Pilkington glass

Met. That is just the answer I was looking for. It was what I expected, I just had not encounted it so vividly and in such a fashion before.

Thanks.

Janie: essentially, the brain adapts to colour casts, so when you’re in a room illuminated by incandescent light you see white paper as white, and you also see the same piece of paper as being white under fluorescent light. That’s fine as long as everything you’re seeing has the same colour cast.

The glass was probably green-tinted, green being diametrically opposite to purple on the colour wheel. So your brain factors in that green colour cast. Then, when you look through the gap at something that doesn’t have that green cast, your brain still corrects for the cast even though it doesn’t need to, hence it appears purple.

Ski goggles that filter out blue light make things look rather yellow. Once you’ve worn them for a few minutes you get used to that, and then when you take them off everything looks very blue. It’s the same thing.

Is that technical enough? 🙂

UK glass manufacturer Pilkington has agreed to be bought by Japans Nippon Sheet Glass

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4754114.stm

Doesn’t look like Pilkington will be a British company for much longer.

Are there any techys out there who can explain to me why it was, on the Pilkington display at Farnborough six or so years ago, that once inside the large tinted-glass showroom, when one looked through the gap in the glass (i.e. not actually looking through glass at all) that the outside world appeared to have a purple tint? It was really very bizarre.

It was obviously some clever optical illusion, I would just like to see the technical explanation.

Tring.

I can remember cycling and then latterly driving past the big plastics company on the ‘old’ A41 at Tring.

On the way to Halton and those Mosquitoes. 🙂

A quick Google and I am sure the company is/was Cox Plastics.

Mark

Even today, Pilkington ‘K’ glass is used to make warbird screens!

Only if it’s an Oscar or Zero though with last weeks announcement….. :rolleyes:

A slight digression, Polish S/Ldr Wlodzimierz Miksa, 303 Sqn Battle of Britain pilot, who also flew BM597 with 315 Sqn and served at Chailey with 317 Sqn, married into the Pilkington family and became involved with the glass making business after the war.

Miksa died in 1999, however at Chailey two years ago his two sons and Grandson got the chance to look over and sit in BM597 prior to the show.

Some forum members of a certain age may remember his eldest son Florian who played with a 1970’s progressive rock bad called Curved Air. A band also famous for spawning Stewart Copeland of the Police.

More recently Florian has turned his hand to sculpture the attached is one of his designs, obviously influenced by his Fathers wartime career.

Many thanks. The Triplex link is interesting and potentially useful.

Pilkingtons & Triplex

Given my surname and interest in aviation I have been aware of Pilkington’s recent production of high strength windscreens for jet airliners B747 etc

(they once had a trade display at the Avalon Airshow where I made off with laypel badges and corporate pens 😉 and got the good oil on the “family” company)

Pilkingtons main business has been in glass in its various forms including safety or plate glass and Pilkingtons main claim to fame is development of float glass they exited aviation in 2003 with the sale of Pilkington Aerospace, and I am not aware of them playing a major development role in Plexiglass or perspex?

I am aware of Pilkington’s involvement with the Triplex company that produced laminated glass and later safety glass both used for automotive and later aircraft windscreens (the Mosquito FBVI flat screen is a laminated screen). TheTriplex plant also produced perspex items during the war but I am unsure that Pilkington’s or Triplex could claim development of that technology, it was probably more that existing glass manufacture plants could be used to produce clear plastic materials to a finished form.

Plastics, Perspex and Plexiglass are late 1930’s developments which boomed in use through WW2 Military manufacture, and so the strategy to use existing glass manufacturers to achieve rapid production would parallel the use of automotive factories to produce tanks or aircraft.

Triplex started as an independent company in the 1920’s but was slowly “acquired” by Pilkingtons (which started in the 1820’s) over a period of time until it become a subsiduary.

