I was in the local Hobby Lobby the other day and saw decal sheets for inkjet printers,made by testor's the price was 10 bucks for it ... has anyone seen or tried this yet? I was thinking for making my own decals instead of ordering from the net all the time, but will ink from a inkjet run if exposed to the water???

Elton,
Most ink is water based, and will dissolve/run when decal is placed in water. The trick is to overcoat the decal with nitrocelluous lacquer after print ink is dry. A couple mist coats, then a heavier coat will not dissolve the ink. A first heavy coat will cause the ink to blur a little. I've tried water based acrylic lacquers with poor success. As I've stated before, the clear unprinted water slide decal sheets have a thicker substrate, and will not dissappear into the background like preprinted decals after final overcoating finish. I've used both and the preprinted items from parts vendors is superior. If the decal is located so as not to reflect light or in an unconspicious area, the non dissappearing act may be acceptable.

marv

:I was in the local Hobby Lobby the other day and saw decal sheets for inkjet printers,made by testor's the price was 10 bucks for it ... has anyone seen or tried this yet? I was thinking for making my own decals instead of ordering from the net all the time, but will ink from a inkjet run if exposed to the water???
:

:Elton,
:Most ink is water based, and will dissolve/run when decal is placed in water. The trick is to overcoat the decal with nitrocelluous lacquer after print ink is dry. A couple mist coats, then a heavier coat will not dissolve the ink. A first heavy coat will cause the ink to blur a little. I've tried water based acrylic lacquers with poor success. As I've stated before, the clear unprinted water slide decal sheets have a thicker substrate, and will not dissappear into the background like preprinted decals after final overcoating finish. I've used both and the preprinted items from parts vendors is superior. If the decal is located so as not to reflect light or in an unconspicious area, the non dissappearing act may be acceptable.
:
:marv
:
::I was in the local Hobby Lobby the other day and saw decal sheets for inkjet printers,made by testor's the price was 10 bucks for it ... has anyone seen or tried this yet? I was thinking for making my own decals instead of ordering from the net all the time, but will ink from a inkjet run if exposed to the water???
::
:I'm about to find out. My brother made some decals for a guitar he was making, and sprayed the decals with a couple of coats of lacquer before applying them. Then he sprayed the whole piece a few more times, and it looks really good. Well, I'm trying to make a couple of dial glass replacements, and I've got the decals, courtesy of my brother. And they have been sprayed with lacquer. Now I'm going to float them on to plexiglass, and use the result as replacements for the shattered glass ones. Two Philcos, in fact. Anyone else done this?

::Elton,
::Most ink is water based, and will dissolve/run when decal is placed in water. The trick is to overcoat the decal with nitrocelluous lacquer after print ink is dry. A couple mist coats, then a heavier coat will not dissolve the ink. A first heavy coat will cause the ink to blur a little. I've tried water based acrylic lacquers with poor success. As I've stated before, the clear unprinted water slide decal sheets have a thicker substrate, and will not dissappear into the background like preprinted decals after final overcoating finish. I've used both and the preprinted items from parts vendors is superior. If the decal is located so as not to reflect light or in an unconspicious area, the non dissappearing act may be acceptable.
::
::marv
::
:::I was in the local Hobby Lobby the other day and saw decal sheets for inkjet printers,made by testor's the price was 10 bucks for it ... has anyone seen or tried this yet? I was thinking for making my own decals instead of ordering from the net all the time, but will ink from a inkjet run if exposed to the water???
:::
::I'm about to find out. My brother made some decals for a guitar he was making, and sprayed the decals with a couple of coats of lacquer before applying them. Then he sprayed the whole piece a few more times, and it looks really good. Well, I'm trying to make a couple of dial glass replacements, and I've got the decals, courtesy of my brother. And they have been sprayed with lacquer. Now I'm going to float them on to plexiglass, and use the result as replacements for the shattered glass ones. Two Philcos, in fact. Anyone else done this?
Please let me know how it turns out... can you use any type of clear lacquer for this process?
:

The hobby shop in my area sells a product that will soften the decal and cause it to form to all of the unevenness of the surface it's on. This works well on wooden surfaces. The decal will basically turn to goo and adhere to everything, and then harden that way. I'm not sure if it'll work with the inkjet decals, and it won't soften lacquer, but you can try.

T.

Making your own water-slide decals is fun and interesting.

What will really test your creativity though, is when you attempt to make white or goldtone letters/graphics on a waterslide decal. Sure would like to hear that someone was successful in their attempt to do so.

For something like the Sunbeam shield decal you could first print it on a piece of paper. Then cut out a mask the size of the shield. Spray gold on the decal sheet through the mask at the position that you printed the logo on the sheet of paper, and then print over this, though the ink might not adhere to the gold. You might have to paint the red over the gold and only print the Sunbeam logo itself. ...Or else print the red and black parts of the decal first and then spray in the gold by using smaller masks so that the gold only goes where it should when the product is finished.

