Urea-Formaldehyde; a short history
Tony Langford
The early plastics; cellulose nitrate, shellac, phenol-formaldehyde and cellulose
acetate all had some ability to take colours but they lacked much that was desired.
There was still room for a plastic that would colour more readily with a wider
range. The development of Beetle in England in 1926 provided just such a plastic.
Beetle is made by the action of formaldehyde on synthetic urea and was first known
as synthetic organic glass. It was transparent and easily moulded by compression
methods. The early forms of this plastic developed a tendency to crack after
moulding. This problem was overcome by adding a filler of a hydroscopic nature.
This filler took the form of bleached finely ground wood or woodflour..
Mouldings made from Beetle were soon well known as Beetleware and was particularly
common as very light dishes and ornaments available in many different colours.
In America, 1931 saw the announcement of Plaskon, a Urea-formaldehyde moulding
compound. The development of Plaskon came from the needs of the Toledo Scale
Company of Ohio, a manufacturer of commercial scales since 1901. The big problem
with the cast-iron grocery scale was that it was too heavy for the grocer to carry
and they complained that they were unable to rearrange their stores because they
couldn’t move the scales. Before 1923 the scale weighed in at seventy pounds.
In that year the scale was redesigned with a porcelain enamel finish and the
weight of the scale jumped to 163 pounds.
Hubert D. Bennett had the task of rejuvenating the Toledo Scale company and was
seeking a light weight durable coating for the metal scales to replace the
porcelain. Eventually the decision was made to make the entire scale from plastic.
Bakelite was tried as it was the only plastic strong enough for the job.
However Bakelite could only be had in Black or dark brown. Initially ten scales
were made and trials on the public began but shoppers refused to buy food weighed
by the black scales, they preferred the sanitary appearance of the white machines.
It was then that the new plastic of Urea-Formaldehyde was considered.
After resolving problems of water absorption and fading Plaskon was developed and
Bennett formed the Toledo Synthetic Products Company to manufacture goods using
this material.
In 1933 one of the designers, Van Doren produced a one-piece moulded case for the
Air-King radio. This was his first experience with such a large housing.
The housing was a foot high, nine inches wide and nearly eight inches deep and
taxed the manufacturing process but it was visually attracted and popular with
the consumer.
In 1935 the new plastic Toledo scale, the Sentinel was produced, weighing in
at a mere 55 pounds. Sales increased 300% in six months as grocers discarded
the cast-iron reminders of the Victorian age.
Tony Langford
London
Steve Kelsay
Pjarna53l3
plastics then me.How many times must I have to xplane this to guys like you!!!!
Besides you gave a very long history,not a short one.Stop misenformin the
public with silly fairy tails an go to the referanse section of a liberry to
git the reel story!!!! (what a #!$*)