Longer flock fibres

[flockerfella]

Hi Ray,

Just joined - great information - thanks for setting up the site, its REALLY appreciated! A couple of questions.

Have you tried longer flock fibres - I see some suppliers offer flock up to 10mm. Would your hand held (7kV) devise deliver enough juice to handle the longer flocks? Curious to see if you are able to form different (longer) hairstyles with longer fibres, and "styling" while the glue is still wet - what do you think?

Have ordered the parts - can't wait to get started.

Best Regards, Chris

[Ray (Flock Man)]

Hello Chris,
I’ve use 8mm flock in a 7.5kV unit, 15kV unit, 24kV, and a 5 to 100kV unit. The 7.5 works just as good as the higher models. The difference is spacing of the electrode to the ground plate or ground clip. A 7.5kV unit would have to be closer to ground to be active. A 24kV+ would need to be further away to make a nice charging field without a spark jumping the gap from HV (high voltage) to ground. 20kV is about my useful limit and that’s for something big like say a 1/6th scale horse. For a Joe head (my main use) 6 to 10kV works best flocking one or two heads at a time.
My latest side project is to flock 10 or more heads at once using a longer flocking cabinet/tray. I came up with the idea playing foosball . The rods will all be movable in the charging field. Right now I have to work out the best way to get full coverage at the crown of the heads with this new system without getting angled flock (like many of the handheld units do).
In short I believe 10mm will work and you could style it before the glue sets. This will take a bit of practice so use temp. glue for your practice.

Ray

[flockerfella]

Thanks Ray for your insights. I'll start experimenting as soon as the unit is built.

Chris