On 05/03/2021 07:29 pm, Max Demian wrote:
On 05/03/2021 15:50, JNugent wrote:
On 05/03/2021 03:01 am, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

What the **** do you think Formica is? It started out as bakelite

Formica is closer to Paxolin, I'd say.

As its name would suggest, Formica was originally intended as a
substitute for mica. Does anyone know which of the manifold properties
of that useful mineral it was meant to emulate, as the plastic laminate
beloved of caravan owners has no resemblance that I can see?

Insulation, I would guess.

The only time I can ever dealing with mica (bought in for the purpose by
the firm) was as replacement insulation on a commutator on a large DC
motor in for rewind. I was only the apprentice and didn't have to do
anything with it. I was mainly doing the soldering of the coil tails.