How to use Lam/Decal with dark resin tints?

General Discussion
1

When applying a Lam/decal with clear resin or light resin tint/pigment I can just place the lam under

the cloth when laminating and it looks pretty good. However, lately I’ve been experimenting with some

darker resin colors with a good bit of pigmentation (brown, dark blue). Obviously the lams don’t

show up to well when the resin is this dark. So I thought came up with a good idea…I figured I could just

place the lam/decal on the board when I did the hotcoat. Uh…bad idea. The lam slid all around

and it was impossible to get all the resin out from under it and make it smooth. Even though it

now showed clearly through the hotcoat it had some slight ripples in it and was uneven. Now

that it’s dry I can’t sand it down or else I will sand through the decal so I guess I will gloss coat

over the top and hope for the best.

So how do the experts get these beautiful looking decals over top of such dark resin tints/pigments?

Is there some special technique I’m missing or do they you special lam/rice paper?

thanks,

2

what i found worked well for me was a 4 oz patch over the lam. That you can fair the edges and when the hoat coat is applied and sanded you wont sand through the logo. It has worked well for me every time and i am a huge fan of the darker tints…black cherry red swirls, black, greens, and blues. good luck

let us know how is comes out

surfs up in jersey,

flippnred

3

One way to do it:

Next day, or when lam is fully off, scrape where lam will go w/razor blade to smooth it out a little, thus trapping less air under lam. Get a nice vergin lam, no creases or waves. Brush a little hotbactch where lam will go and set lam down. Wet the top of the lam slightly so the bondo spreader will slide, and carefully squeeze as much resin out from under as possible without airing it out. Lay the squeegee down at a low angle and press with the side of the edge, don’t hold it perpendicular and scrape. Once the lam is down tight, it won’t easily move. Then you can add some cloth over top, or some guys just baste before hotcoating (gotta have that sucker flat to do this)

Oh and for darker colors, cut the ricepaper closer, as it will show like crazy.

4

Howzit creosote, Flip has the right idea for what you want to do. I just printed up 34 pages of lams that will go on 2 boards and that’s how they will be applied.Aloha,Kokua

5

I second flip’s suggestion for you. When you work with lam paper, it can either be the thick or the thin stuff. The thick will have no problems if you use it on it’s own. The thin however, can wrinkle up on you from anything and everything when you work with it. Since it is 2005, I doubt you will encounter thick lam paper anymore.

The 4oz cover over the lam keeps it pinned down. It also helps you keep from burning through it when you sand/polish.

6

aswell as doing the floating lam as discribed above, have you though about paintinh the revers of the lam with acrylic paint to make your logo stand out more againt the dark back ground?

7

Just this weekend I did a logo over a repair as per flips’s suggetions, glass patch over lam paper. So easy, so nice, no wrinkles, no air. I third or fourth that approach.

Ride on, Tom