Flock Box Flop

[traud]

I don't know what it is but I just can't get my Flock box to work.
I've tried humid...in the bathroom...that was worse. I had better luck in the garage. I eventually had to put all the pieces together and use the wand flocker.
The thing to keep in mind here is. I only have the one generator and it is in the flocking wand...I was using gator clips and connection it to the ball in the middle and my make shift plate tinfoil with heavy gauge wire running through it.
Now I was onto this a little before I discovered this site...I would lay the wire down in a V shape on my cardboard and sprinkle the flock on top of it, and one wire to the V and the other wire up to the head on a stick with a wire running up the stick into the head. and do flocking that way.....it seemed to work pretty good. So I figured this box thing would be a snap....but not so much. I'm thinking maybe I need an AC generator instead of the DC or maybe I have to have a more direct hookup without using the gator clips?
I don't know...I going to order an AC generator anyway so I can play around with it, and if anything happens I'll still have old faithful to plug away with.

[rob1]

Traud,
When I first tried the flocking box it didn't work that well either. I just put the head between the ball and bottom plate and nothing happened. I then discovered by touching the plastic pipe that holds the head to the round ball the hair started to stick great. Try that and then get the head close to the metal bottom plate. Try the humidity as well. See if that works.
Rob

[Ray (Flock Man)]

www.flickr.com/photos/flockconcepts/4497868323/


Flocking using a 12volt DC in - 24kV (24,000 volts) out Negative Ion Generator connected. Flocking at 65% relative Humidity (would be much better at 75%+, but you can still get the point. I jump the spark to show that it is running at 24kV even though it's hard to see the flock flying all over the head.

[traud]

First and foremost I'm not done with the flock box...I'm still trying different things out. Secondly thanks for the tips. Rob I did try the touch the stick to the the ball thing and still not so great. Ray your vids make it look so easy man.
It took you less than a minute to so the head...after a minute of me attempting my flock box the head looked like a spriggy Charlie Brown head with a sweaty scalp...so I opted out for the hand shaker. and with the humidity in the bathroom the flock did stick really well. It also got all over the counter...looked like I trimmed the scruff on the counter instead of the sink.
I'm off to give it another whirl.

Thanks again guys

[Ray (Flock Man)]

Damn flickr cut the video short!

I will post it again the 3 minute version.

[Ray (Flock Man)]

how it should have been!

[traud]

Just wondering here, but are there specific dimensions that should be used when making your flock box...can it be too big?
I have my new AC generators and I'm ready to start construction, os I would like to know before I commit to a certain size.

Thanks.

[Ray (Flock Man)]

Mine was made out of a basketball display case 10 inches square.

The cover comes off mine and it looks like Rob1's (which is how I use it most times because it's just easier to move around. you could use a wooden box (which I also have). A cardboard box (which I've done) or a Tote, a stackable tray (the kind at the dollar store that has the cut out in front (45 degrees on the sides).
It all depends on how fancy you want to look. With my clear box I tried to copy the commercial model my teacher has. His has a flat ground plate, but I noticed that the flock tends to bulid up in the dead corners so I made my ground plate 45 degrees on each side. In theroy it should be 45 degrees on all sides of the ground plate, but I never got around to doing that. I did the 45's to force the flock to settle back down in the charge zone to be sent back up again and prevent it from resting.
The tip of the ball is 3 1/2 inches from the back wall. My thoughts on a future model may include a ball that rises from the bottom or hangs from the top. A 12 gauge copper wire holds the ball and is insulated by a rubber tube and sealed with hot glue. The ground and seams are hot glue sealed and so are the wire nuts in the back. I seal everything to prevent charge leakage and voltage shorts due to the flock fibers metal salt treament. I use copper wire to connect the ball because various flocks act differently in the charge field and this way I can move the ball electrode to suit my needs.

[traud]

Thanks for the intel Ray.
I'll have to go out and get some acrylic and get started. I'll borrow some ideas from everyone and see what happens.

Thanks