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 325 West 38th Street Suite 503
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| New York, NY 10018 |
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| USA |
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| Phone: 212 868-7207 |
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| Fax: 212 868-7208 |
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| sales@micasales.com |
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Established in 1951 in New York City | ||
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Wholesale and retail sales of mica and mica products, including mica splittings, block mica, mica flakes, phlogopite mica, mica gaskets, mica washers, and other mica products | ||
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Custom Orders: mica sheet cut to your precise product specifications please inquire | ||
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Wholesale and retail sales of vegetable tannin extracts, synthetic and natural industrial diamonds, gemstones, and other minerals and mineral products | ||
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Custom Orders of Any mineral and mineral product please inquire | ||
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Shop around and compare prices, then come to Paramount and save | ||
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We love our customers (and our customers love us - we've had some of the same customers for over thirty years) | ||
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Block Mica Block mica, also known as mica block, consists of sorted blocks of mica with an area of 1 sq. in. to 14 sq. in. or higher. The minimum thickness of block mica is 7 mils. Block mica is an important form of mica for industrial applications, including electrical applications. Block mica is available in natural form or split and cut into sizes and shapes specified by the customer. Mica blocks can be classified into many different categories, depending on the extent of staining and other factors. The average sheet thickness of mica blocks varies from 7 up to 16 mils or higher. All holes, cracks, and cross-grains are removed from mica blocks by hand. Block mica is classified based on the amount of visual inclusions; a lower degree of visual defects tends to increase the quality of mica blocks. |
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Mica Thins Mica thins consist of mica blocks that have been dressed to a thickness of 2 to 7 mils. Fabricated mica is made from these mica thins for the electrical and other industries. |
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Mica Films Mica films consist of mica blocks dressed to a thickness of 0.8 to 4 mils. Mica films are generally made from high-quality block mica. Mica condensor films, with a thickness usually less than 2 mils, are used in the manufacture of mica capacitors. |
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Mica Splittings Mica splittings consist of layers split from mica blocks. Mica splittings are suitable for the manufacture of built-up mica The thickness of ten sheets of mica splittings is not greater than 12 mils. Mica splittings are generally processed manually with sharp knives to the required thickness. Mica splittings have superior electrical qualities, such as high dielectric strength, and also have excellent mechanical strength. Mica splittings are used to make Micanite and related products. Mica splittings are classified into three forms: loose form mica splittings, book-form mica splittings, and wrapper mica splittings. Book-form mica splittings consists of individual books of mica from the same mica blocks or mica thins. Each book of book-form mica splittings can contain from four to ten sheets of mica. Loose mica splittings consist of mica splittings of irregular shape and size that are supplied loosely. Book-form splittings are dusted with mica powder, while loose form mica splittings may or may not be dusted. |
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Mica Flakes Mica flakes consist of high-quality mica scrap that is ground to a size of 2 to 30 mesh. A crushing and sieving process is used to make mica flakes. Many industries use mica flakes as additives and fillers. |
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Mica Powder Mica powder is available in a wide range of mesh sizes. Both wet-ground and dry-ground mica powder is available. As with mica flakes, mica powder is used as additives and fillers by many industries. |
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Fabricated Mica Products
We supply a wide range of fabricated mica products, including mica washers, mica cut gaskets, mica for liquid level indicators, cut mica disks, rolled mica tubes, mica condenser plates, mica tapes, mica segments, mica V-rings, mica cones, mica bushings, mica paper, flexible glass mica sheets, flexible and press micanite sheets, and other fabricated mica products. If you need a fabricated mica product that is not listed here, we'll get it for you! We will custom cut, punch, and machine mica to your exact drawings and specifications. please inquire |
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Mica, occurring as muscovite and phlogopite, is world-renowned for its high-temperature, electrical, mechanical, and optical properties. No other mineral has this combination of properties. Mica also has decorative and filler applications. Muscovite mica is a basic potassium aluminum silicate. Phlogopite mica is a basic potassium magnesium aluminum silicate. Phlogopite is usually darker than muscovite. Both phlogopite and muscovite occur as thin, tough, flexible, very elastic flakes. Phlogopite often contains star-like structures when viewed in thin sheets. Mica, both muscovite and phlogopite, is a mineral with many important industrial applications. |
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North America shows the remnants of the most ancient and extensive
