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Dipping methods,,,

Posted By: Dana
Date: Friday, 20 July 2012, at 1:36 p.m.

Would you describe your method of blocking out tubing?

I would like to hear from those who have been doing this far longer than me and hope to glean some new information, but I will describe what I have come to do today in my few years of refining the process;

I have a rigid fiberglass 'proofers' box used for proofing bread-selected for its strength, flat open space about 30 x 24 inches, filled with about 3" of water-based black blockout paint. The top keeps it sealed from evaporation.

I cover the dumet leads on the electrodes with blue masking tape, just closing the tape flat over the leads, allowing the entire electrode to be coated with paint, but keeping the leads paint-free.

I use latex gloves to avoid a messy cleanup and double-dip the pieces, holding onto the electrodes as handles, letting the paint cover about half the glass.

It takes about 10 seconds to shake/roll the excess paint off the glass to avoid too many drips.

I created a monofilament-strung board rack so that the pieces are suspended about 1" over the board to avoid sticking to the drying rack.

When the pieces are tack-dry I will remove the tape easily from the leads and flip them over onto the table. There is a minimal amount of repair needed once the pieces are installed on the standoffs, usually from scraping on the monfilament.

It is not a perfect system but serviceable. I know a few shops that do not dip, but just brush. Any comments or suggestions are appreciated.

I know that electrodes should not be coated but gave up on the 'boot' I used to create to shield them-it just was not reliable or sometimes became stuck, and i have tried many materials without a lot of success.

How to best boot an electrode would help me the most.

Messages In This Thread

• Dipping methods,,, -- Dana -- Friday, 20 July 2012, at 1:36 p.m.
  • Re: Dipping methods,,, -- Winslow -- Friday, 20 July 2012, at 1:59 p.m.
    • Re: Dipping methods,,, -- SVP Neon Equipment -- Saturday, 21 July 2012, at 1:42 p.m.

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