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President’s MessageSteve Hanson
In This IssuePresident’s MessagePage 1
Future Meeting SchedulePage 2
New Association MembersPage 2
Company Profi lesPage 3 & 4
Press ReleasesPage 5 & 6
Plastics, Chance and the Prepared MindPage 7 , 8 & 9
Gasket Fabricators Association Past Meeting LocationsPage 9
Cork - From Tree to GasketPages 10, 11, 13 & 14
Benchmarking ReportPage 15
TechTeamPage 15
Volume 30 Number 1 March 2011
Fresh ideas. Outperforming the market.
GFA members thrive on knowledge and fresh insight to
keep their companies moving forward.
I look at GFA membership as an investment and I look
forward to the meetings. GFA has helped me see possibilities
and challenged me to act.
The GFA benefi t that is most important to me is the
interaction with other business members. When I became a
GFA member, I had an immediate common bond with the
group. When I talk with them, I don’t have to give a lot of
background information, I just get right to the issues.
I enjoy developing relationships with other leaders who
understand what it takes to run a company; someone I can bounce ideas off of. GFA is a
forum for learning what other executives are fi nding works well. Over the years, I’ve been
able to take what I’ve learned and adapt it to situations that work for me.
It’s diffi cult to put a dollar value on the ideas I’ve gained from GFA over the
years, and the investment is well worth the rewards from the meetings. The information
I’ve gained from the contacts I’ve made and the exclusive program speakers has directly
infl uenced my business. The GFA system has been developed and refi ned by high-
performing business leaders over the last 30-plus years.
As a business executive, you have specifi c goals for both your company and your
own professional development. GFA programs provide you with insights, strategies and
leadership to achieve better results and fast-track your growing company.
Maximize Performance and Productivity for Your Team
What’s the crucial piece to getting the most out of your organization? Ensuring
that your staff is not only engaged with your mission, but aligned with your company’s
strategy. Now it’s easier to develop your organization using the GFA training and technical
resources on the website www.gasketfab.com. Please forward this Gasket Fabricator to your
team members at your company.
Take advantage of the program at the Spring Meeting at the PGA National Resort,
including a CEO Luncheon (open to senior offi cers of GFA member companies), a Fabricator
Forum (open to GFA Fabricator members), and a Roundtable Discussion Session (open to
all attendees). Take home key ideas that your customers will appreciate.
The Fall Meeting is September 20-22, 2011 at the Hyatt Regency Lost Pines, near
Austin, Texas, and the next Gasketing/Converting Expo is March 20-22, 2012 at the Hilton
Orlando.
Thank you to all the contributors of this Gasket Fabricator newsletter and the
website!
NewsletterThe Gasket Fabricator is published by the GFA and is distributed
to all members and prospective members.
President ............................................................................Steve Hanson
Vice President ..........................................................Terry S. Galanis, Jr.
Executive Director/Newsletter Editor...........................Peter Lance
Management Advisor.................................................Robert H. Ecker
Communications Committee Chair...........................David Soliday
Members are encouraged to contribute articles and items of
interest to the Gasket Fabricator. All contributions should
be addressed to: Executive Director, GFA, 994 Old Eagle School
Road, Suite 1019, Wayne, PA 19087-1866, Phone (610) 971-4850,
Fax (610) 971-4859, E-mail: info@gasketfab.com.
Articles appearing in this publication may not be reproduced
without written consent from the Association. Articles appearing
in the Gasket Fabricator are the views of the authors and
not necessarily those of the Association.
© Copyright 2011 Gasket Fabricators Association
NewGasket Fabricato publi
ers and prospect
........................
......................
ewsletter Ed
.....................
mmittee Ch
ouraged to co
e Gasket Fabr
ssed to: Executive D
Road, Suite 1019, Wayne, PA 1
Fax (610) 971-4859, E-mail: i
in the
not necessarily
© Copyright 2011 Gas
nson
Galanis, Jr.
...Peter Lance
.Robert H. Ecker
.........David Soliday
articles and items of
contributions shou
A, 994 Old Eagle Scho
Phone (610) 971-485
fab.com.
ay not be reproduced
n. Articles appearing
the authors and
ion
Page 2 March 2011
FabricatorsAM Rubber & Foam Gaskets Inc.
Brampton, ON
www.amrubber.ca
JBC Technologies, Inc.
North Ridgeville, OH
www.jbc-tech.com
The Seal Group @ Gatlin Corp.
Brookhaven, MS
www.gaskets-seals.com
GFA Future Meeting Schedule
March 29-31, 2011
PGA National Resort & Spa
Palm Beach, Florida
September 20-22, 2011
Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort & Spa
Austin, Texas
Gasketing/Converting Expo
March 20-22, 2012
Hilton Orlando
Orlando, Florida
New Association Members
Page 3 March 2011
Novagard Solutions is a leading-edge supplier of
custom engineered solutions for demanding applications.
