TIGHAR
Amelia Earhart Search Forum => Artifact Analysis => Topic started by: Rudolf Alfons De Meter on June 28, 2010, 05:36:12 AM
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Hello,
I have been following the news on your website since a couple of years now and I just read the report on the last Nikumaroro expedition and found it, of course, very interesting.
I read that the buttons found, on the back side, would show a dimple from an injection molding machine they were made on. This is quite unusual for a button, since injection-molded buttons are invariably cleaned up, have mold swarf removed from the edge and are polished.
So this makes me think of some carelessness in the manufacture of those buttons. Can this be a clue to who may have manufactured the buttons ? In what timeframe ?
Any clue about the material the buttons are made of ?
The hardness of a typical 1935 button ought to be in the range of 125 - 150 on the Rockwell "R" scale, depending on the material. If they would be softer, I might be inclined to think of a screw type injection molding machine, but these only exist since 1946. (Machines before 1946 were of the plunger type).
I am really intrigued here.
Regards,
Rudolf.