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Fabric pros and cons.

bcone1381 said:
Get ready to start laughing at questions from a first timer.

-Do Non Poly Fiber covering systems have a manual as simple and easy to follow as Poly Fiber? (If not, then they should create one. If they had one that created the same message/enviroment for covering, then they would sell more product.)

-Is it possible for a retard like me to use an MEK based system without self inflicted harm, or shortening my life span with a shop that is +100' from any other living space? I mean can I learn to use it safely, and are the safety directives easy to follow rather than laborious, and if I follow the easy simple safety directions will I live without it effecting my lifespan?
Click to expand...

I live in my shop I spray in since 1997( well not really anymore, stay at girlfriends mostly now) set up a good fan and air source

Not gonna say I like mek get a good respirator and change cartridges occasionally I change after each plane




Sent from my iPhone using SuperCub.Org mobile app
 
I treat MEK like urethanes and use a fresh air ventilator. Minimize skin contact. For anything more than a small job I do the same with lacquer. I didn't used to and I knew better.
 
I’m still curious about the question I asked back early in this thread, but maybe no one knows an answer: What is the base fabric of Oratex and does it have or need UV protection? Light seems to go right through...
 
So I spent all day yesterday watching videos of Stewart’s system. It looks fairly strait forward except for all the things you have to do to keep it from getting contaminants. I’m not sure I can keep it that clean with another guy working in the shop on another plan.
if I build a small Inclosed room 10x20x8 covered with plastic and have some furnece filters at the intake will that be enough to keep contaminants off or do I need to rent another hanger for the covering and painting ?
 
ak49flyer said:
I’m still curious about the question I asked back early in this thread, but maybe no one knows an answer: What is the base fabric of Oratex and does it have or need UV protection? Light seems to go right through...
Click to expand...
The actual makeup of the fabric is "proprietary" so they don't publish the "recipe." It does have UV protection built in, and they've got test panels sitting out in the sun for years and years that are still good.

The lighter shades are somewhat translucent, and the darker shades are less so. Personally, I kind of like the look, but then I've been called "weird" before – with some rational justification...
 
Zook,
you can make a temporary enclosure in your work area.
build a rectangle - 25’ x10’ out of 2” pvc pipe, suspend it from the ceiling, attach visqueen plastic to create curtains all the way around. attach individual lengths of pvc pipe at the bottom so you can roll up the “walls” for loading airplane parts and when “booth” is not in use.
Cardboard “ram board” on the floor to protect floor.
Fit a cheap box fan at one end that vents outside. This will address larger contaminants,
get fancier with sealed top and filters if needed.
 
Zook said:
So I spent all day yesterday watching videos of Stewart’s system. It looks fairly strait forward except for all the things you have to do to keep it from getting contaminants. I’m not sure I can keep it that clean with another guy working in the shop on another plan.
if I build a small Inclosed room 10x20x8 covered with plastic and have some furnece filters at the intake will that be enough to keep contaminants off or do I need to rent another hanger for the covering and painting ?[/QUOTE

Often there is other projects going on in the shop when I'm covering. It's not a big deal as long as you follow some basic cleanliness. You'd be fine, most likely without that, but it sure wouldn't hurt.
John
Click to expand...
 
I use a Harbor Freight portable greenhouse for small painting projects and a HF portable carport with plastic sides and floor inside of the hanger or shop to control overspray and keep out dust. They are easily collapsed when not in use. I also use a box fan with a furnace filter taped to it for filtration.
 
Here is an Oratex Cub finished this summer in Ak.
20200801_161433.jpg
 

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Ok, I have a question. I've heard several times that Oratex is easy to repair.

The situation: I covered my gear with Oratex as an experiment (the rest of the plane is Stewarts). I got a stick or something that required a patch in the gear cover, perhaps an inch or so long, and I couldn't find anything on the Oratex site about repair technique. So - I blundered ahead on my own. I glued a patch of Oratex over the hole with Oratex glue, and shrunk it. But of course it pulled, leaving prominent glue marks at the edges. Unsightly, but fortunately I don't care all that much.

The question: What did I do probably do wrong, and what is the right way?
 
Zook said:
So I spent all day yesterday watching videos of Stewart’s system. It looks fairly strait forward except for all the things you have to do to keep it from getting contaminants. I’m not sure I can keep it that clean with another guy working in the shop on another plan.
if I build a small Inclosed room 10x20x8 covered with plastic and have some furnece filters at the intake will that be enough to keep contaminants off or do I need to rent another hanger for the covering and painting ?
Click to expand...

You are describing exactly what I use for a spray booth. I use parts from a Costco carport, $1.00 filters for a regular commercial spray booth, and a 6300 cfm fan from Lowes ($50). I used that booth to spray the Waco wing in Metallic Silver I posted earlier. My booth is 9' wide, 7-1/2' high and 16' long. I can expand it to 20' for my Cub wings when ready to paint. Pretty simple and the finish came out with a minimal amount of "trash" on the surface; all from my clothes I think. Most important part of the booth is lighting; 12 LED tubes in mine. I have angled the lights toward the middle of the booth since this picture; much better lighting.
Marty

IMG_6393.jpg IMG_1433.jpg IMG_1430.jpg
 

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Gordon Misch said:
Ok, I have a question. I've heard several times that Oratex is easy to repair.

The situation: I covered my gear with Oratex as an experiment (the rest of the plane is Stewarts). I got a stick or something that required a patch in the gear cover, perhaps an inch or so long, and I couldn't find anything on the Oratex site about repair technique. So - I blundered ahead on my own. I glued a patch of Oratex over the hole with Oratex glue, and shrunk it. But of course it pulled, leaving prominent glue marks at the edges. Unsightly, but fortunately I don't care all that much.

