[~KevJ~]

hey guys im just wondering if anyone has a covering iron the are willing to lend me to cover my easy sport?

[autoimg]http://i402.photobucket.com/albums/pp103/fuzzymmyf/P8220018.jpg[/autoimg]

ive tried using a craft iron and also a clothes iron and im struggling to get temps right , i should probably buy one but im abit broke at the moment and trying to avoid spending the cash for a one off.. (tightarse )

[Drew]

Hey! it's fantastic to see another balsa builder!!!

I covered my PT20 wit a standard clothes Iron. I did do some experimenting and tacked the covering with "just warm enough" and then shrunk it with "a bit warmer".
I got a tip from one website to warm up the iron and then drop a small square of covering on it (sticky side up). If it slowly curls, it is :just warm enough". If it violently crinkles, it is too hot and if it discolours and quickly crinkles, it is "a bit warmer".

I turned my iron on 10-15minutes before I used it and left it to cycle the thermostat a while to get a to even heat. As soon as the temp didn't see "right" anymore, I stopped and let the iron re-settle.

I've since found that "just warm enough" and "a bit warmer" is about as accurate as you need to be. As long as you don't cross-over into "too hot!", the covering will cool back into a workable temp soon enough.

Although... a proper modelling iron has the portential to make the job far more accurate in those tight spots (I found careful pre-planning worked ok) and possibly have better temperature regulation.

Drew.

[~KevJ~]

hey thanks drew thats probably a good idea on the thermostat cycling.. perhaps i did not have the heat evenly spread over the entire surface of the iron.

[kizza42]

Darren has one I believe, might be worth asking him nicely

[~KevJ~]

ahh yes , thats a fine idea ...

[robair]

Mate, you can borrow mine if you want.
I am busily recovering my glider at the moment, even if you want to drop by my place for a few hours, have a few beers and do it there is all cool with me.
If you know how to reverse a motor shaft that could be some good "contra".


Cheers
Rob B

[~KevJ~]

hey rob that just might be a great offer, something about this covering procedure has me worried, although i will admit something really really stupid. dont laugh .... too hard..

when i was trying to test the other night i was thinking this is soooo hard how come i cant do this , im pretty good at everything else but alas i couldnt get it to stick and then when it did it burned..
ahem.. so i went back to read some comments on the product i bought from HK and it turns out i havent even removed the protective film that comes with the covering, i was heating it up so much that it would get to the point id burn everything , i tested again last night (this time removing the protective layer) and wouldnt you know it, it stuck straight away.. what a fool i am.. :roll:

[robair]

Gday Kev

That's pretty funny mate, however....

I'll let you in on a tip, it is really hard to stick down when you put it on backwards, ie with the protective film upwards.
How do I know this.................................?

Cheers
Rob B

[~KevJ~]

hey rob when are you expecting your covering :?: i would love to borrow the iron but if you are about to receive your covering i will just delay the covering of mine until you are finished your rebuild.
if you are not expecting your covering for awhile then i may be able to squeeze it in prior and could possibly borrow it off you on saturday.. it is up to you mate in saying that i have three planes building so as i say i can easily wait. id love to come around there but wifey will take that time out of my flying time :? and a way around is to work under the cover of darkness.. (when family are sleeping :idea: ) let me know anyway mate cheers..

[robair]

Gday Kev

Yep, fully understand the "Cover of Dark" modelling caper, my 16 month old daughter dictates this.

Will drop the iron to you an Saturday.

One thing you may wish to think about is to get some iron "socks", they are made of cotton/ calico material and are like ironing board covers in regards to the way they slip over the iron.
They stop colours being transferred from 1 piece of shrink to another and also stop it sticking.
Highly recommended.

Cheers
Rob B

[~KevJ~]

ok yep sounds good ill pick one up. and get ready to do this coverng this week.

[robair]

Gday Kev

Sorry to have missed you on the weekend, I am currently trying to find out when my shrink will arrive so I can get my covering done pronto and get the iron to you.

Cheers
Rob B

[paulj]

Hi Rob,
Kev has been crook this week and he doesn't appear to be around at the moment but thought I might
mention not to worry about the covering iron for him.
Chris has kindly loaned him his iron and I believe Kev is well underway on the covering job.

Paul

[~KevJ~]

Gday Kev

Sorry to have missed you on the weekend, I am currently trying to find out when my shrink will arrive so I can get my covering done pronto and get the iron to you.

Cheers
Rob B

hey thats cool rob , i mentioned i was going to borrow it off you down at the field to chris and he said he also had one so knowing you were about to start your own job i thought it would be good to use chris's who i believe didnt need it at the moment.. anyways its all good, i read abit about the process but i guess you learn alot more as you do it.. the elevator was abit dodgy (perhaps ill do it over) but the horizontal tail section i did better, i think im improving as i go and as dad said ive been quite sick up til today so im not gonna have it done for this weekend but ill be ripping into it over the weekend and trying for maiden week after..

its great to see some colour going onto her now ive really stuffed around finishing this build off but thats mostly due to buying a t28 and how good it was , now that im waiting for a replacement motor its all go on the easy sport. hope you guys like the colour scheme im mostly making it up as i go (its just a tri colour starburst kinda thing ,black,white,red..) 8-)

[robair]

Gday Kev
All good mate, I was worried that we were both held up re progress. Good to see you are powering along.

Cheers
Rob B