Please help me identify this material

[SoundMate]

I have an old chest container whose main construction material I am trying to identify in an attempt to source more of it for a crafts project. The material is only 1mm thick, flexible, resilient and strong, bending well around sharp 90 & 180 degree turns. It appears to be a kind of dense fibreboard. Here are some photos of the said container:

chest has the remnants of a label on it but all I can make out of this are the words 'container' and 'chester' (the UK place name of the business who made it I assume), the rest was probably torn away about

20 years ago or so by me and/or my kid brother when it was used as our toy box. If anyone can suggest a business that may have constructed such a container then that may prove useful.

I'd also like to work with the same kind of crimped pins so if anyone can suggest a name for these that would be appreciated. Any insight would be great as so far the only material I've found that has similar properties is cardboard but this does not have the same level of durability that I need.

Chris

[Dave]

Try a google for leatherette. I just might be what you are looking for. It has a soft plastic face, through which you can see the backing weave like your photos show and the inside might look like a very thin layer of felt. Very soft to the touch.

Dave

[Dave Liquorice]

I don't think so, I know the stuff in that picture, tough, hard wearing and strong, as the OP says it's a dense fibre board of some sort. It was used extensively for storage boxes and the like perhaps up to the 60's or 70's at a push.

What the stuff is actually called I haven't a clue.

[Bill]

It looks to me like what I used to call "Vulcanised cardboard". I had an old school case made of something of similar colour and looks, and it's still in one piece storing some papers in the shed and usable. "n" years later!

I'm not sure if this is the same sort of stuff

[Rod]

Quite possibly some form of mill board. Unfortunately for identification, there are many different types and I do not know enough to help further. A particularly tough form called tar board was made from old naval ropes.

A little bit of information here:

[The Natural Philosopher]

PRBP? phenolic resin bonded paper? used in circuit boards..until modern epoxy came along, and glass fibre

It was the fiberglass of its day. In the dayes when phenolic resin was the answer to everything..bakelite, formica, melamine IIRC, ebonite etc.

It's what used to give electronics That Awful Smell when they overheated..

If it looks like fabric, it may n fact be just that - cotton or linen impregnated with phenolic resin.

[Jon Fairbairn]

I don't think so. The stuff pictured looks to me like the stuff that the output bins in the computer lab were made of. I'm not sure about PRBP, but the SRBP that I used to use was much harder and stiffer than the material of the output bins, which really were like some sort of improved cardboard. I'd suspect it of being cardboard that was surface impregnated with a synthetic resin, which I suppose would be PRIP??

Also, I have somewhere a canvas and PRBF dispatch case from my uncle in WW2; this also isn't like the OP's stuff.

[Dave Liquorice]

phenolic resin as that tends to be brittle and this stuff isn't brittle.

[SoundMate]

Thank you all for your input, it is most insightful and much appreciated. Thanks loads for the link Bill, this is the closest thing to a supply have.

After a bit of research, I came across a few suppliers who are still selling products which appear identical(ish) to my elusive container. This one:

this material 'Resin Bonded Fibreboard' in the catalogue. I've also found a couple of bespoke container makers who appear to use the same stuff.

The stuff from RH Nuttall does appear to be a bit different as it is a vulcanised product but hopefully with a bit of experimentation I'll achieve the results I'm after. I only hope they can supply me with small enough amounts.

Chris

[Dave]

I know what you mean now and I can't remember what it was called. It was the use of the word flexable that pushed me down the road towards leatherette.

Dave

[Dave Liquorice]

But "plastic" on the web page. I'd not trust plastic to be anything like as durable as our mystery material.

I wouldn't get hung up on the word "vulcanised". It normally refers to natural rubber heat and sulphur but can also refer to similar processes that harden other materials:

vulcanize

verb (used with object), -ized, -iz?ing.

1. to treat (rubber) with sulfur and heat, thereby imparting strength, greater elasticity, durability, etc.

1. to subject (a substance other than rubber) to some analogous process, as to harden it.

Also, especially British, vulcanise.

[Chris_W]

Yeah I'm guessing that the webpage is using loose terminology there as I've seen a number of outlets selling the same product and using different descriptions (but they all use the same catalogue page). I'd be interested to know what company actually manufactures those containers.

As for vulcanise, whether it's accurate or not, I'm comforted to know how and what they use to make this fibreboard.