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<DIV>As Earl and I had in the past commiserated quite a bit about this issue, I
thought I would chime in.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>First, the disclaimer: I am not a Monokote expert, just a long time
sufferer.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Having used Monokote for 33+ years, I can say that it does not stick
as well as it once did. It was good product 10 years+ ago. I
was able to Monokote a fiberglass fuselage once and it looked pretty good
(Earl will testify). No way can I do that today as it does not stick
as well.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I can say from personal experience that Earl's recommendation
("micro-channels") works very well. It probably cuts in half the time
required to lay a piece of Monokote--less chasing of bubbles. There are
guys out there who can Monokote a glass ball. I admire them. Their
keys to success appear to be: a proper temperature iron(s) and patience,
patience and more patience. For the less patient folks (me), the sandpaper
trick is a good short-cut.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Aside: I got into a real problem once with air trapping on some wings
skinned with polyurethane glue. The expansion of the glue
resulted in almost zero permeability to air through the wood; I usually
find some permeability with epoxy skinned wings (at least with my
work). Peeled off a lot of Monokote on that one.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Ultracote: Great product. It is much easier to use, but I still like
the shine of Monokote next to the PPG.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Regards,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Andre'</DIV></DIV>
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style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=EHaury@aol.com href="mailto:EHaury@aol.com">EHaury@aol.com</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=discussion@nsrca.org
href="mailto:discussion@nsrca.org">discussion@nsrca.org</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, March 17, 2004 7:13
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Monokote help required</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>A disclaimer first - I don't claim to be an expert with Monokote! </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>That being said, my experience is that the "polished" super smooth wood
presents a surface akin to MK over MK, no avenues for gasses to escape and
bubbles. The fix is to take a new (sharp) piece of 320 wet/dry and make one
pass over wood span wise and one pass chord wise. The "micro-channels" cut by
the 320 will allow gasses to escape when you to use just sufficient heat to
activate the MK adhesive. The "grooves" cut by the sanding will not show
through the finish. Be sure and clean after sanding with a vacuum, compressed
air, and tack rag. I also find white to be less tolerant than other colors.
</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Earl</DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>