Our emphasis on optimum performance and prompt turn-
around makes us the number one choice with leaders in the
electrical, industrial, automotive and construction fi elds.
One of Novagard’s most exciting specialties is our
foam line. We off er a comprehensive line of customized
PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride) Foam and Foam Tapes, providing
an economical solution to your most diffi cult sealing and
cushioning requirements. Our “made to order” commitment
extends through our entire production process, making sure
you get the material and lead time you require!
Based in Cleveland, Ohio since 1977, our
experienced staff of engineers, warehouse and plant
personnel, customer service and sales associates has one
goal - to make your experience with us the best in this
business.
For more information about Novagard Solutions,
please feel free to call us at (800) 380-0138 or visit our
website at www.novagard.com.
Company Profi les
Longwood Elastomers, Inc. is a custom
manufacturer of engineered rubber products with roots
dating back to the late 1800’s. Much of Longwood’s growth
has come through acquisitions over the past 20 years.
Based in Greensboro, North Carolina, the company has
manufacturing operations in Texas, Virginia and Spain and
employs more than 400 people.
Longwood serves a variety of markets including
automotive, oil & gas, consumer, plumbing, rail, heavy truck,
pump & valve, food, tire, marine and general industrial.
Longwood’s recent investment in a new R&D facility in
Brenham, Texas refl ects its commitment to advancing
polymer technologies in its core businesses, as well as
expanding material technologies into new markets. The
technical staff will continue to focus on material innovations
that add value to the supply chain and help solve customer
challenges in end-use applications.
In 2010, Longwood was recognized by Rubber
and Plastics News as one of the top 50 non-tire rubber
manufacturers in North America and was featured in
the RPN December issue for its commitment to R&D in
the rubber industry. Longwood’s quality systems are ISO
9001:2008, TSI16949 and ISO 14001 recognized, enabling
it to meet the changing demands of diverse industries and
customers.
Prior to 2003, Longwood operated a coated fabric
and sheet stock manufacturing operation in Fairfi eld, CT.
In 2009, the company’s Wytheville, VA facility announced
the re-commissioning of its Fairprene product line. The
operation is now manufacturing high quality elastomeric
sheet stock materials and will expand into rubber-coated
fabrics in 2011.
For more information contact Longwood
Elastomers at (336) 272-3710, or visit our website at
www.longwoodindustries.com.
Page 4 March 2011
The Seal Group at Gatlin Corp. is part of the Gatlin
Group located in Brookhaven, MS. The Gatlin Group started
out in the hydraulic service and repair business in 1985.
As the business grew, The Seal Group was added to the
mix of business units that today consists of seals, gaskets,
hydraulic/pneumatic parts, fi ttings & hoses, a feed mill and
contracted service work.
The Seal Group has grown to make up 36% of the
overall sales dollars that is made up of fi ve separate business
units. In April of 2009, we added gasket cutting equipment
to our mix and in July 2009, we added our website,
www.gasket-seals.com, to incorporate our focus on gaskets
and seals. The addition of a gasket fabrication department
has proven to be a wise move as we have experienced
double digit growth in 2010 and expect the same in 2011.
In addition to our gasket capabilities, we are
designated as a Seal Technology Center for Parker Seal
Group and an authorized distributor for DuPont Kalrez. We
are ISO 9001:2008 certifi ed. For more information about The
Seal Group at Gatlin Corp, contact us at 601-833-9475, or
visit our website at www.gasket-seals.com.
Manufacturer of sustainable cork, recycled rubber and cork/rubber
products for the following markets:
www.ecoreindustrial.com
AAAAAAAAAAAA ACRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRYLYLYLYLYLYLYLYLYLYLYLYLYLICICICICICICICICICICICICIC &&&&&&&&&&&& & RRRRRRRRRRRR RUBUBUBUBUBUBUBUBUBUBUBUBUBBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBERRRRRRRRRRRRR BABABABABABABABABABABABABASESESESESESESESESESESESESEDDDDDDDDDDDDDGGGGGGGGGGGG GASASASASASASASASASASASASASKEKEKEKEKEKEKEKEKEKEKEKEKETTTTTTTTTTTTT ATATATATATATATATATATATATATTATATATATATATATATATATATATACHCHCHCHCHCHCHCHCHCHCHCHCHMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMENTNTNTNTNTNTNTNTNTNTNTNTNT SSSSSSSSSSSS SOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLUTUTUTUTUTUTUTUTUTUTUTUTUTIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIONSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNS
800-343-1076www.venturetape.com
Industrial Rubber Sheeting, Extruded & Molded Products
Phone: (262) 786-5300 Fax: (262) 786-5503www.frenzelitsealing.com info@frenzelitsealing.com16550 West Ryerson Road New Berlin, WI 53151
Bringing German Engineered Materials to the North American MarketCompressed Non-Asbestos • Beater Addition • Modi�ed and Expanded PTFE
Mica • Expanded Graphites • Metal Reinforced Materials • Mill-Board
Page 5 March 2011
New Owner Takes Control of Monmouth Rubber & Plastics Corp.
