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Polyfiber shopping list

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Posted (edited)

I'm about to start on some fuselagefabric repair and also reinforcing my rib tails  and tearing into my wing tank,  which means repairing more fabric and I'm making my order up for Aircraft Spruce. Ive never worked with polyfiber fabric before so if I'm missing anything please let me know. I do have the book and have been studying it. 

 

Poly Tak

Poly Brush

Polyspray

The warm weather reducer (forgot part number)

Lightweight fabric

Reinforcing tape for rib stitching

Rib stitching thread

And lastly finishing tape

What else am I missing?

 

Non aircraft Spruce stuff i need to buy

 

Cheap spray gun (suggestions welcome)

Masking materials

MEK

?

Edited by Willja67

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Posted (edited)

Hey if i was u id step up to med weight fabric, i was going to use light weight but when lookin, comparing, and thinking of off airport flyin, med is better i think, stronger longer lasting to i think. But light weight tapes r ok on the med fabric and depending on what ur covering the light weight will flex and lay down better, I did both my wings total job for $793.00 i think i wrote up info in my spread on that, time it took and materials list totals. 

dont buy to cheap of a spraygun ull regret it down the road. harbor freight has some good cheap ones 

Use only non died maskin tape if ur paint light colors. Tan/ brown tape

dont forget the Poly Fiber Users Book. Lots of good info 

Edited by Buckchop

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Posted (edited)

Hey if i was u id step up to med weight fabric, i was going to use light weight but when lookin, comparing, and thinking of off airport flyin, med is better i think, stronger longer lasting to i think. But light weight tapes r ok on the med fabric and depending on what ur covering the light weight will flex and lay down better, I did both my wings total job for $793.00 i think i wrote up info in my spread on that, time it took and materials list totals. 

dont buy to cheap of a spraygun ull regret it down the road. harbor freight has some good cheap ones 

Use only non died maskin tape if ur paint light colors. Tan/ brown tape

dont forget the Poly Fiber Users Book. Lots of good info 

medium weight fabric is something that i may consider when it's time to recover. For now just patching a few holes.  

 

As far as the spray gun HF has a surprisingly wide range of prices $20-150, so please recommend a specific one. 

Edited by Willja67

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Posted

I bought the Polyfiber practice kit at Aircraft Spruce for $59, it has everything, and in one place. Enough fabric to make a pretty big repair, too. maybe 3 ft square. Also all the fluids, and a thermometer and a great instruction manual

https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/cspages/pfpracticekit.php

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Posted

I bought the Polyfiber practice kit at Aircraft Spruce for $59, it has everything, and in one place. Enough fabric to make a pretty big repair, too. maybe 3 ft square. Also all the fluids, and a thermometer and a great instruction manual

https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/cspages/pfpracticekit.php

That sounds like an excellent value. Thanks

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Posted

Well i really cant say which to buy, i only get into HF when im in Louisianna visiting Mom&Dad, here in Fairbanks there is no HF, lot of the most important thigs to look for is the size of the orface in the spray tip, bigger ones r for primer/sealers or filler primer, id have to go look at my FAVORITE gun that ive been useing for the last 10+ yrs. but its a Sharpes brand from NAPA 

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Posted

I have used all kinds of spray equipment for fabric recover jobs and without a doubt the best set up is an airless spray gun. Im talking spraying entire 2 wings at one time or a whole fuslage..  The trick is to get a full wet coat on in a short period of time or else hyou will end up with flat spots.

For smaller jobs, I have alway used HF 1 qt. spray guns, the old siphon type. THey used to make one that pressured the 1 qt. paint can and so you could spray heavier materil, perfect for

spraying dope..

MEK is getting real hard to find however I mainly used it for gun clean up, or for wiping off tops coats of other dopes(randolph) before spraying polytone over it...

For repairs you can easilhy get by with a small touch up gun..

Read the stits manual... Ray Stits came up with a good product.. I was recently welding on a fuselage that had Randolph products, rand o proof primer coat, the butyrate dope on top, the randoproof is nitrate base and so the damn thing caught fire and burned all the fabric off the fuselage in less than a minute....stits will not do that so stits is worth the extra price just for that reason... 

Good luck. Wear a respirator

 

 

 

 

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Posted

Looks like Graco starts at $850 and ends about $4,000. is this what we're talking? Seems pretty steep since I already Have a goog compressor.

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Posted (edited)

I'm not a pro painter but that's a lot of $cratch for spray equipment you're not going to use regularly. Maybe $ better spent elsewhere on your project IMHO.

For spraying Poly Brush and Poly Spray on large areas, I used a Harbor Freight 64 oz. Professional HVLP Air Spray Gun Kit SKU 93305 (current SKU 62895, $58 before sale/coupon). Has worked great on multiple projects w/ latex, enamel, 2-pt urethanes. Have shot pretty much anything and everything with no issue other than a hose repair. I have not used it for any super critical top coats yet, but I may try it with Aerothane on another project in the next week or two.

For the latex spray on the KF 3 project I just finished, I used a Harbor Freight 20 fl. oz. HVLP Gravity Feed Air Spray Gun SKU 43430 (current SKU 62300, 47016, 67181, $16 before sale/coupon). Worked very well. Great gun for the $, easy to setup, sprays latex, enamel, 2-pt urethanes and lays down a very nice topcoat. 5 star reviews and a screaming bargain w/ $9.99 Super Coupon. Only downside is paint capacity, you need to refill after each wing side.

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Edited by dholly
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Posted

I have used the Harbor Freight 20 oz gravity fed HVLP spray gun for tons of things. It is a good gun and a great value. I've sprayed primers, color coats, clear coats, latex, solvent based, 2-part urethane, epoxy, primers, high build primers, and more. It has done a great job on anything I've put through it. I used it 2 winters ago to paint the replaced rockers and hood on my truck. Used it for all primer, base and clear coats and it came out fantastic. A buddy of mine that restores classic cars still can't believe that the finish I got was done with a gun that cost me $10. 

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