For gold letters it'd be next to impossible to accomplish. If there were a way to print with glue, then you could put gold flake on top of that, but inkjet printers usually turn the ink to steam, and so if the ink were a watered down Elmer's, it'd probably be dry by the time you got the sheet out. Plus the heads might be gummed up.

If there were a way to grind up gold so that it was super fine, and then mix it with a clear ink substance (perhaps something carrying a very watered down Elmer's), then perhaps your inkjet could actually print gold, though I'm guessing that the jets are so small that they'd clog with the gold on a regular basis.

T.

T,
Right, and I'm waiting for some vendor to start offering gold, silver, pewter, chrome printer inks for our machines. There's gotta be a way. Come on all you "ChemE" radio rebuilders, get a leg up!!!

marv

:For something like the Sunbeam shield decal you could first print it on a piece of paper. Then cut out a mask the size of the shield. Spray gold on the decal sheet through the mask at the position that you printed the logo on the sheet of paper, and then print over this, though the ink might not adhere to the gold. You might have to paint the red over the gold and only print the Sunbeam logo itself. ...Or else print the red and black parts of the decal first and then spray in the gold by using smaller masks so that the gold only goes where it should when the product is finished.
:
:For gold letters it'd be next to impossible to accomplish. If there were a way to print with glue, then you could put gold flake on top of that, but inkjet printers usually turn the ink to steam, and so if the ink were a watered down Elmer's, it'd probably be dry by the time you got the sheet out. Plus the heads might be gummed up.
:
:If there were a way to grind up gold so that it was super fine, and then mix it with a clear ink substance (perhaps something carrying a very watered down Elmer's), then perhaps your inkjet could actually print gold, though I'm guessing that the jets are so small that they'd clog with the gold on a regular basis.
:
:T.
:

Dennis,
Mostly agree, but larger decals can be filled in with gold acrylics and a fine brush. I did it on a front cabinet decal for the RCA logo on a 67V1, but takes a steady hand and appropriate PC scripts. As T suggested, some masking may be required. Pin stripping tapes from your local auto supplier are handy for intricate masking tasks.

marv

:Making your own water-slide decals is fun and interesting.
:
:What will really test your creativity though, is when you attempt to make white or goldtone letters/graphics on a waterslide decal. Sure would like to hear that someone was successful in their attempt to do so.
:

T,
Correct, but this doesn't apply to a concave/convex surfaces, as in a dimple/bulge. Simple 2 dimension curved surfaces will accept most decals easily, but don't try a dome or a dimple, otherwise wrinkles will appear.

marv

:The hobby shop in my area sells a product that will soften the decal and cause it to form to all of the unevenness of the surface it's on. This works well on wooden surfaces. The decal will basically turn to goo and adhere to everything, and then harden that way. I'm not sure if it'll work with the inkjet decals, and it won't soften lacquer, but you can try.
:
:T.
:

If you use the decal softener, you can get the wrinkles to lay down. I managed to get the words 'CHANNELS' and 'FINE TUNING' to curve around the knob on my DeWald television. They were supplied as straight decals. It wasn't extremely easy, and, upon close inspection, they aren't perfect, but the result is fair enough. Helps to be over dark mahogany.

T.

T,
You either stretch it over a bulge or wrinkle it on a concave surface. I'm just saying that in both cases, the decal will be distorted, but if that is acceptable, OK. The last radio decals I installed was on a Philco 42-350, over a simple curved surface, and I tried using some slickem stuff found at a hobby shop, but it was a joke. It was so slick/bad, actually created a fold over trying to position the decal. Once folded gel side to gel side, the decal is practically impossible to salvage. The purchased preprinted decals have a great dissappearing act when overcoated, but are so very thin, I have trouble getting them out of the water without curling, using tweezers and Q tips, not fingers.

marv

:If you use the decal softener, you can get the wrinkles to lay down. I managed to get the words 'CHANNELS' and 'FINE TUNING' to curve around the knob on my DeWald television. They were supplied as straight decals. It wasn't extremely easy, and, upon close inspection, they aren't perfect, but the result is fair enough. Helps to be over dark mahogany.
:
:T.
:

This isn't what I used, but it's a similar product.

