4c Saga (or "You CAN Japan!) [REVISED: BIGGER PIX]
Steve Mackay
>OK, I actually sat down and wrote this out. As much for Mr. �I�ll remember� as others. I�m sure my terms are fuzzy and my method is wrong in many ways. BUT what turned out is pretty darn good I didn�t �distress� it because my intention was for it to look good and work good. It looks like a new finish. I only hope that the Craftsman who used it before me would like what he saw. Pretty sure he would. Its got another eighty years left in it! As I write this I�m watching for the High Priests of Tools in the Black Suburbans to pull up in the driveway.
OK, �JAPANNING for Idiots� :
1) Its NOT alchemy, mystic or magic. Its like fly-fishing. The Gurus would want you to think it�s a cosmic mystery. NOT!
2) I�ve learned that some things aren�t worth it. Cleaning a rusty, gooey, nasty plane body is one of them. Just pay The Man to bead blast it. Cost me two old Sportster wheels. Or 10 bucks. Which. Just pay. You�ll thank your self! Your local bike shop is best. Always an adventure there.
3) I wiped it down with alcohol with rag and Q-Tips. �Just �Cause�. Do the same job you�d do with an M-16. �Till you get nothing on the rag.
4) If the material you�ve got has �asphaltum� in it you�re gonna cook it. There are imitations out there that say don�t cook �em. I know NOTHING about these. Stanley used the old style so that�s what is going on. REAL men /women . . . blah, blah.
5) Apply your first coat a pretty stiff brush. You�ll see why. This stuff is really goopy. I didn�t thin, warm, or otherwise fool with it. Later on it will all even out when you cook it. Coverage is thin. Its going to look like you just smeared it with dirty engine oil. Good enough! Let it sit for a day, day and a half. It doesn�t really dry so I don�t know why but I did. Just �cause!
6) Here�s this risky part . . .When your spouse leaves for work, Put the plane body in the oven and fire it up to 400 degrees. Now, I never got any odors or smell. But if you do it first thing when he /she leaves the house you�ll have time for any damage control you might need to perform. Let it cook for an hour then turn off the oven. I just let things ride �till all had cooled off.
7) When next you look, the finish is going to look �bumpy�. Kind of like acne. Don�t panic. Its OK. You�ll want to sand it. Don�t!
8) Now put on two more coats and cook each one. After MY third coat & cook the finish was smooth and even.
With all that said, heres a few observations I need to remember:
1) Like I said, after the first coat it looked �rough�. I�m guessing that the point at which the material �flows� or �fluxes� (?) is AROUND 400 degrees and goes up a bit with each coat. I�m not a chemical engineer but it worked out.
2) I cleaned the bare metal surfaces before each baking. I thought the material inside the body might peal off with the �over-paint�. And . . . Mr. Yoder told me to.
3) What I�ve wound up with is hard to describe. It�s a smooth, even finish that �looks� �soft�. Not like any paint or coating I�ve used before and THAT�S a LOT. AND I did it an �authentic� way. Guess that�s what makes it look so good. Well worth the journey!
One thing more . . . I didn�t strip the frog. To wussy to work around the lateral adjustment lever. And the finish looked pretty good. Just one edge peeling back on the underside. Made a discovery though. Super glue appears to melt the material back onto the metal and BOY is it stuck! I know I departed from �authentic� but, like I said, I wussed out on the frog!
Now, re-polish your bare metal surfaces and apply Johnson�s paste wax and buff X3 coats.
Now the High Gurus may feel free to tear me limb from limb. The secret is out.
No, really! I can take it! I�m sure I missed something.
Can�t wait for the iron to get back from my �Sharpening Dude� and see the whole rig together.