Antler with Decal

[Jgrden]

Playing around with decals a little. I think the finish is good but not as shiny as I like it.

 

[Craftdiggity]

Cool stuff, John. What's the technique here? Do you apply the decal and just finish right over it? I guess my question is how do you get rid of the ridges?

 

[Pioneerpens]

Looks good... i want to try the decals myself...more worried about getting them right on the printer than on the pen lol...I love the centerband on pen#2 very nice...

 

[ribanett]

Getting rid of the ridges

Cool stuff, John. What's the technique here? Do you apply the decal and just finish right over it? I guess my question is how do you get rid of the ridges?

I apply about 15 decals a week. Here is how I do it to get rid of the decal ridge. I only work with PR and cartridges, I have no idea how this will work on wood.

With a cartridge, I first seal the brass with 6 coats of CA thin the prevent the brass from water tarnishing. Then smooth with 4k MM wet. This step is not required for PR.

After applying the decal with Testors Decal Set, making sure that the edge is flat all around. I put it in my hotbox for at least 2 hours at about 125 deg.

Then I apply 6 coats of CA med. After curing, I smooth over the decal with 4k MM wet. I do not want to remove the CA from the barrel just over the decal.

Apply another 6 coats of CA and smooth with 4k MM wet. You should see that the ridge is gone. If not, smooth the decal again and apply more CA.

I think it took me about 6 test barrels to get it right.

Hope this helps. What works for me, may not work for you.

 

[Jgrden]

I apply about 15 decals a week. Here is how I do it to get rid of the decal ridge. I only work with PR and cartridges, I have no idea how this will work on wood.

With a cartridge, I first seal the brass with 6 coats of CA thin the prevent the brass from water tarnishing. Then smooth with 4k MM wet. This step is not required for PR.

After applying the decal with Testors Decal Set, making sure that the edge is flat all around. I put it in my hotbox for at least 2 hours at about 125 deg.

Then I apply 6 coats of CA med. After curing, I smooth over the decal with 4k MM wet. I do not want to remove the CA from the barrel just over the decal.

Apply another 6 coats of CA and smooth with 4k MM wet. You should see that the ridge is gone. If not, smooth the decal again and apply more CA.

I think it took me about 6 test barrels to get it right.

Hope this helps. What works for me, may not work for you.

Larry Banett:

Thank you.

John

 

[Jgrden]

Cool stuff, John. What's the technique here? Do you apply the decal and just finish right over it? I guess my question is how do you get rid of the ridges?

Hot diggity, craft diggity, Mr. Bannet has a good method. Seems like a little overkill but the results most always will be very good. Hiding the edge is the critical issue. My area of need is for someone to explain what print method on Testors to us in order to put a decal on BLACK acrylic. The letters disappear.

 

[johncrane]

There looking good there John!! the center band is a great idea too.:biggrin:

 

[rudy497]

Real Nice pens!

 

[boxerman]

Nice pens. The black pen looks like the nib is not press in all the way.

 

[Jgrden]

Nice pens. The black pen looks like the nib is not press in all the way.

Aha, you caught that. When I squared the pen it went too far exposing too much brass. I did not have the foresight to file it off. I was also concerned about the size of the barrel had I cut it off.