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stabilizer tips

Member
i currently make stabilizer tips for the rv-12 but am capable of many other things one of the other processes i use on a daily basis is hydro dipping or hydrographics. this process is used in many industries from the aircraft industry to sporting goods. many of you will notice the wood grain on the interior of you car. that is not real wood but it is done using this same process. hydrographics
is available in thousands of patterns with many wood grains camos and carbon fibers being the most common. i have been looking to broaden the spectrum of applications so if you are interested in having your dash or interior panels dipped. i am willing to do the first person to reply free of labor charges. if you would like burlwood or carbon fiber i will do it free just pay the shipping here and return shipping.
all i ask in return is for you to post pictures of your assembled dash after the process has been done. the turn around for the parts would be 24hrs in my possession so depending on how far you are from Texas will determine the total time you will be without them.
if you missed out on the freebie but are interested in using the process
you can find me at [email protected]
before its just a generic wood stock
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after having the process completed with carbon fiber pattern
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before
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here are a few other things i have dipped this last week for customers
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pink zebra saddlebag for a customers motorcycle
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I would like to try it. I just made a new console cover and I was going to try and match the paint, but am willing to try this. It is a piece of aluminum about 5" wide and 30" long give or take. Please email me at [email protected] and we can go from there. Thanks.
 
I can see the results from your pictures, but could you describe what the process is for those of us not familiar?

thanks
erich
 
there is lots of videos on youtube
but for a quickie
first i prime and base coat the part
then i lay the film on a tank of water
the film hydrates for 1 min
i then spray an activator on the film that liquifies it
now your left with ink floating on the water
i then submerge the part in the water and the pattern is transferred to the part
and the ink is embedded in the paint
last i put down a layer of clear to seal the part and your done
 
This is something I would be interested in having done in the future. Where can I find a list of available prints? Any idea of what the cost would be? Can the panel be left without the clearcoat until labels are applied?

On a side note, I just saw a joke video today of someone doing this process to their hand. It was pretty neat to watch.

Edit:

I was just thinking some more and I guess the lettering could just be applied over the clear that you put down. A second clearcoat could be put on top of the assembly.

I have a fun piece I would like to test. It is just decorative. I have a (guessing at the size) 2" X 5" 6061-T6 plate with my N-Number waterjet cut into it. It would be a good test of how the material looks around detail cutouts. I could also spray it with PPG Omni clearcoat when received to check for material compatability.
 
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if you are interested in the patterns available you can go to my website
Hoesecorp.com look under the services and you will find the hydro dip page there are a few pics there. i am working on getting all the patterns and pics i have in stock posted. there is also a list of patterns available from our supplier if there is a pattern you would like to get you can let us know it usually takes 3 to 5 days to get it here. turn around time varies depending on how many people are in front of you i have never taken more than 3 days to turn around a part. if i have a whole vehicle to do it takes about a week to get all the plastics processed and reassembled in the vehicle. as for aircraft i havent done any yet so prices are still being calculated. i charge 50 an hour and it will take around 1.5 to 2 hrs to do a complete dash for an rv.
 
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Very cool! I'll be contacting you about doing my RV-12 panel in a carbon fiber pattern! It consists of three small, individual sections.

I'm up in the DFW area.
 
Hydrographics are typically pretty fragile and easy to scratch unless top coated. What are you putting over your graphic for protection? Is it glossy of flat? Its dry enough for shipping in 24hrs? What are the costs?
 
i use all auto grade urethane paints from matrix. i can dip a part 3'x 6' although 3' is max i like to stay around 30" to give myself sufficient room to move around a bit. i can dip a part that is 6' long could get a 7 in there but again would be pushing it.
over night in my heated paint booth is enough dry time to release the part back to the customer. although not fully cured, the clear will with stand handling but if dropped it might leave a small scar.
i can clear any pattern with gloss, matte or flat i have all clears in stock. generally the hunters want matte or flat but it is all what you want as an individual. i think dash panels look the best with a gloss to give it the high end look.
if you are interested in pricing you can shoot me some pics of the parts and i can give you an estimate.
12x12 $30 12x 24 $50 12x36 $75 not including the film. film is from 3.00 to 12.00 per square yard depending on the pattern. the films with more colors are more expensive. carbon fibers are 6.50 per yard
 
For a carbon fiber panel look consider this stuff - really good stuff, tough, easy to install on a flat surface or on moderately curved ones with a heat gun. http://www.carbonfibervinyl.com/. But for a plane with a military paint job I imagine that camo pattern shown would be really cool.
 
