Replacement Fiber Optic Spray Update

[jmpenny32]

Well, I am going to give this another go. My first few attempts at reproducing these replacement sprays for the Fantasia lamps has been nothing but a nightmare! The process is lengthly and the art at shaping these is.....well....an art. There is no easy way of trimming them and that is where my road block has been from getting them rolled out for sale. That and this obnoxious "Slean coating" that was applied to the fibers during the manufacturing process. Apparently they coat the fibers in this coating to prevent them from "Fanning Out" during the spooling process.....welllll I kinda need them to do exactally that! "Fan Out" so I apparently need to soak the spray first in an alcohol solution to breakdown and remove this coating before I can attempt to trim them. I was doing this step before, I am just letting you all know the involvement of the process. So I contacted the sales rep where I got the fibers and he said that they can do a run of the fiber without this coating (slaps head and sighs) I said are you kidding me! I wish I had known that before hand..lol. Oh well, live and learn and this is surely a learning process.

 

I do have a new trimming stand that I will be able to work better around so I am hoping that will help. The spray you see soaking in alcohol is the super long 17" spray commonly seen on the Black Sunburst 4000 models....I will keep this updated as to all of the progress and even a short video on trimming these sprays so you can all see just how tedious this process is. I hope to have these for sale soon for those of you interested in purchasing a replacement spray, I apologize for any delays in getting these rolled out! Thank you all for your patience :-)

[Kirk]

Thanks for the update, Joe.  I'm interested in seeing more of this process, and I'm rooting for you!

[Brad]

putting the george foreman grease catcher to work i see :)

[goober jack]

Keep at it!

[jmpenny32]

Ok, so that was a lot better...Not a complete disaster, but still could be a lot better. The biggest problem I seem to be having is the excessive grouping of fibers at the very top of the spray. It took 5 hours to shape the spray..I was freakin Edward Scissorhands out in my shop..WTF...LOL. Anyway here are the pictures. I tried doing the video and lets just say......yea no...lol

 

[Gwen Williams]

Do you have a friend that went to cosmetology school? Know a hairstylist? Ask one of them, they can see a "style" and follow it WAY more than us mortals.

[jmpenny32]

[jmpenny32]

[jmpenny32]

Thanks Kirk, I cant throw in the towel just yet, with every spray they become a bit easier, only problem is I end up wasting a lot of fiber if they come out like crap and it is very expensive.
 
Kirk said:

Thanks for the update, Joe.  I'm interested in seeing more of this process, and I'm rooting for you!

[jmpenny32]

Yea that thing came in handy for more than one reason aside from collecting grease. It just sits in my cabinet..lol

Brad said:

putting the george foreman grease catcher to work i see :)

[Jeff Meyers]

looking forward to future updates. stuff looks like hair. heavy metal hair.

[Liam]

Maybe it was easier to trim the sprays in that shape back in the 70's when it was fashionable to have your hair cut like this:

Keep up the hard work Joe!

[Jeff Meyers]

ya keep with it JM you'll get it perfected.