New veil application technique?

**drfish** · 02-02-2006, 08:05 PM

First off, a big thank you to Roy who shipped out a new can of veil to me after I opened my first shipment only to find it spread all over the inside of the canister.

I decided to try the dregs out on my new foglamps. The first coat looked really nice at first, then when it dried there were little black dots and hazing, etc.

There wasn't enough for a second coat, so I diluted what was left with some alcohol (lab grade ethanol, don't know if isopropyl will work the same way) and did a second coat (granted, it was mostly alcohol). It seems to have made the coat thinner, but...

Fuzzy picture, sorry.

**Dilip** · 02-03-2006, 03:54 AM

U should not dilute it with alcohol! alcohol is used to remove veil!

is that your fog light? It looks very strange with the veil on......it should'nt be like that

**brick** · 02-03-2006, 05:30 AM

Yeah, I don't understand that picture. Did you coat the reflector or something? :?

**drfish** · 02-03-2006, 08:53 AM

Nope, the reflector is not coated, it's the glass. The coat is that smooth. It's still matte, not glossy. Remember that I only had what was left of a bottle cracked in shipment, so it's only one coat, and it's a thin one.

Alcohol is used to remove veil because it's the correct solvent.

What I'm saying is that the alcohol seems to partially dissolve the veil that has been applied, allowing it to take a smooth set without all the lines, bubbles, etc. It also evaporates very rapidly which reduces the time for contamination of the coat.

The pigment in the veil remains in place, so it should still be effective. I'm going to have to put on another coat though, because this one is so thin.

(another reason why the foglight might look strange is because it's a compound light. there are two reflectors and bulbs smushed up inside there, thus the multiple light source reflections)

edit: Took some pictures in the sunlight. once again, very poor cameraphone shot, but you can see how smooth it is.

**Dilip** · 02-03-2006, 10:44 AM

ahh, ok that looks a bit better.

I was wondering....do your fog lights already have a blueish tint on it without the veil?

**drfish** · 02-03-2006, 11:00 AM

Originally Posted by Dilip

ahh, ok that looks a bit better.

I was wondering....do your fog lights already have a blueish tint on it without the veil?

Nope, they were completely clear. Here's a stock photo:

If you look carefully on the bottom lamp, you can see a smear of darker pigment where I wasn't careful. Even so, it's better than having ripples.

**holein1** · 02-04-2006, 01:27 AM

Originally Posted by Dilip

U should not dilute it with alcohol! alcohol is used to remove veil!

I agree, might cut down on the performance too!

**drfish** · 02-04-2006, 06:28 PM

the point is not to dilute it. somebody else just give it a shot on a bit of scrap glass. paint the veil on first. let it dry. then give it a quick brush with some alcohol. it really improves the finish.

**happya$$** · 02-04-2006, 06:33 PM

Dude you are going to give Bob a heart attack with this method :shock:

**nvr2fast** · 02-04-2006, 07:33 PM

I wonder if that works... think about it for a second, it makes sense. Bob the Veil Guy will of course not approve of this method because some fool is going to go rubbing alchohol all over it, but think of this...

when we get streaks, it is because some part had a bit more Veil than others, right? So theoretically, if you used a bit of solvent and smoothed that streak out, it would look better... so doing what drfish said might indeed improve the look...

UNLESS the Veil counts on having some unevenness to it to cut down the laser reflection (like the laser shield being rough)?