The Tedlar VS Mylar discussion is of great interest... however I have been trying for weeks now to chase down info on the type of MYLAR that we'd need if going that route. Mylar is a registered trademark of DuPont for PET Film (Polyethylene Terephthalate) the same way we tend to call all cotton swabs, Q-Tips or all petroleum jellies, Vaseline. In looking on the DuPont Mylar website... one of their quotes is..."Mylar Films are PET... but not all PET films are Mylar. I find it difficult to believe since DuPont alone manufactures 223 different types of MYLAR Film!!!
Attempting to decern OUR requirements from the specifications is extremely confusing. From my limited research so far... I think we want a bi-axial oriented film. It's apparently stretched in both direction during manufacturing. The stretching is supposed to align the molecules for greater strength and durability. I believe the other type film is a CAST film. One possible candidate is...
MYLARÆ HS
Product Description: MylarÆ HS is an uncoated, transparent polyester film designed for heat shrink applications. It is commercially available in nominal 48, 65, 80 and 150 gauges. Unlike most PET films, MylarÆ HS is not heat stabilized and will shrink with considerable force when exposed to heat.
I know we want a 2 mil film. That's .002 inches... or 50.8 microns. I just can't seem to find out what the heck Dupont means by gauge. It can't be the same as a metal thickness or wire gauge??? Anyone out there know???
I contacted Chappy in the hopes of him having knowledge that would point me at the required product... however he does not posess that knowledge. I'm thinking that if Chappy doesn't know (him being a current Mylar user, former Ultraflight employee and dealer) just where do I look for this info. Who out there is knowledgable enough about this material so that we can approach a supplier with the specific product we need rather than attempting a fishing expedition that might draw suspicion. The greenhouse ruse is well known to all at DuPont with regard to Tedlar inquiries.
So... does anyone know exactly what were looking for... or maybe know a friend of a friend of a friend that knows???
Steve