For those wondering how people get the "burl" look on many of the panels, this is primarily how it's been done. If you look at Phil's pretty "burled" RV10 panel you'll see he had the main frame dipped, then painted the plates a contrasting color. This is a proven technology that has been around for awhile (quite popular with gun stocks, bows, performance car parts, etc..), but not a ton of people have used it for their panels. That said, it's an excellent option if that's the look you're going for!

Cheers,
Stein
 
Last piece of the puzzle, lettering?

Nice looking stuff, just wondering about lettering. I had planned to use the lettering available from Stein's, as I understand it they are applied and then clear coated over it.

Would this be a problem? I would think your clear finish would need a light sanding before the lettering is applied and then cleared over it? Long as the clear I use is compatible with your system.

Or if I was willing to pay your hourly rate, could they be applied before you do the final clear coat?


Cheers, Terry.
 
terry.mortimore said:
Nice looking stuff, just wondering about lettering. I had planned to use the lettering available from Stein's, as I understand it they are applied and then clear coated over it.

Would this be a problem? I would think your clear finish would need a light sanding before the lettering is applied and then cleared over it? Long as the clear I use is compatible with your system.

Or if I was willing to pay your hourly rate, could they be applied before you do the final clear coat?


Cheers, Terry.
Click to expand...

Indeed it works just fine. Below are some pics from a Velocity panel we did last year, also dipped (customer wanted a walnut burl)...this was a gorgeous G900X panel! Note these pictures were before the clearcoat (sent to the customer for approval before we clearcoated them) and it turned out great...unfortunately I managed to misplace the pictures of the finished product - and when it was finished the decals of course dissapear and the lettering remains. In this case, we did in fact VERY lightly sand with high grit before the decals were applied, then clearcoated with a satin/semi gloss paint - don't use flat or matte as it looks poor!

Cheers,
Stein

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This looks great

This looks great. i hope you are following the posting rules and have an add on this website. Then I will be able to find you in a the future. What company name is your ad listed under?

Thanks
 
johnny stick said:
This looks great. i hope you are following the posting rules and have an add on this website. Then I will be able to find you in a the future. What company name is your ad listed under?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Just to be clear, my pics were not done by the OP of this thread - nor do I have any connection or relationship with them at all. I was merely showing what the same process looks like on something we've recently done. There are a lot of shops that do this scattered all over the country - I have no affiliation with any of them in particular nor can recommend positively or negatively any of the specific businesses.

Cheers,
Stein
 
i posted this thread and can do any of the work mentioned. i also can apply the lettering at the shop rate of $60hr
i have been using this process for a while but never to the public only used it on our existing products. Just recently we have decided to start offering it to the public. At the moment my website isn't all that but i can guarantee that the work that comes out of here is top notch. If you are interested in using our services you can go to our website hoesecorp.com or contact me directly at [email protected]
pricing is set at .40 per square inch and turn around time is 3 days on an average week occasionally we do have a large job come in that takes more time but that does not come in front of our daily customers. the customer can pay an additional rate for overtime hours "employees staying after normal hours of 8am-5pm"
the dash in the pictures is burlwood we keep it in stock also we have carbon fiber in stock and several others. the list grows every few days when a customer wants something we dont have. i always order extra that way next time i will have it in stock. i figure this is a way to build up my inventory with patterns people want and not a bunch or dust collectors.
 
special thanks to Fred for letting me dip the dash panels in his cessna 150
it came out great! i think its gonna look awesome once he gets all the instruments installed.
before ( cant figure out to rotate it)
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after dipped in carbon fiber
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