manufactuers of printed circuit laminates are saving money and time by using silicone rubber pressure pads that assure uniform distribution of pressure across the entire surface of the laminate. a conventional p/c board consists of several sheets of epoxy impregnated glass fabric and a top sheet of conductive copper foil loaded into a press between backer and caul plate, this sandwich is heated to 350 $degree$ f while compressed at 250 psi. in order to compensate for surface irregularities in the steel plates and thus distribute the pressure evenly, a compressible material is placed between each backer plate and the caul plate. in the past, this compressible layer has consisted of from 7 to 10 plies of kraft paper or chip board. the paper has to be discarded after every production cycle and new sheets cut. this is not only costly and time consuming, but in mass production, the volume of paper required creates a serious storage and inventory problem. the silicone rubber pads eliminate these problems. the pads can be reused for as many as 400 production cycles, with 250 cycles being an average figure. from a cost standpoint the pads pay for themselves in about 100 cycles, and this doesn't take into account savings in labor, inventory and storage space