Radio Plastics

Radio Plastics
Radio Plastics
Terms used to categorize and describe plastic
radio cabinets are loosely tossed around.
Most of the terms used, such as Plaskon,
Bakelite, Catalin, Beetle and Tenite are not
types of plastics, but trade-names given by
different manufacturers.
These are the 7 most widely used categories of
radio plastics that most collectors use.
Bakelite
Bakelite
Bakelite
Bakelite radio cabinets can have a beautiful gloss
and sheen to them, although Bakelite colors are
somewhat muted and the surface does not have the
translucency and luster of a Catalin radio cabinet.
Bakelite referred to all its plastics as “Bakelite”
which included their entire catalog of ureas,
phenolics, cast resinoids, vinyls and more.
The phenolics seems to be the most durable of the
plastics used; sturdier, with no shrinking and they
could withstand heat better than other materials.
Unfortunately, lengthy UV exposure can make the
surface dull and porous and the original glossy
sheen can’t be fully restored in these cases.
Bakelite
Catalin
Catalin radio cabinets have the unmistakable, unique
characteristics of poured resin. Every color in the spectrum
was available and catalin radio cabinets can be found from solid
colors to dramatic marbling of colors with varying degrees of
translucency.
The creation of colorful catalin has been credited to Dr. Fritz
Pollak, an analytic chemist from Vienna, Austria. In the 1920s
and 30s, Pollak had numerous patents for many plastic formulas
and processes, which included the invention of urea resin
(plaskon & beetle). Dr. Pollak along with Dr. Kurt Ripper filed
patents detailing their catalin creation process in the mid 20s.
Catalin
The Catalin Corporation bought the cast phenolic resin patent in
1927 when the Bakelite Corporation allowed it to expire.
Many other companies began using the process paying a royalty
to the Catalin Corp.
•Catalin ~ Catalin Corporation

•Bakelite Cast Resin ~ Bakelite Corporation
•Marblette ~ Marblette Corporation
•Fiberlon ~ Fiberloid Corporation ~ used on RCA Little Nipper II
•Opalon ~ Monsanto Corporation ~ used on Emerson Model 400
The Catalin Corporation offered other plastics such as

Styrenes and others that were all referred to as Catalin.
Catalin
Unfortunate characteristics of catalin are shrinkage and color
fading from UV light. Some color changes can be appealing, such
as the change of alabaster catalin into nice butterscotch or
yellow-orange-golden hues.
UV light exposure affects Catalin turning the phenolic resin
surface into phenyl alcohol, adding a yellowish brown hue to the
outer layer changing the original color. It then acts as a barrier
blocking deeper color changes, leaving the opportunity to sand
and polish the surface back to the original bright color.
In many cases, shrinkage around tight fitting chassis and glass
dials caused the cabinets or the dial glass to crack contributing
to the scarcity of undamaged examples.
Catalin
Catalin vs. Bakelite
Catalin is produced by a two-stage process, different
from other types of phenolic resins, and does not
contain fillers such as sawdust or carbon black.
It was made by adding color to a liquid resin that was
cast in lead forms and allowed to cool slowly. It was
durable, heat resistant and a lot more pleasing to the
eye.
Catalin is transparent, near colorless, rather than
opaque. Unlike other phenolics, it can be produced in
bright colors or even marbled. This fact has made
Catalin more popular than other types of Bakelite.
Bakelite is made in a multi-stage process. Fillers were
mixed into the plastic as it was heated and pressure
molded. The result was a very durable dark-colored
material.
Plaskon
Plaskon is a term generally used for urea molded, white and light
pastel colored radio cabinets of the 30s and 40s. The name,
“Plaskon” is actually a trade name used for urea molded plastics
made by the Libby-Owens-Ford Glass Company in Toledo, OH.
Many other plastic manufacturers also made urea molded
cabinets, that all get funneled into this trade-name labeled
category. Stress line cracks are a typical unfortunate
characteristic of plaskon radios, and it is rare to find one
without any cracks. Unlike Catalin radios, Plaskon radios do not
change color over time.
Beetle
Beetle is a term used by collectors for plaskon cabinets that are
mottled or marbled with greens, browns, blues, oranges and
blacks usually with a white cabinet base.
The marbling makes each example unique. Early radio
advertisements referred to them as “onyx” and priced them for
a few dollars more than the walnut or ivory radios.
Beetle and Beetleware plastics are trade names used by the
American Cyanamid Company of New York for urea
formaldehyde moldings.
Beetle radios commonly developed stress lines or cracks that
tend to follow marbling lines, or appear on the surface near the
hot rectifier tube.
Painted
Some radio manufacturers offered painted radio cabinets as an
option. From the late 1930s and into the 50s, painted finishes
were generally applied to black or brown bakelite cabinets.
Polystyrene
Although first developed in the late 30s, Styrenes were not
widely used until the 1950s. Polystyrene radios were made in
many colors, sometimes marbled. The plastic is somewhat
fragile and brittle and easily cracked. The surfaces are easily
scratched and susceptible to heat damage but didn’t dissuade
its use because it was more cost effective.
Tenite
Tenite plastic was an unfortunate choice of another plastic used
in radio construction. Unfortunate because Tenite turned out to
be a very unstable plastic, unable to withstand the test of time.
Severe shrinkage and warping, sped up by heat and UV exposure,
ended the lives of many radios that used Tenite, and to find
radios with minimal Tenite damage is rare.
Tenite was a name given by the Eastman Corporation, a division
of Eastman Kodak, for their cellulose acetate recipe.
For radio production, it was generally used for dials, grilles,
escutcheons and knobs in the late 30s to the mid 40s. A few
radio models were made with Tenite cabinets. Tenite came in all
colors and sometimes included marbling in the plastic. It can be
very attractive, although its unfortunate aging characteristics,
warping, make it somewhat undesirable.

Radio Plastics

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Radio Plastics

•Catalin ~ Catalin Corporation

The Catalin Corporation offered other plastics such as

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