Canadian Work on Plastics and Laminated Woods: I.—Plastics in Engineering

NO technical development in all our industrial history has been as highly glamorized as the subject of plastics. It has shown an amazing degree of popular appeal for several reasons, including probably the idea of synthesis from “coal, air and water”, the beauty of colour and finish in decorative effects, and the fact that the objects of early manufacture were those of common use by the general public. Feature writers have regrctably enjoyed a general field‐day revelling in the subject, and unfortunately there has been a tendency towards certain misconceptions and exaggerations in such writings. Plastic aeroplanes now flying, plastic automobiles and plastic homes of the future have been described. Actually there is no such thing today as the plastic aeroplane. The plywood airframe has attained great importance owing to the advent of plastic glues, and what might be termed a “plywood plastic” aircraft is still actually a high‐grade plywood. The plastic automobile bodies envisaged today are secondary structures to be built over a metal framework. The post‐war homes will undoubtedly have dozens of items in which plastics will play a part, but primary load‐carrying structures are not among these components as yet. The plastic industry itself has recently become somewhat concerned about the dangers attendant on over‐glamorization and some remedial action has been studied.