UHMW or delrin for coating rod?

[gmikol]

Hi All--

I didn't find anything with a search...

Everyone seems to use glass for a coating rod, but I've got some UHMW polyethylene and some Delrin rod lying around. Is there any reason I shouldn't use either of these for coating? Both are non-porous and non-reactive, and fairly rigid.

Any experience or advice??

--Greg

[Photo Engineer]

I would say either is OK, but try it and see.

PE

[donbga]

Hi All--

I didn't find anything with a search...

Everyone seems to use glass for a coating rod, but I've got some UHMW polyethylene and some Delrin rod lying around. Is there any reason I shouldn't use either of these for coating? Both are non-porous and non-reactive, and fairly rigid.

Any experience or advice??

--Greg

When I used coating rods, I tried a plastic one and hated it. The plastic tends to drag compared to glass rods.

[Rick A]

I've never done any coating, however there is a major difference between glass, UHMW plastic, and Delrin. The difference is glass is microscopically porous, where the plastics are not, and actually slippery. I use both plastics for woodworking jigs and fixtures. I'm no chemist, so I couldn't tell the specifics, but both have an apparant self-lubricating property, that allows other materials to slide along them with relative ease,like they are lubed. That being said, the pores on glass give a cling factor the other materials dont have. So the only thing left to do is what Photo Engineer said, try it and see.

Rick