Flocking it works!!!

[joff-turbo-nova]

Well as you may all be aware I am considering having my dash flocked but was looking to do loads of parts
so was really wanting to do it myself.

I didn;t want to shell out a fortune but wanted a decent end product, better than the puffer kits out there.

I then stumbled across a site in the US getting rid of some of their stock, and an Electrostatic Flocking Applicator
was amongst their stuff. Paypal payment later and 2 weeks shipping and my applicator arrived today in its own case :-

http://www.elsamak.karoo.net/app1.jpg

I am not quite ready to flock the dash yet but I needed to try it out on something - roll up the cadburys
highlights lid !!!! -


http://www.elsamak.karoo.net/app2.jpg

I then put the kettle on (you need some humidity for the applicator to work best) and then loaded up the
applicator and zapped the lid ......

http://www.elsamak.karoo.net/app3.jpg

The photo doesn't show the flock off to its best - the great thing is its a uniform layering with no clumps
and all the fibres are pointing 90 degrees to the surface which is how it should be. I'm really chuffed
with the results and it means I can do dashes, centre consoles, pillar covers .... well anything really!!!

Cheers

Joff

[Stanley]

god i knew the americans were good at something

that is f*cking quality

you could make a mint hehe

top work m8

[R1CH]

Class, as stan said you could make yourself a fortune !
I'll let you practise on my dash if you want !?!?lol
How long does it take to do ?

Rich

[jbowman]

That thing is amazing! How does it actually do that?
I'll be very impressed to see what the outcomes of your interior will be!

[joff-turbo-nova]

The lid , which I know isn;t very big took a couple of minutes max! You just apply the glue to the lid, load up the applicator turn it on and gentle shake. The static charge aligns the fibres end on so they imbed 90 degrees into the glue.

You then let it dry for 24 hours then either shake off the excess or hoover it off. Job done!

Joff

[Stanley]

what length of fibres are used?

what do you use in it? i.e. what do you fill the applicator with?

[joff-turbo-nova]

The flocking fibres are about 1mm long and extremely fine. The glue is placed onto the surface that needs flocking and the applicator has a hopper at the front end with a metal plate and metal mesh on the top of the hopper. The flock is placed into the hopper.

The flock when passed over the mesh is aligned correctly, and as the glue is grounded using the take off lead you can actually see the flock being pulled from the hopper into the glue.

Joff

[jbowman]

How hard would it be to get more fibres and would it be possible in different colours? Or does the colour come from the part you are flocking - like the blue jar lid?

[8valver]

how much did you pay for it??

[Riggy]

that looks wicked fella , cant wait to see what the dash looks like :thumb:

[joff-turbo-nova]

The applicator cost just over ?100 plus shipping but delivery via Royal Mail was a bit of a mare as they kept promising to deliver and nothing showed up! Eventually rolled up Saturday just gone.

The flock comes in a variety of different colours from Frost. I had great difficulty obtaining a grey colour for the dash but a company called Blast Cleaning Products came up trumps with the right shade.

The final colour is primarily decided by the flock but the base glue can change the tone slightly.

I am doing the central area of the dash (with the knobs , controls and PDA) blue with the rest of the dash in grey.

Joff

[Welsh Dan]

I'm looking forward to the pics. :thumb:

[ade]

That's well smart - I was considering doing that on my custom dash eventually - may have to "hire you"!

:thumb:

however - how resiliant is it?

EG will it go like my Action Man's head did after 6 months of "combat" - and go all bald with constant touching? (not that I was touching up my Action Mans head you understand! he used to get tortured!)

I'm thinking that you mentioned the knobs on the dash - you might not want to apply it to items that get handled on a regular basis...

Just thinking of all the Action Man out there!

Hey - you could start a retro Action man hair styling company!

lol


Action Man with Blue Hair - nice...

:D

[projectcoshanova]

lol common sense really get fibres. add electric. and itll go like u touchin a plug socket ull soon stand up on end... lmao thats a brillant peice of work u got there mate good luck with ya dashboard and post some pics when done it lol