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Metallic finish for wood pencils

We are a manufacturer of wood-encased pencils in the NY area. We are looking for a way to apply a high-gloss reflective metallic look to the barrel of our pencils. We currently coat our pencils with 3-5 coats of nitro-cellulose based lacquer by a dip and wipe process that results in a very smooth finish, but we need that metallic look. We have looked into metallic paints, but have not been able to come up with the polished metal look our customer desires. Any suggestions would be helpful.

Robert Zonis
- Bohemia, New York
2001

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Dear Robert,

I noticed in your response to letter 8430, you said spray metallizing is not cost effective, but I think that might be the only way. I've spent hours trying to find a solution to this problem, truth of the matter is that no one has the pigment or metal flake that can do it. If you did spray metallize, after polishing, there might be a problem with the nitrocellulose topcoat showing the buff marks (if you use a cheap clear lacquer, it might not be as bad). Only other way I can think of is spraying a conductive copper coat on the pencils and then plate, but this might cost a lot more.

Good luck,

Jake Koch
G. J. Nikolas &Co.,Inc.

Bellwood, Illinois

2001

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Jake,

Thanks for your input. We are looking into spray metallizing further, to try to make it cost effective.

FYI, we are also looking into lacquering with ultra-thin metal flakes that might be able to do the job, but they're *really* expensive.

The spray metallize process we were looking at does not require polishing, as the newly plated silver coating has an extremely high gloss naturally. If you know of another process available, especially one that does not use silver, please let me know.

I can't imagine spraying a conductive copper coat on the pencils and then plating to be a viable solution, I'm sure it would cost a lot more just in terms of manpower.

Thanks again,

Robert Zonis
- Bohemia, New York
2001

The job is interesting and we believe we may be able to help you. Send us some samples to test.

Mandar Sunthankar
- Fort Collins, Colorado
2001

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The best way to get that metallic effect is hot stamping the foil over PU or any other lacquer duly coated on pencils or glitters are available from many sources which can be applied with any top coats.

Regards.

Dawood S. Batla
- New Jersey
2003