The question: What did I do probably do wrong, and what is the right way?
Click to expand...

Here are some possibilities:
Repair area not cleaned adequately
Back of patch contaminated. Use clean gloves and keep patch on clean work surfaces
Insufficient glue coverage
Insufficient time for glue to dry between layers
Insufficient time for glue to dry before ironing patch
Glue can be applied to thick thus not drying adequately. Thin layers only, it should dry basically clear with no white ridges

I suggest giving BAF a call and ordering the most current Tips and Tricks manual. If there is a charge, have them deduct what you pay from your OTX material order if you decide to use them. The manual has good photos of the tough areas you mentioned. Unless there have been changes, the pics they used are of a plane I helped cover and can personally attest to the results.
 
Gordon Misch said:
Ok, I have a question. I've heard several times that Oratex is easy to repair.

The situation: I covered my gear with Oratex as an experiment (the rest of the plane is Stewarts). I got a stick or something that required a patch in the gear cover, perhaps an inch or so long, and

The question: What did I do probably do wrong, and what is the right way?
Click to expand...

I wonder..... did you run the iron over the whole patch piece? If so, when it shrank (spelling) the glue line was sheared.

One needs to ONLY shrink the UNSUPPORTED middle of a patch to achieve taughtness. It works great!
 
Here are some possibilities:
Repair area not cleaned adequately
Back of patch contaminated. Use clean gloves and keep patch on clean work surfaces
Insufficient glue coverage
Insufficient time for glue to dry between layers
Insufficient time for glue to dry before ironing patch
Glue can be applied to thick thus not drying adequately. Thin layers only, it should dry basically clear with no white ridges
Click to expand...
Only glue on the patch, and not the base material? Multiple coats of glue?
 
I’ll speak to Polyfiber process.
Reinforceing patches, inspection cover “doilies” etc are cut from fabric that has been preshrunk.
If an iron is hot enough to shrink a patch it will also soften glue adhering the patch and allow the edges to creep at the glue line.
Preshrunk tapes: are harder to work with but are recommended on top surfaces that will be painted in dark colors.
This to prevent solar generated heat from later shrinking tapes and wrecking a paint job.
Im currently covering a Pitts that will have black scallops along front half of wings.
all topside areas that will be black will be done in preshrunk tapes.
 
Patching oratex you leave 1/4 inch of base layer without glue for shrinkage. Here are few pictures of a wing done this spring.DC237D2C-DC59-4397-9119-E186B5364E33.jpegCB40A9BB-534E-466E-B931-261B781C9346.jpeg321AC371-BC86-4F6C-B4E9-E8F5F2D7846A.jpeg0195BD9A-367A-4C93-A234-D159DEC45E51.jpg
 

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skywagon8a said:
the whole purpose of shrinking is to make the fabric taught. To do this, something has to be holding the edges tight. Shrinking first just makes a crumpled up mess.
The preshrunk tapes go over the top of previously shrunk fabric. It's supposed to make them lay down better, though i've never used them.
Click to expand...


he was patching a hole didnt you read his post?? OR ARE YOU JUST JOKING?
 
skywagon8a said:
The whole purpose of shrinking is to make the fabric taught. To do this, something has to be holding the edges tight. Shrinking first just makes a crumpled up mess.
The preshrunk tapes go over the top of previously shrunk fabric. It's supposed to make them lay down better, though I've never used them.
Click to expand...

tempdoug said:
he was patching a hole didnt you read his post?? OR ARE YOU JUST JOKING?
Click to expand...
You questioned two different things. Perhaps I answered them too close together?

This is the answer to patching the hole and to shrinking it first:

"The whole purpose of shrinking is to make the fabric taught. To do this, something has to be holding the edges tight. Shrinking first just makes a crumpled up mess."




This is about the preshrunk tapes:

"The preshrunk tapes go over the top of previously shrunk fabric. It's supposed to make them lay down better, though I've never used them."
 
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skywagon8a said:
You questioned two different things. Perhaps I answered them too close together?

This is the answer to patching the hole and to shrinking it first:

"The whole purpose of shrinking is to make the fabric taught. To do this, something has to be holding the edges tight. Shrinking first just makes a crumpled up mess."




This is about the preshrunk tapes:

"The preshrunk tapes go over the top of previously shrunk fabric. It's supposed to make them lay down better, though I've never used them."
Click to expand...

tick on patch is going to work without shrinking it down, really curious.
i know your at the top looking down on everyone, but go to page 3 here and tell me how a s https://betteraircraftfabric.com/flyer.pdf
 
Ok, walk me through your process.

If I have a hole in the fabric, the area immediately surrounding the hole is going to be loose. The standard practice is to glue/sew a patch over the hole. At this point the fabric is still loose and the patch is also loose as it's attached to that loose fabric. I run the iron over the patch to shrink it in order to tension the fabric again.

If I pre shrink the patch before attaching it to the fabric around the hole, how will I restore tension to the fabric?

Web
 
go to page 3 of the link, i posted and then you tell me. they say use there self adhesive repair sheet press it down and call it good, i cant find anywhere where it says it needs shrinking. what am i missing? and that hole looks about like something gordon was talking about. and my guess? that material has allready been shrunk, but not sure.
 
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and ive come up with one more question for discussion, beings im off track, why do all these fabric places offer preshrunk tapes, enlighten me. or are they a gimmick? or what are they used for.
 
I'd have to see the patch 'in action' to believe it's as simple as sticking it on over a hole. Maybe if the damage was limited to a certain diameter or if you had access to the backside of the damage. But without shrinking the patch I do not see how the tension is restored to the damaged section.

Have you applied these patches? How well did they stick and what was the tension like around the damaged area after application of the patch?

Web
 
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