ODOURLESS VARNISH

Evening Star, Issue 20958, 24 November 1931, Page 2

ODOURLESS VARNISH

A HEW PREPARATION Remarkable changes have taken place in constructional wark during tho past ton or fifteen years, and to these no' little lias been contributed by the synthetic rosins. Their use has enabled products to bo made lighter and stronger, and with a permanent finish, and in somo cases the electrical properties of tho compounds have been an added advantage. In tho early stages of development the use of tho resins was confined to relatively small pieces moulded under heat and pressure, but a laminating process has"been evolved by means of which largo panels can be made which find ready employment in tho building trades. This laminated stock has been used already in considerable amount in America for hotel panelling desk tops and wireless panels. Makers of refrigerators have been anxious to use it but have been hindered owing to the fact that however carefully it was made th.e laminated board always gave a faint taint to food which was placed in proximity with it. A perfectly odourless varnish, has been worked out, however, and makers' of the laminated board can now obtain it in large quantities. Boards are im-, pregnated in the usual way by dipping paper in the varnish and hanging up to drain off the excess. Heat treatment follows to such a point that the resin is advanced to such a stage that moulding can be caried out to best advantage. This heat treatment is usually performed at about 250 deg F., and the treated paper, when pressed under standard conditions, should have the resin so far advanced towards complete alteration chemically that less than 1 per cent, of it will squeeze out under the press. This new varnish appears to have solved the problem, and there will be available eventually, no doubt, in New Zealand ample supplies of .laminated board which can be used for any of the many purposes for which it is peculiarly suitable—in particular, in the making of furniture.