[Leica] Dental Gutta Percha * Vulcanite

[Dante A Stella <dante@umich.edu>]

GRIP(E) part one

Dental gutta percha is NOT vulcanite, or even close.  Gutta percha, as
available to dentists, is a pink-colored, toothpick-shaped cone of
natural rubber that goes into a root canal and stays by pressure
adhesion.  It is not black and not meltable.

If someone is using this material (made from tree sap) to fix M3
leatherette, it's not coming from a dental supply house and it's
colored.

How do I know?  I went to the dentist today (and no cavities in 27 years
is getting to be a record) and he showed me the cones and explained how
they work.

GRIP(E) part two (well, just an observation)

It seems odd to me that there is no organized aftermarket in precut grip
material for Leica Ms, given the huge number of them out there.  The
dies aren't that different for M3 and M2/4/6, and they can't be that
hard to cut out by the hundreds once you get the proper dimensions and
make a die.  Some ideas:

Hard rubber with diamond checks - this would be similar to Vulcanite in
feel but could be made with the more modern material gun grips come
from.  Purely functional, it would fit well within the M ethic.  I have
had good results on cameras with rubber grips - they don't slide around
in the hand and they're generally pretty tough.

Colored leathers - too much patching or leatherette replacement dogs M
sellers, but for M users, why not brown leather, red, green or black as
the user desires?  Why should something as expensive as an M be so hard
to customize?

And if Fargo sells such a close Vulcanite clone, why doesn't Leica (or
Fargo) sell it precut?  I understand Leica did so before.  It could be
done with the same dies they use to cut M6 leatherette to M3 size.