American Plastics' Display at State Fair 1936

American Plastics' Products Displayed at the State Fair

Colorful Display to be Exhibited by the Geneva Experiment Station Chemist

1936

 

A colorful display of casein plastics, showing the various stages in their production and some of the more important manufactured articles, will be exhibited at the State Fair in Syracuse next month by dairy chemists at the Experiment Station at Geneva.  Prominent in this display will be the products of the American Plastics Corporation, of this village [Bainbridge, Chenango Co., NY], which includes the rods and sheets from which the finished articles are made, and also a display of buttons and buckles manufactured here.

 

The Station scientists have been studying casein and its chemical nature for many years both from the standpoint of its importance as a major constituent of milk and its commercial uses.  The exhibit at the State Fair will emphasize the progress that has been made in developing new uses for this important by-product of the dairy industry.

 

Casein plastics are of particular interest just now when the plastics industry is growing by leaps and bounds and new patents are being issued almost daily.  Casein plastics were the first plastics made and were marketed in Europe under the name of "Galalith."  In spite of the recent development of other synthetic plastics, casein plastics are still going strong, but a more rapid method of manufacture would be welcomed.

 

The present method of manufacture is to prepare a dough of casein, water, and some plasticizer and after kneading in a heated cylinder press with a rotating screw, the hot doughy mass is extruded from the machine as a rod.  If sheets are desired, several rods are laid together in a form and pressed flat in a hydraulic press.  The sheets or rods are placed in frames and hardened in a tank of formalin for a period of several months depending on the thickness of the material.  If a piece becomes warped during the hardening, it is warmed and straightened in a press.  The hardened plastic takes a good finish on buffing and in this country large amounts are used in the ornamental buckle and button industry.