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No, beeswax, linseed oils, pine resin are not plastic. They can be used instead of plastic in many applications but they're still renewable and bio-degradable m

by exDM69 6y ago

No, beeswax, linseed oils, pine resin are not plastic. They can be used instead of plastic in many applications but they're still renewable and bio-degradable materials. Bitumen is a crude oil product, and quite nasty material indeed. But it's not really what I was referring to here. Plastic is very durable but it's quite brittle. A plastic bucket for example can break quite easily and needs to be disposed of responsibly or it'll stay around forever ruining the environment.

dogma1138 6y ago
Plastics just means a specific set of properties not what it’s specifically made from or can it be biodegradable. Depending on the exact chemical reaction makeup these could very well be considered plastics. Plastics date back around 3500 years with the earliest plastics being made form egg proteins and other animal sources, Shellac which can and is formed into plastic materials has been used for at least 3000 years and in Middle Ages Europe plastics were made by treating horns and making translucent and transparent plastics form them: https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/queenslib.wordpress.com/2017/05/04/front-horn-window/amp/ https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/queenslib.wordpress.com/2017/... One of the first modern plastics was cellulose nitrate which was used as an ivory replacement and was made by dissolving cotton in nitric acid and mixing it with vegetable oil, the solution can then be poured into molds to create the final shape or made into billets that could be machined or carved.
- Chris2048 6y ago
  Apparently, cellulose nitrate is also known as Nitrocellulose, and it's pretty explosive stuff; wrt replacing ivory billiards balls: "The invention enjoyed a brief popularity, but the Hyatt balls were extremely flammable, and sometimes portions of the outer shell would explode upon impact. An owner of a billiard saloon in Colorado wrote to Hyatt about the explosive tendencies, saying that he did not mind very much personally but for the fact that every man in his saloon immediately pulled a gun at the sound." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrocellulose https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrocellulose
  - dogma1138 6y ago
    It is, however the addition of vegetable oil makes it mostly inert, but other products like celluloids (film made from cellulose nitrate) which don’t explode are still quite flammable.
chrisseaton 6y ago
> No, beeswax, linseed oils, pine resin are not plastic. How would you describe them except 'plastic'? > They can be used instead of plastic in many applications but they're still renewable and bio-degradable materials. Many plastics are renewable and biodegradable.
- dekhn 6y ago
  I think what's being argued about here is mainly the different between polymerized resins and other natural products, and petroleum-derived polymers. Both are 'plastic' because 'plastic' is a term that derives from the nature of the product, not its idendity.
cmrdporcupine 6y ago
Polymerized linseed oil ("Danish oil") is definitely a kind of plastic. It just isn't made with a petrochemical. Linseed oil is awesome stuff though. Currently working on some wooden skis, some with woven flax instead of fiberglass and some with linseed varnish & pine tar bases.

by exDM69 6y ago

dogma1138 6y ago

Plastics just means a specific set of properties not what it’s specifically made from or can it be biodegradable. Depending on the exact chemical reaction makeup these could very well be considered plastics. Plastics date back around 3500 years with the earliest plastics being made form egg proteins and other animal sources, Shellac which can and is formed into plastic materials has been used for at least 3000 years and in Middle Ages Europe plastics were made by treating horns and making translucent and transparent plastics form them: https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/queenslib.wordpress.com/2017/05/04/front-horn-window/amp/ https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/queenslib.wordpress.com/2017/... One of the first modern plastics was cellulose nitrate which was used as an ivory replacement and was made by dissolving cotton in nitric acid and mixing it with vegetable oil, the solution can then be poured into molds to create the final shape or made into billets that could be machined or carved.

Chris2048 6y ago
Apparently, cellulose nitrate is also known as Nitrocellulose, and it's pretty explosive stuff; wrt replacing ivory billiards balls: "The invention enjoyed a brief popularity, but the Hyatt balls were extremely flammable, and sometimes portions of the outer shell would explode upon impact. An owner of a billiard saloon in Colorado wrote to Hyatt about the explosive tendencies, saying that he did not mind very much personally but for the fact that every man in his saloon immediately pulled a gun at the sound." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrocellulose https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrocellulose
- dogma1138 6y ago
  It is, however the addition of vegetable oil makes it mostly inert, but other products like celluloids (film made from cellulose nitrate) which don’t explode are still quite flammable.

chrisseaton 6y ago

> No, beeswax, linseed oils, pine resin are not plastic. How would you describe them except 'plastic'? > They can be used instead of plastic in many applications but they're still renewable and bio-degradable materials. Many plastics are renewable and biodegradable.

dekhn 6y ago
I think what's being argued about here is mainly the different between polymerized resins and other natural products, and petroleum-derived polymers. Both are 'plastic' because 'plastic' is a term that derives from the nature of the product, not its idendity.

cmrdporcupine 6y ago

Polymerized linseed oil ("Danish oil") is definitely a kind of plastic. It just isn't made with a petrochemical. Linseed oil is awesome stuff though. Currently working on some wooden skis, some with woven flax instead of fiberglass and some with linseed varnish & pine tar bases.