BeAR Posted February 13, 2003 Report Share Posted February 13, 2003 Ive managed to get the 'real' decal method to work now. Yeah Baby!!!!! You can buy the A4 sheets for a couple of dollars a piece all over the net. Make up your image, and print it onto the decal sheet with a colour Laser printer. Must be a laser printer!!!!! So the ink wont run. And thats it. Cut it out, float it in water and slide it onto the surface you want to cover. A little bit of laquer and hey presto I havent laquered this yet, just soaked it in water and slid the image onto the headstock. Makes me grin just looking at it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AlexVDL Posted February 13, 2003 Report Share Posted February 13, 2003 Do you have a color laserprinter?? How did you do that gold/brownish color in the Fender logo?? Looks great dude!! EDIT: DUH!! Did you edit your post or was I just stupid by don't reading the word "colour".... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveK Posted February 13, 2003 Report Share Posted February 13, 2003 why do you soak it in water? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabe Nickelson Posted February 13, 2003 Report Share Posted February 13, 2003 why do you soak it in water? My guess would be the clear material is attached to a thicker sheet to allow processing in the printer without jamming. Then, you submurge it in water to separate the sheets and in the process in creates a sticky adhesive. Gabe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGM Guitars Posted February 13, 2003 Report Share Posted February 13, 2003 it's the exact same material that decals for plastic models are printed on. You actually can use a regular printer if you print the material, and then spray a light coat of clear on the decal before you use it. I've been using this for years with radio control airplanes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveK Posted February 13, 2003 Report Share Posted February 13, 2003 LGM!!!! Where have you been hiding??? You doing o.k.? Dave K Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jehle Posted February 13, 2003 Report Share Posted February 13, 2003 Show off. Nice work BeAR! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGM Guitars Posted February 13, 2003 Report Share Posted February 13, 2003 LGM!!!! Where have you been hiding??? You doing o.k.? Dave K I've been here, just not as much, I've been sick, and really busy, so, yes and no on the ok front LOL!!!!! I'll have some new pics for y'all soon though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GEdwardJones Posted February 13, 2003 Report Share Posted February 13, 2003 Gabe, shouldn't you be doing newlywed things instead of posting here? g - getting hitched in 2 weeks, 4 days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeAR Posted February 14, 2003 Author Report Share Posted February 14, 2003 Dave, the material is printed onto a ultra thin clear layer, which is stuck to a paper backing for use in the laser printer. Soaking it in water loosens the glue allowing the image to 'float' away from the paper. Once slid onto the new surface, the glue dries and hold the image in place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremywills Posted February 14, 2003 Report Share Posted February 14, 2003 thats what i did on my spare parts strat, with the digital camera, photoshop and some model decal sheets, i used to do the RC thing too and it worked out ok, but mine looks kinda cheesy cause my printers dpi is not so good, its an old printer, but with these newere printers capable of 1600 dpi, bitchin and by the way i would be very careful as i split my decal in two, its very fragile, and had to gingerly match em up on the wood Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
munkey Posted February 24, 2003 Report Share Posted February 24, 2003 think you could put a pic up when its done? good lad! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeAR Posted February 25, 2003 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2003 Im in the process of re-finishing the neck. That decal got sanded off and the whole neck rubbed down. Ive filled the holes from the Gotoh tuners with maple pieces and have purchased a set of Fender/Gotoh Kluson style vintage tuners. All Parts sell collars to allow you to use Klusons with modern size machine head holes and they look really good. Im going to re do the neck in amber polyurithane. Once the finish is flowed on over the entire neck and frets Ill give it a week or so to dry, clean and polish the frets and re assemble the guitar. Ill post some pics when its done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted February 25, 2003 Report Share Posted February 25, 2003 You sanded that decal off ??? Did Fender send some big mean mobster looking dudes after you or what ? That decal is extremely impressive. I wish I had one like that of the Newer looking Fender logo. I have a strat neck that some bozo sanded the 'made in japan' and serial # off of, plus took the bottom of the F off the word 'Fender'. I tried to fix it with some sliver paint and fine black marker, but it looks pretty crappy. Before you spray it, you might want to consider some ways to make it look vintage, such as : Spray a light mist of Behlen 'light fruitwood toner' from 18"-24" away after having first sprayed the neck with a few coats of sanding sealer, sanding, then one coat clear lacqer. One light mist coat of blush eraser to melt the toner coat into the previous lacquer coat. let dry 3 days, then apply decal, let dry overnight, then spray 6-8 coats clear. let cure 2 weeks then sand, polish. Another thing you could try, and it has been done, is to first apply a quick wipe of Watco danish oil. Wipe it on and wipe it off right away. Then spray lacquer over that. I think you let the watco dry overnight before spraying over it. another thing that works , is to stain the bare wood first with waterstains: 1/4 ounce full-strength yellow water stain 1-3/4 ounce water 1 drop brown water stain 1 pencil-tip's worth of red waterstain wipe it on. Water stains