Press Releases
The fi nal phase
of Monmouth
Rubber & Plastics
Corporation’s
succession plan
was completed
January 1 with John
M. Bonforte Jr.’s
assumption of the
roles of president
and COO of the
sponge rubber and plastic foam manufacturer.
Formerly Monmouth’s sales manager, Bonforte took
over the company’s day-to-day operations in early 2010. He
had begun his Monmouth career as a high school student,
working the second shift after school and during summer
breaks. Bonforte became the company’s sales manager in
2004, with responsibilities for sales, quality and customer
service.
“A carefully devised and well-executed succession
plan ensures the longevity of any company, “ Bonforte said.
“And longevity is a major key to corporate success.”
The change of ownership coincides with
Monmouth’s signifi cantly increasing its production capacity.
“Monmouth already is a leader in the
manufacturing of closed cell sponge rubber and
plastic foam. The increased capacity will further solidify
Monmouth’s leadership position in the market,” Bonforte
said.
“The other critical element in our continued success
is our technical support,” company founder John M. Bonforte
Sr. said. “As other closed cell sponge rubber and plastic foam
manufacturers shut down, a signifi cant need persists for the
kind of extensive technical expertise and knowledge that
only we have.”
“Our technical support is second to none - and
Kurt Schramer of MACtac Elected to PSTC’s Board of Directors
Kurt Schramer, strategic business development director
at MACtac® North America, has been elected to the board of
directors of The Pressure Sensitive Tape Council (PSTC). PSTC’s
nominating committee nominated Schramer based upon his
experience in the PSA tape industry.
“Kurt is widely recognized as one of the industry’s
leading technical executives,” said Glen Anderson, executive
vice president, Pressure Sensitive Tape Council. “His enthusiasm
and passion for the PSA tape industry is exceptional and PSTC
welcomes him to the board of directors,” added Anderson.
PSTC is a not-for-profi t trade association representing
North America’s pressure-sensitive tape manufacturers and
suppliers. PSTC’s 10-member board is comprised of CEOs and
senior management, elected by the PSTC membership. Schramer
will serve a three-year term and is responsible for upholding
the PSTC mission, directing and monitoring key strategies and
assigning resources for volunteer and staff to achieve PSTC goals.
PSTC has 17 active committees and task groups with more than
100 volunteers participating in producing multiple programs
that are globally recognized.
Schramer has more than 30 years experience serving
MACtac’s roll label, graphics and technical commercial areas
in a variety of managerial roles. In his current role, Schramer
is responsible for the growth of products within the specialty
commercial area and works with sales on technical, operational
and business assessments of new opportunities.
Schramer holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry
from Bradley University and a Master’s Degree in Business
Administration from John Carroll University.
available to anyone with a serious interest in our industry,” said
John Sr., who will remain with Monmouth as general manager
and technical director.
Learn more about Long Branch-based Monmouth
Rubber & Plastics by visiting its website at
http://www.rubber plastics.com.
Page 6 March 2011
FLEXcon, a leading manufacturer of pressure-
sensitive fi lms and adhesives, announced that it has entered
an agreement to acquire the business assets of the Graphics
Division of Arlon, Inc. of Santa Ana, California to form a
company to be named Arlon Graphics, LLC, a new, wholly-
owned subsidiary of FLEXcon. This strategic move will
strengthen FLEXcon’s market leadership position by expanding
its product portfolio in advertising and promotional products,
as well as extending its sales channel and global market
presence. The new Arlon Graphics, LLC will extend off ers
of employment to the executives and employees. When
the acquisition is complete, FLEXcon will have the option
to purchase Arlon Engineered Coated Products and Arlon
SignTech Ltd. of San Antonio, Texas, following necessary due
diligence.
Founded in 1958, the Graphics Division of Arlon, Inc.
has been a proven leader and manufacturer of a full line of
high-quality pressure-sensitive cast vinyl, fl exible substrates,
and print media fi lms for digital imaging, signage, vehicle
graphic and screen printing. The new Arlon Graphics, LLC
will continue its dedication to delivering high-quality broad
product off erings, specifi cally its cast product range. FLEXcon
will also benefi t from the company’s strategically-positioned
distribution centers across six continents, with sales in more
than 50 countries servicing customers worldwide.
