Garolite and the Tufnol connection
TUFNOL is what we call the MAST SHEAVE material on our '60's A/C MORCs
Litlgull's looked BRAND NEW after 45 years in the top of the mast. No wear in the hole. Tufnol is made with phenolic resin impregnated paper..
The mast came with the redish brown sheave and some of the faded blocks on litlgull were also a red/tan Tufnol.
We can still find new Tufnol blocks on US websites, some say at a reasonable price.
The blocks are slim and utilitarian. The cheeks and the sheave are Tufnol hung on stainless strap and pins. No ball bearings, nothing fancy.
For anybody doing a full restoration these are THE authentic blocks.
Like them because after 45 neglected years they still work like new. Imco they still have a place on the boat.
TUFNOL is what the Euros call GAROLITE (and Micarta*). They are trade names for phenolic sheet. Assume the same Mil Spec.
The sheave and blocks on the boat may be one of two composites with the familiar redish or brownish telltale color:
C/CE Cotton Fabric Reinforced Phenolic. Linen L/LE Cotton Fabric Reinforced Phenolic. However:
Tufnol has been around since Bakelite - and Tufnot is/was traditionally made with cellulose or paper flour..... Modern formulations, who knows,
post consumer recycled material is a bet.
My info source comes from a website: Professional Plastics.
They are unusually forthright with descriptions of each of their 27 types of Phenolic sheet.
However weatherability and UV resistance are never mentioned.
Nor when they example what the material is used for machined sheaves and block cheeks aren't mentioned.
The Tufnol site in the UK also does not mention our familiar sheave and block use.
AFTER 50 YEARS???
Professional Plastics has this to say about Phenolic.
"Phenolic sheet is a hard, dense material made by applying heat and pressure to layers of paper or glass cloth impregnated with synthetic resin.
These layers of laminations are usually of cellulouse paper, cotton fabric, synthetic yarn fabric, glass fabrics or unwoven fabrics.
When heat and pressure are applied to the layers, a chemical reaction (polymerization) transforms the layers into a high pressure thermosetting industrial plastic."
Interesting that all websites describing phenolics use the same phrasing and description!
Thermoset composites wil not soften "appreciably" when heat is reapplied.
Like almost all plastics we are familiar with.
C/CE - natural (light tan to brown) and its companion L/LE a finer weave of cotton called linen
seem to be the Tufnol of the past in modern guise.
P. Plastics does NOT use the term Garolite in their phabulous generic profile of PHENOLIC.
However, they do sell the same sheet under the trade name Garolite.
McMasterCarr has 9 versions of Garolite including LE and CE. And also a paper grade Garolite XX that sounds like Tufnol.
G-10, which comes in a wide range of sheet thickness, is most used by boat refurbishers. It's extremely hard and impervious.
It can be cut with metal tools and shaped with carbide. It cannot delaminate. The fiber is glass and polymer is described as 'epoxy-grade', but no epoxy I'm familiar with - it's still phenolic or phenol-formaldehyde resin, which signals to me that it can be glued with epoxy to itself and other materials. And painted - search finds no mention of UV or weather damage if left exposed.
We have proof on our little ships that Tufnol performs equally well, altho it does not have the hardness and weight of bullet-proof glass-filled G-10.
TUFNOL BLOCKS:
Two sources: woodenboat.org and rwrope.com sell Tufnol blocks.
Neither vendor says anything about their longevity - probably because they don't know what the material is or its history.
Imco the woodenboat 'foundation' people should be more forthcoming.
It looks like they do have the better prices.
Unlike ash blocks, Tufnol blocks will require NO maintenance.
Scuttlebutt has it that Davey&Co import the Tufnol blocks from one manufacturer HYE Holland, and venders buy from D&C. The stainless is 304. Rope sizes in millimeters. Impeccable. Simple and logical blocks.
A nice person at the woodenboat foundation actually tested their Tufnol 12mm blocks using 1/2" rope for me. 12mm is too tight for 1/2" line.
DANG! 12mm is the 'reasonably priced' size. :(
Later EDIT Want 13mm to pass 1/2" line. Tufnol blocks (made in Holland, HYE) imported by Davie now has 14mm blocks. $$$
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*Bakalite is the name given to the first version of phenolic. The descriptions for modern sheet made under this rubric are the same as for all phenolic. The standard is MilSpec. Going Wikipedia you will discover that some of the language is EXACTLY word for word what everyone uses, including Profession Plastics. Like Biblcal imperatives the phrases and sentences are endlessly repeated as 'gospel' all over the planet Internet.
