General Plastics launches ultrahigh-temperature tooling board

General Plastics Mfg. Co. (Tacoma, WA, US) expanded its line of high-temperature tooling board materials with the introduction of LAST-A-FOAM FR-4800, an autoclave-capable, high-density epoxy-urethane foam designed for master plug manufacturing, tool proofing, vacuum form tooling, pattern making, and short-run production tooling applications. LAST-A-FOAM FR-4800 offers a peak temperature of 480°F/249°C, a continuous use temperature of 400°F/204°C, a CTE of 13x10^-6 in/in-°F and a density of 48 lb/ft³. General Plastics says LAST-A-FOAM FR-4800 is a significant improvement over the company’s LAST-A-FOAM FR-4700 product and has been in development and testing for 18 months. It is designed to offer long life, good durability and toughness in autoclave cure cycles, with increased pull longevity compared to the FR-4700 product. The board’s CTE, the company adds, makes the FR-4800 product comparable to aluminum, and priced at <$350/ft³, it’s more cost effective than Invar and other tooling metals. LAST-A-FOAM FR-4800 is available now from General Plastics and will be formally introduced to the composites market in October at CAMX 2018 (Oct. 15-18, Dallas, TX, US).