Bamboo Tips - Tips Area - Decals |
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I was just wondering how many rodmakers are using decals for signing their rods and what finish you are using over the decals? I was also wondering if anyone has any information about a Stanley No. 45 beading, dado, etc. plane that I have just received from my wife's grandfather. Included was a little wood holder that has multiple blades for other uses. (Tom Peters) I use the black rub on lettering on my rods. It works great. I put one coat of spar on the blanks, then the lettering, then another coat of spar on the blanks. Works good. (Dave LeClair)
I remember a while back someone had asked about a source for decals. If they print out OK, they would probably work really well for rod labels and such. (Jason Swan) The best value I have found is at Papilio.com. The PAS/2 paper for laser printers is what I use. It is a coated paper that you can varnish right over without any special prep. (Jerry Madigan) I used these on Jerry's recommendation and found them to be great. My test section shows that you need to apply the decal over a varnished section of the rod, not just wood or even sealed wood, as you get 'shimmers' when the decal doesn't absolutely seal to the rod. It only does this on a varnish smooth surface. Try them on a test section first. They really are easy to use, but like anything, the first time you do it you will discover something you didn't expect. I found the squeegee that Papilio supply is really too big for our purposes, but is better than nothing. You definitely get a better result if you gently squeegee the excess water out from under the decal. Jerry had some soft plastic sections that came from (where????) that were much more effective. (Dave Kennedy) I've used decals quite a bit in model railroading. You might want to try a product called "Solvaset" (Hobsco Inc., Milwaukee, WI) which is a clear liquid used to snuggle down decals to surface. Hobby shops should have it in stock, 2 fl. oz. bottle. The following is some info from the label: "Apply decal according to manufacturers direction. To set decal, apply SOLVASET sparingly on top of decal. Decal may now be slid gently into final position, but do NOT prod as SOLVASET is working, do NOT blot -- let it dry by evaporation". It also says this product softens the decal film enabling it to snuggle down over rough surfaces, makes decals stick better, eliminates air bubbles, improves adhesion, blah, blah, etc. Apply varnish afterwards to gain uniform finish blending decaled/nondecaled areas. As with anything new and untested, test for compatibility with intended surface. I haven't tried it on bamboo. (Ed Riddle) If you check in an automotive supply store you may find a small rubber squeegee that will work. When I worked in a body shop as a kid I had different sizes of them for applying wood grain to cars. (Bret Reiter)
Trying to contact Jerry regarding the Papilio Aqua Slide (PAS/2) paper for laser printers demonstration he gave at the CRR reunion last year. My printing stinks, so I started playing around with this stuff, it works great for rod labels. The problem I am having though is the MS Word and Word Art program with MS Office may not be the best program to use for printing small labels that fit on a rod flat. I have found that when the font size is reduced to say 8, the smallest setting in Word, most of the font styles won't print out as shown on the computer screen, especially if you use a script style. The print will come out on the paper very squareish/blockish looking, but will come out right for say size 12 font or larger. Are you using a different program Jerry? Any ideas from the list? (Tom Vagell) I have not experienced that. I use fonts down to size 9 and just use Word. I have used Publisher for reverse printing, but find I don't really need to if I'm careful. However, the script that I use most frequently was imported from a font disc I bought at CompUSA. The company is Greestreet. I just looked for one that had a lot different script fonts - Microsoft does not include many that would work for us. If I remember right, you just copy the font file from the disk to the C:\WINDOWS\FONTS folder and it will appear. If that doesn't work, I would suspect the printer. (Jerry Madigan) I go to Print master and do mine. I have found that’s the only place to flip the writing over. I use Papilio paper and that’s what the directions tell me to do. If you have any type of program that you can use to make your own business cards or flyers that will do everything you want it to do. (Dave Henney)
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