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Old 07-15-2010 | 09:45 PM
  #217  
bullseye000
 
Joined: Jul 2002
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From: Batavia, IL
Default RE: Has MonoKote formulation been changed?

It looks like you ironed the covering directly to the wood. When I cover I only iron the covering down around the perimeter then shrink with a heat gun in the middle. I like the covering to float over the piece so the wood grain or any little dents, dings or boogers underneath the covering aren't visible. Wing tips are still ok but any large areas that are shrunk with out ironing directly into the wood just don't shrink enough to get the wrinkles out. If I remember correctly UC has the color built into the substrate and MK has a clear substrate with the color and adhesive applied to the clear substrate. I believe the substrate is what has changed. I have compared 2 samples of red and the old roll would crinkle like a cellophane candy wrapper while the new MK has a softer more rubbery feel to it. It does stretch more in one direction than another. I just completed a small 40 in plane and I had to continually pull the covering up and restick it until it was as tight and wrinkle free as I could get it. When it came time to shrink the MK would relax and large wrinkles would form. As it cooled the wrinkles seemed to go away. The old version the would just shrink and you could use the heat gun to get some of the big wrinkles out. I'm finding that harder to do with the latest rolls I've bought. White, black and red seem to be the worse for me. As I posted earlier I did a project for a local who dropped off the face of the earth. When I was finished the covering was nice and tight. Over the last 18 months large wrinkles have formed and I can't shrink them out with a heat gun. I guess I will go over the MK and iron into the wood. I also talked to Charlie Bauer who was the product manager at Top Flite for years. He said the formulation has changed and he has had some issues putting the stuff on. I did try letting the rolls de-gas before covering my last project. It seemed to go ok but I still would like to see the stuff stretch more consistently and more than it does now.