Changes

In 1947, Pacific Laminates hired Herb Jenks away from NARMCO (Conolon). Presumably Jenks was hired to develop the manufacturing of tubular fiberglass products. By 1948, Pacific Laminates was making the Silaflex line of fiberglass fishing rods [1] (later called the Standard series). These were conventional, tubular fiberglass rod blanks. In the early 50s, Pacific Laminates developed a high pressure lamination technique. The method wrapped the resin impregnated cloth around a tapered steel mandrel and sealed the combination inside a pressurized bag during the heat curing step [2]. The result was a strong, smooth, thin walled blank that did not need sanding. Similar high pressure processes were the key to Phillipson's Eponite rods (1955) and Fenwick's Feralite rods (1959). The high pressure process was used to make the Medallion rod blanks, which were added to the product line in 1952 [2]. In the late 50s, the Perfexion and Magnum rods were added to the product line. The Magnum rods were claimed to have a "progressive taper" that originated with the steel mandrel. The mandrels did not have linear tapers, but instead were tapered in a gentle curve. The 1960 catalogs and price sheets continued to list Standard and Medallion rods along with the newer models.