How to use a coating rod "puddle pusher"

The following illustration shows how you should set up the paper for coating. I find it is best to use a piece of plate glass as the base as it will provide a flat surface. Plate glass is fairly inexpensive. I get a 16 x 16 piece here in Santa Fe for $9.00. Have your shop sand the edges. If you don’t, you may find yourself dripping blood all over the place if you have to pick up the glass and move it.
Next you want to add a couple of sheets of newsprint. 2 or 3 is enough. Any cheap paper will work. This will provide a slight cushion for the coating process.
Now you can lay down the piece of paper to be coated. You might want to very very lightly mark out the area to be coated with a pencil. I just put little L marks in the corners.
When you are ready to coat, the setup will look like Figure1.

The Coating Process
These instructions are for right handed folks. Lefty’s will have to transpose the actions. Though all of this might sound complex, it is really quite simple. For a 8 x 10 print the complete coating process is usually under 10 seconds
Place your emulsion in a small vessel. I use small plastic taco sause cups that I get at restaurant supply stores.
Pour it along the length of the rod on the left side as shown by the dark streak in Figure 2.
Holding the rod in your right hand jiggle the rod in the direction of the arrows. The motion should be about a half-inch in each direction. This is to flow the solution evenly along the length of the rod. The rod will provide some capillary action and sort of sucks the solution along its length. The holes in the ends are of no consequence, the rod could just as well be solid. This will take about 1 to 2 seconds.
Now with very gentle pressure pull the rod to the left edge of the area to be coated. When you get to the edge, quickly pull it back to the right. Then again to the left but this time pull it a little further and then lift it up. You are finished coating. By Dick Sullivan