Vulcanized fiber sheet is made from cotton paper or high purity wood cellulose paper. The layers of paper run through zinc chloride treatment and gelatinize into a homogeneous material of the desired thickness. The gelatinized sheets then go through puring, drying, calendering and finishing processes to get the final chemically pure vulcanized fiber sheets. Depending on the grades and the applications, vulcanized fiber sheet has a density range from 1.00 g/cm3 to 1.35 g/cm3. Its strength is similar to aluminum but density is only about half as much as aluminum. Vulcanized fiber sheet is an excellent industrial material because of its exceptional electrical, physical, mechanical, and chemical properties. It has good dielectric strength, arc resistance, high structural strength per unit weight, extreme toughness, excellent machinability, and resistance to oils, gasoline, and most solvents.
Vulcanized fiber sheet is easy to fabricate. The fabricating methods include cutting, sawing, punching, sanding, forming, drilling, planing, milling, broaching, engraving, and printing. Its major applications are: motor slot liners, motor slot wedges, motor end laminations, switch insulators, arc barriers, arc shields, insulating plates, washers, spacers, gaskets, abrasive disc backings, textile bobbins, spool heads, shuttle patterns, welding masks, furniture veneers, tags, trunks, and cases.
