Temporary Tattoos?

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John Pratt

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Feb 2, 2011
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179
Location
Lawton, Oklahoma
Has anyone tried temporary tattoos instead of regular decals? I had a young lady bring me some temporary tattoos and tell me that she wanted them on a pen. I have done the decals (which I am far from being an expert at), but I haven't tried the tattoo thing. Thoughts?

John
 
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Drstrangefart

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Sep 15, 2010
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Woodstock, Ga. U.S.A.
Seems like it would work. Although they are prone to being insanely fragile until they're down. I've done dry rub-on transfers and got really good results. If you're putting them on a wood pen, REMEMBER to do a few layers of CA first.
 

Trillium

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Feb 1, 2011
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Location
Orange Beach, Alabama (US)
Temporary tattoos...

John,

I am a tattoo artist, fishing rod builder and penturner.... amongst other more nefariuos things... and I have used the "water slide" temporary tattoos on a 12' surf rod. They worked fine with a few caveats.
First, they do not show well on anything other than a white background. So, painting the wood or using a very light colored wood would be pretty much mandatory.
Second, my experience with them on the rod was well before my penturning days.. I used "Flex Coat" ( a rod builders coating available through Merrick Tackle) as an obvious finish for a fishing rod. It should work fairly well on a pen with the exception of the need to turn it at around 18 rpm while drying... (yep... only 18 rpm)
The trick was to carefully smooth the flex coat over the sticker and remove the bubbles.... using Mohawk laquer seems like it would be a breeze!
Lou
 

Drstrangefart

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Woodstock, Ga. U.S.A.
First, they do not show well on anything other than a white background. So, painting the wood or using a very light colored wood would be pretty much mandatory.

Great point. I've used them on stop signs near my bus stop as a kid and encountered the same problem. Totally forgot about that.
 

wouldentu2?

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Jan 27, 2011
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897
Location
Oak Creek WI
Temporary tattoos are easy to use and if they are not the type that use water have fantastic detail and color. They take a fair amount of CA to make them undetectable (about 10 coats). The type that use water to release them from the paper still look good.

These should not be confused with the water slide decals that can require them to be placed on light colored wood or acrylic. I have placed these on ebony.
 

maxman400

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May 25, 2009
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3,111
Location
Omaha Arkansas
I just did one the night before last and I am doing another one tomorrow. The kind I am using are the ones you find at the wal-mart check out stand. I cut them out and remove the plastic then position it on my blank then wrap a wet paper towel around it and let the water soak in until the tattoo releases. I then pat it dry with another paper towel, let it dry for an hour or so. Once dry I set my lathe to it's slowest speed and apply5 or 6 coats of thin CA with a paper towel, allowing it to dry between coats. I then apply 5 Medium coats of CA, once dry I wet sand until smooth then MM to 3800 then plastix polish, ALL DONE. Hope this helps, and that it works out for you.
This is a shot of a pen I did using butterfly's, I do recommend using light colors as your background. :biggrin:
 

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