how do I letter an enclosure?

[fatfoohy]

I am looking to finish up some pedals that i have laying around, but only one problem....i have no idea how to go about lettering the knobs and such.  I am looking to do something similar to soldersound's 1590a flangers
(http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=64752.440)  appearance wise. any ideas of good walkthroughs that you know of? thanks in advance!

[phector2004]

try this: http://www.thefret.net/showthread.php?t=6091 (or more specifically to pedals, this: http://www.thefret.net/showthread.php?t=6235)

should be a tutorial on this forum though... did you try searching?

[rockhorst]

2 words: waterslide decal. Get decal paper for a laser printer (inkjet also available but more work), print your design and slide it on. Might take a few attempts, but in the end, the decal indeed just slides of if its wet enough. Then just clear coat it with a bit of laquer and presto.

[JEPorter]

You could also try a stenciling maybe...could give a cool industrial look maybe
Jeffrey

[Archer18]

You could also use a paint marker and then clear coat over it.

[fatfoohy]

Wow, Thanks guys, phector2004, those links are amazing! im definitely going with waterslide, although stenciling would be fun.....but that take a lot of measuring and guess work haha. Anybody else have any ideas? im still open for suggestions

[phector2004]

no problem. There's always Slade's etching tutorial, but that's a bit more advanced!

[KazooMan]

Check out this thread.

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=77001.0

I have tried the waterslide decals and have never been very happy.  They don't like a lot of different brands of clear coat and end up as a wrinkled mess.  You can get special spray for coating decals, and I have done that.  Still had problems with the clear coat.  I think that the transparency method from the link above is a great way to go.  It is something that will require a bit of practice to get just right. 

[fatfoohy]

wow, KazooMan, that looks like a definite winner, simple and not too difficult to screw up......sounds great to me!!!! haha thanks for all of your help guys, any ideas on what type of clearcoat to use? something that's easily obtainable would be preferred

[KazooMan]

I have tried Rick's technique and I used Krylon spray that I got in a craft supply store.  Here are some of my observations.

You have to use an inkjet printer.  I thought that a laser would fail and tried it just to be certain.  The clear coat dissolves the toner and it smears..

Make your cuts carefully to get good clean edges.  I did not follow Rick's method of splitting a line but just cut as close as I could to the line on the transparency.

On my first attempt I did not use enough clear coat and ended up with patches where the transparency would not stick down well.  No big problem.  Just pull it off, wipe off the clearcoat with a cloth and a bit of solvent and start over (that is if the clearcoat and solvent don't ruin any base coat finish you have.

My next attempt worked very well, with one minor issue.  I was applying labels that have large unprinted areas to a light colored box.  I got a lot of tiny bubbles trapped under the transparency and they show up against the light background color looking like specks of dirt.  Not noticeable from a distance, but obvious up close.  I think that I rushed putting the transparency down.  It might be best to be certain you have enough clear coat on and then start by placing one end down and then basically "rolling" the transparency on allowing any air to escape from the leading edge.  Flopping it straight down will entrain air.  Of course, a label that doesn't have clear areas would not show the tiny bubbles as much and a darker background color would hide them as well.  I think I started my learning curve with the worst possible case scenario.