"New" finishing technique

[culturejam]

Also, Forrest- what about your CNC? That one engraving you did a few months ago looked great. Or, is it more trouble than it's worth?

Yeah, it's kinda a lot of work for a one off, and it takes too long to use for production purposes. And it's really hard to get precision from unit to unit.

[HamSandwich]

Finished pedal:

Even in the light you don't see any brush marks. Really nice and thanks for sharing!

[culturejam]

Even in the light you don't see any brush marks. Really nice and thanks for sharing!

You can definitely see them. I just used the most flattering possible angle.

[Aleph Null]

I wonder if you can use the machine polish stuff used on guitars? Steel wool + that would be SUPER easy and great for indoors.

It's acrylic based; you could probably use toothpaste to polish it...but that will only get you a matte finish.

[Timko]

This looks great Forrest.  I'll certainly look into some of these designs in some of my future designs.  You could come up with some interesting results with a combination of this and a painted etch.

[drezdn]

I wonder if this would work with inkjet paper too? Time for me to experiment.

[culturejam]

I wonder if this would work with inkjet paper too? Time for me to experiment.

Yes, it does. I just said laser because it's what I have access to. You could draw it with a crayon or pen, or cut pictures out of a magazine. You could regular paper or cardstock. Doesn't really matter. Mod Podge will handle it.

[matmosphere]

There was just another thread over at tdpri about this. Somebody shared this link http://modpodgerocksblog.com/the-7-steps-to-perfect-mod-podging-every-time

A little more involved but I bet it would probably look great.

[Aleph Null]

I just used this method on a build: http://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?topic=25287.0 You can get a semi-gloss finish with some extra work. Details are in the build report.

[culturejam]

Nice work!

I'm testing out some sticker paper options as well. I have a hobby plotter (Silhouette Cameo), so I can print/cut interesting non-contiguous shapes, and do the drill hit cutouts as well (which reduces finishing time and removes the chance of the drill damaging the paper).

I think another smooth/gloss option would be to do the basic Mod Podge finishing (4-6 layers), do some quick sanding to take out the big ridges, and then spray clear acrylic to  seal it up. They make a branded spray, but I don't think there would be any issue using something a little cheaper from the hardware store.

[storyboardist]

Tried out this method last week on a rehouse project and it worked great! Thanks Forrest!

[bluescage]

That looks good!

[selfdestroyer]

Labels with Hammertone is always a PITA, that came out great storyboardist.

Cody

[davent]

Painted white stripe covered with a regular waterslide decal?

Came out well however it was done.

I would think you could use the Mod Podge for 'wet toner transfer' and skip decals all together.

dave