Glitterratti - dormant granny smith green

[keysandguitars]

That vector pack is awesome, thanks for the link! I haven't had enough time to mess around with inkscape. I have a little experience with photoshop so I'm hoping I'll figure it out. If you do a tutorial it'd be very appreciated. Again, sweet build man.

I think I'm going to buy a powder coat kit today. My work just bought an HP laser printer (B&W) for my office so I can start making decals and better transfers. I think it does 1200dpi.

[gtr2]

Just be careful. I've got a newer HP laser and my waterslide decal (made for laser printers) melted on it's way through.  Luckily I didn't ruin the printer, just a heads up.  I'm using my old brother laser again for waterslides.

Josh

[bigmufffuzzwizz]

Oh wow! That finish looks absolutely professional and I know you did it!! Ahh I'm itching more and more everyday for this powdercoated product, and your just teasing me with it 
Everything really does look great!

[keysandguitars]

Just be careful. I've got a newer HP laser and my waterslide decal (made for laser printers) melted on it's way through.  Luckily I didn't ruin the printer, just a heads up.  I'm using my old brother laser again for waterslides.

Josh

Efff! I'm not sure I should even try. Hopefully, I can find a review online that says the model has worked. Thanks for the heads up. I'd hate to explain to the boss that I murdered the printer the first day because I was using it to build pedals......you're fired!

[jimmybjj]

Just be careful. I've got a newer HP laser and my waterslide decal (made for laser printers) melted on it's way through.  Luckily I didn't ruin the printer, just a heads up.  I'm using my old brother laser again for waterslides.

Josh

I can't speak specifically for your printer,  but this will happen with alot of laser printers. Generally speaking your printer should be turned on right before you print on your decal. If the inside temp is high the decal will melt to the fuser.

[rullywowr]

Thanks guys!  I am really itching to do a full color one here on the color work laser but also have reservations about boning the work printer...  My 'free' LaserJet 6MP (circa early 1990's) at home has been great and never had an issue (I leave it on all the time). 

If you can get one of these older printers for cheap like my 6MP (Craigslist etc) I highly recommend it.  Even if it only has a Parallel port you can get an adapter to convert it to either USB or ethernet (best solution as it plugs right into your router and you can print over WiFi).  Toner lasts forEVER too...just add paper and print away.

[bigmufffuzzwizz]

I looked and couldn't find any old LaserJet 6MP, maybe if I keep searching.
My neighbor gave me one of these ->http://www.amazon.com/Epson-Stylus-Photo-Inkjet-Printer/dp/B00006F2W3
Anyone know if that will print waterslide decals?? IIRC I've seen inkjet tutorials on a few of these forums.

[rullywowr]

It will print just fine, but only on InkJet Waterslide paper - there is a difference between the inkjet and the laser stuff.  I am unsure if the ink will withstand up to 400F (which you need if you are going to bake powdercoat)... 

[rullywowr]

There is a 6MP on eBay right now for $65 shipped (includes a new toner cart)...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-Laserjet-6MP-Laser-Printer-22K-Pages-New-Toner-/220841474524?pt=COMP_Printers&hash=item336b2d79dc

[rjkanejr]

I've got a LaserJet 4P and a brand new HP toner cartridge I'd trade for some boards or pedals.  Very low usage. 

[DuctTapeRiot]

Wow man! I'm really loving your finished product! Looks perfect.

So, are u using water-slide decals, then powder-coating with clear and finally baking it?

I would love to improve the way I'm working with water-slides and the ol' clear spray paint. Lately I haven't been 100% satisfied =\


-Kaleb

Have you tried clear coating with EnviroTex yet?  Lots of the folks on the BYOC forum have been using it and it seems to be giving really great results, especially over decals as it is so thick it hides all of the edges/screwups.  I am going to try two with EnviroTex this weekend, will post back to let you know how it goes.

[rullywowr]

Wow man! I'm really loving your finished product! Looks perfect.

So, are u using water-slide decals, then powder-coating with clear and finally baking it?

I would love to improve the way I'm working with water-slides and the ol' clear spray paint. Lately I haven't been 100% satisfied =\


-Kaleb

Have you tried clear coating with EnviroTex yet?  Lots of the folks on the BYOC forum have been using it and it seems to be giving really great results, especially over decals as it is so thick it hides all of the edges/screwups.  I am going to try two with EnviroTex this weekend, will post back to let you know how it goes.

That sounds great!  Please let us know how it goes with that EnviroTex.  If it goes on over powdercoat that may be the ticket.  For now, I am going to "modify" my toaster oven by putting the top grill in the top slot with alum foil on both sides to deflect the direct heat from the element above.  I tend to burn the decals especially on a white background pedal sometimes (even at 350).

[DuctTapeRiot]

That sounds great!  Please let us know how it goes with that EnviroTex.  If it goes on over powdercoat that may be the ticket.  For now, I am going to "modify" my toaster oven by putting the top grill in the top slot with alum foil on both sides to deflect the direct heat from the element above.  I tend to burn the decals especially on a white background pedal sometimes (even at 350).

Thanks, looks like I am going to have to wait till this weekend for the EnviroTex as my inkjet just kicked the bucket so now I have nowhere to print my decals (Man I HATE waiting for stuff like this). My understanding though is that it goes over everything, i have seen a lot of pics of people using it to create coffee tables by pouring it very thick over beek caps, shells, and other junk.

That vector pack is awesome, thanks for the link! I haven't had enough time to mess around with inkscape. I have a little experience with photoshop so I'm hoping I'll figure it out. If you do a tutorial it'd be very appreciated. Again, sweet build man.

I just downloaded Inkscape on Monday, stayed up all night last night, and by this morning I had redone the graphics for my next three builds, and they came out looking way better than the raster versions. It was so much easier than I expected.  I will do a tutorial either tonight or tomorrow and will post it up here. In the mean time here are my thoughts(x-post from BYOC forum):

Ok, I stayed up almost all night last night after I downloaded Inkscape redoing all of the graphcis for my next batch of pedals in vector format and I cannot believe how much easier it makes everything.  It was super easy to get up and running (caveat: I have a fair bit of experience with raster based graphic design work) even knowing next to nothing about the tool or vector graphics. Here are the main advantages as I currently see them:

• TEXT!!! With vector I can resize, bend, scale, skew, mutalate text with no loss of clarity, sharpness, etc.  Worth the switch for this alone.
• Scaling:  I can scale all of the objects as a whole, which is great for final adjustments to make sure the decal will fit the encosure top exactly.  Print a paper test copy to see what adjustments need to be made, then just grab the whole graphic and resize everything perfectly.
• Measure sizes exactly: for drill holes, knobs etc.  I know this is not a vector only thing, but it is sooooo much easier.
• Print in any resolution: I can print the file at the max resolution of any printer with no major adjustments to the file itself.
• Cant believe i almost forgot to put this one:  Trace Bitmap!!  This is an automated feature that will take a bitmap image (jpeg, gif etc) and will trace the edges in order to create a vector version of whatever it is.  This works best for high contrast things with well defined borders (ie some kind of graphic image, as opposed to a photo). I used this to trace my logo that I designed (a b&w stylized zombie king head) and it came out perfect., and now with the vecor version I can scale it perfectly to fit where needed.

tl;dr: Vector graphics, worth the time to figure out.

Wow, sleep dep makes me wordy.

[rjkanejr]

Can't wait - would greatly appreciate a tutorial on this!

[masterlk]

+1


quote author=rjkanejr link=topic=2709.msg22791#msg22791 date=1316545906]
Can't wait - would greatly appreciate a tutorial on this!
[/quote]