Making Phenolex
The Principle of Laminated Plastic Sheets
Industrial Laminated Plastics are hybrid materials made by combining various plastic resins with cotton cloth, glass cloth or paper as reinforcement. Examples of this type of product are circuit board material, and decorative laminates, such as those used on Kitchen Counters.
The plastic resin has compressive strength and electrical and heat resistance. The cloth or paper act as a reinforcing material, adding tensile and flexural strength much like the steel reinforcing bars in a concrete floor.
Step 1: Making the Pre-preg
To make these unique materials, rolls of cloth or paper reinforcing material are treated in a long machine which impregnates the reinforcing material with the plastic resin, and dries it under heat.
The resin-impregnated reinforcing material (called “pre-preg”) is cut into plies which are approximately the size of the finished sheets.
Step 2: Plies are assembled and pressed
The plies are stacked into “books” of varying thickness, depending on the ultimate thickness of the laminated sheets to be produced.
The books are placed between polished steel press plates, and placed in a press. The press compresses the plies of the “book” together under heat. The plastic resin impregnated in the plies flows together under this heat and pressure to create a solid sheet of plastic with plies of reinforcing material running through it.
Step 3: Finishing the Sheets
As a final step, the sheets are trimmed with a saw to cut off the ragged edges (called the “selvage edge”) and give a clean, square edge to the sheet.
Information about Phenolex Industrial Laminated Plastic Sheets and about the benefits and unique products that we offer is on this page.