Decal / etching question

[luks999]

hi

i have some dumb questions...

1) is it possible it any way, to etch an powedercoated enclosure?
2) i have some dark blue enclosure, its hard when using decals, that the font is clearly visible. what u guys do? use a white adhesive foil?

thanks already

[cooder]

AFAIK you can't etch it with a chemical process as the etchant won't reach the aluminum because of the powdercoat.
However you can laser engrave / laser etch that. Maybe ask at your local signwriter or sporttrophy engraver shop for a quote?

[davent]

Depending on how steady a hand you have and nerves of steel you could try a tiny carbide burr in a rotary tool (Dremel) and do a freehand engraving.

For dark decals on a dark enclosure you could paint a white shadow and place the decal on the shadow.


dave

[bcalla]

For #2 there are 2 products that I have used.

1. White polyester labels.  You print them with a laser (inkjet labels are also available), peel off the backing and put them on your enclosure.  These can be difficult to work with because it is hard to perfectly place them and like any self-adhesive label they don't slide.  Someone on a forum recommended wetting the enclosure with water containing highly diluted dish soap - say 1 drop in a large bowl.  I tried this and it does work - it allows you to re-position them but not as easily as with decals. http://www.labelsbythesheet.com/items/water-resistant-polyester-labels~laser-/white-water-resistant-poly-full-sheet-laser-labels/list.htm

1. Decals are available with white backing rather than clear.  I have some and used them on one pedal so far.  The results were good.  However these are not completely opaque like the poly labels so the white will be dulled by the background color showing through a little.  My enclosure was a medium green, and the white parts appeared off-white.  I am curious as to how these will work on a very dark color.

[luks999]

@bcalla: thanks, thats exactly what i thought. im gonna try one of these white waterslides
@dave: do you mean drawing by free hand? why do i need decals for then?
i thought about drawing too, but my hands not too steady i fear...
and engraving is a great idea, maybe the best solution of all. i check if theres a shop who can do this

thanks guys

[m-Kresol]

@bcalla: thanks, thats exactly what i thought. im gonna try one of these white waterslides
@dave: do you mean drawing by free hand? why do i need decals for then?
i thought about drawing too, but my hands not too steady i fear...
and engraving is a great idea, maybe the best solution of all. i check if theres a shop who can do this

thanks guys

you need to draw a light-coloured outline and put dark letters above. This way you'll get a contrast with a kind-of sprayed-on look. Hope that makes sense.
If you find a shop Lukas, please do tell me! I know there's the Happy Lab (a fab-lab). I've been there and also took the course for the CNC tool, but didn't sign up after all, as it was not worth it for the once in a while project.

[davent]

@bcalla: thanks, thats exactly what i thought. im gonna try one of these white waterslides
@dave: do you mean drawing by free hand? why do i need decals for then?
i thought about drawing too, but my hands not too steady i fear...
and engraving is a great idea, maybe the best solution of all. i check if theres a shop who can do this

thanks guys

Yes, drawing freehand on the enclosure with the carbide burr. Search out wahs by Joe Gagan for examples, pretty sure he's done a tutorial on freehand engraving maybe over at diystompboxes. Like everything else takes practice & Joe's got it down!
dave

[flanagan0718]

For #2 there are 2 products that I have used.

1. White polyester labels.  You print them with a laser (inkjet labels are also available), peel off the backing and put them on your enclosure.  These can be difficult to work with because it is hard to perfectly place them and like any self-adhesive label they don't slide.  Someone on a forum recommended wetting the enclosure with water containing highly diluted dish soap - say 1 drop in a large bowl.  I tried this and it does work - it allows you to re-position them but not as easily as with decals. http://www.labelsbythesheet.com/items/water-resistant-polyester-labels~laser-/white-water-resistant-poly-full-sheet-laser-labels/list.htm

1. Decals are available with white backing rather than clear.  I have some and used them on one pedal so far.  The results were good.  However these are not completely opaque like the poly labels so the white will be dulled by the background color showing through a little.  My enclosure was a medium green, and the white parts appeared off-white.  I am curious as to how these will work on a very dark color.

Hey Bob,
    So when you print the page the text and image come out white instead of black? I that correct? If so would you have a page to spare? I'll swap you a clear water slide page. I'd like to try them.

[m-Kresol]

For #2 there are 2 products that I have used.

1. White polyester labels.  You print them with a laser (inkjet labels are also available), peel off the backing and put them on your enclosure.  These can be difficult to work with because it is hard to perfectly place them and like any self-adhesive label they don't slide.  Someone on a forum recommended wetting the enclosure with water containing highly diluted dish soap - say 1 drop in a large bowl.  I tried this and it does work - it allows you to re-position them but not as easily as with decals. http://www.labelsbythesheet.com/items/water-resistant-polyester-labels~laser-/white-water-resistant-poly-full-sheet-laser-labels/list.htm

1. Decals are available with white backing rather than clear.  I have some and used them on one pedal so far.  The results were good.  However these are not completely opaque like the poly labels so the white will be dulled by the background color showing through a little.  My enclosure was a medium green, and the white parts appeared off-white.  I am curious as to how these will work on a very dark color.

Hey Bob,
    So when you print the page the text and image come out white instead of black? I that correct? If so would you have a page to spare? I'll swap you a clear water slide page. I'd like to try them.

As far as I know, the are just white (like a regular piece of paper), rather than transparent. This means, you can have eg black letters with a white border and put that on. Or you can print your full-sized graphics covering the whole top of the enclosure without worring that your graphic won't show because of the enclosure colour shining through.
I had this problem once, when I stupidly wanted a black-white-grey art on a black enclosure. No way you'd see that with a transparent decal as all the "white" parts are actually transparent, iow black. If you have white backing, the parts will stay white as it would be when printing on regular office paper.
It's definetly easier to cover the whole top in a graphic than it is to just print white letters on a black enclosure. For the latter you would need to print the full sized decal completely black except for the letters. The problem here would be to actually match the shades of black.
I hope that made sense...

[luks999]

felix, thats what i thought too that white waterslides are, but they are still a lil bit transparent arent they?
when i find a shop i let you know. the best way of how i think about designing a pedal is either lasering or cnc engraving

dave...
ok didnt found anything about joe gagan, but im pretty sure i shouldnt do any free hand...

[davent]

(First hit with google)

[luks999]

thanks a lot dave maybe i searched wrong...
i think my hands too unsteady for this, but great idea.

btw many great ideas in this topic already

[alanp]

Depending on how steady a hand you have and nerves of steel you could try a tiny carbide burr in a rotary tool (Dremel) and do a freehand engraving.

I did this with a couple pedals
http://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?topic=9728.msg85519#msg85519 and my moonlander one.

You need decent handstrength, at least that was what I found with my knock-off dremel. I might have been using the wrong bit (it was some kind of conical thingy.)

Filling in the engraving with India Ink works VERY well! Doesn't come off, even when you mount it up in the vice and throw it around the workshop.