Is this your new finish??

[Larry]

Ran across this article for spray-on glass. Has some desirable properties if it only went on thicker. Claims to prevent termites to boot.

[Mark & Juanita]

being a "plastic finish" on wood? Glass finish? Hoo boy!

[LDosser]

Spray on condoms? :)

[Gerald Ross]

slick as owl snot made injections less painful. Wonder if it was similar?

[RicodJour]

valuable. Flexibility generally means durability for coatings (given a reasonable hardness for the application).

The part that needs clarification is the breathe-ability claim.

R

[Swingman]

[Lee Michaels]

"Swingman" wrote

I find it interesting that supermarkets won't carry a product like this because it would cut into the great profits associated with cleaning products.

Where is Billy Mays when you need him?

[Morris Dovey]

I wondered about the possibilities - until I read

"one spray is said to last a year"

Since I'm aiming for really long service life, I think I'll stick with the stainless steel for the time being.

[Lew Hodgett]

------------------------------------- When it feels so good because you stopped hitting yourself in the head with a hammer, it will be time to check out the HDPE plastic wood guy in the hood.

1/2" x 9" facia board @ $2.01/ft 2x4 @ $2.11/ft 2x6 @ $3.72/f

as a typical offerings for 12 ft lengths start looking pretty good.

Lew

[hex]

interference effects since you have two discontinuities in the index of refraction? Could imagine that if sprayed on curved surfaces the reflections and scattered light could be "interesting". Thinking of a set of carved candle sticks with rope designs and lots and lots of curves.....

So there is a ponderance for Morris Dovey: is there any benefit to micro-coatings for solar capture? And is SiO_2 going to withstand the heat of your Stirling engine at the collector?

hex

-30-

[Morris Dovey]

I can see possible benefits, but would need considerably more information than they're providing to know for sure. There are two areas where it /might/ shine (please pardon the pun):

If it protects metal from oxidation then it would permit using less expensive aluminum (bonded to an even less expensive substrate) for concentrator reflectors.

There may some potential for coating interior surfaces of fluidyne engine pumps to reduce corrosion and friction caused by surface fouling from "junk" in the pumped water.

I think both applications will depend on whether these folks are interested in more than just the "low-hanging fruit".

It'll be interesting to see where they go from where they are.

[Han]

Morris Dovey wrote in news:hkumdj$ldm$ [e-mail]:

I thought the blurb was interesting too, but I was put off by the lack of detail. How do they get the "silica" into small particles or solution in water? I believe that pure silica may dissolve under very alkaline conditions in water, but that is very old memory only. There is no possibility (I hope) of small 100 nm particles to get loose? There is some controversy now as to whether "nanotubes" may be carcinogenic similar to asbestos particles. That would NOT be good for small silica particles. I apologize for not having references for the stated doubts ...

[Larry Jaques]

On Mon, 08 Feb 2010 22:33:27 -0700, the infamous Mark & Juanita scrawled the following:

Yum! Looks like a lovely, milky-white film.

-- In order that people may be happy in their work, these three things are needed: They must be fit for it. They must not do too much of it. And they must have a sense of success in it. -- John Ruskin, Pre-Raphaelitism, 1850

[Bruce]

On Wed, 10 Feb 2010 09:20:54 -0700, Morris Dovey wrote (in article ):

:

Morris, Late followup, but did you consider anodized aluminum?

-BR

[Morris Dovey]

I didn't because I can get spectral stainless foil in any thickness/width/length I might need from competing suppliers - and because the last time I needed aluminum (in a form not available at Ace or Menards or TruValue stores) I spent three months trying and literally could not get _any_ US company (neither manufacturer nor distributor) to talk to me - and ended up having to buy a 25km minimum order from a Pacific Rim supplier.

[ That supplier was a Japanese firm with a production facility on Taiwan. Dealing with them was an incredible experience of win-win negotiation, amiable mutual respect, and complete absence of any kind of BS. A flurry of e-mails over two days got us to price/quantity levels we could both accept - I drove to the bank to do an EFT, and when I got home ten minutes later, there was a "Thank you for your order and payment" e-mail in my Inbox. Less than two days after that the order had been produced and was airborne from the factory en route to Des Moines. It was exactly what I needed and the quality was uniformly excellent. ]

Locally, anodizing services are expensive, and I'm not confident that I'd end up with the quality I'd need. A single molecule thick SiO2 coating might work if it prevented oxidation, had sufficient longevity, and could be renewed without degrading the mirrors, but these folks aren't offering reassurances in any of those directions. Still, it looks like a technology worth keeping an eye on.

[Larry Jaques]

On Sat, 13 Feb 2010 10:43:29 -0600, the infamous Morris Dovey scrawled the following:

So, what did you build with sixteen _miles_ of foil?!?

It's wonderful to work with honest people who glisten with integrity, isn't it? Ordering from off shore can be much scarier than working with people inside our borders.

That's when you find a friend who's out of work and create a business for them which serves your purposes, too. ;)

Definitely.

-- It's a great life...once you weaken. --author James Hogan

[Morris Dovey]

I built a whole bunch of prototype absorber/exchangers for testing and some fewer production units to ship. It was a Good Thing that the stuff was exactly what was needed, because I still have a healthy supply. :)

It really _was_ scary, since I knew nothing about the folks with whom I was dealing - but I can't imagine how they might have treated me better. I won't hesitate to do business with that outfit again.

Sure, right after one or the other of us wins the lottery. :)

[Larry Jaques]

On Mon, 15 Feb 2010 13:56:17 -0600, the infamous Morris Dovey scrawled the following:

I should hope so. ;)

What was the cost of those miles, if I may ask?

What can an anodizing plant cost? =:-0>

-- It's a great life...once you weaken. --author James Hogan

[Morris Dovey]

I don't remember, and the paperwork is at the shop. Somewhere between the cost of the Unisaur and the cost of the 'Bot.

[Larry Jaques]

On Tue, 16 Feb 2010 01:56:01 -0600, the infamous Morris Dovey scrawled the following:

O U C H !

-- It's a great life...once you weaken. --author James Hogan