“FLEXcon is excited to announce the formation of
Arlon Graphics, LLC. Flexcon is attracted to the Graphics
Division of Arlon, Inc. for its complementary product lines
and its skilled, dedicated workforce,” said Neil McDonough,
President and CEO, FLEXcon. “The synergies between the two
companies are ideal. Both manufacturers are dedicated to
delivering quality products and unbeatable customer service.
This move will further strengthen FLEXcon’s product range and
secures our status as a market leader.”
“The agreement to purchase the Graphics Division
of Arlon, Inc. is in response to changing market needs and
evolving customer demands,” said Michael Kelliher, Executive
ADCO Global Acquires EternaBond
ADCO Global, through its Michigan-based operating
subsidary ADCO Products, has acquired EternaBond®, based in
Mundelein, IL.
Eternabond® off ers high-performance sealants and
tapes for OEM and repair applications.
Eternabond® products are sold into a variety of
markets including commercial, institutional and residential
roofi ng; transportation, including RV, rail and trailer; solar panel
attachment; and general construction waterproofi ng and
repair.
Eternabond® products are available at 1,000
commercial distributors and retail locations in the US and
internationally.
“The acquisition of Eternabond® strengthens ADCO
Global’s leadership in adhesive, tape and sealant systems in
the global Roofi ng, Transportation and Construction markets.
Eternabond® is a well-established and respected brand
with exceptionally strong customer loyalty and preference.
Eternabond’s® rapid growth and adoption in markets currently
served by ADCO Global present a unique opportunity to
expand our off ering of advanced product and application
solutions to customers,” said John Knox, ADCO Global President
and CEO.
FLEXcon Signs Agreement to Purchase Graphic Division of Arlon, Inc.
Vice President, Sales and Marketing at FLEXcon. “Our
customers will benefi t from FLEXcon’s expanded product
off ering and our continued commitment to the highest quality
of customer service.”
FLEXcon is a family-owned, privately-held business
formed in 1956, with 1,200 employees throughout North
America and Europe. The company is recognized as an
innovator in coating, laminating, and fi nishing of wide-web
roll-to-roll polymeric materials, with expertise in graphics
and label applications as well as bonding, barrier, optical and
electronics applications. The manufacturer off ers industry-
leading capabilities to produce one-of-a-kind custom fi lm and
adhesive products as well as the largest selection of standard
off -the-shelf products.
Page 7 March 2011
clothing. Then, in 1839, the American Charles Goodyear
discovered that adding sulfur to rubber prevented it from
becoming brittle at low temperatures and liquid at high ones,
greatly increasing its utility. Rubber was soon indispensible
in a number of industrial applications. With the arrival of
the bicycle and the automobile, it became indispensible to
everyday life.
But there was one big problem regarding rubber.
Being native to the New World tropical rain forest, there
were only a very limited number of places in the world
where the trees could grow in commercial quantities on
plantations. Most of these areas were part of the British
Empire in Southeast Asia. So when World War I broke out,
Germany faced an immediate rubber crisis. It began a frantic
search for a synthetic substitute and, having the world’s most
sophisticated chemical industry, soon found one, made from
acetone.
As has so often happened in this century, research
funded because of the necessities of war quickly led to
commercially important developments in peacetime. As
knowledge of the chemistry of polymers grew quickly, thanks
to the search for synthetic rubber, some chemical companies
began to look for other uses for polymers. Du Pont, for
instance, wanted to fi nd a substitute for silk.
The growth of the Du Pont Company, too, was an
artifact of war. Founded in 1802, Du Pont manufactured
gunpowder and other munitions with success. But it was
only one of a number of companies in a cartel of powder
companies in the late nineteenth century. Then, in 1902,
exactly a century after its founding, the Du Pont Company
came under the control of three cousins, Alfred I. du Pont,
Thomas Coleman du Pont and, especially, Pierre S. du Pont.
The last transformed the fi rm into a thoroughly twentieth
century enterprise. He absorbed the other companies in the
cartel, reorganized the management of the company, and
began a development department that conducted scientifi c
research.
Blaise Pascal once said that “chance favors the
prepared mind.” That is equally true of the prepared
Plastics, Chance and the Prepared MindIn a Century of Technological Revolutions, This was Perhaps the Quietist
By John Steele Gordon It is one of the most famous one word lines in the
history of Hollywood: “Plastics.” But however intergenerationally
challenged that half-drunk friend of Dustin Hoff man’s parents
may have been in The Graduate, he was right about the
importance of the materials revolution in the twentieth century.
