be formed into a shape corresponding to the interior configuration of the reservoir 34 although other conformable porous media can also be used in this embodiment of the invention this contact in effect u201c wipes u201d the coated threadline so as to control pickup as a result of the contact coating step the resultant threadline exhibits a thin layer of radiation curable composition that has been impregnated into the periphery of the threadline to provide a coated sewing thread which is structurally distinct from conventional sewing thread as described in more detail below impregnation can be controlled however so that the resultant thread is not undesirably stiff due to excessive penetration of the resin into the thread structure this contact coating step contrasts with conventional processes for coating continuous substrates for example typically sewing thread is immersed in a low solids content solution of the bonding agent passed through cooperating rotating rolls to remove excess bonding agent and then heated to evaporate the solvent however this process can result in undesirable levels of resin pickup which can result in excessively thick coating sheaths wasted material and the like the pressure of the nip can be controlled to remove excess resin but excessive pressure can cause the resin to impregnate the thread this is typically avoided because of the resulting increased stiffness on the other hand conventional die coating processes for coating wires optical fibers and the like with a radiation curable composition typically include directing the optical fibers through a coating apparatus which includes.