logos update & question

Cue Crazy

Cue Crazy

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Quite some time back a few of us were discussing how to sign cues, and a few people mentioned using decals or transfers. I've been toying with the idea since and finally ordered some of the decal sheets to play around with. The sheets are clear but have a white backing like most water transfer decals do. I included a picture of what the first printed test page looks like.
Anyway, I have'nt tried them out yet, but seems like I remember someone mentioning the ink smearing when they tried to apply them, I am imagining from the water used, and not sure If Mine will do this or not.
On the instructions for the decal sheets, they say to spray the sheet with krylon acrylic after printing them up. I'm wondering If that is what I should do to keep them from smearing, or is there another product better suited that someone knows of? I'm hoping to get them as transparent as possible, so the edges of the decal does'nt show after the shaft is finished over It, and also don't want any adhesive issues going over what ever spray I use on the sheets.

Thanks:) Greg C
 

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Remember that when you apply these to a Q, you will be spraying a clearcoat over them that has thinners in it. If you spray your 1st coats too thick over the transfers, the thinners will attack the transfers & pucker the lettering up like krinkle paint. Go light at 1st & you won't have any problems. Just from my experience...JER
 
BLACKHEARTCUES said:
Remember that when you apply these to a Q, you will be spraying a clearcoat over them that has thinners in it. If you spray your 1st coats too thick over the transfers, the thinners will attack the transfers & pucker the lettering up like krinkle paint. Go light at 1st & you won't have any problems. Just from my experience...JER
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Thanks Jerry, I'll keep It in mind. I usually do a thin tack coat first anyway, so hopefully they won't melt down when I spray over them If I stick to that. Glad You mentioned It though, because I might have went thicker in this case, since It needs built up so much before any sanding can be done. From the looks of things so far, I'm definatly going to have to spray the sheets with something before applying the decals. Even that or It takes waterproof Ink, altough the instructions don't mention that, just to spray over with clear acrylic before applying them. I just tried one without spraying the sheet first, and everything smeared right off of It before the film came loose from the backing. I have some artist's/crafter's acrylic spray, but need to grab It from storage, and see how It works. Maybe I can spray the sheets with that. Just have to test some different stuff out until I find something That works I suppose. If I can get the ink to hold up to the water long enough to apply them to the shaft, then I should be good to go.

Thanks, Apprietiate the input, Greg C


Edit For Update- spraying the sheets with clear before applying them to the cue did the trick, and now the ink does'nt smudge.
 
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Well, after running some tests on scrap, and a few people's help through PM's (you know who you are:) ), I am able to pull It off, with the desired results I had hoped for.

Thanks to those that offered to ,and lended their support & input here. I'm very happy with the results so far, and looks Like I have It well in hand now.

Greg C
 
Jon said:
Lets see some pics :D
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I sure will as soon as I put one to a shaft:) . I just finished a break shaft for someone, but has already been finished at the joint before I tried this, and won't be recieving one of the decals, but the next shaft I put together for someone will. I have a SP that is sold & ready for a shaft, so that will probably be next in line. The scrap piece I tested on was just a old piece of shaft that busted out at the insert and split, so the wood is ugly & stained behind the decal, but served It's purpose for testing. As soon as I get a decal on some clear white maple I'll post It:D .
 
Greg,

Where do you get the decals? Do you buy blank transfer sheets and print them up on your computer at home or do you have to order them?

Thanks!
 
ragbug74 said:
Greg,

Where do you get the decals? Do you buy blank transfer sheets and print them up on your computer at home or do you have to order them?

Thanks!
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I got them from this place that someone posted in a previous thread. http://www.water-decals.com/wood_decals.html the other threads can be found by searching with keyword "decals" in the ask the cuemaker section here. There were a couple of threads with info related to this, where some good information on the subject was shared.

These were printed on a brand new cannon inkjet printer My brother just got recently, and came out pretty good, but did'nt take anything special or a laser printer to do It, altough they have decal sheets for either or. They actually look alot better then the picture I took shows.

These are actual decals though, and come with a white backing that slides off just like the model car decals We use to put on as kids :p .

hope this helps,

Greg C
 
Here's the scrap piece I tested on to show what It looks like, but It's just a scrap from a dirty shaft. I'm sure It would be much nicer on a nice, new, white shaft though.:)
 

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Looks nice Greg.
I'll have to keep this in mind :D.