Triplex

” During the1939-45 war Triplex Safety Glass made plastics both at Willesden andKing’s Norton. Plastics manufacture continued at Willesden until 1962

During the 1939-45 war the Triplex (Northern) factory was usedfor munitions production. The Triplex Safety Glass factories continuedto make safety glass, mostly laminated for military vehicles and aircraftbut their main products in these years were Perspex domes for aircraft

Triplex now has four factories, at Willesden, King’s Norton, Ecclestonand Larkhall*. Toughened glass is made at all four factories, laminatedglass only at King’s Norton, apart from a small production of goggle lensesat Willesden. King’s Norton and Eccleston each account for about two-fifths of the company’s factory employees and Willesden for most of the rest;Larkhall is very small..”

G-ORDY, it is possible the “Tring” factory you mention is one of the “Triplex” factories above?

regards

Mark Pilkington
(and no I dont get any dividends!)

below is some google links of the development of aircraft plastics etc which we today take for granted.

http://www.rplastics.com/plexhistory.html

Brief History of Plastics – specifically Plexiglas acrylic sheet
Before going on to the next topic, we would like to briefly illuminate on the history of plastics and their introduction into the industrial and consumer society. As we mentioned, the definition of the word plastic is to form or model something. In this light you can understand that wood, clay, glass and vegetable fibers were the plastics of early man who shaped and baked these materials to his own needs. With the coming of the Industrial Revolution came man’s exploitation of natural resources and scientists in western civilization began to experiment with these resources and organic chemicals.
The first important date in our history books shows us that a compound called urea was discovered and isolated in the urine of mammals and other higher forms of animal life. This event took place in the year 1773, but it was not until 1828 that urea was synthetically produced and the foundation for phenol-formaldehyde plastics was laid. In 1843 an acrylic acid preparation was reported and in 1901 Dr. Otto Rohm published the results of his researches with acrylic resinoids. By 1909 the first patent for phenol- formaldehyde plastics was secured by Dr. Leo Baekeland. he found that phenol and formaldehyde when combined formed a resinous substance, a phenolic plastic which he called “Bakelite”. It was a plastic — it could be softened with heat and then molded into shape and set into final form by continued heating under pressure while in the mold. Baekeland’s discovery triggered the creative imagination of organic chemists and research began the world over more intensely than ever before.

Yes, in 1914, the founding company that became Ridout Plastics began selling those small numbers and letters made from cellulose plastic.

Acrylic resins were first prepared in this country in 1931 for industrial coatings and laminated glass binders. The better known derivative of methacrylic acid, polymethyl methacrylate, was not introduced until 1936 as a transparent sheet and in 1937 as a molding powder. Thus the beginning of the acrylic era and Plexiglas. Acrylic sheet played an important role in World War II as bullet resistant glazing in our warplanes. It was found to be light and very strong and could be easily formed to fit into the structural designs of the aircraft. To this day, the Plexiglas windows in those planes are still clear and free from yellowing; weatherability of Plexiglas is one of its most well known traits, something no other plastic glazing can match. Plexiglas soon found its way into homes and factories for safety glazing, electrical and chemical applications, skylights and windscreens and hundreds of other beneficial applications.

http://www.bookrags.com/sciences/sciencehistory/acrylic-plastic-woi.html

Acrylic Plastic

Acrylic resins are any thermoplastic polymer or copolymer of acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, or acrylonitrile.

In 1843 Ferdinand Redtenbacher (1809-1895) oxidized acrolein with aqueous silver oxide and isolated acrylic acid. Friedrich Beilstein (1838-1883) produced acrylic acid by distilling hydroacrylic acids in 1862. Research in the field continued with the efforts of Edward Frankland (1825-1899), Duppon, Schneider, Richard Erlenmeyer (1825-1909), Engelhorn, Carpary and Tollens and accelerated after French chemist Charles Moureu (1803-1929) discovered acrylonitrile in 1893. He demonstrated that it was a nitrile of acrylic acid.