It has been a curiously silent revolution, however. When
we think of the scientifi c triumphs of this century, we think of
nuclear physics, medicine, space exploration and the computer.
But all these developments would have been much impeded, in
some cases impossible, without plastics. And yet plastic remains,
as often as not, a term of opprobrium.
Plastics are mostly synthetic materials that, because of
their chemical nature, can be cast, molded, drawn out, extruded
and otherwise manipulated into an affi nity of shapes. Before the
1930s, almost everything people saw or handled was made of
materials that had been around since ancient times: wood, stone,
metal and animal and plant fi bers.
The fi rst wholly synthetic substance with practical
applications was called Bakelite, after its inventor, Leo Hendrik
Baekeland. It was discovered after Baekeland was looking for
a substitute for shellac, and found another. Bakelite, initially
marketed in 1909 (the year the word plastic was fi rst used as
a noun), is made by mixing phenol with formaldehyde (do
not try this at home). Because, like most synthetic materials,
it is nonconductive, Bakelite was mostly used as an electrical
insulator. It’s most visible use was in telephones, most of which
were made of Bakelite until the 1950s.
Bakelite is what chemists call a polymer, a molecule
composed of a long string of smaller molecular units, called
monomers. Nature produces a host of polymers - cotton and silk,
for instance - and the most famous polymer of all of course is
DNA, the molecule of life.
Another natural polymer is rubber. Known since
antiquity in the Americas, where the rubber tree is indigenous,
rubber was fi rst put to practical, if prosaic, use by the great
eighteenth century chemist Joseph Priestley. He discovered that
it could be used to rub off pencil marks on a piece of paper, an
attribute that gave the substance its modern popular name.
The Scotsman Charles Macintosh used it to make waterproof Continued on Page 8.
Page 8 March 2011
on two derivative forms of it with the jaw breaking names
of vinyl acetylene and divinylacetylene. Acetylene, a gas at
room temperatures, had been discovered in the middle of the
nineteenth century and was used mostly in welding.
But Carothers discovered that by adding a chlorine
atom, he could produce a synthetic rubber that was actually
superior to natural rubber in some ways, especially in heat
resistance. The new rubber did not have much commercial
use as long as natural rubber was cheap and available. But
when the Japanese seized the Malaya rubber plantations
in 1941, Neoprene, as the substance was called, proved
indispensable to Allied victory.
Even more important was Carothers’s investigation
into silk. He thoroughly analyzed the natural substance and
then began looking for compounds that would duplicate it.
One day an assistant, Julian Hill, noticed that when he stuck
a glass stirring rod into a gooey mass at the bottom of a
beaker the researchers had been investigating, he could draw
out threads from it, the polymers forming spontaneously as
he pulled. When Carothers was absent one day, Hill and his
colleagues decided to see how far they could go with pulling
threads out of goo by having one man hold the beaker while
another ran down the hall with the glass rod. A very long and
very silk like thread was produced.
When Carothers returned to the lab, he was told
of the results of this “experiment,” and a major research
project was launched. Seven years, and twenty-seven million
dollars later, the lab had a thread that was tough, elastic, and
heat- and water-resistant and could be woven into fabric
inexpensively. Carothers walked into his boss’s offi ce and said,
“Here is your synthetic textile fabric.” It was Nylon.
On September 21, 1938, Du Pont opened a plant
in Seaford, New Jersey, to produce Nylon, and the product
was an instant commercial success. Nylon stockings proved
so superior to the old silk hose that there were near riots
at lingerie counters. The new fi ber was soon being used to
make everything from shower curtains to toothbrush bristles
to fi shing tackle. Nylon and the multitude of other synthetic
fi bers that followed were quickly built into a multibillion-
dollar industry.
Continued on Page 9.
Plastics, Chance and the Prepared MindContinued from Page 7
corporation, and Du Pont was ready when World War I erupted
in 1914. Expanding, well, explosively, the company supplied
the Allies with 40 percent of their munitions. The military
contracts it fulfi lled in the four years of that terrible confl ict
equaled 276 times its average annual armament business
before the war and 26 times its total average business.
In four years E. I. Du Pont de Nemours and Company
went from being a relatively modest enterprise to an
industrial giant. Not wanting to be wholly dependent on
a business in which governments inevitably would be the
dominant customers, Du Pont had been increasingly investing
in the chemical industry. In 1928 it hired Wallace Carothers
to head its new laboratory for organic chemistry at its
Experimental Station in Wilmington, Delaware.
