- The history of rotational molding: from ancient ceramics to plastics
- From Egyptian Origins to Modern Rotational Molding: A Secular Evolution
- Rotational molding in the 20th century: the industrial revolution with plastic
- How rotational molding has transformed the toy and industrial products industry
- From wax molding to industrial tanks: the evolution of the rotational process
- Rotational molding and the use of plastics: a turning point in the manufacturing industry
The history of rotational molding with different materials
The process of molding through the rotational process seems a recent conquest, born in conjunction with the explosion of the use of plastic after the Second World War.
In reality, even if with other materials, the construction of objects through the process of rotating the mold, can be traced back to the Egyptian, Greek and even Chinese period, whose artisans made ceramic objects for everyday and artistic use.
In fact, numerous discoveries of spherical or hemispherical ceramics have occurred that have made us reflect on how widespread this construction technique was in those historical eras.
Another documented example of the use of this production system dates back to around 1600 AD, a period in which Swiss chocolatiers used the rotational technique to create eggs of hollow chocolate, but above all with a uniform thickness.
However, we have to wait until 1855 when the English R. Peters introduced biaxial rotation molding for the industrial production of hollow casings, including the elements protection of artillery pieces.
The familiarity with which the producers approached the rotational injection system, allowed numerous application experiences on products such as wax, by F.A. Voelke in 1905, like plaster by the hand of R.J. Powell in the early 20s of the last century.
Starting from the 50s of the last century, with the advent of plastic materials, rotational molding was used, for the first time, in the production of heads dolls using PVC powder and using nickel-copper alloy molds.
It was really love at first sight for the industry, in fact rotational molding using plastic materials grew dramatically, creating new and bigger products in the sectors most disparate commercials.
If between 1950 and 1960 the application of this system mainly concerned toys or small accessories for the home, but in subsequent periods, with the construction of new and increasingly large molds, large industrial products were made, such as chemical containers, fertilizer and herbicide tanks, water and fuel tanks, car tanks, road barriers, boats, canoes, buoys and many other products.
Automatic translation. We apologize for any inaccuracies. Original article in Italian.
