So, I cleaned the aluminum one up (like it was never even flocked) put it on a skid and prepared to flock. For the previous flocking run, everything was electrostatically done. I purchased a hobby flocking unit that generates a charge. To "target" the object you want to flock, you have to put a 't'-pin into the base of the object. Since this particular flocker is mostly for making wargaming models and model railroading, it handles mostly flat substrates.
So I stick the t-pin into the cardboard, and this usually does the trick. The first time I tried flocking the aluminum spacebar I pinned the cardboard and it reacted very strangely. The fibers almost seemed to avoid the spacebar. So this time around, I did this instead:
Ok, so now I'm hoping the entire spacebar will be charged, and we'll get a nice, dense coating.
The last image in that series is the adhesive-coated spacebar. It should be a nice thick coating and as even as you can make it. You also have to flock as quickly as you can after coating, before it "skims over". The wand that holds the flock has a screen placed over the end, and it's shaken over the targeted object. Overall, it seemed to have worked. The flock had some issues with clumping -- it looked for a few moments like I was making orange cotton candy; strands of fibers locking together.