mica mines in the world, although the original uses of mica in North America are still unknown. One of the earliest known uses of mica was in Ancient Rome, where mica was used as glitter on the floor of Circus Maximus. In the Middle Ages in the Muscovy province of Russia, mica was used as window panes and became known as Muscovy glass. Muscovite mica derives from this usage of Muscovy glass. Mica was also used as windows in the 1600's in Philadelphia, where glass was a luxury. Mica has been used as windows for iron stoves for two centuries due to its high melting point and transparent qualities. An entire industry of mining stove-quality mica was built up in the mid-1800's. Mica is still used as stove windows to this day. Other uses of mica in the 1800's included shades for open-flame lamps and peep-hole covers for furnaces. Coarsely ground mica was used during this period as a roofing material, and finely ground mica was used as a lubricant. Another early use of mica was in India, where mica was used for miniature paintings and as female adornments. |
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Heater mica plate and flexible mica plate, made with mica and a heat-
resistant adhesive, is commonly used as a heat shield in electric irons, hair dryers, and many other heating appliances due to its high heat reflection and heat resistance. In heater applications, electrical wire is wound around a mica backing. Mica is fire-proof and nonflammable and can resist temperatures of 600°C to 900°C, depending on the type of mica. Also, mica has a low heat conductivity and excellent thermal stability. Very few minerals have the outstanding thermal properties of mica. |
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Mica has many applications in the electrical industry due to its high
dielectric strength, uniform dielectric constant/capacitance stability, low power loss (high Q factor), and high electrical resistivity. The electrical properties of mica make it a unique mineral. Muscovite mica has greater dielectric strength than any other insulating material, surpassing all mica in dielectric strength, thermal endurance, and other properties. For this reason, muscovite mica is considered the best mica for electrical and electronics devices. Muscovite mica is not sensitive to atmospheric weathering and offers higher resistance to external chemical effects. Phologopite mica is softer than Muscovite mica and this makes it more suitable for manufacturing commutator micanite used in commutators of flush running devices. |
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One of the important uses of mica in the electrical industry is in the
construction of mica capacitors. The dielectric material used in the production of mica paper capacitors is reconstituted mica paper that is impregnated with a polymer resin. Capacitor grade reconstituted mica paper is made from natural muscovite mica; such mica paper does not contain binders, adhesives, foreign matter, or colorants. Mica paper consists of flexible, uniform layers of mica that are reformed into paper-like electrical insulating material. Dipped mica capacitors are made from fine ruby muscovite mica. which has some of the best physical properties of mica and results in a capacitor with high temperature reliability and high stability. These capacitors are made with a number of silvered mica films stacked together to form a capacitor section; the electrodes are silver, which is applied to the mica by a screening process. Dipped mica capacitors exhibit extreme temperature coefficient limits. Chip mica capacitors, made by a special lamination method which uses no metal foils, have radio-frequency and microwave applications. Mica has many other uses in the electrical industry, including radio tube mica spacers, thermostat insulators, mica fuse windows, transformer layer insulation, mica washers for transistor insulation and many other insulation applications. |
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In addition to its many uses in the electrical industry, mica has many
applications as additives and fillers in several other industries. Mica paint, made by adding powdered mica to paint formulations, is more durable and provides an attractive pearlescent finish, particularly to automobiles. Mica flakes are used in exterior paints to reduce running and enhance weatherability. The use of mica paint dates back to the late 1800's. Mica has many applications in the plastics industry. Mica and other minerals have low thermal expansion and have been used in formulating plastics to reduce thermal expansion. Toughness, heat resistance and other physical, thermal or electrical properties can be greatly enhanced by melt-compounding various functional fillers such as mica with thermoplastics. The use of inert fillers or extenders, including mica, to make certain plastics reduces production costs by decreasing the amount of plastics used. In addition, the use of mica as a plastics filler can increase flexural strength and reduce warpage and shrinkage. Mica is also used in plastic products as diverse as bowling balls. Certain types of rubber use mica as a filler. Powdered mica is added to certain greases to make them heavier and improve consistency. Mica is also used to enhance oil well drilling muds. |
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In addition, mica has decorative and cosmetics applications. Due to its
low toxicity and absence of taste, mica is used in the base formulation of certain cosmetics. Mica lamps, first made in the early 1900's, produce a warm, glowing translucence. Built-up mica plate has been used as a decorative product for many years; mica flakes combined with the contrasting colors and tones of binding resins create a unique lighting effect. The main use of such mica has been in lampshades and ceiling panels. In the paper industry, mica is used in making wall paper and coated paper. |
E-mail us at
sales@micasales.com
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