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What is a plumber’s turnpin made of?

What is a plumber’s turnpin made of?

 
  Polypropylene is a thermoplastic and can be heated and shaped many times  

Modern turnpins are usually made from solid polypropylene.

 

Polypropylene is a thermoplastic (synthetic resin), which can be heated and shaped many times. It is used increasingly as an economical material in the manufacture of tools.

 
         
  Plumbers Turnpin withstanding repeated hammer blows to flare lead pipe  

As well as being recyclable, polypropylene is resistant to weakening as a result of prolonged or repeated stress.

 

So a turnpin made from polypropylene is designed to withstand constant hammering.

 
         
   

Other characteristics include resistance to water damage and the ability to retain its shape.

 

These properties make polypropylene the ideal choice of material for a turnpin. 

 
         
     

Antique or vintage turnpins

 
  A vintage tool collector's dream - plumber's turnpins made from lignum vitae  

Wooden turnpins from the early twentieth century are available as part of a collector’s vintage tool kit.

 

These were often made from an exotic hardwood known as lignum vitae.

 

Lignum vitae is an ironwood – a common name for a tree which produces a particularly hard, dense wood –  and is three times as hard as oak.  

 
         
     

Wonkee Donkee says 'Latin meaning tree of life, Lignum vitae derives  its name from its many medicinal properties.  It was also traditionally one of the woods  used to make the British police truncheon. '

 
         

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