guide for trimming bare metal foil on long straight trim pieces

[minkos]

hello, i am wondering what would be the best way to trim a long straight piece of bare metal foil along the side of a car? the problem i'm having in particular is on the side trim of a '62 buick electra convertible. the underside is easy to do since the knife can run along the bottom of the raised trim casting, but the topside has no such guide since it coincides with the crease in the body. what can be used in lieu of freehanding that won't also get cut by the knife blade? thanks very much.

[Gluhead]

What I would do here is use a straight edge to cut my larger piece of foil, and try to lay it down with the top edge where I would want to run my blade. If you do a panel at a time like I do, it should be a manageable length to keep lined up how you want it. Then carefully burnish it down to cover the rest as you normally would.

If that failed, I'd lay a run of 3M Fineline tape down the body to give myself a guide edge...but it should work. Don't be afraid to give it another go if it doesn't take the first time.

[cobraman]

You could use the back side of an exato blade down the body and create a crease for the BMF. My best advise it to make sure you use a brand new blade and use light pressure. Good luck

[Fat Brian]

I have never used a straight edge for long BMF runs, a brand new very sharp blade will follow creases just fine.

[Ramfins59]

You could use the back side of an exacto blade down the body and create a crease for the BMF. My best advise it to make sure you use a brand new blade and use light pressure. Good luck

Yeah... What he said... and you could also lay down a piece of tape against the top edge, or very slightly above the trim, so your blade won't stray...(Like Gluhead suggested...)

[Gluhead]

I have never used a straight edge for long BMF runs, a brand new very sharp blade will follow creases just fine.

Same here, when there is one to follow. He doesn't have one to follow.

Speaking of blades, it really should be new. Most of the time the very very tip of a blade will get knocked off after a short time...and that's exactly the part that gets used in foiling. Also, I can't stand xacto brand blades. Excell blades are honed on both sides where most are only honed on one. It does help.

[Fat Brian]

Thats what I get for skimming.

[Skip]

The two ideas of using the fineline tape and scoring a slight channell on the topside of the trim are great. What I prefer using for BMF (as well as some gold leaf applications) is a brand new single edge razor blade. After you've used them for a while you can cut pretty accurately with very little pressure. You can get a box of 100 for around $5. (If you are a little aprehensive about using a hand held razor blade you can get box knife handles which hold the blade for you.)

[Gluhead]

You reminded me of an important aspect of how I trim foil, Skip. I use just the #11 blade...no handle. As far as this kind of work goes, I have a lot better control of the blade without the handle.

Brian - heheh.

[minkos]

thanks to gluhead, matching the top edge of the trim to the top edge of the foil worked pretty good.