stunthanger.com

Building Tips and technical articles. => ARF'S => Topic started by: Bootlegger on November 19, 2016, 08:26:55 AM

Title: Mono coat ramoval
Post by: Bootlegger on November 19, 2016, 08:26:55 AM

  What is the best, safest way to remove mono coat from the wing to get the best wood to wood joint?
  I am not crazy about cutting the coat as the balsa is only 1/16" thick, thought about removal with a soldering gun...
Title: Re: Mono coat ramoval
Post by: Fredvon4 on November 19, 2016, 09:04:00 AM
The one I did was relatively delicate RingMaster built 20 years ago in dope n silk then later- Date unknown- was covered in monoKote on the wing...Ugly and deteriorated

I and wife used tweezers and a smallish heat gun to soften and lift the mono only using the heat to help release the adhesive

I have since built three RM S-1s and unless the (needing to be stirpped) plane had some historic or nostalgia value I would just build a new wing

My personal opinion is chemical removers also screw with the balsa adhesives weakening them so my refinishing of old hand me down planes is usually brute force heat and sandpaper
Title: Re: Mono coat ramoval
Post by: Paul Wood on November 19, 2016, 09:07:36 AM
Like Fred, I use heat and tweezers to remove the film. But, I've always had a lot of the glue remain stuck to the wood. I found Xylene to be the best solvent to remove the glue. I've never been able to remove the glue 100%, but you can get most of it off.

Paul
Title: Re: Mono coat ramoval
Post by: Mark Scarborough on November 19, 2016, 11:41:53 AM
I have an inexpensive tool, looks like a cheap soldering iron but it has a number 11 blade in the holder. You let it heat up and lightly drag it over the monokote where you want ot cut it. No pressure, it melts the monokote. I think I found it at Micheals for 10 bucks or less
Title: Re: Mono coat ramoval
Post by: Motorman on November 19, 2016, 02:05:27 PM
A soldering iron will melt a line in the monokote without damaging the wood if you have a light touch. This is the method Brodak arf's had in the instruction books.

MM
Title: Re: Mono coat removal
Post by: Fred Underwood on November 19, 2016, 02:14:00 PM
I have an inexpensive tool, looks like a cheap soldering iron but it has a number 11 blade in the holder. You let it heat up and lightly drag it over the monokote where you want ot cut it. No pressure, it melts the monokote. I think I found it at Micheals for 10 bucks or less

Why does a paint guy know Monokote tricks?

Sounded interesting, so I looked.  A place to start the hunt, but prices went up a little.  But wife's coupons for 20 or 40% off a single item.

http://www.michaels.com/walnut-hollow-professional-hotknife/10389558.html?mkwid=sl0OnA4Yv
Title: Re: Mono coat removal
Post by: Mark Scarborough on November 19, 2016, 04:12:53 PM
Why does a paint guy know Monokote tricks?

Sounded interesting, so I looked.  A place to start the hunt, but prices went up a little.  But wife's coupons for 20 or 40% off a single item.

http://www.michaels.com/walnut-hollow-professional-hotknife/10389558.html?mkwid=sl0OnA4Yv
oh sure, call me out ,,
well I flew profile monokote/ultrakote for several years while I was crashing,, or uh, learning the pattern. I also use it for my RC birds since there are no appearance points for my RC stuff..