Formica (plastic)
Encyclopedia
Composite material
Composite materials, often shortened to composites or called composition materials, are engineered or naturally occurring materials made from two or more constituent materials with significantly different physical or chemical properties which remain separate and distinct at the macroscopic or...
s manufactured by the Formica Corporation now based in Newcastle
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
, Tyne & Wear, a division of the New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
company Fletcher Building
Fletcher Building
Fletcher Building Limited is currently the largest listed company in New Zealand, having recently overtaken Telecom New Zealand, with a market capitalisation of over NZ$4.5 billion...
. In common use, the term refers to the company's classic product, a heat-resistant, wipe-clean, plastic laminate
Laminate
A laminate is a material that can be constructed by uniting two or more layers of material together. The process of creating a laminate is lamination, which in common parlance refers to the placing of something between layers of plastic and gluing them with heat and/or pressure, usually with an...
of paper
Paper
Paper is a thin material mainly used for writing upon, printing upon, drawing or for packaging. It is produced by pressing together moist fibers, typically cellulose pulp derived from wood, rags or grasses, and drying them into flexible sheets....
or fabric
Textile
A textile or cloth is a flexible woven material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by spinning raw fibres of wool, flax, cotton, or other material to produce long strands...
with melamine resin
Melamine resin
Melamine resin or melamine formaldehyde is a hard, thermosetting plastic material made from melamine and formaldehyde by polymerization. In its butylated form, it is dissolved in n-butanol and xylene. It is then used to cross-link with alkyd, epoxy, acrylic and polyester resins, used in surface...
.
Invention
Formica was invented in 1912 by Daniel J. O'Conor and Herbert A. Faber, then working at Westinghouse which filed for a patent on it. They originally conceived it as a substitute for micaMica
The mica group of sheet silicate minerals includes several closely related materials having highly perfect basal cleavage. All are monoclinic, with a tendency towards pseudohexagonal crystals, and are similar in chemical composition...
used as electrical insulation
Electrical insulation
thumb|250px|[[Coaxial Cable]] with dielectric insulator supporting a central coreThis article refers to electrical insulation. For insulation of heat, see Thermal insulation...
, made of wrapped woven fabric coated with Bakelite thermosetting resin, then slit lengthwise, flattened, and cured in a press. They left Westinghouse immediately afterwards.
The name Formica now refers primarily to the decorative product composed of several layers of kraft paper
Kraft paper
Kraft paper or kraft is paper or paperboard produced from chemical pulp produced in the kraft process.Pulp produced by the kraft process is stronger than that made by other pulping processes; acidic sulfite processes degrade cellulose more, leading to weaker fibers, and mechanical pulping...
impregnated with melamine thermosetting resin and topped with a decorative layer protected by melamine, then compressed and cured with heat to make a hard, durable surface.
Etymology of the name
The mineral micaMica
The mica group of sheet silicate minerals includes several closely related materials having highly perfect basal cleavage. All are monoclinic, with a tendency towards pseudohexagonal crystals, and are similar in chemical composition...
was commonly used at that time for electrical insulation. Because the new product acted as a substitute “for mica”, Faber coined the name “Formica” This was in fact a preexisting word, the Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
for a genus of ant
Formica
Formica is a genus of ants of the family Formicidae, commonly known as wood ants, mound ants, or field ants. Formica is the type genus of the Formicidae, and of the subfamily Formicinae...
insects, but that meaning did not diminish its value as a trademark.
History
O’Conor and Faber quit Westinghouse to start their own business, enlisting lawyer and banker John G. Tomlin as an investor. Tomlin put up $7,500 and became a silent partner in the fledgling business. The company began operations on 2 May 1913, and was immediately successful: by September, Formica Products Company had eighteen employees trying to keep up with the demand for electrical parts for Bell Electric Motor, Ideal Electric and Northwest Electric.After the General Bakelite company chose to sell resin for sheet insulation only to Westinghouse (allowing the Formica company other shapes with smaller markets), they switched to a similar competitive phenolic resin, Redmanol. After patent litigation, that company was later merged with General Bakelite and a third firm to form Bakelite Corporation in 1922.