During World War I acrylonitrile was put to work in the manufacture of a synthetic rubber. With the restoration of trade after the war, the supply of natural rubber increased and made the synthetic less profitable, so companies began researching other uses for acrylonitrile. The synthetic fiber industry was one of the first options investigated. Early developments in acrylonitrile fibers were hampered until appropriate solvents were discovered that allowed the fibers to be formed by wet or dry spinning. The relatively high melting temperatures made melt extrusion impractical. Finding a suitable dyeing method also delayed the debut of the fibers. In 1942, Du Pont introduced polyacrylonitrile fibers under the name Orlon, and large-scale Orlon production was underway by the early 1950s. The first use of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) copolymer in the manufacture of luggage occurred in 1948. In 1966, ABS was used for the first time on the exterior surfaces of helicopters.

Meanwhile, Otto Rohm had been studying methyl acrylate compounds, trying to create an elastomer. His research eventually led to patents on several synthetic drying oils. He spent the next 15 years searching for a substitute for methyl acrylate. Eventually he and Otto Haas discovered a new leather tanning process and founded the Rohm and Haas Company. In 1927 they attempted to prepare sheets of polymethyl acrylate by pressing the polymer between two sheets of glass. The new safety glass proved superior to the older variety, which used cellulose nitrate in the middle layer. In 1935, Rohm & Haas marketed another acrylic, polymethyl methacrylate (which had been discovered 60 years earlier), as Plexiglass. Plexiglass proved transparent, strong, and tough enough to be used in the cockpits of military aircraft. In 1940, Plexiglass was employed in the bomber noses of war planes, and three years later acrylic aircraft canapies were being produced. By 1946, acrylics had been introduced for dentures and for automobile tailight lenses. In 1974, acrylic sheets stiffened with reinforced plastic were used for the first time in all exterior body panels of an automobile. Today Plexiglas is manufactured in forms ranging from clear to opaque; it is nearly unbreakable and is used in place of glass in airplanes, automobiles, light fixtures, signs, and household appliances.

In 1937, Du Pont introduced its own polymethyl methacrylate product under the name Lucite, and in 1956 introduced Lucite acrylic lacquers. Like Plexiglass, Lucite may be machined in a variety of ways. Varieties range from transparent to opaque to colored. Clear Lucite has been used in place of glass in laboratory instruments, and cameras. Formed into a rod, Lucite can direct light; because of this it is used in medical applications. Lucite paints drip less than other paints, dry quickly, and rarely blister, even when used outdoors over bare wood. Lucite paints and coatings are used in a variety of industrial applications, as automotive and fabric finishes, and in lacquers and inks.

http://www.greatachievements.org/?id=3805

Over the millennia human beings have tinkered with substances to devise new and useful materials not ordinarily found in nature. But little prepared the world for the explosion in materials research that marked the 20th century. From automobiles to aircraft, sporting goods to skyscrapers, clothing (both everyday and super-protective) to computers and a host of electronic devices—all bear witness to the ingenuity of materials engineers.

1907 Bakelite created

Leo Baekeland, a Belgian immigrant to the United States, creates Bakelite, the first thermosetting plastic. An electrical insulator that is resistant to heat, water, and solvents, Bakelite is clear but can be dyed and machined.

1909 Precipitation hardening discovered

Alfred Wilm, then leading the Metallurgical Department at the German Center for Scientific Research near Berlin, discovers “precipitation hardening,” a phenomenon that is the basis for the creation of strong, lightweight aluminum alloys essential to aeronautics and other technologies in need of such materials. Many other materials are also strengthened by precipitation hardening.

1913 Stainless steel is rediscovered

Although created earlier in the century by a Frenchman and a German, stainless steel is rediscovered by Harry Brearley in Sheffield, England, and he is credited with popularizing it. Made of iron with about 13 percent chromium and a small portion of carbon, stainless steel does not rust.

