Has anyone tried using a clear Avery label with white or light colored lettering for rod specs? Any other suggestions other than hand writing the model and specs on a rod?

Thanks,

By the way, I have ordered quite a few of the Mudhole Lamiglass Blems blanks in the last month. Great prices and the blanks look good. Check them out .

The Avery labels do not work extremely well. You will find that the clear ones are actually somewhat opaque on most rod blanks. There are better decal type papers available, although most of them are not suitable for use in regular ink or laser type printers.

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Thanks,
Ill look around and experiment with some different labels. I have a friend in the printing business so maybe Ill ask him.

Great job on the site.

I have used the material from Mud hole Tackle it comes in a full sheet and is compadable with ink jet printers. It has a adhesive backing and when applied to your rod blank is clear . you can print anything that you want on it. It is the same material that they are putting Rod makers labels on with it and also color decals of Bass, etc. It is worth the $5.95 a sheet. you can use the avery format for labels to get a uniform number of items printed on each sheet.

Tom K hit the nail on the head about the Avery products avoid them,poor results from our standpoint.A few thoughts about ink jet printers and labels.
Most ink jet printers do not handle the thicker vinyl materials used in making decals very well.

The inks used tend to fade very rapidly when exposed to UV.

There have been numerous work arounds on using the printers for decals almost all of which have damaged some model printers

There have been some post re a west coast decal water slide paper that has promise,don't recall the name.

Some alternatives contact Custom Tackle Supply or Mudhole they can make the decals you need for you at a reasonable fee.

Tom K once mentioned a company that still makes some great letter transfers,you might contact him for the name.

Purchase a special printer for making decals{expensive}but if you do a lot of rods might be worth while

Last thought ink jets like all other printers work best with specific papers,exercise caution with what you put thru your printer,the inks tend to smear when used on the wrong type of material or they have very poor adhesion.
just my opinion

John, In this case I wouldn't say that it is "just your opinion". You have stated some very important facts for anyone who is trying to get good results from computer generated inscriptions.

Although I did a lengthy article in RodMaker a couple years back concerning all the various ways to make rod inscriptions, there have been some real innovations since then. I may consider a follow-up article very soon. The inks are improving (particularly on the Epson printers) and various new types of papers are coming on the market. We're getting closer and closer to inexpensive systems that almost anyone can afford and get good results from. In the meantime those firms, and the paper mentioned above, are a good place to start.

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I use my computer to design what ever lable I need print it on standard stock. Then spray it with hair spray (4 light coats) Then I let it soak in thread sealer after it has dried on the rod I finish it of with trim bands

Hi BOB

The printer to get for making rod lables is a dry transfer type. It works much like a dot matrix printer but uses different colored ribbons, including metallic's. One way to get rod (clear) lables from a regular inkjet is to get a Micro Mark catalog and order their inkjet decal kit. This kit produces water transfer decals and includes a spray can of fixer that keeps the ink from running when you wet them. This paper and fixer can sometimes be found in hobby shops that do a lot of train business as that is the market it is intended for.

So let me get this straight - dont use the Mudhole transfer paper in an HP Laserjet it will smear?

Am I wrong , but the dry transfer printer is like the ones I used to use to make transparencies for my lectures in class? Will those work?

I know the shop in Allentown printed some for me before, the paper they used was very thin and had the adhesive backing on it, all done up in italics and affordable, just thought I would do my own since I do grpahics and all for a living, just have not chased down the printing end of things.

thanks