds me of the very gentle swirly material of some pens I've handled. And my memory was confirmed by fountainpagan's post above. Those are exactly the patterns that I remembered.

Now here's a question. Do you think this is casein:

IIRC and looking at all my 388s it seems to be plastic not casein.

I agree. The pattern on that pen has a slight "fractured edges" to them, unlike the gentle swirl.

I found the photo I was searching for:



I think this one is made out of casein.

Exactly, Penwash. This one is (I have the same), but not the Conway Stewart (Jar is right).