and into catch vessel 80 in the embodiment shown container 20 contains a liquid coating composition designated 150 and a liquid 160 which is immiscible with the coating composition the tows employed according to the invention are high strength tows comprising a plurality of fibers such as for example carbon or graphite silica silicon carbide silicon nitride silicon carbide coated boron boron carbide coated boron silicon coated silicon carbide alumina mullite yttrium aluminum oxides beryllium titanium composites boron aluminosilicate and the like the coating composition may be a clay slip or slurry a solution of a metal salt or a polymer solution or a sol a polymer solution is an inorganic oxide network containing glass or ceramic forming elements such as si al ti zr and the like and optionally modifying elements such as mg b and the like the oxide network is formed by controlled hydrolysis of an organo metallic compound such as a metal alkoxide the net reaction to form an anhydrous oxide is generally represented by the hydrolysis reaction 1 may be catalyzed by the addition of acid or base depending on ph and water content the hydrolysis of for example tetraethylorthosilicate teos can result in the formation of polymeric species ranging from polysiloxane chains to colloidal particles of essentially pure silicon dioxide conditions employed in the preparation of monolithic glasses or ceramics normally consist of the hydrolyzation of the alkoxide precursors with a small to large excess of water in equation 1 above x greater than n 2 at low to intermediate ph about 1 to 9 these conditions can result in structures that are intermediate between linear chains and colloidal particles the oxide network can.