LAST-A-FOAM® Foam Series Proven Alternative in Cost & Manufacturing

TACOMA, Wash., March 7, 2013 – General Plastics Manufacturing Company will participate in the 2013 AeroDef Manufacturing conference and exposition March 19-21 in Long Beach, California – the premier technology showcase for the aerospace and defense manufacturing industry. The company will feature its LAST-A-FOAM® high-temperature tooling boards and flame-retardant aerospace-grade foam boards at Booth #142 in the Long Beach Convention Center.

“This show is a great forum to introduce defense and aerospace manufacturing engineers to our advanced LAST-A-FOAM^® FR-4700 HT Tooling Board Series, which supports high-temperature curing prepregs used in composite tooling,” said General Plastics President Bruce Lind. “This tooling board is ideal for models, master plugs and molds, as well as for limited tooling runs where metal dies are cost-prohibitive.”

Growing interest in cost- and weight-saving alternative materials
The company’s composite core materials have been used for years in the aerospace industry in place of aluminum. With today’s engineers focused on innovative materials, efficient processes and cost-saving solutions, General Plastics offers proven alternatives to other costly or limiting materials for many manufacturing applications.

“We’re experiencing increasing demand for our low-weight, high-strength polyurethane foams to replace traditional core materials, such as thermoplastic foam, honeycomb and wood,” Lind explained.

At AeroDef Manufacturing, the company will feature the following flame-retardant, rigid closed-cell foams:

LAST-A-FOAM^® FR-4700 HT Tooling Board Series – This high-performance tooling board readily handles prepreg composite layup tooling for high-temperature applications up to 400º F. It is an easily machined, affordable choice for prototype machining, vacuum forming, pattern making and short tooling runs.

LAST-A-FOAM^® FR-6700 Aerospace-Grade Series – This flame-retardant rigid foam for aircraft composite core withstands process temperatures up to 250ºF. It is an excellent choice for models and design prototypes, vacuum-form dies and mold patterns, and honeycomb edge closeout for aircraft interior sandwich panels.

LAST-A-FOAM^® FR-3700 Precision-Core Series – Tougher and less friable than the FR-6700, this flame-retardant, aerospace-grade (BMS 8-133-qualified) foam enables cutting of crisper edges. This quality makes it well-suited to machining complex shapes for composite cores.

LAST-A-FOAM^® FR-4300 Thermoformable Board Series – This flame-retardant foam series is ideal for composite panel cores and other structures where compound-curved surfaces or other details can be made with low-cost heat-forming methods.

General Plastics introduces new composite core sample kits
AeroDef attendees will also have the opportunity to examine and order two new composite core sample kits to get a true feel for General Plastics’ versatile foam materials. Sample kits are now available for the LAST-A-FOAM^® FR-6700 Aerospace-Grade Series and LAST-A-FOAM^® FR-4300 Thermoformable Board Series.

“After serving aerospace and defense manufacturers for 70-plus years, we clearly understand their exacting standards and expectations of novel solutions to propel them ahead in a competitive global economy,” Lind said. “General Plastics customers also know they can depend on us for fast turnaround and scalability to meet the demands of OEM production.”