FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Crown Plastics Drifts into Boating Market

Crown Plastics recently announced the introduction of a new product for the drift boat industry. The product, called Dura-Slick, utilizes Crown’s unique bonding capability and will be promoted as the ultimate drift boat bottom. 



For years, many in the drift boat industry have been trying to find an effective, affordable way to coat the bottom surfaces of the aluminum boats which can get hung up on rock or gravel bars in shallow streams. The aluminum does not release well and can make navigations more difficult for guides, specifically in the Pacific Northwest. Many have used UHMW in the past, but the mechanical fastening method is very labor intensive and weld washers and bolt heads can still pop loose creating a potential safety issue. In addition, thicknesses range between 1/4” and 1/2” thick adding a lot of extra weight to the boat, possibly as much as 100 pounds.

Glove-it is another popular product many use. This product is a graphite based coating which can be sprayed or painted on the bottom of the boat. Unfortunately, this product does not perform exceptionally well and it doesn’t hold up very well. For most guides, this requires the boats to be re-coated every year.

By using Crown’s innovative technology for bonding UHMW, a process was developed whereby the UHMW could be epoxied to the boat bottom using a simple vacuum bagging system. Where the typical method for installing sheet would require nearly a full day’s labor, the Dura-Slick boat bottom can be set up and under vacuum bag in roughly 1-1/2 hours. The boat bottom would remain in the vacuum bag for a minimum of 4 hours and the epoxy would need 24 hours to sufficiently cure. The thickness of the UHMW used in the Dura-Slick boat bottom is 3/32” or .093” thick. Since the entire surface of the material is fixed to the boat bottom, there is no warping or buckling of the material due to thermal expansion. Since the thickness of the Dura-Slick product is much thinner than standard sheet, Dura-Skick will only add 20 pounds to the overall weight of the boat. With the amount of labor significantly reduced, manufacturers can provide a long-lasting, durable    material installed for a very reasonable cost and still maintain all of the peak performance and navigating properties of the drift boat.

This system is currently being utilized by a number of drift boat manufacturers and many more will be coming on board by the end of this year. Crown is now looking to expand this product into the airboat markets in Florida, Louisiana and Alaska and will have product in the field being tested this Spring.

For information on where you can have Dura-Slick applied to your boat, please call us at 800-368-0238.

UHMW (ultra high molecular weight polyethylene) coatings, sheet, tape, and wear strips

UHMW (ultra high molecular weight polyethylene) could be characterized as one of the miracle polymers of the 20th century. The incredible durability and versatility of UHMW make it a favorite among engineers and designers in nearly every industry worldwide. The key is UHMW's incredibly long molecular chain, which give UHMW a host of exceptional attributes such as high abrasion resistance, low coefficient of friction and unparalleled impact resistance, even in cryogenic environments.

Due to UHMW’s large molecular chain, the molecular weight can range from a low of 3.1 million and can go as high as 10 million. While impact strength is maximized at about 3.5 - 4 million, abrasion resistance will continue to improve as the molecular weight increases. This makes it an ideal product for use in applications where wear and friction play a part. Industries such as material handling, food processing, automotive, railroad, agriculture, medical, printing and packaging all have numerous applications where UHMW coatings and materials can provide benefits and enhance efficiency and productivity.

UHMW’s high molecular weight prevents it from being produced by methods typical of lower grade polymers. UHMW does not possess a melt flow which limits its manufacturing process to compression molding. These processes include flat bed presses and ram extrusion, with thin films being produced by skiving ram extruded or compression molded billets.

Crown Plastics Company utilizes the world's only true process of continuous compression molding which heats, compresses and cools the UHMW directly to thickness in a continuous flow allowing for long continuous rolls with low stress and tight tolerance.

Crown Plastics has also mastered the art of surface treatment of UHMW thereby transforming UHMW into a material or coating that is highly bondable. UHMW can be supplied from Crown Plastics with a pressure sensitive adhesive system (peel and stick) or one side abraded for use with contact cements or epoxies. These options eliminate the need for mechanical fastening and open up unlimited application opportunities for UHMW. To discuss applications or ideas where bondable UHMW can be used please contact us.

Crown Plastics Shines
at the 2006 Olympics

Crown Plastics Company had a strong presence and successful showing in the 2006 Olympics held in Torino, Italy. From what we have been able to determine, Crown took the top 4 slots in both men’s and women’s half pipe competitions dominated by Burton Snowboard riders. Shaun White (The Flying Tomato) and Markuu Koski (Finland) took the gold and bronze riding Burton boards while Danny Kass took the silver riding Mervin Mfg.
On the women’s side, Hannah Teter and Kjersti Buaas (Norway) landed in the gold and bronze slots riding Burton and silver medalist Gretchen Bleiler took second on K2. 

Crown currently supplies all of the high base materials to Burton, K2 and Mervin Mfg., to name a few, and continues to develop new and innovative products to stay ahead of the competition. Wax filled bases reduce maintenance and improve glide properties and white backed materials eliminate a flood coating process on lighter colors which helps manufacturers reduce time and cost. Crown will be introducing finished profiled sidewall sticks this year which again will be a time and money saver for builders. Current ABS sidewall materials are being imported from Europe and are somewhat brittle, making them vulnerable to cracking. The UHMW sidewall materials will also provide better color matching as Pantone shades sometimes vary from ABS to UHMW.

The snowboard industry continues to be a big part of Crown’s overall business, but success hasn’t spoiled us. We must continue to stay on the cutting edge, developing new and better techniques, products and processes which will continue to make Crown Plastics a better company for the future.

Crown Plastics Co.
Achieves ISO Certification

Crown Plastics achieved ISO 9001:2000 certification on May 20, 2004. Our customers now can be even more confident that they are buying their UHMW products from a qualified manufacturer. This certification confirms Crown Plastics’ commitment to quality and service. Read more about our commitment to quality and service here.