seanik

how do you keep the cavity the guard fits into from getting filled with paint during the dipping / curing process?

Vince, Sorry I don't recall the exact size and small parts does not keep order history so I could not go back and look it up. The way I figured out what size to buy was by taking one of my weed guards and measuring its diameter by matching it up with a like size drill bit by drilling a few test holes into a scrap of wood and see which one fits the closest. Then convert that drill bit size to a decimal to determine the appropriate inside diameter size to buy. I would suggest going up a size or two as it takes a little bit of patience to get the weed guards into the tubing and this will save some frustration and make the process quicker. Hope this gets you going in the right direction. Sean

I picked mine up from smallparts.com. It is also called PTFE tubing. http://www.smallparts.com/products/descriptions/stt.cfm sean

I was looking for the same color and found it from Rat Trap. Off the top of my head I believe it is the pumpkin color barbwire. I can not tell the difference between the two. He may have some exclusive deal with Eakins on the color and did not want to disclose that if you specifically said you were looking for an "Eakins" color. (just and assumption on my part) I can double check when I get home for the color name. If interested I can send you a piece of what I got from him if you would like to compare for yourself. Sean

I had the same issue on my first couple of batches. I went out and purchased a cheap oven thermometer (couple of $ at the local supermarket) to see what the temp really was in the oven. I was surprised at the variance in temp from the dial setting to the actual temp in the oven. With mine set at 270 it would heat to over 300 initially and then fluctuate between 270 and 290. It took some time to play with the settings but I kept messing with it until the max temp would not exceed 275 once it went through the preheat cycle. Hope this helps.

Longtime lurker, 1st time poster... lots of great information shared here, it has really fed my desire to make my own stuff. I've seen several references to fluid beds and guys trying to make their own but have not found any specifics in any of my fourm searches on how to actually put one together with a parts/components list. I've got a few ideas and a general feel for what is needed but would appreciate any specifics anyone can share before trying to tackle this one on my own. Thanks in advance! Sean