Talk:Tenite
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Degradation of Tenite
editSome formulations of Tenite degrade when exposed to elevated temperatures, discoloring, shrinking, warping and in extreme cases cracking and crumbling. Tenite can also give off an extremely unpleasant odor, even without shrinking or warping evident. In their 1940 model year, Nash used large, clear Tenite moldings on the dash and smaller pieces for other interior components. When kept at lower temperatures and out of direct sunlight, the plastic will still turn a 'light straw' color and give off a bad odor. If it heats to where it warps, the odor is much worse. Some have described it as vomit in a cat's litterbox or that it could be formed into pellets to be scattered as an area denial weapon. For 1941, Nash changed to a transparent red dyed Tenite for most of the interior plastics. That change seems to have made it more stable, though the much reduced production of automobiles during 1941 has left far fewer examples to note the degree of degradation of the Tenite used that year. I could get a couple of pictures of a good condition and a bad condition 1940 Nash Tenite part. Too bad there still isn't an odor function for the web. Bizzybody (talk) 10:15, 24 April 2016 (UTC)
tenite as a gunstock material
editTenite was used by Savage Arms Company as a stock material for commercial firearms in the World War II era when walnut wood was reserved for military arms production. The 15,000 Savage Model 24 .22/.410 combo rifle/shotguns issued for the E series of aviator survival kits 1942-1945 had Tenite stocks. Guns produced by Savage for the commercial market with Tenite stocks included the Model 24 combo gun, the Model 94 shotgun and the Model 1244 shotgun during WWII and a few years after. J.B. Wood "Troubleshooting Your Rifle and Shotgun" (DBI Books, 1978) notes Tenite is difficult to repair once broken: "no glue known to man will stick to Tenite plastic." Tenite is very lightweight compared to wood. Family members own Savage guns with Tenite stock and the material seems much more stable than the Tenite car parts mentioned above. -- Naaman Brown (talk) 19:40, 12 December 2018 (UTC)