AgilePooch Diaries

Last weekend, I made my first skins using Rubber on the Run kits for the table, chute mat, and chute rim. Here are some of the things I learned during this phase. This is the third installment in my saga. I’m assuming that you have a copy of the book (“Making Rubber Skins for Agility Equipment“) or it won’t make much sense.

Supplemental list – things you need that I didn’t see mentioned in the book

• Big T- or L-square. This makes it much easier to lay out the tape patterns.
• Long straight-edge. Ditto
• Scissors. Easier than a utility knife for cutting the plastic. Actually, if you have a cutting board/wheel in your sewing room, that works even better.
• Sharpie. Required for marking corners on the floor and marking the plastic for cutting.
• Regular plastic spoons. I didn’t buy the suggested ice tea spoons because they are for mixing binder with acetone and the pieces I was making didn’t require that. I didn’t think about the scraping I’d be doing to transfer the binder into the rubber. I grabbed some plastic spoons out of my trailer – worked perfectly.

Preparation

• Despite your best efforts, rubber will get everywhere. Have a shop-vac standing by. It also helps when leaves and other debris blow in the garage door – stuff is attracted to the binder, much like a moth to light.
• Binder will also get everywhere and it’s sticky and nasty. Wear old clothes, protect everything you can with plastic, and remember that rags full of mineral spirits are your friend.
• Don’t underestimate the number of gloves you will need. Each piece requires at least four. I used six or eight on the table top.

Lessons I learned the hard way

• The book reminds you to put the tape on the outside of your lines. Seems obvious, right? Double- or even triple-check your measurements after the tape is down. I just barely missed learning this one the hard way and had to reset some tape at the last minute.
• I thought a narrower and deeper 27-qt bin would be easier than a wider shallower bin for mixing the big batches (like the table). I was wrong. The deep bin has two problems: the depth of the mixture is greater than the length of the glove, and the deeper mixture also makes it more difficult to track down all of the dry pieces.
• The more pieces you plan to make in one session, the more room you will need to clear in your workspace for storing the pieces being cured. Misjudging this led directly to the next lesson…
• If you inadvertently screw up another skin that is curing nearby (by sitting on it like an idiot), you can “borrow” some goop from the skin you are working on to repair the damage.

Tips I learned along the way

• If you’re using a gallon can of binder, don’t try to pour it – use a 1-cup plastic container to transfer it to your weighing container.
• Do the best you can, but accept that you will lose a little rubber and binder on each transfer. No need to get compulsive, there is plenty of goop and you don’t want to lose valuable time. In fact, I learned the next day that it’s easier to clean up if you don’t try to scrape the bin completely clean.
• The pellets get significantly darker when they are coated with the binder. This makes it easy to tell when you are done mixing – when you no longer see any lighter pellets.
• You really need to scrape every nook and cranny of the bin when you are mixing up the goop to be sure that you don’t leave any dry pellets or pockets of binder behind.
• The book suggests a 1-1/2″ or 2″ putty knife. I also suggest a 4″ one for the big pieces. I found both 2″ and 4″ disposable plastic putty knives for $0.84 at Lowes.

Clean-up

• I was skeptical about the claim that the binder would peel off of plastic. It actually does, but you have to wait the full 24 hours, and even more if it is thick like the goo at the bottom of the measuring container.
• On the flip side, the binder sticks to everything else. If you don’t promptly clean up everything that is non-plastic (metal, concrete, paint, wood) with mineral spirits, you’ll be needing that metal putty knife after all.
• I woke up Monday morning with a thin sheen of binder on my hands. I hadn’t noticed it over the weekend, but when I washed my hair, it felt like my hands were coated with silicone. Now it’s peeling and looks like a horrible disease. I’ll try some more mineral spirits, but that has its own side effects on the skin. Just be ready for that.

Things I’m still trying to figure out

• I’m not at all sure how to tell if the mixture is evenly distributed and uniformly thick. I’m guessing it involves one person lying on their side eyeballing the sheet and guiding the troweler to the hot spots.
• My first effort was with a two-toned blue/yellow mix. If I had it to do over, I would start with a solid color. I think it will be easier to gauge thickness and even distribution with a solid color because the floor showing through will give a much clearer contrast.
• I found that the 1″x10″ boards got in the way. I’m thinking about alternatives, including shorter pieces, weights or some other way to secure them, and maybe even 1″x2″ half-frames instead (with just two sides and a corner). That idea might actually have merit because it could double as the straight-edge and corner angle for laying out the tape. Hmmm, maybe I could make a jig out of two 48″ pieces of 1/2″x2″ nylon from TAP Plastic, mitered on the corner, and connected with a hinge on the outside of the joint…I’ll get back to you on that.

