Armstrong World Industries expanded with a low-end bedroom furniture line. They bought Gilliam Furniture in 1986, bought and repurposed the former Stehle polyester factory in Carysbrook, Virginia later that year, bought Westchester Group in 1987, and Gordon's in 1988; as well as making a major expansion to Thomasville that year. In 1995, Thomasville Furniture was sold to Interco (which became Furniture Brands International), a leading furniture manufacturer, with such brands as Broyhill and Lane. Armstrong Holdings Inc. used to produce asbestos, either of two incombustible, chemical-resistant, fibrous mineral forms of impure magnesium silicate, used for fireproofing, electrical insulation, building materials, brake linings, and
Electrical insulation paper is made on small paper machines with slow speeds because the stock has to be drained very slowly. Transformer board is used mainly in oil-filled transformers where a solid insulating structure is needed. This is a pressboard up to 8 mm in thickness. The board is built up wet on forming cylinders and cut off when at the desired thickness. This makes a sheet with the size of the width and circumference of the drum. The wet sheets are hot- or cold-press dried and finished on separate machines. The use of paper board as electrical insulation paper started in the