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No film decal paper

Started by stevie1556, December 12, 2018, 11:20:58 AM

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Bio77

That looks great.  Hope the next ones come out the same.   

fair.child


stevie1556

Bio77 - thanks. That was my best one. Out of the 3 enclosures they were all close to perfect, I did that at the same time as the red enclosures above. Also, the green enclosures turned out well, but there is a very very very faint line where the decal was. Picture of it is below.

Fair.child, that enclosure looks great. What method did you use for it?

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fair.child

I'm using B type paper and use hair dryer for 10 minutes and cool down for a minute or two. After that, peel the paper out.

I leave it for a night and the next day I just do clear coat

Bio77

#49
I finally got this one to work and I think I figured out the problem.  This enclosure is bare metal that I polished.  I used A type paper.

So, I tried this 3 times today, first two had the same problems I experienced earlier (incomplete graphic transfer).  The trick to getting this to work was to dry the label before applying it to the enclosure (glue applied).  It dawned on me that the water left on the film might be mixing with the glue and creating areas without bonding.  After applying the dried film, when I used the hairdryer there was very minimal bubbling under the film, pretty much only around the drilled holes.  The first two had a lot of bubbling everywhere, even though I smoothed it very flat when I first applied the label.  Considering, this is my 5th try at this graphic, I think I'm on to something here.  Also, I didn't note it, but I seem to recall drying the label for the bat enclosure that worked well. 

Total procedure:
1.  Put label in warm DI water
2.  Apply glue to enclosure
3.  Remove label from water, and dab dry on a paper towel
4.  Put label on enclosure and glide it into position
5.  Smooth flat with piece of foam (squeegee)
6.  Dry with hairdryer 10 minutes
7.  Put in toaster oven at 250 F for 30 minutes
8.  Remove film from label
9.  Clean excess glue with isopropanol

I'm not sure if the toaster oven is necessary but that's what I did this time. 

fair.child

Did you get A type film or B type film? Also, did you pre-drilled the enclosure or you drilled it later after you apply the transfer paper?

Bio77

I have the A type paper.  I normally apply the graphic then drill.  This one was drilled before because I was going to settle on an earlier version (with patchy graphic), so, I drilled it.  But I changed my mind.  Glad I did, turned out great. 

Yours looks great.  What is the difference with the B paper?

EBK

The question I have for you guys is this:  Once you've experimented with this stuff for a while, you'll eventually run out of it.  When that happens, would you buy more?
"There is a pestilence upon this land. Nothing is sacred. Even those who arrange and design shrubberies are under considerable economic stress in this period in history." --Roger the Shrubber

Bio77

Quote from: EBK on March 08, 2019, 03:26:46 PM
The question I have for you guys is this:  Once you've experimented with this stuff for a while, you'll eventually run out of it.  When that happens, would you buy more?

If I can figure out a technique to get consistent result, then definitely yes.  When it works, I can label and drill an enclosure in about 1 to 1.5 hours.  I haven't been applying any clear coat.  Time will tell how durable they are long term.  If not, might have to go back to some clear coat.       

Bio77

Another success! Seems that dabbing the label dry before placing on the glue was the trick. Still have some glue to work off the negative space, but the image transferred 100%.


cooder

BigNoise Amplification

LaceSensor

pretty amazing.
Is that inkjet or laser toner?

stevie1556

Bio77 - That transfer looks fantastic! How did it turn out when the glue marks were cleaned up?

I've just finished drilling a bunch of enclosures for some builds and I'm going to get them painted up in the next few days. I'm going to paint up some old scrap enclosures to be able to test the decals on as well, and going to try a few different techniques to hopefully find one that works well for me. I'm also going to have my decal sheets printed at a different shop to see if they can get more toner onto the decal.

Drew Hallenbeck

I really want to try this stuff and I've ordered it twice from Amazon, both times it showed up without the glue....
The listing I'm ordering from clearly states that it comes with the glue.....
Not sure if it's worth fighting with them over. Is there somewhere I can order just the glue? Or is there something else that would work just as well?
Building with my daughter and occasionally selling as "Daddy Daughter Pedal Works"
Not for any real profit, just trying to have a self-funding hobby.

stevie1556

I saw a couple of reviews that said that. I noticed that the sell the paper and glue on their own as well so probably worth just sending them a quick email.

Hopefully they sort it out quickly for you though :)

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