Thread: LUNAR FELT MADNESS

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!

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

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

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

Originally Posted by 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

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!

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.

Eisenfaust,

Same thing happened to me with a hard felt paddle.

I ended up with an hump the length of the strop

I had to get a couple of razors re-honed to sort out the damage done to them !

Re-spaying the paddle and letting it dry with a weight pressing down sorted it.

I must try the steam iron

Have fun !

regards

Russ

Some of the felt seems to lump a little when over sprayed and some does not. It seems to be the nature of the stuff. In any case, I have honed a ton of razors on felt with bumps and actually they go away with time. I have never had one razor injured in the process. You do have to be careful on your number of strokes as you can over hone with the diamond sprays. I usually stick with 10 light strokes. The key has been to apply the spray lightly from about 6-8 inches and let dry. I do a second application and rarely have any problems. You might want to contact the vendor and ask them to send you out another pad for your paddle. Tell them I sent you..........

Have fun,

Lynn

Yeah...You don't need to saturate the felt to make the diamond spray work. Just a 1x light pray to cover it from end to end so that it feels slightly damp to the touch with your fingers. That'll do it.

Thanks everyone, good to know it wasn't entirely my fault ;-)

after Neils' post I remedied the lumps on my felt with a fine, dry 'wet and dry' - esentially lapping it. There wasn't much if any 'fluff' (swuff?) afterwards, so it didnt remove much material, but it gave it a nice uniform surface again.

I've subsequently tested all sorts of spraying methods to find the sweet spot where the heavier droplets fall short of the felt and just the required 'mist' makes its way onto the surface, with spraying across it from about 30cm away perpendicular to the surface producing the results.

A few miniscule lumps still appeared but as per the advice above im sure they are totally harmless and will even out.

And Lynn, I would love to get on the blower to the vendor for another pad, but since im thousands of miles away I don't know how hospitible 'they' would be to the idea! - In the least, I purchased an extra with the paddle so am reasonably flush for now... till the next order ;-)

Thanks everyone!