Silk is great and makes a very strong wing. It is, however, a bear to work with. I have covered about 5 planes with silk and am still in a steep learning curve. What I have learned thus far is this:
Have several coats, or more, of dope on the wing before covering.
Rinse the silk in case there is sizing on it that would prevent shrinking.
Rinse in cold water so as not to shrink the silk.
Put the silk on wet, pull it tight, tack it down with thinner or well thinned dope.
Put the silk on with the grain running wing tip to wing tip. (I am still working on this and trying to be able to identify the grain
by looking at it. One of the forum posts suggested the grain runs parallel to the stitching on the edges of the bolt or silk piece.)
Before the dope drys, spray it with water again (unless it is still very wet) and try to pull it tighter.
Now it will likely dry tight. Unfortunately, it will sag and wrinkle with the very first coat of dope. I am still experimenting with the
first few coats being thin, or thick. Still not sure. But use a tautening dope.
To this point, I have been adding 8 to 10 coats to get good shrinkage. That adds a lot of weight.
Anyone who can add their experiences with silk to what I have just put down, please do. As I said, I too am in a steep "silk" learning curve.
Topic: covering (Read 939 times)