Carothers was born in Iowa on April 27, 1896, the
son of a teacher. He studied at the Capital City Commercial
College, where his father taught, and his fi rst degree was
in accounting. But he soon gravitated to chemistry, and he
earned his Ph.D. at the University of Illinois in 1924, a year
after he had published his fi rst scientifi c paper. As a mark
of his promise, Carothers was off ered a position at Harvard
in 1926. But two years later, he gave up the prestige of that
appointment for the then much less prestigious work of a
corporate laboratory.
He did so because the new position suited him far
better. Intensely shy, Carothers loved research, but dreaded
the lectures that professors had to give. At the Du Pont
laboratory, he could immerse himself wholly in chemistry,
especially the chemistry of polymers and the technology of
turning them into new products.
The lab that Carothers headed was state-of-the-art,
not only in equipment but in personnel, for Du Pont spared
no expense to have the best of everything. The result, over
the next nine years, would be one of those incandescent
periods of human creativity that change the world. Carothers
and his team did much basic research into exactly how
polymers form and what is needed for that formation. They
developed a whole chemical vocabulary to describe the
processes involved. They worked on acetylene, especially
Page 9 March 2011
There is no doubt whatsoever that Wallace
Carothers would have won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
for his work on Nylon and Neoprene. But Nobels go only
to living recipients, and Carothers was dead. In the nine
years he headed the organic chemistry lab at Du Pont’s
Experimental Station, he and his colleagues turned out
more than fi fty scientifi c papers and got an equal number
of patents that are the foundation of modern polymer
chemistry. But Carothers had few outlets other than
work—mainly reading and listening to music—and the
strain of such sustained production fi nally proved too much.
Two days after his forty-fi rst birthday, on April 29, 1937, he
took cyanide in a Philadelphia hotel room and ended his life.
Genius can be a frightful burden.
Plastics, Chance and the Prepared MindContinued from Page 8
What you need, when you need it
800-549-9860www.arlonecp.com
Recently, a few members asked where the GFA has visited for
the semi-annual meetings. Below is a list of some of the
locations.
Date Location
September 2010 JW Marriott Resort & Spa,
Las Vegas, NV
March 2010 Hilton Orlando, Orlando, Florida
September 2009 Arizona Grand Resort, Phoenix, AZ
April 2009 Saddlebrook Resort, Tampa, FL
September 2008 Loews Ventana Canyon, Tucson, AZ
April 2008 Caribe Royale, Orlando, FL
October 2007 Portola Plaza Hotel, Monterey, CA
March 2007 Savannah Marriott Riverfront,
Savannah, GA
September 2006 Hyatt Grand Champions,
Palm Springs, CA
March 2006 Omni Orlando Resort at
ChampionsGate, Orlando, FL
September 2005 The Coeur d’ Alene Resort,
Coeur d’ Alene, ID
April 2005 Hyatt Regency on the River Walk,
San Antonio, TX
September 2004 Wild Dunes Resort, Isle of Palms, SC
April 2004 Marriott Grand Hotel, Point Clear, AL
October 2003 Hyatt Regency Tamaya,
San Ana Pueblo, NM
April 2003 Hilton Hotel, Marco Island, FL
September 2002 Rancho Bernardo Inn, San Diego, CA
April 2002 Kingsmill Resort, Williamsburg, VA
September 2001 The Coeur d’ Alene Resort,
Coeur d’ Alene, ID
March 2001 Westin Resort, Hilton Head, SC
October 2000 Hamilton Princess, Bermuda
March 2000 Westin’s Innisbrook Resort,
Innisbrook, FL
September 1999 Marriott’s Camelback Resort,
Scottsdale, AZ
Gasket Fabricators Association Past Meeting Locations
www.rogerscorp.com/hpf
Page 10 March 2011
Cork - From Tree to GasketBy Larry Pyle
HISTORY OF CORK:
The use of cork as a sealing material originated as early
as ancient times. Bottle stoppers have been found in Egyptian
tombs dating back thousands of years. Ancient Greeks used
cork to make fi shing net fl oats, bottle stoppers and sandals.
Romans used cork widely in a variety of ways including as life
jackets for mariners. Mediterranean cottage have been built
with cork roofs and fl oors, keeping their dwellings cool in the
summer and warm in the winter.
Glass bottles were invented in the fi fteenth century
but did not become commonplace until the seventeenth
century. During this period the wide use of cork as bottle
stoppers led to the deliberate cultivation of cork trees. Before
this the cork was harvested from wherever they might have
grown. The revolutionary Crown cap was invented in 1892. It
consisted of a metal lid lined with a thin disk of natural cork.
This cap with its cork seal was the standard of the bottling
industry for 80 years until replaced by plastic cap seals.
Until 1890, a great deal of the cork harvest was wasted.