Keep in mind that these tips only got us through making the raw skins – I still have to trim them and glue them to the equipment. I’m sure that will generate another installment.

Next up: Gluing and Trimming

For background on the evolution of rubberized contacts and the development of the process, please refer to the first entry in this series, Rubberized Contacts: What Does That Even Mean.

Several weeks ago, the Bay Team and SMART equipment committees decided to dip their toes into rubberized contacts by making the simplest ones – table top/sides and chute pads/rims. I thought that was a reasonable place for me to start too, so I piggy-backed my order. I also offered to host the fabrication effort so the whole order (including a few more piggy-backers) got shipped to my house – kits for 8 tables and 6 chutes.

I thought it would be wise for me to make my own set before we start on the club equipment for two reasons: (1) I could learn my lessons on ones that will only be used in my backyard and not in competition, and (2) I could get a feel for the effort involved and better determine how to get the rest of them done.

I went through the book and prepared a shopping list of required tools and supplies. I ended up at Lowes, Office Depot, Target and Wal-Mart before I finally got home. Here is the full array of supplemental stuff.

The next task was to lay out the tape pattern on the floor. Since I’m not making a whole set of skins, I didn’t need to use the master plan from the book. Instead, I made up my own scheme based on the specs in the book. I overlapped pieces to minimize the space required. The large box on the left is the table (including sides, which get cut out later), the one on the right is the chute mat, and the long skinny one at the top is the chute rim.

I then prepared the grid for the next step by taping down a sheet of plastic and setting the boards in place. Then it was time to change my clothes, put on the gloves, and start pouring.

And finally, here are pictures of the mixed goop ready to spread, and then the final product as it begins its 12-hour cure.

I repeated the process two more times for the chute rim and the table. It took my most of the day and into the evening for these three pieces. I was obviously not as efficient as I might have been, for several reasons:

1. I didn’t know what I was doing so I was extra careful. No question I got faster as I gained confidence.
2. I was stopping frequently to take pictures and notes.
3. I rested between each piece because it’s not that easy, and because I was posting the pictures to Facebook.
4. I was distracted by my computer because Rich was on a motorcycle rally and I was following his progress.

Wrapping up the day at 8:00pm, I had three rubber skins curing in the garage, lots of notes to draft for this blog, and quite a bit of pondering to figure out what kind of efficiencies and economies of scale might be realized by adding more people and space to the process. Because somehow, we have to get 5 more sets ready for gluing by the end of next weekend.

Next up, lessons learned during the prep and wet-pour process.

For years, agility contact obstacles have relied on slats and texture (usually sand-filled paint) to provide the dogs with the necessary traction to perform the obstacles safely. Now, however, thanks mostly to European innovation, we are gradually making a switch to rubberized equipment. This offers two significant improvements: safer equipment for the dogs, and longer-lasting equipment for the humans.

After considerable experimentation on both sides of the pond, most agility clubs have settled on a rubber pellet coating, similar to that found on athletic tracks. Early efforts involved slathering the equipment with binder or contact cement, and then pressing the pellets directly onto the surface. This method is difficult, messy, and most importantly, has not withstood the test of time. Because the pellets are not evenly coated with goop, they tend to shed, resulting in uneven coverage and bare spots.

Fortunately, Darlene Woz, an enthusiastic competitor and former judge, decided to investigate a better way. She learned about the wet-pour method that is used for the athletic tracks, and adapted it for agility equipment through an extensive process of trial-and-error and testing. This method involves mixing the rubber with the binder, then pressing it into shape on a flat surface and letting it cure into a skin. The skin is then affixed to the equipment with contact cement. Because the rubber pellets are evenly coated with binder, there is no shedding and the resulting skin is very consistent.

Darlene then took it one step farther and made her process completely accessible to the average person. First, she wrote “Making Rubber Skins for Agility Equipment“, an amazing booklet that directs the Do-It-Yourselfer through the process with extraordinary detail. And when she makes an improvement or adjustment, she publishes updates. Next, she began packaging the pellets and binder in pre-measured kits for each piece of equipment. This takes away the burden of buying too many pellets or too much binder, which are both only available in bulk. And finally, for those who have more money than time or space, she sells completed skins (slatted or slatless), ready for installation on a properly-prepared piece of equipment.

More details are available at her website, Rubber on the Run, where you can purchase the books, kits and skins. Her products are also sold by Clean Run, who will send free samples on request. The rubber is available in a spectacular array of colors – something for every backyard decor.

Coming up next – my first attempt at making some skins in the garage.