Butting Pony Tails

Recently, I wrote about Sentinel 7109's piston rod gland packing challenges but didn't have a photo to illustrate. Also I've now found a way to reduce the challenge to a reasonable level.

The photo below shows an experimental sample of the Pilotpack 4010 1/2" square section material.

Pilotpack 4010

To the right is the 'pony tail' created by cutting the 4010 without any means of holding the fibres together. (It is not quite this bad in practice but it does emphasise what happens if the end is left to its own devices). Butting this against another such end is not easy!

At the left hand end, I'd painted some Heldite around the outer surface and sides of the of the 4010 at the cutting point. To avoid any risking of the 4010 sticking to the rod, I left the inside rubbing surface clean.

I considered Heldite as opposed to Evo-stik because it is good at withstanding high temperatures and oil (used to assist pushing it home in the stuffing box). Although it takes a while to dry, it soaks into the 4010 like a glue and holds the fibres together.

As the photo shows, at the left end where the 4010 has been cut, the Heldite seems have held the fibres together effectively. Now to do it for real...