Interested in trying some flocking. Can you flock EVA? any tips? any of the sponsors carry what I need to get started?Looks pretty neat.

RodMaker Volume 7 #3 has the article and plenty of tips.

You can flock anything that the adhesive will stick to, which would include EVA.

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I have had serious failures with softening and crumbling of EVA that has been coated with the Donjer Adhesive. The grips held up quite well for six months or so and then they started to literally fall apart. Evidently the alkyd base or the mineral spirits I used to thin the adhesive "soaked" into and degraded the EVA base. I have had to replace several flocked grips due to EVA degradation. I can not trace it to any one shipment of EVA grips but have discontinued the flocking of EVA grips. All failed grip sets had two coats of the Donjer Adhesive Applied - one coat for prep and one coat for flock

After the fact: Shame on me!

Chemical resistance is listed as Poor for solvents in contact with EVA

[www.indianplasticportal.com].



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/22/2009 03:43PM by Bill Stevens.

I can't comment on thinning the adhesive - it's something I've not done nor recommended in the article. The adhesive needs to be very thick in order to gain sufficient purchase on the flock.

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Thinning was done with small amounts of mineral spirits after extreme thichening of product in the bottom of cans. Product was restored to original thickness of new product only - applied heavy coats under rotation - there has been no release of flock involved only degredation of EVA substrate. The problem I encountered is a product compatability issue.

So the adhesive broke down the eva or the mineral spirits?

Most likely the mineral spirits.

If your can of adhesive is relatively fresh, there will be no need to thin it and results should be very good.

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Thanks Tom, gonna give it a try. I hope the can I order if "fresh" . Gotta try it though after I saw your wine colored one, looks silky smooth. If the eva breaks down after 6 months, worse case scenario, will sand it down and put some X shrink over it. Thanks.

If the can is unopened, it will stay fresh for years. Don't worry about that.

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Wine is my preferred color over cork -

[www.rodbuilding.org]

Can't imagine Bill not mentioning this: In his seminars, he abdicated giving the cork or foam substrate a primer / sealer coat of the paint / adhesive and let dry before doing the actual wet coat and flocking. Bill are you still of this opinion?

Bill in WV

The article mentions how to prepare porous surfaces prior to applying the adhesive.

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The long term degredation of the EVA occurred after the 2009 ICRBE - I will not flock any more EVA using the Donjer Adhesive. Their are many sources and forms of EVA. Some may be more resistant to the effect than others - I see no reason to chance fate any longer. See if you can get your EVA supplier to identify if their EVA is chlorinated or not. The original article in Rodmaker dealt with cork. I have done over 200 EVA grips sets with varying degrees of softening - none maintain their original firmness for a year for a year - this information is posted as a notice of possible problems. The primary advantage of using the EVA was that the surface of the material is closed cell non porus which made it unnecessary to use a color preserver to seal prior to application of the adhesive. Take a piece of EVA and apply one coat of the adhesive and allow to dry for five days - go back and take a close look - you will need to apply a second coat before flocking - the stuff does penetrate the surface of the EVA.