I asked LI where they manufactured their Natural Talatech [1], and about the 5.6" and 6" molds [2], but not about the L & W dimensions of their molds.
The Cal King core that I just received today answers some questions while posing others. I ordered the core sliced into two 2.8" thick layers, and those layers cut in half "split king" fashion, for a total of 4 pieces each 36x84x2.6.
- There is only one mold number. This would seem to indicate that it's one core rather than two.
- There is only one label showing the results of the ILD tests taken at 9 different places on the core. This would also seem to indicate that it was manufactured as a single core. [4]
- There is one seam 6" from the end of each piece. This is a bit weird. I would expect 4" since a Cal King is 4" longer than a King or a Twin XL. A 78" long mold doesn't make any sense.
- The label showing the ILD test results shows a weight of 48.9. Since each slice weighs ~22 lbs according to my bathroom scale, indicating a density of ~4.4 lbs [3], this would seem to indicate that the core that was tested was 80x39 (Twin XL), which would indicate the core was made from two halves.
So, we have evidence that it was manufactured as a single core, and yet also evidence that it was made from two!
[1] Latex International has just one factory in the U.S. They have multiple fabrication facilities, but only one factory where latex is manufactured.
[2] The 5.6" molds were salvaged from the fire. All new molds purchases since then are 6" molds.
[3] 4.4 lb density is right in the ballpark for what I would expect from an ILD 38 Talalay latex.
[4] Either that or the ILD tests are done AFTER the two halves are joined together, which doesn't make any sense. You could conceivably have two nominally ILD 40 cores, one measuring 37.8 as mine does, and another 42. You wouldn't want to be joining those together.
