President’s Message Steve Hanson · keep their companies moving forward. I look at GFA membership...

President’s MessageSteve Hanson

In This IssuePresident’s Message

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: [email protected].

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

........................

......................

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...Peter Lance

.Robert H. Ecker

.........David Soliday

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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

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.

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 [email protected] 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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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,


March 2011


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

March 2011

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March 2011



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.

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.


March 2011

If you have questions you would like to see answered in future issues, please send

them by email to [email protected]

nd the

would like toes, please [email protected]

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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Their mission is to quickly research and answer GFA

Members’ technical diecutting and diemaking questions in an

unbiased, confi dential, current, and direct manner.

Since the service was launched in 2008 for GFA

members, the Team has handled questions from members who

have, in turn, been able to assist not only their own businesses,

but also their customers who have asked questions of them.

Using the TechTeam™ will save you time, money, and

materials and can make you look like a hero to your customer

and company. Contacting the Team is easy. Submit a question,

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Members who have forgotten their user name and

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[email protected].

March 2011

3

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