I probably ought to start a new thread, since I've decided to forgo the 'silk & dope' and have gone over to the 'Stits & Dope' approach! I ordered 6 yards of Stits covering and the Poly-tak to apply it from F&M (thanks Chip!), which arrived yesterday. After a thorough search through Wally world, Menards, and a couple of other paint and hardware stores, I finally managed to find a quart of MEK, which is needed to thin the Poly-tak adhesive for the covering. I started this afternoon (yeah, I took off from work a bit 'early') by covering one of the elevators, just to see how things would go. The instructions available on-line, and packaged with the materials, spell things out very well. I thinned a small amount of Poly-tak with a brushful or two of MEK, just so it was brushable. Brush about 8" along the edge of the frame to be covered, and apply the covering, working the poly-tak up through the weave. You've got to work in small increments, because the adhesive dries pretty quickly. I trusted the directions, and didn't have to pull the covering super tight, just basically smoothed it out. Once I got the top and bottom of the elevator covered, I got out the trust covering iron, checked the temp with an infra-red meter just to verify a 250d setting, and shrank up the covering. Nice! so far so good. After debating about what to do next, I decided to give Chip a call at F&M just to make sure that it was ok to use the Brodak Butyrate that I had already purchased to seal and finish the Stits product. He gave me the go ahead, saying that if you start with a specific product, to stay with it. So now I've got a direction to go. Went around the edges with a rag wet down with MEK, just to get some of the excess Poly-tak off of the cloth, but not enough to pull it loose. Then I put on the first coat of brodak clear, thinned about 40% dope to 60% thinner, and applied it to the covering. Well, so far, things are looking much better than the previous result. No sagging, just a nice, taught covering! I've still got a little bit of sanding that I need to do before I get much more of the covering on, but I'll be taking more pics and posting them.
If anyone has any doubts about the Stits system, i'd like to squish 'em like a bug right now! This stuff is nice! I compared the weight to the silk I had purchased, and while the Stits may be slightly (very slightly) heavier than the silk, I sure can't tell. If I can get access to a precision scale, I'll weigh a yard of silk versus a yard of Stits, just for hoots and giggles, and let everyone know. I'm thinking that in the end, the Stits may even turn out to be a bit lighter, since not as many coats of clear will be needed to get it to shrink tight, just enough to fill the weave.
Anyways, here's some pics of my results so far...