In that year a German company developed a process for adding
clay binder to cork particles and producing sheets of composite
cork for use as insulation. Further binder development led to
the use of cork composites in Crown caps. Since then, other
techniques have been developed to produce cork compounds
with a variety of properties and uses.
SOURCE:
The raw material for cork products is harvested from
the cork oak tree (either the evergreen Quercus suber or the
deciduous Quercus occidentalis). The trees reach a height
of 40-60 feet and a trunk diameter of 6-10 feet. Virtually all
of the world’s commercial cork trees grow in the western
Mediterranean region of the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal’s cork
forests are the most productive, accounting for 30% of the
existing trees producing about half of the world’s harvested
cork.
Cork is composed of dead cells that accumulate on
the outer surface of the cork oak tree. The fi rst harvest occurs
when the tree is approximately 20 years old. The fi rst harvest is
generally of poor quality and can only be used for composite
products. Subsequent harvests
occur at 9 year intervals when
the cork layer has developed a
thickness of one to two inches.
The harvest from a young tree is
about 35 lbs. and from a mature
tree may be 500 lbs. The trees
have a productive life of about
150 years.
PROPERTIES:
Because of its honeycomb-like structure, cork consists
largely of empty space and consists of irregularly shaped and
spaced cells having and average of fourteen sides. There are in
excess of 600 million of these void cells per cubic inch giving
it a structure like many layers of Bubble Wrap although the
bubbles are microscopic in size. This produces a material with
low density and impervious to water makes it an ideal material
for life preservers and buoys. Similar structures are exhibited
by closed-cell sponges although their cells are macroscopic
in comparison. The large amount of air in the cork structure
makes it an eff ective insulation material for both temperature
and noise. Furthermore, it is fi re retardant. Flames will only
char the surface and no toxic fumes are produced. In addition
to being fl exible, cork is highly resilient. After being crushed
under extreme pressure, cork will regain about 90% of it
original size in 24 hours. Cork does not absorb moisture and is
resistant to rot and insects. Cork is also unaff ected by a variety
of common fl uids.
HARVESTING CORK FROM
TREES:
Using a specially designed
hatchet, the worker slices
through the cork layer
of the trunk of the tree,
Continued on Page 11.
Page 11 March 2011
Continued on Page 13.
taking great care not to cut into the living portion of the
trunk. Horizontal cuts are made at the base of the trunk
and just below the
lowest branches with
vertical cuts producing
panels or slabs of
cork. On some large
older trees, cork is also
stripped from the lower
branches.
The cork
panels are stacked
outdoors and left to cure for a period of time (a few weeks
to six months). During this curing process, the panels lose
approximately 20% of their moisture and have fl attened.
The panels are then treated with water and heat
and cleaned to remove dirt and water-soluble components
like tannin and to make the cork softer and more fl exible.
After cleaning, the panels are treated with boiling water and
fungicide. After the cleaning and treatment process, the
outer layer of poor-quality cork is removed. This amounts to
about 2% of the volume but 20% of the weight.
The panels are then stacked in a dark cellar and
allowed to dry and cure under controlled humidity for a
few weeks. They are then trimmed to a uniform shape and
sorted for quality. The fi nest quality material will be used
to make natural cork
product like wine
stoppers. Poorer
quality material will
be ground and use
to make composition
cork products.
CORK STOPPERS:
The primary use of cork was for the production
of cork wine stoppers although in recent years synthetic
materials have been introduced. The highest quality cork is
use for stoppers. In the process, slabs of cork of the desired
thickness are treated with steam to soften them. They are
then cut into strips corresponding to the length of the
bottle stoppers. Hollow
metal tubes punch out
the corks. (See diagram
below). Stoppers can be
made either straight or
tapered. The waste from
the stopper manufacture
will be ground into
cork granules for the
production of cork composites.
AGGLOMERATED CORK
PRODUCTS:
Since only the best
quality of virgin cork
is used for bottle
stoppers, the waste
from that process as
well as lower quality
cork is ground and reground in successive machines to
reduce the particle size. After washing and drying, the
particles are screened for uniform size.
Pure agglomerated cork is formed by packing
these uniform particles into a mold and under heat and
pressure, a solid block is created. The natural resins found in
the cork bind the particles together.
Compound agglomerated, or composition cork is
made by coating the granules with a thin layer of additional
adhesive agent or binder. Diff erent binders are chosen,
depending on the qualities desired in the ultimate product
(i.e. fl exibility, softness, wear resistance, fl uid compatibility).
Frequently used binders are: asphalt, rubber compounds,
gypsum, glue and plastic. The coated particles are pressed
into a mold and slowly heated (the temperature varies by
the type of binder or adhesive used). These blocks or billets
are removed from the molds, cooled and allowed to season.
