Adding finish to a enclosure like MXR, EHX, etc.

[khm9]

Hi,

Anybody got an idea on how to add only black letters?

I would not like to add logos by applying water decals

For example take a look at the mxr, finish, and black logo and letters added...



or

EHX big muff, finish on raw enclosure



How do they do it, what's the trick?

I just want a simple design englosre, paint + simple letters

thanks

[GGBB]

Most commercial pedals are done  with silk screen, which isn't easy to DIY without the right equipment. You could do a stencil, but that's not easy either. Something I've been meaning to try which looks promising is toner/image transfer using acrylic medium.  Good tutorial here, and forum member Davent does a fair bit of this - maybe he'll see this post.

Edit: The guy in the video is not forum member Davent (at least I don't think so).

[khm9]

Hi GGBB,

this looks nice, photo transfer, however, I am don't think this has a good success rate when it comes to color transfer, if you can see in this video, not all black is transferred, there are lots of white spots.

I've seen people etching enclosures, I don't know how hard is that and if the success rate is good. All I know if you screw it up, you can't redo it. So it's either a complete mess or a killer enclosure. I don't think it's worth the risk although,if done right, the results are very good.

By the looks of it, I'll probably end up applying a water decal 

[LightSoundGeometry]

Most commercial pedals are done  with silk screen, which isn't easy to DIY without the right equipment. You could do a stencil, but that's not easy either. Something I've been meaning to try which looks promising is toner/image transfer using acrylic medium.  Good tutorial here, and forum member Davent does a fair bit of this - maybe he'll see this post.

I want Davent to cook me dinner, dude is a masterchef lol

[GGBB]

Hi GGBB,

this looks nice, photo transfer, however, I am don't think this has a good success rate when it comes to color transfer, if you can see in this video, not all black is transferred, there are lots of white spots.

I've seen people etching enclosures, I don't know how hard is that and if the success rate is good. All I know if you screw it up, you can't redo it. So it's either a complete mess or a killer enclosure. I don't think it's worth the risk although,if done right, the results are very good.

By the looks of it, I'll probably end up applying a water decal 

The video is just a demo and isn't indicative of the results you should expect. He's using a simple photocopy of a photo after all. Go to the pictures thread and look for Davent's posts. Also search here for his posts as he has shared a lot of his techniques - all of which have inspired me and some of which might give you some good ideas. Etching is a different look than commercial pedals like the MXR you posted - but I like it a lot when it's done well. When it isn't? I'd rather have decals. Any way you choose, it can be done well or not depending on how much effort you make and how much you hone your skills. Even decals can look quite good when done well.

[mcknib]

Here's where I've posted a couple of examples using clear vinyl which might do the trick

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=112984.msg1044467#msg1044467

I've used almost every method but the quickest and easiest I've used is clear vinyl no paint involved at all apart from clearcoat

and in this post some links on etching + more examples if you want to give that a go

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=112797.msg1042359#msg1042359

and some amazing etches here

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=85803.0
http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=85803.2120

[deadastronaut]

you can iron the toner onto bare metal for basic decals..text etc...
then clearcoat it..(you have to really scrub off any residue and fibres or it will go grey)
then clear coated..




i wouldnt try ironing toner onto paint though...could get messy..

[khm9]

you can iron the toner onto bare metal for basic decals..text etc...
then clearcoat it..(you have to really scrub off any residue and fibres or it will go grey)
then clear coated..




i wouldnt try ironing toner onto paint though...could get messy..

This could do, but i'd be more happy if i could transfer basic text/logo to a painted enclosure 

[deadastronaut]

you could use transluscent paint...clear-ish....

[GGBB]

Here's a post by davent with some examples of what he can do with wet toner transfer.

^^^Stunning as always John!!!

In the book 'rethinking acrylic' by Patti Brady there's a couple mentions of doing paper to paper  'wet' Toner Transfers using various acrylic mediums (even straight acrylic paint) as the means for transfer. Thought that if you can do paper to paper why not paper to enclosure. Had some Golden^® GAC 200 on hand and gave it a go. Did nine seperate transfers and abused them in various ways, wrapped them around corners, sanded with 120grit, went at them with an xacto knife, overly aggressive with the paper removal just extremely rough handling and for the most part they stood up pretty well, was even able to transfer lines software said were less then half a pixel in width. Were some left behind paper fibers (but not in the toner) that only showed up when i misted on a clearcoat, they stood up at attention. Used pretty messed up fonts so it's hard to tell but was getting 100% transfer and no distortion of toner like you might with a heat and pressure transfer. Have some refining of method to do but i see lots of potential for this.

Also tried it onto the back of clear acrylic where i got pretty good results. Should also work great as a means to 'silkscreen' the tops of pcbs.

Used satin Varathane as the clearcoat on the enclosure (1590G, really too shallow a size for regular sized jacks and 3pdt switches). No gut shots to show as there aren't any guts but i'm open to suggestions!

On youtube there are a lot of videos detailing this 'wet' toner transfer, usually referenced as 'image toner transfer'.

dave

Simply awesome stuff. If you want black text on paint without decals or silk screen, this is probably your best option.

More here: http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=100194.msg880923#msg880923

[deadastronaut]

^ yep, looks great..

i asked the guy on the vid about using the acryllic medium on metal, he reckons
it still has an edge..'ridge'...and suggested waterslide..

.

[GGBB]

^ yep, looks great..

i asked the guy on the vid about using the acryllic medium on metal, he reckons
it still has an edge..'ridge'...and suggested waterslide..

.

I wonder if he's actually used waterslide.

[khm9]

Those pictures above are amazing!