micro mesh on canopies

Does anyone have experience using micromesh or similar products to
remove fine scratches from glider canopies?

http://www.micro-surface.com/

On Nov 13, 8:08 am, BB wrote:
Does anyone have experience using micromesh or similar products to
remove fine scratches from glider canopies?

http://www.micro-surface.com/

yep, works fine.

On Nov 13, 11:08 am, BB wrote:
Does anyone have experience using micromesh or similar products to
remove fine scratches from glider canopies?

http://www.micro-surface.com/

Hi John,

To date I've done a 2-33 canopy and part of my LS8 canopy. The stuff
works great, but I would caution you to really pay attention to the
sanding patterns in order to keep the original optical quality if
you're just doing a spot repair. When I fixed a big stratch in my LS8
canopy (inside), I removed the scratch just fine. But, I made the
transitions between grits a little abrupt. The result was that I
created a small wave in the canopy. It's not bad, but it is apparent
when I move my scan across that spot. A one inch scratch will
require probably a one foot working area as you expand through the
grits. I made the mistake of trying to contain the area by masking
off the area in expanding squares for each pass. That resulted in
sharp "edges" at each grit. Better to to have more freedom to
feather up through the layers. I know better than this from wing and
auto body repair, but it "seemed like a good idea" at the time :-)

P3

On 13 Nov, 16:33, Papa3 wrote:
On Nov 13, 11:08 am, BB wrote:

Does anyone have experience using micromesh or similar products to
remove fine scratches from glider canopies?

http://www.micro-surface.com/

Hi John,

To date I've done a 2-33 canopy and part of my LS8 canopy. The stuff
works great, but I would caution you to really pay attention to the
sanding patterns in order to keep the original optical quality if
you're just doing a spot repair. When I fixed a big stratch in my LS8
canopy (inside), I removed the scratch just fine. But, I made the
transitions between grits a little abrupt. The result was that I
created a small wave in the canopy. It's not bad, but it is apparent
when I move my scan across that spot. A one inch scratch will
require probably a one foot working area as you expand through the
grits. I made the mistake of trying to contain the area by masking
off the area in expanding squares for each pass. That resulted in
sharp "edges" at each grit. Better to to have more freedom to
feather up through the layers. I know better than this from wing and
auto body repair, but it "seemed like a good idea" at the time :-)

P3

I concur with P3. There are no shortcuts to polishing out scratches
properly, dont even think of using power tools to speed the process
up!
Copious amounts of clean water, a slowly running hose is good and
attention to the directions is the only way to get a good result.

Ian M
( Ventus B and Nimbus 3 canopies refurbished )

On Nov 13, 11:33 am, Papa3 wrote:
On Nov 13, 11:08 am, BB wrote:

Does anyone have experience using micromesh or similar products to
remove fine scratches from glider canopies?

http://www.micro-surface.com/

Hi John,

To date I've done a 2-33 canopy and part of my LS8 canopy. The stuff
works great, but I would caution you to really pay attention to the
sanding patterns in order to keep the original optical quality if
you're just doing a spot repair. When I fixed a big stratch in my LS8
canopy (inside), I removed the scratch just fine. But, I made the
transitions between grits a little abrupt. The result was that I
created a small wave in the canopy. It's not bad, but it is apparent
when I move my scan across that spot. A one inch scratch will
require probably a one foot working area as you expand through the
grits. I made the mistake of trying to contain the area by masking
off the area in expanding squares for each pass. That resulted in
sharp "edges" at each grit. Better to to have more freedom to
feather up through the layers. I know better than this from wing and
auto body repair, but it "seemed like a good idea" at the time :-)

P3

I should clarify that the "problem" in my LS8 job wasn't the clarity
of the patch that I polished out. That's just fine. But, because I
tried to contain the sanding area (trying to keep the project from
turning into a black hole of time and effort), I ended up with a
fairly small transition zone. This had the effect of creating a sharp
bevel (for want of a better term) between the untouched areas of the
canopy and the repaired area. It's not bad by any means (better than
the big scratch that was there), but in retrospect it would have been
smarter to expand the work area by about 100%. That would have made
the transition area much less steep.

It's pretty much the same as fixing a ding in the wing. A one inch
chip results in a 20 inch (or more) repair.

I don't have any deep scratches, just 5 years of age in a reasonably
well cared for canopy, and it sure would be nice if it looked like
new. It sounds like the answer is that this will do a lot to restore
that brand-new clarity.

John

BB wrote:
I don't have any deep scratches, just 5 years of age in a reasonably
well cared for canopy, and it sure would be nice if it looked like
new. It sounds like the answer is that this will do a lot to restore
that brand-new clarity.

My thought is micro-mesh is overkill for a canopy like you describe. My
canopy is 13 years old, and I don't consider it worthwhile even for it.
What does restore most of the original clarity is a cleaner/polisher
like "210" (Sumner Laboratories), available from Wings&Wheels and
others. These products appear to fill in the tiny scratches and hazing
that accumulate over the years, and make it look remarkably better in 5
minutes or so. Borrow or buy a can: it's worth trying, and it will
likely be good enough.

If you still want to try Micro-mesh, get a piece from a broken canopy
(or a piece of Plexiglas) and practice on it first.

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA
* Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly
* "Transponders in Sailplanes" http://tinyurl.com/y739x4
* "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation" at www.motorglider.org

On Nov 13, 2:19?pm, Eric Greenwell wrote:
BB wrote:
I don't have any deep scratches, just 5 years of age in a reasonably
well cared for canopy, and it sure would be nice if it looked like
new. It sounds like the answer is that this will do a lot to restore
that brand-new clarity.

My thought is micro-mesh is overkill for a canopy like you describe. My
canopy is 13 years old, and I don't consider it worthwhile even for it.
What does restore most of the original clarity is a cleaner/polisher
like "210" (Sumner Laboratories), available from Wings&Wheels and
others. These products appear to fill in the tiny scratches and hazing
that accumulate over the years, and make it look remarkably better in 5
minutes or so. Borrow or buy a can: it's worth trying, and it will
likely be good enough.

If you still want to try Micro-mesh, get a piece from a broken canopy
(or a piece of Plexiglas) and practice on it first.

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA
* Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly
* "Transponders in Sailplanes"http://tinyurl.com/y739x4
* "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation" atwww.motorglider.org

3M Finesse-it ll, what we use to polish our wings, works wonders on
the canopy. This summer in Parowan, it was brought to my attention on
how good it works. When I remove the scribe from the PDA, I sometimes
hit the inside of the canopy with it. I had some small scratches and
this polished them right out.
No problems using it, just a soft clean rag and some of the product,
and the scratches are all gone.

# 711.

For what it's worth, we had one side of our canopy badly affected by
blowing sand. Whenever I am getting ready to fly, I start by cleaning
the canopy with LP Acrylic Polish and finish the job with Sontary
window wipes. The results have been remarkable and visible. Minor
scratches are also diminished. I had purchased both products from
Wings & Wheels ( I have no connection with them, except as a
customer).

Cheers, Charles