Novotext is a trade name for

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor pe ...

textile Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...

phenolic resin Phenol formaldehyde resins (PF) or phenolic resins (also infrequently called phenoplasts) are synthetic polymers obtained by the reaction of phenol or substituted phenol with formaldehyde. Used as the basis for Bakelite, PFs were the first commerc ...

, essentially cotton-reinforced Bakelite. It was often used in car engines for

gear wheel A gear is a rotating circular machine part having cut teeth or, in the case of a cogwheel or gearwheel, inserted teeth (called ''cogs''), which mesh with another (compatible) toothed part to transmit (convert) torque and speed. The basic p ...

s used to provide a direct drive to the camshaft as it is flexible and quiet-running. One of the first luxury cars to use this material for its camshaft drive gears was the Maybach Zeppelin of 1928. The material is known under various other names such as Turbax, Resitex, Celeron and Textolit.US patent 1812552 In bar form it is also known as Cartatextiel and Ferrozell and in sheet form as Harex, Tufnol and Micarta.

Tufnol

Tufnol is a

composite material A composite material (also called a composition material or shortened to composite, which is the common name) is a material which is produced from two or more constituent materials. These constituent materials have notably dissimilar chemical or ...

comprising phenolic resin and another material (paper, cotton fabric etc.). The two materials together complement each other's qualities. It is inherently water resistant and some grades are used as a lining in loaded bearings (e.g.

stave bearing A stave bearing is a simple journal bearing where a shaft rotates in a bearing housing. Rather than the usual arrangement where the fixed part of the bearing surrounds most of the circumference of the shaft in one or two pieces, a stave bearing uses ...

s) where lubricating oil use is not feasible. Rather, it can be lubricated with water. It has very low friction characteristics; thus it finds its use in dusty, chemically sensitive environments. The ability to work without oil makes it a preferable choice for design engineers. Unfortunately, the preparation is not as environmentally friendly.

Production

Production is achieved through the use of

chopped strand mat Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass clo ...

(CSM) technique.

Tufnol

Production

References

Further reading