will raise the grain, so before wiping on the stain, dampen the wood, then sand w/220. presoak end grain so it doesn't absorb too much stain. This works better than adding tint to the clear, because tinted clear actually makes the wood harder to see. Might be hard to get it just right, so don't get mad if you do it and don't like it. "clearwater" brand is good because it is thick. Stained wood should dry over-night before spraying lacquer over it. If you want a vintage finish with all those little cracks, you can use nitrocellulose lacquer and let it cure enough to where it's ok to final sand and buff ( 2 weeks ?). Supposedly, the longer, the better. Then place the neck in a freezer for at least 12 hours, then take it out of the freezer and hang it in a warm room overnight. Supposedly within the next week, the finish will "check" (get all those little cracks all over) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeAR Posted February 25, 2003 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2003 Thanks for the tips. I sanded off the logo because It was just a trial to see how it looked. Dont worry there is another going on before I respray the neck. Ill stain the wood slightly before I spray with the slightly tinted poly. I wanted a tough durable finish and dont mind the sticky feel of gloss poly. Im really into re-issue type guitars, but cant handle the whole relic scene. I like a guitar to look new and shiny not beat up and cracked, but each to their own. I know some purists may turn up their nose at anything other than nitro especially on a neck, but I dont care. Poly is damn tough and will always look new. Might want to PM me in regards to that logo of yours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AlexVDL Posted March 13, 2003 Report Share Posted March 13, 2003 I just got an e-mail from Bill Jehle: Hi Alex. I think I saw on your site that you have a guitar with a "VDL Guitars" logo. Since Bear and I have tried coming up with our own ways to do that, I'm curious how you did it. Thanks, see you on the forum... Bill Jehle Well this was my reply: "Hi Bill, I used some sort of special paper which you can print the logo on with any kind of printer. After that I used a steam iron to transfer the logo onto the wood. There is a special layer on the paper that will come loose if you heaten it. Oh yeah, you should print the logo mirrored. The shop I bought it from had several special paper. For woods or metal or plastic etc... Another simple method I once used is with a photocopier. Just copy a logo with a photocopier and you will get a logo made from black toner out of that copier. If you put the piece of paper on the wood and you drain it in vinagar and let it soak for a while, the black stuff (toner) will come off and stick to the wood. I hope this helps for you? Thanks, Alex" I hope you guys could experiment with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vh-guitarstore.com Posted March 13, 2003 Report Share Posted March 13, 2003 the water transfers logos are a great thing to use if you got the right printer....i use them all the time.....one thing though, most of the gold logos dont come out that well unless they are little another thing you can do IF you do a lot of logos is get a silk screen made.....find a t shirt shop and talk them into making the screen for you....its pretty cheap and you use it over and over Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maelstrom Posted March 14, 2003 Report Share Posted March 14, 2003 "Hi Bill, I used some sort of special paper which you can print the logo on with any kind of printer. After that I used a steam iron to transfer the logo onto the wood. There is a special layer on the paper that will come loose if you heaten it. Oh yeah, you should print the logo mirrored. The shop I bought it from had several special paper. For woods or metal or plastic etc... How are the results using this method? And isn't there a chance of burning the actual wood when ironing? I consider this method cause I don't have a laserprinter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulNeeds Posted March 17, 2003 Report Share Posted March 17, 2003 Hi guys. I tried the iron on transfer method, and it wouldn't work for me at all. How long do you keep the steam iron on there (presumably moving it about to stop it burning?) to get a reliable transfer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AlexVDL Posted March 17, 2003 Report Share Posted March 17, 2003 Well as you can see from the picture I had a little brown burnmark. I didn't move the steam iron enough. I have done it on some other pieces of wood and it worked out just fine. It's very cheap and works great. I don't know how the stuff will react to clear laquer though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vh-guitarstore.com Posted March 18, 2003 Report Share Posted March 18, 2003 there is also a company called rub down transfers that does logos....ive had some of their samples and its pretty nice....i think im going to start using them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveK Posted March 19, 2003 Report Share Posted March 19, 2003 RUB DOWNS are THE way to go... I have never been able to find a supplier that has rubdowns that can be used from a Lazer printer or inkjet V.H.......you got a source?????? Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crzywhiteboy Posted October 10, 2003 Report Share Posted October 10, 2003 You can buy the A4 sheets for a couple of dollars a piece all over the net. i cant find anywhere ti get it can you give me a web site.I only saw one for like 32 $. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeAR Posted October 10, 2003 Author Report Share Posted October 10, 2003 What logo do you need to make? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crzywhiteboy Posted October 10, 2003 Report Share Posted October 10, 2003 What logo do you need to make? I wnant to make a it to say My name and custom in smaller letters on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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