Hydrographics, perfect finish...

[video=youtube;M3nrJQdQzpM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3nrJQdQzpM[/video]

 

That stuff is pretty cool! It's amazing how well it lays out even around curves and stuff.

 

:hss: damn that is sooooooooo cool :thumbsup:

 

Okay that is just about the coolest stuff I have seen in a long time. Sort of makes me want to try chrome plating the wheels on my bike and maybe the cage too.

:hss::smile:

 

They've been using that process in the Far East for hundreds of years on paper.

 

Micro Carbon Fiber Hydrographic Water Transfer Film Gun DIP Wizard Dash Carb | eBay

 

Anybody who is interested in a more basic process as done for centuries see "paper marbling". Those two dudes doing that "chrome" door are likely drooling into their noodles as compared to the first guy who does the clearcoat on the bike wheel in a spray booth and is wearing a respirator.

The overall process is proprietary of course. To get a handle on stuff like this see an MSDS site. (Material Safety Data Sheet)

The basics process can be done essentially by floating paints and inks on a non-miscible medium. ie oil base artists paints on water is one example. The various colors do not blend and are manipulated with tools for form pattering ranging from moirés to complex shapes.

Ever seen a coffee drink from a fancy-schmancy espresso joint with a heart shaped foamy cap or a cake decorated with a pattern that ya think how the hell did they do that one? Same basic technique.

Am I saying easy? Hell no it ain't easy..but it can be done. Just what we need is a bike looking like a chocolate cupcake..

 

:decision:hmmmmmmmm

 

I had my rear wheel carbon look coated by them, it was great.

 

Give the manufacturers of this product and technique enough time and they might come up with a finish that makes a Harley look lke a pile of shit.

What I am seeing is a fairly elaborate process including temperature control of the liquid which may be treated water to modify the viscosity or Ph. The final steps on a bike if logic prevails would be mimimum a couple of coats of an automotive clear.

To really get folks interested, some cost analysis would be of value. The teasers and making it look easy is great as a sales pitch but if doing a bike wheel is gonna be $500.00 + S&H to some shop 2,000 miles down the road as one scenario, best IMO to really check this stuff out.

The OP has run a nice ad all wrapped up in a pretty package but what is really needed is to know what's inside.

 

Do we get to ask questions or do we just start pulling our wheels off and shipping them to UK?

 

OK here's a pic of the wheel I had done, since replaced with a real carbon wheel



Soldit on to a guy in Scotland.

 

The process is available in the USA ! Do a search for Realtree camo dip & you should find a company doing it. You can do all sorts of patterns & colours, personally I think its much better than powder coating !

 

Are you going to have that genuine carbonfibre wheel done up in cammo? That would be way cool for fox hunting and shit like that.

So what did it cost you to get one wheel done start to finish and why did you sell it to some foreigner?

 

Ha Ha, I like it, on second thoughts I'll keep my expensive real carbon look Sold via the bay to our neighbours up north, I'm in England !

Cost in the UK was 125 pounds, but that included getting the wheel blasted first as there was some corrosion under the Honda paint ! Plus postage to/from the company.

 

Did you guys noticed that is available in E-Bay?, I posted the link Above.. and below this:

dip kit carbon | eBay

As almost everything, it's exclusive until someone massify the thing.

What one day is expensive and exclusive, six month later is available for all, Iphones were for executives at the begining and today the parents give a new one every 6 month to the 8 year old kids.

Is only PAINT in a very thin film, one activator (the spray that they apply with a gun) which I suppose that liquify the paint (still non soluble in water) and that's it.. a little skill of firm pulse, constant movement to dip.. much care.. and at the end some layers of clear paint to protect.

Nothing special.
You can buy a Kit for 90 USD.. and try, I feel very capable to do it, may be the first try will be wrong, but if the materials work well, is not rocket science.

 

The commercial applicators found don't seem for the most part to take calls from "consumers". As an analogy to eight year olds with cellphones buying anything on Ebay can be iffy..

Just the removal of the wheel, the tire, prepping for adhesion, possible priming to insure the thin decorative paint film is homogenous, the even application of the film itself and the further application of clearcoats that should be applied with due diligence, ain't gonna be all that easy especially at 90 bucks a pop.

Seen a shitload of really messed up wheels from hammer handed dudes changing out tires with the wrong tools or even pro shops where the lot boys are let loose on the otherwise right machines.

Bottom line? Maybe a wheel ain't the best thing for trying this stuff out.

 

Hope ya got cash from that Scot. Thrifty dudes ya know.. What is funny is looking up the "official" exchange rates for the Pound vs the USD. Four decimal points.. This does not take into account the recent change in our penny from copper to aluminum..

 

US Pennies have never been aluminum (or aluminium, for our compatriot in the UK).

Straight from usmint.gov 1 cent history:

"The composition was pure copper from 1793 to 1837. From 1837 to 1857, the cent was made of bronze (95 percent copper, and five percent tin and zinc). From 1857, the cent was 88 percent copper and 12 percent nickel, giving the coin a whitish appearance. The cent was again bronze (95 percent copper, and five percent tin and zinc) from 1864 to 1962. (Note: In 1943, the coin's composition was changed to zinc-coated steel. This change was only for the year 1943 and was due to the critical use of copper for the war effort. In 1962, the cent's tin content, which was quite small, was removed. That made the metal composition of the cent 95 percent copper and 5 percent zinc. The alloy remained 95 percent copper and 5 percent zinc until 1982, when the composition was changed to 97.5 percent zinc and 2.5 percent copper (copper-plated zinc). Cents of both compositions appeared in that year."

With that said, the penny should be abolished.

Also, back on topic, the company I work for has been hydro-dipping products we sell for over 5 years now. It's awesome.

 

From this we can assume the good folk at the US mint ended history in 1982? Kind of a sticky Wiki there to illustrate a point reinforcing that the wheels of govern (mint) do grind slowly. Upon a simple search we find several other changes in the US penny including moi trying to pick one up with a magnet and finding that don't quite get it either.

BTW if you have some of the early high copper fraction and zinc coated steel pennies from pre and 1943 vintage and some lemon juice plus a foot or so of copper wire you can make a nice little battery. Science in action.

Awesome is the in word at skateboard parks too followed closely by the recently coined, "AWSOMDOOD!"


Being a sort of detail guy I couldn't help but notice on the thumbnail and description of your bike there is not much of this awesome product showing. Care to comment on that too? Getting back on topic if one reads the thread in total what is being said is not so much putting the product down but that it might not be the greatest thing since canned mashed potatoes on wheels or shit that get hot for that matter and nobody so far is coming up with anything more than sales pitches. Not a clue what is it your employer is dipping but with a little more history homework this is not new. New technology sure, but new? Get out!