From the rectangular blocks, the processing can
follow two paths:
Cork - From Tree to GasketContinued from Page 10
Page 12 March 2011
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Page 13 March 2011
Continued on Page 14.
Cork - From Tree to GasketContinued from Page 11
1. The blocks can be used as a whole and sliced into
thin uniform sheets.
2. If the desired end product is large with a large
amount of void in the center, the blocks can be sawed
into smaller blocks and
assembled into “ladder”
frames. Assembly of these
“ladders” is done using
contact adhesive and
pressure. The adhesive
must be compatible with
the fl uids encountered in
the end use of the gasket.
This method reduces the amount of scrap generated during
the gasket making process.
The picture below illustrates the type of machine used to
slice blocks (or frames)
into uniform thickness
sheets. The sheet size
is limited by the length
and width of the block.
In the picture the blocks
are on the bottom
and the sheets are
removed at the top. The actual slicing of the block is done
with a continuously sharpened knife blade. This blade is
continuous and the action is just like a band saw.
Continuous rolls of cork composite can be
produced by slicing a uniform thickness sheet from a hollow
cylindrical billet as seen in the picture below. Above, on the
mandrel, is the billet with the continuous sheet coming off
the machine at the bottom.
USES:
Cork has found many uses in a wide variety of
applications and industries due to the unique properties
inherent in the basic raw material: excellent sealing
properties, good compressibility and resilience, low density,
fl exibility, sound absorption, split resistance, etc. Among the
many products made from cork are fl ooring materials, shoe
insoles, roofi ng panels, gaskets for a multitude of uses, safety
helmets, bottle stoppers, cores of baseballs and golf balls.
Although numerous artifi cial materials have been developed
to substitute for cork in specifi c applications, no general
substitute has been developed for cork that can be used in
diverse applications.
GASKET APPLICATIONS:
Now that I have fairly well exhausted the
background of cork as a material and how it is made, let me
now turn to how it is used in gasketing.
Initially used in its natural form, pressed into blocks
and transformed into sheet goods. It was widely used for
any low to medium heat and pressure applications. On
engines it was used extensively for valve cover and other
“soft” gasket applications. Engines in the early days required
constant maintenance so that longevity of gaskets was not a
great concern. Cork worked just fi ne. The only real drawback
to natural cork was that when precut gaskets would sit on
a shelf for a long time before use, dimensional stability was
a problem (it shrank). The gasket would often have to be
soaked in water or oil prior to use. Flexibility could also be
problem as the material would crack if bent upon itself.
Cork-rubber was developed to overcome most
of the concerns regarding the use of pure cork as gaskets.
This combination improved fl exibility, sealing properties,
dimensional stability, and tensile strength. In some specifi c
applications (i.e. stamped metal covers) cork rubber
performs better that even pure rubber gaskets. To further
enhance the use of cork-rubber, it can be laminated to steel
to further improve the dimensional stability of the gasket,
as well as strengthen
and give rigidity to the
fi nished part. Below
is an example of this
technology which has
found widespread use.
Page 14
Today’s automotive engines utilize sophisticated
sealing systems based on molded rubber, plastics and
metal gaskets. The life expectancy and warranties on these
engines are often in excess of 100,000 miles and to achieve
this, the more complex and expensive sealing systems are
required.
Cork-rubber is still widely used in the aftermarket
for gasket applications on older engines and will
probably continue for years. In spite of this decline there
are a multitude of other uses for this versatile material
combination. Here are several examples:
AKNOWLEDGEMENT:
I want to thank Demitri Fardelos and Tim Vos of Amorim
Cork Composites for their assistance with pictures and the
review of this article.
Cork - From Tree to GasketContinued from Page 13
March 2011
If you have questions you would like to see answered in future issues, please send
them by email to lfptech@gmail.com
nd the
would like toes, please send@gmail.com
Page 15 March 2011
Below are the results from the Benchmarking Survey,
which was undertaken to give GFA members a thumbnail
sketch of how other members are fairing at this time.
We had 29 out of 61 Fabricator responses.
1. Most Recent Quarter Sales Compared to
Previous Quarter
UP DOWN SAME
24 2 3
83% 7% 10%
2. Current Quarter Sales Projection Compared
to Last Quarter
UP DOWN SAME
24 3 2
83% 10% 7%
We had 26 out of 68 Supplier responses.
1. Most Recent Quarter Sales Compared to
Previous Quarter
UP DOWN SAME
21 2 3
80% 8% 12%
2. Current Quarter Sales Projection Compared
to Last Quarter
UP DOWN SAME
21 2 3
80% 8% 12%
Benchmarking Report
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Since the service was launched in 2008 for GFA
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Using the TechTeam™ will save you time, money, and
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March 2011Page 16
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