T.

http://www.hobbylinc.com/htm/flo/flof505401.htm

Elton,
I've had bad results using water based acrylic lacquers over a waterslide decal. I use nitro lacquers for a couple mist coats, then a heavier sealer coat. Most older printers use water based inks, but can't vouch for the newer stuff.

marv

:::Elton,
:::Most ink is water based, and will dissolve/run when decal is placed in water. The trick is to overcoat the decal with nitrocelluous lacquer after print ink is dry. A couple mist coats, then a heavier coat will not dissolve the ink. A first heavy coat will cause the ink to blur a little. I've tried water based acrylic lacquers with poor success. As I've stated before, the clear unprinted water slide decal sheets have a thicker substrate, and will not dissappear into the background like preprinted decals after final overcoating finish. I've used both and the preprinted items from parts vendors is superior. If the decal is located so as not to reflect light or in an unconspicious area, the non dissappearing act may be acceptable.
:::
:::marv
:::
::::I was in the local Hobby Lobby the other day and saw decal sheets for inkjet printers,made by testor's the price was 10 bucks for it ... has anyone seen or tried this yet? I was thinking for making my own decals instead of ordering from the net all the time, but will ink from a inkjet run if exposed to the water???
::::
:::I'm about to find out. My brother made some decals for a guitar he was making, and sprayed the decals with a couple of coats of lacquer before applying them. Then he sprayed the whole piece a few more times, and it looks really good. Well, I'm trying to make a couple of dial glass replacements, and I've got the decals, courtesy of my brother. And they have been sprayed with lacquer. Now I'm going to float them on to plexiglass, and use the result as replacements for the shattered glass ones. Two Philcos, in fact. Anyone else done this?
:Please let me know how it turns out... can you use any type of clear lacquer for this process?
::
:

CF,
First of all, scan any dial before washing/wiping etc. Now you have a copy of the original if the cleaning process removes any paint. Silk screening was the order of the day back then before epoxy inks were available, but even the paint used then does not adhere to glass dials forever. I ruined a Philco 42-1008 dial washing it, but had a copy stored on my PC. Recreated the intricate graphics using MS Visio and water slide decals. Some masking as Thomas suggested, was required, but the reproduction was a carbon copy of the orig, down to the ink colors.

marv

::Elton,
::Most ink is water based, and will dissolve/run when decal is placed in water. The trick is to overcoat the decal with nitrocelluous lacquer after print ink is dry. A couple mist coats, then a heavier coat will not dissolve the ink. A first heavy coat will cause the ink to blur a little. I've tried water based acrylic lacquers with poor success. As I've stated before, the clear unprinted water slide decal sheets have a thicker substrate, and will not dissappear into the background like preprinted decals after final overcoating finish. I've used both and the preprinted items from parts vendors is superior. If the decal is located so as not to reflect light or in an unconspicious area, the non dissappearing act may be acceptable.
::
::marv
::
:::I was in the local Hobby Lobby the other day and saw decal sheets for inkjet printers,made by testor's the price was 10 bucks for it ... has anyone seen or tried this yet? I was thinking for making my own decals instead of ordering from the net all the time, but will ink from a inkjet run if exposed to the water???
:::
::I'm about to find out. My brother made some decals for a guitar he was making, and sprayed the decals with a couple of coats of lacquer before applying them. Then he sprayed the whole piece a few more times, and it looks really good. Well, I'm trying to make a couple of dial glass replacements, and I've got the decals, courtesy of my brother. And they have been sprayed with lacquer. Now I'm going to float them on to plexiglass, and use the result as replacements for the shattered glass ones. Two Philcos, in fact. Anyone else done this?
:

CF,
One thing I failed to mention is reverse/mirror image when printing a dial decal. Creating a new dial with any application SW is typically accomplished with a frontal view from the old dial scan, but must be mirrored when printed on the decal sheet. I have a local framing shop with personal friends there, and can find discarded framing glass pieces to fit my needs, and even get a free cut occassionally. Been there, done that, and hope this helps.

marv

::Elton,
::Most ink is water based, and will dissolve/run when decal is placed in water. The trick is to overcoat the decal with nitrocelluous lacquer after print ink is dry. A couple mist coats, then a heavier coat will not dissolve the ink. A first heavy coat will cause the ink to blur a little. I've tried water based acrylic lacquers with poor success. As I've stated before, the clear unprinted water slide decal sheets have a thicker substrate, and will not dissappear into the background like preprinted decals after final overcoating finish. I've used both and the preprinted items from parts vendors is superior. If the decal is located so as not to reflect light or in an unconspicious area, the non dissappearing act may be acceptable.
::
::marv
::
:::I was in the local Hobby Lobby the other day and saw decal sheets for inkjet printers,made by testor's the price was 10 bucks for it ... has anyone seen or tried this yet? I was thinking for making my own decals instead of ordering from the net all the time, but will ink from a inkjet run if exposed to the water???
:::
::I'm about to find out. My brother made some decals for a guitar he was making, and sprayed the decals with a couple of coats of lacquer before applying them. Then he sprayed the whole piece a few more times, and it looks really good. Well, I'm trying to make a couple of dial glass replacements, and I've got the decals, courtesy of my brother. And they have been sprayed with lacquer. Now I'm going to float them on to plexiglass, and use the result as replacements for the shattered glass ones. Two Philcos, in fact. Anyone else done this?
: