Page 14 - EngineerIT September 2021

ELECTRONICS

No South African made it to the

moon but Pratley Putty did

Putty hasn’t just made its way around the world; this strong adhesive putty has travelled to the
moon. The latest accolade for the ubiquitous Pratley Putty is being featured in the book ‘Uitvinders,
Planmakers En Ander Slimkoppe Van Suid-Afrika’ by local author Engela Duvenage.

uring the 1960s, Pratley founder George Montague
(Monty) Pratley and his laboratory invented the world’s first
Depoxy putty. Initially, it was intended to be used internally
for insulating and affixing terminals to cast iron electrical junction
boxes. However, the product was subsequently introduced into
the local market as Pratley Plastic Putty, a name that ultimately
became Pratley Putty.
An agreement to manufacture the product under licence to a
company in the United States was concluded, which introduced
the product to the American Space Agency even before it could
enter production in the USA. When the space agency decided to
use the product aboard its Ranger space craft, the product was
supplied from South Africa via the American distributor. Hence it
became the only South African product to go to the moon.

Pratley Putty was also featured at a ‘Destination Moon’
exhibition at the Sci-Bono Discovery Centre in the historic Electric
Workshop in the cultural precinct of Newtown, Johannesburg.
This was in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11
moon landing on 20 July 2019. In honour of this occasion, the
South African Mint also featured Pratley Putty in its ‘South African
inventions’ series of silver commemorative collectible coins that
recognise some notable South African inventions.
Pratley produces over 800 products across its adhesives,
electrical and minerals divisions, in addition to over 350 patents
filed to date. Pratley actively exports to international markets as
diverse as the UK, the US, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, the
Middle East and the Far East. A growing export market for Pratley
Putty in particular is Africa, due to the popularity of Pratley’s
products for quick DIY automotive repair work.

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