Repost: (cheap and good) coating tool

Gord, did you try this? This is the cheapest and best hand coating
tool I've found for both sizing and silver gelatin emulsion. With a
suitable surfactant and defoamer you can coat paper very quickly and
evenly without leaving holidays. I've tried all sorts of rollers from
several hardware stores including Home Depot but ALL of them leave
some texture no matter how I use them. Besides texture, foaming and
uneven coating are common problems especially with thick emulsion. The
area where you stop rolling and lift up gets more foam and thicker
coat than the middle of the rolling zone. So I bought a box of
replacement pads described in the attached post, and be done with
it. I don't roll any more.

Ryuji

Received: from mail.messagingengine.com [66.111.4.60] by localhost with IMAP
 (fetchmail-6.2.0) for jf7wex@localhost (single-drop); Wed,
 22 Dec 2004 02:15:19 -0500 (EST)
Received: from mx4.messagingengine.com (mx4.internal [10.202.2.203])
        by server4.messagingengine.com (Cyrus v2.3-alpha) with LMTPA; Wed,
 22 Dec 2004 02:12:40 -0500
Received: from skynet.usask.ca (skynet.usask.ca [128.233.192.233])
        by mx4.messagingengine.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id C0BAB17FA9B for
 <rs@silvergrain.org>; Wed, 22 Dec 2004 02:12:32 -0500 (EST)
Received: from PROCESS-DAEMON.sask.usask.ca by sask.usask.ca
 (PMDF V6.2-X27 #30875) id <01LIOIX0EBG094L93U@sask.usask.ca>
 (original mail from rs@silvergrain.org) for rs@silvergrain.org; Wed,
 22 Dec 2004 01:12:17 -0600 (CST)
Received: from CONVERSION-DAEMON.sask.usask.ca by sask.usask.ca
 (PMDF V6.2-X27 #30875) id <01LIOIX09ALS94L93N@sask.usask.ca> for
 alt-photo-process-l-expand@process.sask.usask.ca
 (ORCPT alt-photo-process-l@skyway.usask.ca); Wed,
 22 Dec 2004 01:12:06 -0600 (CST)
Received: from spamf2.usask.ca (spamf2.usask.ca [128.233.150.98])
 by sask.usask.ca (PMDF V6.2-X27 #30875)
 with ESMTP id <01LIOIWVODTA95QORO@sask.usask.ca> for
 alt-photo-process-l-expand@process.sask.usask.ca
 (ORCPT alt-photo-process-l@skyway.usask.ca); Wed,
 22 Dec 2004 01:12:06 -0600 (CST)
Received: from out2.smtp.messagingengine.com
 (out2.smtp.messagingengine.com [66.111.4.26])
        by spamf2.usask.ca (8.12.10/8.12.10) with ESMTP id iBM7BwBl010537 for
 <alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca>; Wed,
 22 Dec 2004 01:11:58 -0600 (envelope-from rs@silvergrain.org)
Received: from silvergrain.org
 (h-68-167-98-37.cmbrmaor.covad.net [68.167.98.37])
        by frontend1.messagingengine.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id A3DDFC47081 for
 <alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca>; Wed, 22 Dec 2004 02:11:57 -0500 (EST)
X-URL: http://silvergrain.org/
Date: Wed, 22 Dec 2004 02:11:54 -0500 (EST)
From: Ryuji Suzuki <rs@silvergrain.org>
Subject: (cheap and good) coating tool
To: alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca
Reply-to: alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca
Message-id: <20041222.021154.25908971.lifebook-4234377@silvergrain.org>
MIME-version: 1.0
X-Mailer: Mew version 3.3 on Emacs 21.3 / Mule 5.0 (SAKAKI)
Content-type: Text/Plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT
X-Sieve: CMU Sieve 2.3
X-Spam-score: 0.0
X-Delivered-to: rs@silvergrain.org
X-Sasl-enc: EnDuX8MtcMUH/TynXAaQDQ 1103699517
X-PMX-Version: 4.7.0.111621, Antispam-Engine: 2.0.2.0,
 Antispam-Data: 2004.12.21.50
X-PerlMx-Spam: Gauge=IIIIIII, Probability=7%, Report='__CT 0, __CTE 0,
 __CT_TEXT_PLAIN 0, __HAS_MSGID 0, __HAS_X_MAILER 0, __MIME_VERSION 0,
 __SANE_MSGID 0'
Comments: "alt-photo-process mailing list"
List-Id: alt-photo-process mailing list <alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca>

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)