ALTANA Film Casting Knife - Manual (Page 5)

4
Operation:
Place the BYK-Gardner Film Casting Knife on
a test surface which is perfectly fl at. Adjust
the blade on the knife to the desired gap; this
should be twice the required amount of wet fi lm
thickness.
Pour a small amount of the test sample in front
of the applicator between the end plates. Move
the instrument across the surface at a slow and
uniform rate (about one inch per second) until the
fl uid has all been applied and/or any surplus has
been drawn off the panel at the end of the fi lm
path.
The exact ratio of the wet fi lm thickness to the
gap clearance of any applicator depends on the
material being used, the viscosity and texture of
the fl uid, the force applied to the applicator, the
speed of the drawdown and the geometry of the
edge which draws the fl uid.
The actual wet fi lm applied should be measured
using an Interchemical Wet Film Thickness Gage
(see BYK-Gardner Catalog Section on Film
Thickness), and the clearance readjusted until the
wet fi lm is exactly the desired thickness.
Operation