Monokote help required

[Dean Pappas]

Hi All,
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.
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.
 
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.
 
I hope this helps someone,
 
Dean P.

-----Original Message-----
From: Andre Bouchard [mailto:akfai at gci.net]
Sent: Wednesday, March 17, 2004 11:55 PM
To: discussion at nsrca.org
Subject: Re: Monokote help required


As Earl and I had in the past commiserated quite a bit about this issue, I thought I would chime in.
 
First, the disclaimer: I am not a Monokote expert, just a long time sufferer.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
Ultracote: Great product.  It is much easier to use, but I still like the shine of Monokote next to the PPG.
 
Regards,
 
Andre'

----- Original Message ----- 
From: EHaury at aol.com 
To: discussion at nsrca.org 
Sent: Wednesday, March 17, 2004 7:13 AM
Subject: Re: Monokote help required

A disclaimer first - I don't claim to be an expert with Monokote! 
 
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. 
 
Earl

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