Latest advancements in high-temperature tooling foam, core

General Plastics Manufacturing Co. (Tacoma, Wash., U.S.), provider and manufacturer of rigid and flexible polyurethane foam sheet stock, built-to-print composite assemblies and finished custom parts, is exhibiting the latest advancements to its Last-A-Foam high-temperature tooling board foam and composite core products.

Last-A-Foam tooling board provides aerospace, automotive, marine and other composites manufacturing companies with a high-performance, consistently uniform material that can withstand high temperatures and repeated curing cycles. Affordable and dimensionally stable, this rigid foam board is said to be ideal for prototype machining, high-temperature curing prepregs, vacuum forming, pattern-making and other limited-run tooling where traditional metal dies are cost-prohibitive.

Available in 3-50 lb densities, and available in custom sizes, this series is non-abrasive and can be machined with standard high-speed steel cutting tools into complex shapes. It can also be cut cleanly with water jets and traditional wood-carving tools. General Plastics also offers complete in-house production services that deliver tools machined to a customer’s final specifications.

Last-A-Foam core material is characterized by its high strength, low weight and consistent properties. Its distinctive formulations offer an alternative to traditional core materials, such as thermoplastic foam, honeycomb, wood and metal. General Plastics’ closed-cell, water-resistant core materials meet the requirements of numerous industries and complex applications such as FST/OSU-compliant foam core in aircraft interior sandwich panels, high strength-to-weight ratio core material for automotive load floors, dielectric material for radomes, buoyancy foam in subsea applications and impact-resistant core in hockey sticks.

General Plastics recently released a new composite core technical paper, which examines the factors to consider when choosing a core material for an application, which is available at the company’s website.