METALLIZED BODY WORK. INVENTION OF A NEW PROCESS OF ELECTRO -CHEMICAL METALLIZATION.
At an exhibition held in the Hotel Victoria, W.C.2, in January, there was introduced to the technical press of the country a striking new process of metallization, in which a very wide range of materials are treated in a metal bath.
The process is one of an electro-chemical nature not unlike electro-plating, the essential difference being that the applied metal is not a plating in the ordinary sense of the word, but a fusion of the particles composing the two materials.
The thickness of the impenetration of the metal may be regulated at will, and the resultant metallized material combines the qualities both of the applied metal and the material treated.
The application of the process which conjures visions of metal-sheathed buildings, furniture, china and, in fact, anything imaginable, is obviously unlimited, and the process is certain to create a tremendous stir in scientific as well as commercial circles.
The chief interest the process holds for motorists is its application to motor-body building. An exceptionally light wooden body, when metallized, will be rendered of exceptional strength, and. by the requisite process in the metallization may be made rust-proof and in various colour schemes. For lightness and strength, such as is needed in sports and racing bodies, the process would appear of extreme value. In addition, it is stated, the process is cheaper than electro-plating, and is therefore of commercial interest.
The inventors of the process are a Pole working in collaboration with W. I. Einstein—a relative of the Einstein of Relativity fame—and the invention is being sponsored by British Airships, Ltd., who wish to utilise it for envelope fabrics on their semi-rigid dirigibles.
