LUNAR FELT MADNESS

[EisenFaust]

Hi All,

SO.. This morning I recieved my modular paddle. Super impressed, a: by the size of the shipping box I was presented with (xmas flashbacks!), and b: how nice a set the mod paddle is.

I promptly unpacked everything and coated one of the felt pads with the extra .25 micron spray I ordered.

I applied one squirt at about 10" from the surface to every 1/3 of the felt and went off to work to dream about all the killer edges I was about to be in for.

But when I retured this evening I was surprised to see perfectly circular lumps evenly scatted across the entire surface of the felt, all super hard and quite pronounced.

I read all I could find about the paddle before it arrived, and know it should be left over night to dry but I cant see these lumps dissapearing and definately cant imagine running a razor across it looking like the surface of the moon!

What have I done wrong? (assuming something descibed above sounds incorrect)

how can I get rid of the lumps?

Has anyone else had this problem?

Cheers!

[Neil Miller]

Most of the hard felts (here in the UK, anyway) swell if they get too damp - they are a compressed material and moisture in patches can lead to local swelling where that moisture was. This seems to have happened here, unfortunately.

I spray very lightly with a very fine atomiser (those squirt bottles aren't all that good - you need one that produces a very fine mist) using a sweep to cover all the felt. If the mist is fine enough go once up and once down the felt. Let it dry, test it, do another sweep if necessary.

The hard stuff (again - from a UK perspective) can be sanded flat - you need a paper that does not lose any grit like a very good wet and dry paper - used dry. Flattening the felt is a bit like lapping a hone.

Get all the fluff off it - vacuum it if you want - and start again with the diamond spray - try holding it at a greater distance from the felt and be prepared for overspray If you do get a bit of spatter even it out with your hand to try to stop localised swellings - you are aiming at an even coating all over the surface of the felt.

Like I said, this is only my perspective based on the stuff that is available in the UK, so as they say YMMV!

Regards,
Neil

[ShavedZombie]

I had the same problem with my first felt... Now, I'm not familiar with the .25, but it should be the same principle (I, and my face, prefer the .5, but my skin is a pansy ) Anywho, some advice I got from this forum (that worked suprisingly well) Steam clean it and if you can't do that, get it a slight bit damp (with water) and iron it. Be careful not to singe it... The idea is to get it uniformly moist, then steam ALL of the moisture out... After you've done that, put it felt side down on a very uniform, very smooth (preferably warm/hot) surface, with a weight EVENLY distributed on the back. I put a 2/4 across the back of my pad, then put weights on that.. I also put it on "wing" table on the grill out back, in the summer... That black metal gets nice and hot...

Another option I've heard, but NOT tried, is to use a pair of scissors, opened, "blade" down. Make sure it's laying flat on the pad, then gently scrape over the top... Same principle as the Sand Paper that Neil mentioned (I think) and just scrape the swelling down to a reasonable level... Never tried this, but it sounds like it would work just fine.

Let that sit for 12-24 hours... Should reduce the swelling to a manageable level (for record, the swelling goes away with time or use and, if it isn't TOO bad when you start, it won't really hurt the edge.)

That being said, the SRD spray bottles work fine, if you use them right (no offense) and get an even distribution. It sounds like what you did was more like shooting a panoramic picture... Stop in one area, click, move to the next area, click, go to the last area, click.... Sound about right?

What I do is slowly sweep my arm up (about 8'' away from the pad) and squirt STEADILY. I don't mean pump the button like it's a squirt gun and you're five... but don't leave a time gap between the two... It should take 2-4 pumps/squirts before you reach the top of the pad... And since you never stop moving, and the flow never stops, you should have an even distribution. Do this up, then back down, then up again (the third pass is optional) then, and, IMO, this is crucial, rub it gently with your finger tips... The idea here isn't to push the substance into the material, but to use your fingers to evenly distribute it across the materials surface.. Worked well for me.

Like I said, there will probably be some swelling, but, if it's small, it's usable and will go away

If you want -actually, I think this is a very good Idea- Once I get back to campus (on monday) I can make a video of this... So, for now, work on getting those lumps out, then reapply it evenly, lightly

Good Luck!

Cheers,
Jeremy

[Neil Miller]

Jeremy - that steam/iron technique sounds good - less messy than sanding! I'll have to try that if I ever have a problem, thanks!

Regards,
Neil

[ShavedZombie]

Jeremy - that steam/iron technique sounds good - less messy than sanding! I'll have to try that if I ever have a problem, thanks!

Regards,
Neil

Many thanks, Neil! As for things to try, I'm in need of one of your strops in the near future... Come on, tax returns!

Sorry.. I have strop problems

For what it's worth, the steam cleaner is MUCH easier than the Iron... Just because it's all one compact unit MADE for this type of chore, whereas the iron still leaves the fabric a little damp, and you need to dry it right, etc... But they both work surprisingly well.

Wish I had thought to bring my paddle home... I could Make that diamond spray video... even though I can only tape through a webcam... Ah well... I'll stop rambling.

Cheers!

[mainaman]

The proper way of applying spray to felt is to do it in few steps.
Spray a little bit a few times, allowing for the spray to dry and there will be no bubbling of the felt.