By the way, is that pronounced Col-bear or Col-bert?
 
Jon said:
Looks nice Greg.
I'll have to keep this in mind :D.

By the way, is that pronounced Col-bear or Col-bert?
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Thanks Jon,

Funny you should ask, because My Dad likes the sound of It as in the actress from the old days Claudia Colbert or Col-bear, and keeps trying to talk Me into modifying It the way you spelled It out, but It has actually always been pronounced the other way as long as I can remember, and well before that. In Our case It's really an old american name more then french since there's probably very little left in the bloodline, altough I guess that's where the name originated from way back when, so could have been pronounced that way before the american revolution or something:p. I aggree with him, It does sound better, but I'm not going to change It for the sound, just not My style. I could see someone building productions giving It some serious thought though like lucas did.
I have some logos I've been playing around with that are just intitials also, and really not sure what logo I will stick to in the future. It's just for fun right now:)

Greg
 
Where can you get the transfer sheets and is there any detailed info how to sucessfully aplly the decals?
 
You can find the decal sheets per Greg's link above: http://www.water-decals.com/wood_decals.html

I ordered some of the laser printer variety and have experimented with it a bit. I put a label on a darker piece of wood on a cue and you could barely see the rest of the background film and edge. This is probably due to the fact that I had the surface prepped by sanding with 400 grit, as I do between coats of finish. The background, if you look closely, is a bit hazy, but I wanted to make sure it stuck and the finish around it didn't "pop." I would imagine if you were to apply it on a lighter colored wood, such as the shaft above, you would be able to "hide" the edges of the decal better.

Application is still the same as it was when you were a kid working on models. Cut around the edge of the decal, soak for a few seconds in luke-warm water, and slide off backing to apply. Blot out any air/water bubbles and let it dry. When I started to finish over the decal, I shot a thin seal coat to affix it in place and seal it. After that, build up the finish around/over the decal and finish the cue as you usually do. I don't have a picture of the one I applied or I'd post it.
 
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Transfers and decals are two different animals. I think what you really want is reverse image transfers. This way you are rubbing the image off of the paper and onto the cue. I got quoted $75 per sheet with hundreds of transfers on them plus a set up charge. I can't remember who makes them, but you can get them in most any color. If someone tracks them down please post it or PM me.
 
I had a link a while back for the reverse transfers. These were pre-made and used water. They were applied in the same fashion but when you removed the backing, all that was left was the ink. No need to try and hide the edges of a sticker. The problem that I had was the guy had a minimum order of something like $750 and he wouldn't send me any samples to test drive.

Does anyone know what technique Mr. Tascarella uses?
 
Thanks Chris, I did mix up the terminology "transfer" and "decal". I can see where the transfers would be easier to hide in the finish. The nice thing about the self-printed decals is the flexibility to print whatever you'd like at home instead of having to order them.

Greg, how did the edges of the decal look after you finished over the shaft/decal you posted above? On the cue I applied one on, I put the decal on one of the points of the dark butt wood on a housecue conversion. If I had put it between the points on the maple forearm, it probably would've hidden the background/edges a little better. If I think about it (and have time) this weekend, I'll take a picture of my application and post it.
 
Water slide decals

I've never had good luck trying to get the edges of the "clear" decals to blend with a light backround. The edge of the decal always seems to show.

I have had good luck on black butt caps by printing my logo with a black backround.

logo.JPG

I cut out the logo and apply it to the butt cap. I then go over the edge of the decal with a permanent black marker. I use a water based polyurethane for my finish, so I brush on a couple coats over the decal to seal it on the butt cap. Then lightly sand before spraying my finish.

logo cue.JPG

With the bright light from the flash, you can see the slight difference in the "black" backround. The black from my printer is actually kind of blue, but, under normal lighting, it really looks pretty good.
 
I'd be interested in the transfers as well. I searched out this thread several months ago and bought some of the decals. I wasn't happy with them, so never put any on a cue. I never thought of the black background on the black buttcap. That may be why I never used them. I wanted something the same on all colors, but couldn't figure out what to do about the black.
 
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