Entry 4 – The Purging Rails

The purging rails function to hold items of clothing in a position of optimal space-time, so as to encourage the evaporation of water. They can be made of any suitable material. A primary consideration is whether they will remain inert when in contact with wet clothing. Copper, for example, will need coating with some variety of paint or lacquer to prevent it staining the prize ball gowns and brilliant white dress shirts. Similarly, most wood species will stain drying clothing unless protected in some way.

Thus proper preparation of the purging rails is crucial. The purging rails here, formed from old copper pipes were first cut to length (in this case that was a measure of some half dozen feet (1.8m)), and then sanded down with progressively fine textured abrasives, to form a glorious shine.

Using this fantastical pipe cutting device the pipes can be cut to a similar length.

Starting with 100 grit sand paper blemishes, dullness and corrosion are removed. Apply elbow grease liberally.

The amount of sanding required some mechanical advantage to achieve satisfactory results. An assistant (using the imaging device, so not shown) worked the abrasive paper up and down while I controlled rotational speed.

The advantage here is that lacquering will prevent oxidation and maintain that lovingly acquired brilliance. The lacquer was the by-product of a car wound dressage. Following the instructions it is important to protect the lungs and other organs from pungent chemical damage. This particular lacquer reaches full strength after 2 weeks – this must be factored into production time, and may be a good reason to start with the purging rails first, so that work can commence elsewhere while they mature.

A charcoal lined chemical warfare jacket like this is not necessary, but helps to improve moral while using the lacquer spray.