Howdy! & clearcoat question

[Antero]

Hi!  I've been sort of lurking about here for a week or so.  I'm diving into this head first, got some parts on the way - I'm planning three pedals, a feedback loop and Bazz Fuss to start off and a Highway 89 (sound samples blew my mind) once I get the hang of things with the first two.   

The question:  Present plan involves a couple of powdercoated boxes from Smallbear.  The question becomes, how would I best label them?  I was thinking of laserprinting onto adhesive transparencies and hitting that with a bit of clearcoat.  The obvious question, then, is "what the heck sort of clearcoat?"  Clear powdercoating isn't practical, so I guess it would have to be laquer or enamel?  I'm a little worried about the possibilities of the clearcoat reacting badly with everything else, though... what would you guys suggest?

Thanks! 

[KORGULL]

I've been using Rustoleum brand "Crystal Clear Enamel" with good results. I've used it over inkjet decal stock and inkjet sticker paper.
Do a forum search using the terms clear coat, there's a whole lot of info already posted here that you can sort through.

[mutant_guitar]

i'm not sure how well rustoleum works, but i do know that people who work with paint (guitar refinishing) try to avoid enamel based paints. usually the problem is enamel doesn't harden up as much as nitro or even acrylic when it dries, which means you can't polish it to a nice shine. i do know, however, that deft nitro dries up harder than duplicolor acrylic. you can get deft at low's or home depot, i forget which one, and you can get duplicolor at about any auto parts store, like pep boys, or advanced auto. again, i don't know how they compare to rustoleum, so all i can really tell you is that deft is better than duplicolor. if you don't really know how to paint, it doesn't matter what kind of paint you buy, it'll look like crap no matter what.

to be fair, i did this guitar with duplicolor and deft paint.

[Peter Snowberg]

Welcome to the forum.

[Antero]

i'm not sure how well rustoleum works, but i do know that people who work with paint (guitar refinishing) try to avoid enamel based paints. usually the problem is enamel doesn't harden up as much as nitro or even acrylic when it dries, which means you can't polish it to a nice shine.

That's what I hear... laquer, of course, would be badass, but it seems to dissolve, like, everything.  I think I'll try the rustoleum this time - probably simple enough for a paint-incompetant like me to deal with. 

Thanks folks!  Can't wait to get started.

[mutant_guitar]

actually, if you screw up with enamel it will probably be more difficult to fix than acrylic. like i said, enamel doesn't dry very hard, so if you get a run in the paint you won't be able to sand it out very easily. if you get a run with acrylic, you just let it dry overnight, then sand it out the next day and continue spraying. as fay as disolving things, it just depends on the type of paint you get. some of the solvents in the paint can disolve certain things, but people spray clear laquer over decals all the time without them disolving. what do you think headstock logos are? also, since enamel doesn't dry as hard, it will scratch easier.

anyway, when it comes to painting, the most important thing i can tell you is to always test out what you plan on using on scrap first. if you're affraid a certain paint might disolve a decal, try it on a peice of scrap decal stock first and see what happens. the worst that can happen this way is you loose a peice of scrap you weren't going to use for anything else.

[markm]

Laquer is a much harder finish however, Hard finishes chip much easier.
There's always a trade-off.
I've been using the Rustoleum and after ya let it sit for awhile it's hard as nails.