Abstract: An improved shaft is described with which a sponge saturated with carbon coating can be pushed through the narrow neck of a cathode ray tube funnel to fully coat the interior of the neck with the carbon coating. The improved shaft is made of a plastic composite material, for example. This improved shaft is much less expensive than previous stainless steel shafts and has enough flexibility that it is not easily bent when plunged into a funnel that is not properly aligned and centered under the shaft.

Abstract: An improved shaft is described with which a sponge saturated with carbon coating can be pushed through the narrow neck of a cathode ray tube funnel to fully coat the interior of the neck with the carbon coating. The improved shaft is made of a plastic composite material. The preferred material for the improved shaft is garolite. This improved shaft is much less expensive that previous stainless steel shafts and has enough flexibility that it is not easily bent when plunged into a funnel that is not properly aligned and centered under the shaft.

Abstract: A hand tool can be used for measuring the thickness of a carbon layer applied in a cathode ray tube funnel during manufacture of the tube. The hand tool includes a scribe with a cutting blade or point that extends under the control of the user relative to the rest of the tool. The extension of the scribe relative to the base of the tool, which may be a roller, rollers or a skid plate, indicates the thickness of the carbon layer. The tool can also be applied to measure the thickness of other material layers deposited on a substrate.

Abstract: An improved chemical wash is used to cleanse the interior of an open Cathode Ray Tube (“CRT”) funnel before a coating of a carbon material is applied. The traditional ammonium bifloride wash for CRT funnels can be replaced with an aqueous solution of trisodium phosphate (“TSP”). The TSP solution is preferably sprayed under pressure into the open CRT funnels to cleanse each funnel before the interior coating of carbon material is applied. The TSP solution cleanses the funnels as well as the ammonium bifloride wash previously used, but does not tend to clog the wash sprayers. Moreover, the TSP solution does not need to be treated before it is released as waste and costs significantly less that the previous ammonium bifloride wash.