1915 Pyrex

Corning research physicist Jesse Littleton cuts the bottom from a glass battery jar produced by Corning, takes it home, and asks his wife to bake a cake in it. The glass withstands the heat during the baking process, leading to the development of borosilicate glasses for kitchenware and later to a wide range of glass products marketed as Pyrex.

1925 18/8 austenitic grade steel adopted by chemical industry

A stainless steel containing 18 percent chromium, 8 percent nickel, and 0.2 percent carbon comes into use. Known as 18/8 austenitic grade, it is adopted by the chemical industry starting in 1929. By the late 1930s the material’s usefulness at high temperatures is recognized and it is used in the production of jet engines during World War II.

1930 Synthetic rubber developed

Wallace Carothers and a team at DuPont, building on work begun in Germany early in the century, make synthetic rubber. Called neoprene, the substance is more resistant than natural rubber to oil, gasoline, and ozone, and it becomes important as an adhesive and a sealant in industrial uses.

1930s Glass fibers become commercially viable

Engineers at the Owens Illinois Glass Company and Corning Glass Works develop several means to make glass fibers commercially viable. Composed of ingredients that constitute regular glass, the glass fibers produced in the 1930s are made into strands, twirled on a bobbin, and then spun into yarn. Combined with plastics, the material is called fiberglass and is used in automobiles, boat bodies, and fishing rods, and is also made into material suitable for home insulation.

1933 Polyethylene discovered

Polyethylene, a useful insulator, is discovered by accident by J. C. Swallow, M.W. Perrin, and Reginald Gibson in Britain. First used for coating telegraph cables, polyethylene is then developed into packaging and liners. Processes developed later render it into linear low-density polyethylene and low-density polyethylene.

1934 Nylon

Experimenting over 4 years to craft an engineered substitute for silk, Wallace Carothers and his assistant Julian Hill at DuPont ultimately discover a successful process with polyamides. They also learn that their polymer increases in strength and silkiness as it is stretched, thus also discovering the benefits of cold drawing. The new material, called nylon, is put to use in fabrics, ropes, and sutures and eventually also in toothbrushes, sails, carpeting, and more.

1936 Clear, strong plastic

The Rohm and Haas Company of Philadelphia presses polymethyl acrylate between two pieces of glass, thereby making a clear plastic sheet of the material. It is the forerunner of what in the United States is called Plexiglass (polyvinyl methacrylate). Far tougher than glass, it is used as a substitute for glass in automobiles, airplanes, signs, and homes.

1938 DuPont discovers Teflon

Annoyed one day that a tank presumably full of tetrafluoroethylene gas is empty, DuPont scientist Roy Plunkett investigates and discovers that the gas had polymerized on the sides of the tank vessel. Waxy and slippery, the coating is also highly resistant to acids, bases, heat, and solvents. At first Teflon is used only in the war effort, but it later becomes a key ingredient in the manufacture of cookware, rocket nose cones, heart pacemakers, space suits, and artificial limbs and joints.

1940s Nickel-based superalloys

Metallurgists develop nickel-based superalloys that are extremely resistant to high temperatures, pressure, centrifugal force, fatigue, and oxidation. The class of nickel-based superalloys with chromium, titanium, and aluminum makes the jet engine possible, and is eventually used in spacecraft as well as in ground-based power generators.

1940s Ceramic magnets

Scientists in the Netherlands develop ceramic magnets, known as ferrites, that are complex multiple oxides of iron, nickel, and other metals. Such magnets quickly become vital in all high-frequency communications, including the sound recording industry. Nickel-zinc-based ceramic magnets eventually become important as computer memory cores and in televisions and telecommunications equipment.

1945 Barium titanate developed

Scientists in Ohio, Russia, and Japan all develop barium titanate, a ceramic that develops an electrical charge when mechanically stressed (and vice versa). Such ceramics advance the technologies of sound recordings, sonar, and ultrasonics.

