Re: Smooth coatings on the secondary

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: "by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>" <FutureT-at-aol-dot-com>

In a message dated 4/24/01 1:45:16 PM Eastern Daylight Time, tesla-at-pupman-dot-com 
writes:

> Hello Everyone,
>  
>  I tried my luck at coating my small secondary yesterday, and feel that it 
> was
>  pretty successful. I am planning to put one more coat on, as it will be the
>  second put on with a paint brush, 10 including the coats done with spray 
can.
> 
>  Anyway, i was wondering if anyone could suggest how i might be able to 
take 
> the
>  sags out. I heard that many snad these away. What type of sand paper do you
>  use, as well as the technique. Any comments welcome. The secondary is 2.375
>  dia, 11.4 inches wound. The coating used was Polyeurathane. 
>  
>  Thanks
>  
>  Will McManus

Will,

As a general rule, the coating must be rather hard (very dry in other
words), or the coating will tear as you try to sand it.  General rule
is to sand it with a rough grit (perhaps 100 grit or 150 grit) first to
quickly remove the sags.  Some sandpapers can be used with water,
which helps to prevent clogging the sandpaper.  Next, finer and
finer sandpapers are used, until 600 grit is used.  Next, one must
buff the area with a buffing wheel and polishing compound to
restore the shine.  Overall, the process is a lot of work, so I
would just leave the sags in place.  You can be more careful
on your next secondary to avoid the sags.  The secondary can
be left rotating while drying to prevent sags.   BTW,  I just put
on 1 or 2 coats, I'm not too critical with such things.

Cheers,
John