I will be shaping my first board in a week or so, depending on when they decide to send the blank off to me. So im trying to organise everything i need to do before i start shaping and then glassing, i have been reading all the great tips you guy have put up and it has helped me heaps. i was just wondering how to use decals, i asume that you put them on before glassing, but what are they made from? do you need special ink that wont fade in the sun? whats the best way to make/print them?
go to foamez.com or your local michaels or jo-ana fabric. and pick up some rice paper. at the stores you will probably pay 10 bucks for a 15" by 50’ foot roll.
design your logo on the computer or scan something. when you are going to print out your logo tape the rice paper on to your regular printer paper. and there you go.
i usually put the lam between my layers of glass.
A decal is usually a thin plastic sheet with a picture or text on it, and it’s stuck onto a finished surfboard.
A laminate, on the other hand, is a design printed onto “rice paper” and either glassed onto the foam, or glassed in between layers of fiberglass cloth during the glassing process.
I don’t know nuttin 'bout ink.
Laminates are the most durable and a good graphic company can make them. Some guys use computer printers to design and print their own designs, but I’ve not had good luck with that. The colors on the ones I did faded after a while. I’ve read that archival inks will last longer. Doug
kokua has mentioned on several occasions that he prints his own laminates on an epson printer and that the ink doesn’t fade in the sun or run or any of that other bad stuff. i’ve got an HP printer with both regular ink and photo ink…i have yet to try either, but i’ll give it a shot. printing your own laminate would be the best course of action for you, but i highly recommend testing it out for bleeding, etc. with some scrap glass on foam before you put it on the finished shape.
i have been printing my own lams for quite a while on my epson printer and i have never had a problem with bleeding or fading.
Greetings – With regard to using a printer, I use a Canon i450 for rice paper decals with no problems like fading or bleeding.
Martle