SGM (Heavy) silkspan

[Miotch]

So I used up all of my old stash of SGM silkspan recently and thought "OK, I'll just jump on the Google machine and order some more."  And then I find it isn't so easy and start reading posts here and there about how new silkspan isn't the same and that some supplier's idea of "heavy" is about what the "medium" used to be.

I've covered planes with silk, dacron, forms of monokote etc. at various points in my life, but silkspan is my comfort zone.  The stuff I had was from SIG and had been rolled up in a box since I bought it about 25 years ago.  It was about as perfect of covering material as I could ever hope for. and I probably paid less than a dollar a sheet back then.

Is the real SGM still available ??  I'm pretty abusive when covering with it and never liked the GM medium weight.

[Dave_Trible]

Real silkspan is completely gone in all weights.  Once in a while someone will sell I little old stock on EBay for ridiculous prices.  I called K&S who supplied much of it about supplies or sources and got nowhere with them.  Of all the alternatives I’ve tried the ‘teabag’ paper which Dave Rigotti sells here from time to time and is the best.  Most others have no fiber strength and likely will shred apart pretty easily in a few years as the dope continues to shrink and turns brittle.  It is fine over solid surfaces.  Silk is still a viable choice for open bay structure but will weigh more.

Dave

[M Spencer]

Wonder about ' rice Paper ' and WHERE the Ciggarette ' roll Yr Own ' papers originate . Differant brands vary - but a roll of the right stuff would be usefull .
Whats happened to the operating table paper they all were on about a year or two back ?