(cheap and good) coating tool

A bit ago I asked about how people coat silver gelatin emulsions on
paper. I got a few responses here and off the list. Thanks for those
who responded - I guess now it's my turn to share what I found. I've
been trying various coating tools/methods that work well for me. I
don't know if anyone else reported these tools on this list before,
but it's cheap and it'sbeen working well for me for a few weeks. It
was among dozen other things I bought to try suitability for SG
emulsion coating on paper.

There are several products for painting trims and edges I found at
hardware stores. Among them, "SHUR-LINE Ceiling & Trim Paint Edger"
(Shur-Line, St. Francis, WI, Cat No 00500) and "Quick Solutions 4"
Premium Pad Edger" (Rubberset Company, Cleveland, OH) are bests. They
are very similar products but the structure of handles and the
structure of the brush pads are different. The handle is better in the
Quick Solutions version at least for our purposes, and the brush is
better in SHUR-LINE version. If you know me, you don't even have to
ask: I put SHUR-LINE brush pad on Quick Solutions handle.

These are rectangular brush pads, and they look kinda like the record
cleaner brush for the LP/EP/SP records but it is on a flat surface.
The brush is made from very thin synthetic material and the hair is
very short like velvet. The hairs may shed just a bit at edges but it
is below my annoyance threshold. Quick Solutions version has a bit
denser hairs.

The brush can hold quite a bit of emulsion but I can use all but last
few drops of it! I put emulsion on sized paper and spread with this
brush using one edge. The brush pad is quite big but I just use one
long (about 10cm) edge so that the emulsion loss is minimal. I didn't
try Richson Magic Brush a few people recommended last year (none of my
local stores carried it then, or now) but this $3 product worked
better than all else I tried, including some of the $30 brush made of
synthetic material. (It doesn't work well on glass and Yupo.) Coating
is very even. It can leave some brush marks and minor streaking marks
but does not leave mottling pattern that foam rollers sometimes make.

When I size paper, I soak the entire brush pad part in my super size
solution in a dish and coat. I mix hardener in the dish and size by
coating once, dry, and the paper is ready to use.(I'm too impatient
when it comes to hardening and coating.)

One thing to note. There are other similar products by these brands.
Many of them are disposable and they don't have a nice handle like
this QuickSolutions nor replaceable brush pads. Some of similar
products have foam pads under the brush layer so that they hold more
paint. You probably don't want those. For fairness, SHUR-LINE's
product is well designed and well made, but I think it works better
when attached at an end of a broomstick.

Finally I feel like I can make the kinds of prints I wanted to make!!!
(At least my test strips look ok as a start.)

--
Ryuji Suzuki
"People seldom do what they believe in.  They do what is convenient,
then repent." (Bob Dylan, Brownsville Girl, 1986)