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<DIV><SPAN class=601093216-18032004>Hi All,</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=601093216-18032004>Andre' ... good to hear from you. I was in a
bit of a rush the other day when I mentioned Stu Chale and his brilliant
Monokote technique.</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=601093216-18032004>After a 600 sandpaper or better finish, he
would solidly tack down all the edges of the color patch he was working on,
except for an inch-wide gap at the last corner, or shortest edge. That's the
vitally important part. He would then take a heat gun, a heavy glove and a
rolled up chunk of soft cotton "T" shirt and chase the air out of the pocket,
"ironing down" the hot monokote with the cotton pad. He starts from the end
opposite the opening, and works very small areas, at a time. The idea is to get
the monokote shrunk and every bit as hot as if you'd put the iron on it for
several seconds, then quickly steam-roller it down with the pad. That way,
the glue really bonds everywhere, but doesn't have an ironed to the wood-grain
look. Stu was adamant that if you relied on the gasses from the adhesive
escaping thru the wood, then you would be disappointed.</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=601093216-18032004></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=601093216-18032004>I covered an LA-1 using his method in '88
and that airframe is still floating around. The wing is still drum tight, but
the stab, which was covered with my usual technique turned to the typical
prune.</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=601093216-18032004></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=601093216-18032004>I hope this helps someone,</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=601093216-18032004></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=601093216-18032004>Dean P.</SPAN></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader dir=ltr align=left><FONT
face=Tahoma>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B> Andre Bouchard
[mailto:akfai@gci.net]<BR><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, March 17, 2004 11:55
PM<BR><B>To:</B> discussion@nsrca.org<BR><B>Subject:</B> Re: Monokote help
required<BR><BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<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>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr
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></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>