Front-adhesive techniques?

[taxicabproducts]

Hi all,
I work for a company that does signage mainly as a complement to other manufacturing, and we just ran into a situation where we need some front-adhesive decals (to go on the protected side of a clear polycarbonate item). Anybody have any tips or tricks on how to do this? I imagine it's something that comes up pretty frequently, but we have no experience with it and are trying to figure out a way to do it in-house rather than having to buy decals. We use a Roland VP-300 but might be willing to invest in new equipment if necessary (it looks like this will be an ongoing thing). Any thoughts will be much appreciated!

Thanks,
Andrew

 

[taxicabproducts]

Hi Pat, thanks for replying (and the warm welcome).

A white backing layer is actually the only thing we've come up with -- we don't have white ink capability right now, and backing with another layer of white vinyl would work, but I'm having trouble getting my guys to line things up properly. We're trying to make that work, but looking for another solution -- if it exists!

 

[SightLine]

Print on non-adhesive material (paper, poly, whatever works on your machine). Then laminate it with a mounting adhesive.

 

[signswi]

Since you're already used to smaller Roland equipment it might be worth looking at the VersaStudio 20" BN-20.

 

[eahicks]

Hi Pat, thanks for replying (and the warm welcome).

A white backing layer is actually the only thing we've come up with -- we don't have white ink capability right now, and backing with another layer of white vinyl would work, but I'm having trouble getting my guys to line things up properly. We're trying to make that work, but looking for another solution -- if it exists!

Confused...what's to line up? You overlay just like laminating. If it's a print and cut, just overlay with white within the printer's marks. I just did a similar job, all on a 1/2" acylic lobby sign.

 

[carter75]

Or like suggested previously, reverse print on clear, apply to substrate, then apply a piece of white vinyl on after. Kind of doubles the work that way but if lining things up is an issue this may be the easiest way.

I have also used optically clear mounting adhesive before too. Where I worked before we used to do large photo quality prints on large-format Fuji photo paper, laminate with the optically clear mounting film and then laminate it to the backside of a piece of acrylic or other clear substrate to be mounted with stand-offs usually. It looks very nice and is essentially a really thin layer of double sided tape and works just like an over-laminate.

 

[taxicabproducts]

Thanks to all

Hey everybody,

Thanks for all the good replies. I'm exploring some of the options that you all have presented. I really appreciate everybody's help and expertise!

eahicks, thanks for that -- I had been thinking of it as a situation where I'd have to cut the printed clear piece and then a white piece of the same shape, then apply the white piece to the back of the clear -- that's the lining up issue. I hadn't really considered doing the laminating-like thing that you suggest. (As I say, I'm new at this!) I'll try that out.

SightLine and carter75, I like the idea of a mounting adhesive, which is something I wasn't familiar with. I'll look into that too.

Again, thanks to all for the insight and help, and for making me feel welcome right off the bat even though I clearly don't really know what I'm doing!

Best,
Andrew

 

[skyhigh]

I would guess, if you were contemplating new equipment for this "ongoing" project, then it must be a fair sized job. That being said (assumed), spray adhesives or laminating the backs with white vinyl are the last options you should be considering.

An economical alternative would be to buy an edge or a summa print & cut (my choice).

I would laminate backs with white vinyl, if this were a small 1 time job.

 

[Signed Out]

Confused...what's to line up? You overlay just like laminating. If it's a print and cut, just overlay with white within the printer's marks. I just did a similar job, all on a 1/2" acylic lobby sign.

or just put a little masking tape over your marks and cut around the edge of them after backing with white to expose your marks again

 

[taxicabproducts]

Update

So I've figured out how to laminate just the necessary areas and get it done that way, which seems to be giving good results. Thanks for that suggestion!

skyhigh, thanks for the machine suggestions -- this solution is working for now, but if this job ramps up it might become impractical, in which case something like that Summa might be ideal. I'll keep it in mind.

Thanks again all! Much appreciated.

Andrew

 

[MikeH]

Hi all, We are working on a fast and easy second surface mount and would love to get your feed back before we go into production. All we need is a 8-1/2" X 11" to test Final size 8" X 10". We have been working on this for years and think we are set to go but would like to get some critical feedback first. Drop me a PM for contact info and specks.

 

[Fastsigns2041]

Confused...what's to line up? You overlay just like laminating. If it's a print and cut, just overlay with white within the printer's marks. I just did a similar job, all on a 1/2" acylic lobby sign.

This is the best solution. Works great for little stickers/decals and larger, more complicated designs.

 

[taxicabproducts]

This is the best solution. Works great for little stickers/decals and larger, more complicated designs.

Yes, this appears to be working for me for the moment. Thanks for the input!

Best,
Andrew

 

[synergy_jim]

reverse print on clear... tape cardstock over quadralign dots... laminate with white.... trim out cardstock to expose dots. cut weed apply....

simple...