Drip resistant wood graining process

Drip resistant wood graining process (themed set material finish).

A process provides two or more strands of rope formed of a fibrous matrix material. Further, the process threads the strands singly and in parallel under tension into a coating container. In addition, the process applies a curable fluid matrix to at least some of the strands. The process also draws the strands through a constricting orifice to bond them together along their length to form a composite rope. Further, the process cures the composite rope to form a rigid structure. An apparatus comprises an armature, a wire mesh that is operably attached to the armature, and an epoxy coated rope that is operably attached to the wire mesh. The epoxy coated rope comprises glass fiber.

BACKGROUND(1) 1. Field(2) This disclosure generally relates to the field of wood graining systems. More particularly, the disclosure relates to wood graining systems for artificial props.(3) 2. General Background(4) Artificial props are typically used as an alternative to real objects in a variety of environments such as theme parks, zoos, aquariums, etc., since such artificial props are typically much less expensive than the corresponding real objects. Such props may include wood grained props, i.e., props that have the appearance of an arrangement of wood fibers and the texture of such arrangement. The wood grained props may have a straight grain arrangement of fibers, i.e., fibers that run parallel to the longitudinal axis of the artificial prop, or a cross grain arrangement of fibers, i.e., fibers that run in a spiral or a diagonal pattern with respect to the longitudinal axis of the artificial prop. Use of such artificial props typically necessitates significantly less expensive maintenance than real props. For example, watering and trimming of the artificial props is not necessary.(5) Yet, the artificial wood props often lack the durability of the corresponding real props. For example, artificial wood props tend to lose their realistic appearance, melt, drip, fall apart, break, etc. when present in a harsh weather environment. Further, artificial wood props must be implemented in a way that meets the high safety standards of an entertainment environment, e.g., a theme p