1946 Tupperware

As a chemist at DuPont in the 1930s, Earl Tupper develops a sturdy but pliable synthetic polymer he calls Poly T. By 1947 Tupper forms his own corporation and makes nesting Tupperware bowls along with companion airtight lids. Virtually breakproof, Tupperware begins replacing ceramics in kitchens nationwide.

1950s Silicones

Silicones, a family of chemically related substances whose molecules are made up of silicon-oxygen cores with carbon groups attached, become important as waterproofing sealants, lubricants, and surgical implants.

1952 Glass into fine-grained ceramics

Corning research chemist S. Donald Stookey discovers a heat treatment process for transforming glass objects into fine-grained ceramics. Further development of this new Pyroceram composition leads to the introduction of CorningWare in 1957.

1953 Dacron

DuPont opens a U.S. manufacturing plant to produce Dacron, a synthetic material first developed in Britain in 1941 as polyethylene terephthalate. Because it has a higher melting temperature than other synthetic fibers, Dacron revolutionizes the textiles industry.

1953 High-density polyethylene

Karl Zeigler develops a method for creating a high-density polyethylene molecule that can be manufactured at low temperatures and pressures but has a very high melting point. It is made into dishes, squeezable bottles, and soft plastic materials.

1954 Synthetic zeolites

Following work done in the late 1940s by Robert Milton and Donald Breck of the Linde Division of Union Carbide Corporation, the company markets two new families of synthetic zeolites (from the Greek for “boiling stone,” referring to the visible loss of water that occurs when zeolites are heated) as a new class of industrial materials for separation and purification of organic liquids and gases. As the key materials for “cracking”—that is, separating and reducing the large molecules in crude oil—they revolutionize the petroleum and petrochemical industries. Synthetic zeolites are also put to use in soil improvement, water purification, and radioactive waste treatment, and as a more environmentally friendly replacement in detergents for phosphates.

1954 Synthetic diamonds

Working at General Electric’s research laboratories, scientists use a high-pressure vessel to synthesize diamonds, converting a mixture of graphite and metal powder to minuscule diamonds. The process requires a temperature of 4,800°F and a pressure of 1.5 million pounds per square inch, but the tiny diamonds are invaluable as abrasives and cutting points.

1955 High molecular weight polypropylene developed

Building on the work of Karl Ziegler, Giullo Natta in Italy develops a high molecular weight polypropylene that has high tensile strength and is resistant to heat, ushering in an age of “designer” polymers. Polypropylene is put to use in films, automobile parts, carpeting, and medical tools.

1959 “Float” glass developed

British glassmakers Pilkington Brothers announce a revolutionary new process of glass manufacturing developed by engineer Alastair Pilkington. Called “float” glass, it combines the distortion-free qualities of ground and polished plate glass with the less expensive production method of sheet glass. Tough and shatter-resistant, float glass is used in windows for shops and skyscrapers, windshields for automobiles and jet aircraft, submarine periscopes, and eyeglass lenses.

There was a company in Tring which made perspex aircraft glazing. My father had served in the RAF during WW2 with a chap who – IIRC – became their Sales Director and I can vividly recall a weekend trip to see him and his family in the late 1950s.

He had a flat at the company HQ – a large country house – where there was a small museum with many models of aircraft that the company had been involved with. They also had the perspex nose of a Mosquito in the grounds – it was used as a giant goldfish bowl!

Can anybody tell me where this may have been – I can’t remember and Dad has passed on.

Thanks guys. So do they have a 1930s, 40s, 50s history of making such things, or is it just that they have the capacity to make repros today? Or perhaps one of the companies they’ve since absorbed made the original articles?

Pilkingtons

Well over 25 years ago they made me a Spitfire front armoured screen glass, presumably from the original drawings, and it fitted perfectly.

I was working closely with them on Auto Industry glazing at the time.

It helped. 😉

Mark

Even today, Pilkington ‘K’ glass is used to make warbird screens!

Bruce