An important application devised in the 1920’s was the use of phenolic-laminated fabric for gears; cut on conventional hobbing
Hobbing
Hobbing is a machining process for making gears, splines, and sprockets on a hobbing machine, which is a special type of milling machine. The teeth or splines are progressively cut into the workpiece by a series of cuts made by a cutting tool called a hob...
machines, the gears were tough and quiet, which was important for automotive timing gears. By 1932, Formica Insulation Company was producing 6,000 gear blanks a day for Chevrolet and other car makers.
In 1927, Formica Insulation Company obtained a patent on an opaque barrier sheet that allowed the use of rotogravure printing to make wood-grained or marble-surfaced laminate, the first of many innovations that were to associate the name "Formica" with decorative interior products.
In 1938 melamine
Melamine
Melamine is an organic base and a trimer of cyanamide, with a 1,3,5-triazine skeleton. Like cyanamide, it contains 66% nitrogen by mass and, if mixed with resins, has fire retardant properties due to its release of nitrogen gas when burned or charred, and has several other industrial uses....
thermosetting resin was developed by American Cyanamid Company. It resisted heat, abrasion and moisture better than phenolic or urea resins and could be used to make more colors; soon after, the Formica Corporation was buying the entire output of melamine from American Cyanamid.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
it manufactured "Pregwood" plastic-impregnated wooden aeroplane
Fixed-wing aircraft
A fixed-wing aircraft is an aircraft capable of flight using wings that generate lift due to the vehicle's forward airspeed. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinct from rotary-wing aircraft in which wings rotate about a fixed mast and ornithopters in which lift is generated by flapping wings.A powered...
propellers and bomb parts. Post-war, engineering uses declined, ceasing in 1970 in favor of decorative laminates.
The company was headquartered in Cincinnati Ohio for many years. After WWII, it entered the European market through a license agreement.
In 1956 American Cyanamid
American Cyanamid
American Cyanamid was a large, diversified, American chemical manufacturer, founded by Frank Washburn in 1907. It was the only United States firm manufacturing the polio vaccine of the Sabin type....
acquired the Formica Company. After a 1984 management buyout
Management buyout
A management buyout is a form of acquisition where a company's existing managers acquire a large part or all of the company.- Overview :Management buyouts are similar in all major legal aspects to any other acquisition of a company...
from American Cyanamid, Formica diversified with products such as solid surfacing, metal laminates
Fibre Metal Laminate
A Fibre Metal Laminate is one of a class of metallic materials consisting of a laminate of several thin metal layers bonded with layers of composite material...
and flooring materials.
Since 2007, it has been a subsidiary of the Fletcher Building
Fletcher Building
Fletcher Building Limited is currently the largest listed company in New Zealand, having recently overtaken Telecom New Zealand, with a market capitalisation of over NZ$4.5 billion...
group which purchased it from private equity investors Cerberus Capital Management
Cerberus Capital Management
Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. is one of the largest private equity investment firms in the United States. The firm is based in New York City, and run by -year-old financier Steve Feinberg. Former U.S...
, L.P. and Oaktree Capital Management
Oaktree Capital Management
Oaktree Capital Management, L.P. is a global investment management corporation with about US$82.4 billion of assets under management. Oaktree's mission is to provide management with a primary emphasis on risk control in a limited number of sophisticated investment specialties...
, LLC.
Relatives
- ArboriteArboriteArborite is a brand of composite material manufactured by the Arborite Company, founded in Canada in 1948 after the initial development of the product in 1942 by Howard Smith Paper Mills....
, a similar and also popular paper-melamine composite, was developed in CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
in the 1940s. - A line of laminates similar to Formica is made by Wilsonart International.
- Laminates similar to Formica, but with top surface made of multilaminar veneerMultilaminar veneerMultilaminar wood veneer uses plantation wood to reproduce decorative effects which are typical of quality wood species . This aids the preservation of biodiversity and complies with the principles of Sustainable forest management....
and sprayed with resin are called Alpikord, is made by Alpi SpA .