Need some guidance

[mfatty500]

Have a potential customer that wants decals made out of cut vinyl for a motorcycle, but wants them to be under the clear coat. What kind of vinyl is best suited for the job? How long should the paint be on the motorcycle before being clear coated? Will the vinyl shrink, or fade? Any other advise you can give me would be great.
Thanks
Mike

 

[HIGHSPEEDGRAPHIX]

any paint needs to cure out a couple weeks before any adhesive based product should be applied to it, that goes for drywall, cars, metal, etc....as far as paint curing before clear coating, it just need to be dry....depend on paint brand/type climate and conditions. On the vinyl shrinkage, it wont be a problem under a clear coat, All Vinyl fades.....clear coat will help prevent that some......motorcycle's are often not out in the sun all day everyday anyway. Im assuming a body shop will do the clear coat.

 

[mfatty500]

Thanks for the reply, my brother- in-law will be painting the bike, he has many years experience in painting but has never clear coated over a decal. What brand and kind of material should I use to get the best results. Or could they be printed?

 

[J Hill Designs]

anything cast should be fine

if the design lends to solid cut vinyl I would go that route for color longevity, since you can't remove and replace

 

[mfatty500]

Pardon me for being dumb, but do you just apply and then apply clear coat? No sanding of the vinyl so that the clear will stick to it. Do I Use matte or gloss or does it matter? I'd rather ask dumb questions than make stupid mistakes.

 

[Gino]

Any cast or good grade digital print media should work just fine for you. Once it's down and it doesn't want to peel back or anything, give it a few dry coats. You'll end up needing quite a few coats of clear til it's done.

Make sure it's what the guy wants, cause once it's down and cleared, it ain't coming off again. ​

 

[Kottwitz-Graphics]

Any cast or good grade digital print media should work just fine for you. Once it's down and it doesn't want to peel back or anything, give it a few dry coats. You'll end up needing quite a few coats of clear til it's done.

Make sure it's what the guy wants, cause once it's down and cleared, it ain't coming off again. ​

+1. I did some for a local 1% er, to go on his Harley, and he was going to clear over it. I was a little cautious, because I know how these guys are about their bikes, but once it was done, it looked great. I was a little surprised when he walked up to me at the local ABATE Labor Day party, and asked if I could create a skeleton hand flipping the bird along with the Harley Davidson copy. I did a nice font and had Brian the brush create me the hand. He knocked it out of the park, and my client loved it.

 

[SellersSign&Design]

I don't know if you have access to a Gerber Edge, but Graphic Marking Systems has a product for the Edge that is basically a "transfer" decal. They said it was made for things like bike frames that will be cleared over. I think it's called Model Mark

 

[mfatty500]

another dumb question, would the decal have to be laminated?

 

[Bigcat_hunter]

I have done several bikes that have been cleared over the decals in the last few years. I print on cast and laminate. Haven't had any problems yet.

 

[Treela13]

Need help setting my roland cj 500 to contour cut using color choice.

Can someone help me please??? I cant get my color choice to contour cut. I am using corel to make my design but something is working correctly. Another person said I needed to do a swatch?? to make it work in color choice..

 

[visual800]

High performance holds clear better than intermediate. If its a printed decal no lamination as the urethance clear will shrink the laminate and cause failure. I clear over alot of decals and have learned the hard way.

oracal 651 is not doing good with clearcoat but 751 is great. I lay down basecoat, scuff the vinyl before weeding, weed it and place on basecoat than clearcoat.

 

[mfatty500]

Sooo, no laminate on the 751, correct?

 

[mfatty500]

Approximately how many coats of clear does it take to make it so you don't feel the decal when you rub your hand over it? Obviously depending how heavy the clear is applied.

 

[player]

Can someone help me please??? I cant get my color choice to contour cut. I am using corel to make my design but something is working correctly. Another person said I needed to do a swatch?? to make it work in color choice..

You need to start your own thread, not what is called "hijack" this thread. If you don't know how, it's easy. At the top there is a tab called "forums". Click that, then scroll down to the appropriate section. Click the section. At the top you will find the "new thread" button.

Also searching for your printer might yield some insight.

 

[Treela13]

You need to start your own thread, not what is called "hijack" this thread. If you don't know how, it's easy. At the top there is a tab called "forums". Click that, then scroll down to the appropriate section. Click the section. At the top you will find the "new thread" button.

Also searching for your printer might yield some insight.

So sorry

Thank you

 

[Techman]

why not just use paint? If you are laying cut vinyl why not use that vinyl for a mask and then use paint? Solid colors? Yes?

Laying clear over cut vinyl will need more then a few coats to overcome the ridge at the edge of the decal.

 

[ProColorGraphics]

There's no need to laminate as that is what the clear coat is for. That'll just make it thicker and take more coats of clear to burry the lines. I would just use a good thin cast vinyl.

 

[mfatty500]

why not just use paint? If you are laying cut vinyl why not use that vinyl for a mask and then use paint? Solid colors? Yes?

Laying clear over cut vinyl will need more then a few coats to overcome the ridge at the edge of the decal.

That's the way I feel about it, any car or bike I have built was done with paint. The guy is trying to save money I guess