TECH: Homemade pixie duster(Flake Buster)

That's really interesting stuff...I've never metal-flaked using anything besides my paint guns.

These pics are of a bike that I painted and shipped the tins back to him in Finland. The flake is Lil Daddy Roth "Warm Beer" .015" flake. I sprayed it through my well-cleaned-out primer gun in order to: (a) take advantage of the larger spray tip and (b) so I would not get freakin' flake all through the next job that I clearcoated!

I just mix up a regular 2:1 reduction of HOK SG100 intercoat clear, dump in the flake, and keep "swirling" the gun around to keep the flake suspended in the clearcoat and not all settle right to the bottom of the paint cup!

This flake laid down pretty decent and I blieve I used either 2 or 3 separate 3-coat applications/wet-sandings of HOK UC35 Kosmic Klear to make it smooth as glass.

Just another option... and I have no idea whether the Monster Flake (.025") would flow through a primer gun because I've never tried it!

www.flamethrowercustoms.com

thats really nice paint flame thrower, i have shot flake through paintguns before but not with too much luck. usually my paintgun clogs up or i end up getting a run in the paint from having to shoot so many layers (i am very impatient!) with the pixie duster i get instant gratification with a ton of flake within minutes........that's just me though you know?

Thanks... I am impatient regarding most things but when I step into my spray booth I need to step back and ramp up the patience levels! I've had very good luck using the method that I described, but it must be a spray gun with a large spray tip (which is why I use my primer gun) and I put quite a quantity of flake into the intercoat clear medium so I don't need to shoot too many coats. Using intercoat clear for the flake works good because even a heavy coat flashes within 10 minutes... which is good for not testing my patience.

www.flamethrowercustoms.com

i like this how to i googled this and saw a couple other people have built similar gun, maybe a little bit more permanent. has anyone eles tryed to make a flake buster? id like to see another design

hey guys don't want to sound like a broken record bringing this back up. at the beginning i said that i bought a 1/4" ID hose, and a 3/16 one also. the first time i used the 3/16" and it worked pretty good. today i had to shoot some more flake and tried a 1/8 ID.........wow that worked even better!! it gives you more control of the flake. anyhow the more i practice the better i get at controlling how much flake i want where. i guess the small venturi made for more precision.

I gotta try this, loved the how to thread about the soda blaster.

Thanks to this I'm taking a new direction with my tank.

Originally Posted by satch

i like this how to i googled this and saw a couple other people have built similar gun, maybe a little bit more permanent. has anyone eles tryed to make a flake buster? id like to see another design

looks a bit like a sandblasting gun

Originally Posted by MitchMotors

looks a bit like a sandblasting gun

I imagine you could use nearly any media blasting gun for this.
http://www.harborfreight.com/gravity...gun-93221.html

this thread should go right into the greatest hits

It worked

Would this work? The only air compressor I have access to is not near the only painting booth I have access to (different floors)

not sure if that will offer enough vacum pressure to suck up the flake and blow it out. it's worth a try if you have some extra flake

Originally Posted by mrkil

not sure if that will offer enough vacum pressure to suck up the flake and blow it out. it's worth a try if you have some extra flake

yeah thats what I am thinking. I'm planning to do some painting pretty soon, obviously, if it works I'll let you guys know, if not chances are I'll be carrying an air compressor across the building and down a flight some stairs.

you might want to look at pickin up an airbrush compressor since that is the same system that airbrushes use.

I dont do enough painting for it to be worth buying a whole airbrush setup, and the shop doesn't do any painting, their air compressor (60 gallon) is mainly for the lift, tires and lazy clean up. This project will be done with rattle cans.

Originally Posted by JimmyBK

I dont do enough painting for it to be worth buying a whole airbrush setup, and the shop doesn't do any painting, their air compressor (60 gallon) is mainly for the lift, tires and lazy clean up. This project will be done with rattle cans.

An air brush setup is pretty cheap.

I think the dust off is genius in it's simpicity, I hope it works because that would rock.

The yard sale cigarette lighter compressor and that leftover charger cord from a 12 volt power wheel and an old freon jug has got me by on a ton of occasions.

I use a Harbor Freight gun for flake. 1.8mm nozzle. Mix clear with flake and when im done,i throw gun in trash.Use my good Anest Iwata gun to cover flake with more clear. Only done it 3 times,but works great.I suppose you could clean the gun,but they are under 20 bucks,so F it.