Rib Lacing with Oratex

[JMH]

Hello. This is my first post, but I've been taking advantage of all the great information on this forum for a while now. I'm covering my SS with Oratex. For those who have done the same, what did you use for rib lacing? Oratex says we shouldn't use waxed cord, but I'm having trouble locating un-waxed cord. Did you purchase from them, or use a waxed cord?
Thanks
John

[efwd]

Purchased from them.
If I were to do it again I would make a serious attempt to find the flat, unwaxed version of the lacing. Check to see if Poly Fiber has that. The round lace causes additional effort when placing tapes on. It likes to have air trapped. I have been building up the glue over my laces to make it a bit better. It seems Im not trapping air but it would definetly be easier if they were flat. They say you can strip the wax from the lace, but again thats more work.

[efwd]

You can see how prominent the round lacing is. IMHO they would look better if flat. I just finished placing all my rib tapes today. I am very glad to be finished. Tomorrow its the false rib tapes. Thought I would be done with it today but Im tired of it already.
Eddie

[Cherrybark]

Welcome to the forums John.

That's a great picture Eddie. Looks like you are paying a lot of attention to detail when ironing

[bumsteer]

Has anyone found a source of unwaxed flat cord? All I have found, including Poly_Fiber are waxed. Poly_Fiber is injected so I don't know if that would make a difference.

Rick

[efwd]

I have looked since I posted that and I have not been able to locate any.

[JMH]

I reached out to Wick's and ACS. Both have said they don't have any unwaxed lacing cord. I was able to remove the wax from the cord that came with my kit. But as Cherrybark stated it's difficult to use. I couldn't get my knots tight enough to suit me. The wax really helps the cord "grip" to itself when you pull it tight. I'm using the flat waxed cord, but wiping the residue off the fabric and cord after lacing with grease and wax remover I had on hand. I suppose the reason Oratex doesn't like the wax, is the wax residue left behind inhibits adhesion of the glue.

John

[bumsteer]

Sounds like John may have the solution. Use the waxed flat cord and then remove the wax from the visible stitches. I, too, would have to assume the Oratex glue doesn't like wax and could affect the adhesion of the finish tape at the stitch.

Rick

[efwd]

The reason stated by Lars at better aircraft fabric in Alaska (US destributer) is that not only does it affect adhesion but it melts out with the required heat application. It leaves a stain around every lace as if you have dropped a drop of oil around each edge of your tapes.

[Cherrybark]

Along with the official application instructions, Lars will send his own "How To Apply Manual" for Oratex. This is Lars telling you how to cover with Oratex in a very straightforward manner. He doesn't hesitate to describe pitfalls and failures of using wrong techniques. Sometime Lars' German sneaks through the idioms and phrases and makes it an interesting, personable read. If you are seriously considering Oratex or have started a project, don't hesitate to give Lars a call. He is full of information and very helpful.

Here is the discussion of waxed lacing tape from his document:

When using any Oratex tapes it has to be certain that no surface contamination exists on the Oratex surface. All traces of grease, oil, wax, silicone, and rub-off Teflon that might have been accidentally applied while handling and working the Oratex must be removed. A very common source of contamination is the waxed rib-stitching thread; its heavy wax coating rubs off onto the Oratex and prevents the tapes from sticking. Once the glue on the underside of the tapes has become contaminated, it’s pretty much "Game Over" for that tape or the section of tape that has been contaminated. Sadly it indeed looks like the USA-wax-free rib-stitching thread has gone extinct! We have not yet been able to identify a guaranteed good replacement. My own Do27 project airplane uses safety wire for rib-stitching but that is not a good option in general. My advice would be to remove the wax from the thread before taking it to the airplane. So Yes; de-wax the cord before using it, e.g., take a cloth saturated with Methanol and pull the cord through the cloth with pressure on the cord (if you insist on Not buying ours!). We Are producing a new non-waxy thread in Germany (Part Number 08140 "Rib Stitching Thread", 166meters or 544feet, 0.9mm thick, $29.95) and it will not cause the problems the usual USA-sourced waxy thread produces ... Some previous customers used waxed thread despite my warnings and when the Tapes are ironed on the wax melts and spreads under the tapes like crazy. Then the tapes will not stick in that area and that is for sure not the fault of the tapes... DO NOT USE WAXED RIB STITCH THREAD !!!....Someone asked: "Is there any reason I can not use fishing line. The newer lines are wax free and extremely strong for there size. What do you think?" - I would not use the fishing line as it's smooth and cannot be soaked with our glue. why do you not just use our non-waxy tread that we offer? The fishing line is so smooth and the glue cannot penetrate it, I would absolutely Not use it. See the wax on the old style kinda held the knots together and all, together with all the glue and paint. Now ours will soak full of glue, the fishing line will not.

If there were a flat, non-waxed cord I would probably use it. But I don't want to spend the time removing wax from strands before lacing. And I certainly don't want to have problems with finishing tape adhesion. So I'll use the round Oratex non-waxed cord.