Spraying Metal Flake

[slater]

Ok more metal flake questions!


I'm doing all the tin work on one of my engines, (thats rocker cover, air filter housing and cam belt cover) I'm wanting to go for the 'totaly covered in flake' look rather than the 'base colour with a bit of flake for sparkles' effect.

How much flake am i going to need? i was going to get it off the bay where it comes in 100g bags.

When going for the totaly flaked look is it best to mix loads of flake in with your lacquer and do loads of coats or is it best to spray a coat of lacquer, puff some flake on it wharlst its still wet and then cover over with loads of lacquer untill its smooth?

I'm on the learning curve!

[wagoneer]

I read in Custom Car a while back that it takes surprisingly little flake to get a good coverage. It's put into clear and built up in a couple of passes, often a tack rag is wiped over the surface before the laquer is dry to get some of those naughty little flake pieces to lay flatter. A few more clear coats will be required after the flake to seal it in and get a smooth finish.

When I tried 'flake in a can' it went everywhere, great clouds of the stuff all around the garden - I had gold flake underpants off the washing line that week ;D

[JohnnySomersett]

Be careful if youre gonna flake things that'll get really hot as the flake will discolour pretty quick if it gets silly hot

[leigh]

In a DVD i have lil daddy roth is showing you how to flake and he uses the "base colour, clear coats, dry flake (pat down then high ones) then loads of clear" method. I've tried this in small amounts with varying degrees of no success!! In fairness tho, mostly due to my lack of patience and terrible prep work.

[Deleted]

Not done it myself but others have told me you need a big ass jet in the spray gun, something like 2mm instead of the usual 1.2 or 1.6mm. Mix up your flake in the clear and chuck a couple of clean nuts or ballbearings in the spray gun so you can mix it up on the fly when you're spraying, I'm guessing this works best in a suction gun because it would go everywhere in a gravity fed gun. My House of Kolor book says to mix it up heavily in the clear and a mate who sprays crash helmets says not to spray more than 3 coats of clear at a time or you risk it wrinkling. Don't know if that's any help at all but I typed it out so I might as well post it

I'd do loads of flake in a few coats, then bury it in a lot of clear on top to set it in glass

[slater]

aye thats what i was thinking, I'm having a practice on these bits for when i do something that i attualy care about

still would be nice to hear from someone who has done it

[The Doctor]

did racer86 his valve cover himself? because if he did, he's the man who should know it by experience ;D

[leigh]

I metalflaked a motorcycle helmet and wrecked it too!! The first few coats of clear-then-flake went well but then my impatience took over and i didnt leave the clear enough set time and it all wrinkled to bits! don't do this at home

[Deleted]

you pretty much guessed it spot on slater what size flake are going for ? 200 micron will be fine with a 1.6 much bigger and you will need a 2.0 or larger . you will need a suction feed gun and heavy flake will need appox 20% mix with clear to give a good effect then just dust over till you get the effect you want let it flash off pat it down to flatten out any up turned bits of flake then 2 to 3 good coats of clear to smooth . flake will be fine on parts you wish to do as they don't all that hot .

[akku]

seems about a third of a bag per litre of clear gives a nice even coverage and allows it to flow out a bit. I think the recomended spec is 35g per litree but divvie the bag into three equal portions as best you can and you're sorted.

I have heard some people claim that gravity is better for flake than suction, I'd be worried about the flake settling and going on unevenly which is more likely with a gravity gun.

It just so happens my "big " gun is a suction - 2.2 tip ideal for barcaot, spray putty and big flake.

You can apply it dry onto a tack coat of wet clear using a "special" dry flake gun which is supposed to give the fastest build up, but I've never tried that.