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David-aviator

Well Known Member
I've seen one reference to smoothing a SIKA bead with a wet soapy finger.

Seems like a good idea but is there a concern of contaminating the product with water and soap?

Thanks.
 
If you've masked the joint and have full coverage, then all you are doing is tooling. Shouldn't be a problem with a soapy finger. Although it's a b***h to get off your hands.
I had success tooling with nitrile gloves. Put on three pairs at a time.
As one glove got excessively soiled (beyond cleaning up with paper towel) I would just pull off a layer. Quick and efficient.
regards
 
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Tape off a wide swath, first smooth with Popsicle stick if desired, fine smooth with soapy gloved thumb.
 
Thanks for the input.

My gut feeling is the origin of the wet, soapy finger is with the boat industry.

The video at Jamestown says go easy with the stuff coming out of the tube and the spread is then easy and neat. The big messes come from using too much sealant.

This is old hat for many guys and should be here also very soon, its not like the process was invented yesterday. The earliest bits of advice on the subject go back 8 years to 2005.

In any event, I am waiting 30 minutes for the primer to dry and, for better or worse, will be applying the 295 very soon. :)
 
I got really good results by taping the edges and using a medical tongue depressor to radius the corners. Peel the tape while still wet. Nice stuff to work with.
 
Ron RV8 said:
I got really good results by taping the edges and using a medical tongue depressor to radius the corners. Peel the tape while still wet. Nice stuff to work with.
Click to expand...

I have a tape line on the glass but did not get it removed. I spoke with Mr. Todd today (he always answers a call as he carries his phone in his pocket) about this and some other stuff and he said he lets it cure and then removes the tape carefully cutting along the edge line with a razor.

I got behind the time power curve doing this today and the stuff was getting might sticky and would not have come off clean.

Chalk up to a beginner beginning something new. :)
 
Socket sets

I used my socket set for tooling a nice radius. Plenty of choice in regards to radius diameter for various different areas. Worked perfectly and I would do the same again. Simply wipe off excess immediately from the sockets to clean up. Simple!!!
 
Ice cube

A trick I learned in the boating world for
smoothing out silicone and silka is and ice cube.
Works great, very smooth results.
 
Ditto

I also found the tongue suppressor worked the best. You can take a belt sander and shape it anyway you want.

If things don't work out the way you want, let it dry, sand with 120 grit, reapply sika and smooth again and so on. I found the stuff to be excellent and you can keep messing with it till you get it the way you want.....over and over.......ask me how I know ;) You can use very very fine sand paper in the end to get it perfectly smooth. Just takes a lot of elbow grease and it's best to do the whole thing so it will look uniform.
 
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