Document jgvKBkN5YRzg9aZ4L6zoQdOQ9

)*** \ Mr* K.R. Goodwin AMERICA* IXITATTOHS Of UPRATED "LStPET* ~ Abb'-OIOo Sprayed "Limpet" Asbestos was first produced as a means of insulating steel railway ears at a tine when the Railways and builders were changing from wood to steel con* struction - that ist in the late 1920'a - and we covered the process by world patents* In the United States under Patents Nos. 1,990,534/5, S.t.A. was largely absorbed in the acoustical field, but during the early stages of the Isst war it was nearly all going into marine insulation* because of this, those of cur licensees who had established themselves in the acoustleal field were deprived of fibre, and ae meat of them were one*man businesses, they started looking out for alternatives in the way of fibre* Up to that time there were no other blown-on Insulation processes in the United states other than bprayoFlake, which uses ground-up paper waste for cheap building insulation* on the other hand, the blowing of rock wool in the dry state for filling, the usual type of American cavity wall construction, was iti common use, and it was not unnatural for our licensees to try and substitute asbestos fibre for "blowing wool" (as this particular grade of rock wool is eoomonly described) Attempts to spray this material through our standard machines were not successful, so that aoae of our early imitators did their best to find alternative sources of asbestos fibre by grinding up old brake lining and other waste, sometimes mixing this with short Canadian fibre, but as this produces dense coatings its efficiency is poor, though one uaer persisted in spraying this in preference to rock wool* Asericsn spray buaineas is mainly confined to low* elass acoustical coatings, and hae made little progress; the quality of the work is such that no reputable architects will aceapt it* Efforts to entar the building Insulation field have likewise been on a small scale because, following early experience, most of the U.3. Government Departments have excluded such forms of Insulation from their specifications, and it la becoming well known that rock wool is hot only ; . O' * O n i'inniM. xJ unsuitable for spraying, but haa stay serious faults, principally derived froa its lack of cohesion and its high "shot" or grit concent - noraally around 6c * which saxes it dangerous to use in the vicinity of machinery, including mechanical calculators, telephones, etc. One of cur largest war-time customers, the National Gypsum Coapany of Buffalo, N.I., are aaongst the oiggest producers of rock wool in the .States, and at a time when we were unable to provide them with sufficient fibre they attempted to make up a special spraying mixture known as "ibermaeouat", out have since largely discontinued this* Host of our imitators' activity has been confined to the region between New York and Philadelphia, where there is a demand for cheap acoustical treatment in cafeterias and other "dives", and the main concern is the "textured" ceiling in a dark colour that fits in with the usual dim concealed lighting effect. Several of our original imitators have attempted to profit from their knowledge of the business by letting out machines and selling "fibre" to those wno have been granted their "franchise" - usually small tradesmen with some knowledge of plastering. It is not surprising, therefore, that our American Imitators are on the lookout for new business in these fields wnere J.L.A. is popular, and in order to profit froa thoae who think they can get rich quick. This has been largely forced upon them because their American customers now realise that they can buy rock wool directly froa the manufactursrers, and as a result the number of small independent firms offering blown-on insulation is steadily increasing, to the detriment of the trade as a whole. One of the first of our imitators, Mr. J.L. leapthorns of Sprayed Insulation Ine., at Newark, K.J., professed to have been the father of this business, yet be has recently been adjudicated bankrupt for the seeond time. The best known firm applying rock wool mixtures la the New fork area is New York Art Crafts, wnose principal, Mr, R. Catheart, is an expert decorator , and was formerly one of our own applicators. Recently he has been operating the Asbestospray process, but is by no mesne satisfied with his lot as he finds it impossible to ester for reputable architects who require a relatively smooth clean finish, ; } ] j j > . ! f [ o ' i A `t * S' -"T.'.TgtfiJ f 25x1 C 2 J. wr. Asbestospray** American distributers realise that tbs composition of their fibre is largely rock wool with a snail proportion of cheap asbestos, aixed with clay to hold it togetner. 'ithln recent months the aaehine used to apply this mixture (which formerly consisted of a rotating drua under neath a hopper that rolled the fibre into the fan of the aachloe in a more or less unregulated amount), has been changed for a machine tnat has oeen used in other parts of the world, embodying one of the principles of the J-K. blower; that is, it has a pair cf rotating arms that agitate the fibre in a hopper which leacs to an Archimedean serew that discharges the fibre into the fan - which idea is aeain taken froa an American machine ior blowing plaster, and is obviously only suited for short crumbly and heavy fibre resembling sand* The gun is a coarse imitation of our own, being very much neavier and clumsier, and claims for high rates of coverage are based on the emdest form of application with no finish and a resulting cloud of dust and fibre throughout the neighbourhood of the operation* The usual selling price in the .Vew York area for thia type of work is around 27c. per sq.ft. t" thick. ThefCintroductlon of our process into the United States, now that the fibre situation is normal, has been made difficult owing to the bad name that such iaitatlona have built up for it in the raeantlae* It will be obvious from all thia that those who are now offering blown-on insulation in eoapstition with us have no experience or fundamental knowledge of the trade; their technical service is non-existent, and auch advertising as li put out by them can be shown to be based entirely on our own literature, except where they attempt to give reasons why. Their laboratory test reports are. questionable as the esse figures are ouoted for thermal conductivity irrespective of density or temperature range; their sound absorption figures are cased on Aseriean methods of testing that are muefa more flattering than N.p.L. figures, tnd tne fire-resistance figures, when based on American Underwriters* teats, are a measure of the design of the fireproof construction, and not of tbs material as such. * .