History
O’Conor and Faber quit Westinghouse to start their own business, enlisting lawyer and banker John G. Tomlin as an investor. Tomlin put up $7,500 and became a silent partner in the fledgling business. The company began operations on 2 May 1913, and was immediately successful: by September, Formica Products Company had eighteen employees trying to keep up with the demand for electrical parts for Bell Electric Motor, Ideal Electric and Northwest Electric.
After the General Bakelite company chose to sell resin for sheet insulation only to Westinghouse (allowing the Formica company other shapes with smaller markets), they switched to a similar competitive phenolic resin, Redmanol. After patent litigation, that company was later merged with General Bakelite and a third firm to form Bakelite Corporation in 1922.
An important application devised in the 1920s was the use of phenolic-laminated fabric for gears; cut on conventional hobbing machines, the gears were tough and quiet, which was important for automotive timing gears. By 1932, Formica Insulation Company was producing 6,000 gear blanks a day for Chevrolet and other car makers.
In 1927, Formica Insulation Company obtained a patent on an opaque barrier sheet that allowed the use of rotogravure printing to make wood-grained or marble-surfaced laminate, the first of many innovations that were to associate the name "Formica" with decorative interior products.
In 1938 melamine thermosetting resin was developed by American Cyanamid Company. It resisted heat, abrasion and moisture better than phenolic or urea resins and could be used to make more colors; soon after, the Formica Corporation was buying the entire output of melamine from American Cyanamid.
During World War II it manufactured "Pregwood" plastic-impregnated wooden aeroplane propellers and bomb parts. Post-war, engineering uses declined, ceasing in 1970 in favor of decorative laminates.
The company was headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, for many years. After WWII, it entered the European market through a license agreement.
Read more about this topic: Formica (plastic)
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