Thanks to Rodmaker Magazine, Bobby & Bill, I printed my first electric decals on the holo paper that I purchased at ICRBE. I think I followed the instructions. After printing I let it dry overnight. Today I put on three light coats of Krylon #1321 Matt Finish, letting each coat dry five or 10 minutes. I placed the decal on the rod, put a light line of Chromaseal CP on the edges and four hours later gave it a coat of TM lite. Before long it looks like it started to orange peel and now, an hour later, it looks like it is 3D textured. After the TM Lite cures I'll put on a coat of TM regular.

Any ideas what happened?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/10/2009 08:22PM by Chuck Mills.

Not sure what "3D Textured" looks like.

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Imagine holographic bumpy surface.

I still can't picture it but obviously one of the products you used reacted with another one. About the only way to tell what went wrong would be to try to duplicate the problem with a sample on scrap piece of blank. Leave off the Chromaseal, perhaps, and see if the same thing occurs. Or use a different finish and see if it occurs.

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I had the same problem a few times and liken the finish to the surface of a golf ball, dimpled but more irregular. I stopped using the Krylon and the problem stopped. I'm not sure what finish I used, but it was Flex Coat Hi Build, TM Hi or Diamond II.

Yup, golf ball describes it. Good to know.

Thanks!

I use the krylon fixatif instead of the matte and haven't had any problems with finish yet.

I had to pull it off the rod. I just uploaded a photo. The background is a photo of raindrops so the texture in the finish really made it confusing!

[www.rodbuilding.org]

Robert - How tough is it to do this without the Krylon?

Craig - I tried finding the Fixatif but haven't had any luck yet.

A client is gifting this rod to his son and I need to get it done by May 15th. I'll post here when I figure it out. Right now I'd bet it is the matt spray / TM Lite combo I used. FYI - The #1321 is a 6 oz can and the 1311 is an 11 oz can. They also have a satin finish and the the Fixatif.

I tried TM Lite straight on a decal and that works, but I am so afraid of screwing up the printing.

I doubt the Chromaseal has anything to do with it since it actually reacted less on the edge where I sealed the decal.

By the way - these things are blinding in the sunlight! This is one of the neatest discoveries yet! Thanks Bobby!!!!

Thanks all,
Chuck



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 05/11/2009 04:18PM by Chuck Mills.

Chuck

I had similar problems as you early on and have since evolved to eliminating the Krylon altogether. It's not very tough as you ask, but it does take more caution when handling the printed decal.

First, as you did, let it dry throughly. Overnight is best.

Second, DON'T pick it up by the edges with your fingers. You can eaily roll the ink layer back and expose the holo backing. One suggestion here; leave a small border of unprinted paper around the decal if that is acceptable to you.

Third, while burnishing, burnish thru the removed backing and don't move the backing while under pressure. (A better description is in the article.)

Fourth, if you feel you need to seal the edges with CP (I usually don't with the holo silver shine paper) use a very minimum amount only at the edge. A toothpick works best for me.

You are welcome to contact me direct if you need additional help.

A picture is worth a thousand words. You have experienced classic silicone contamination. I doubt it had anything to do with the Krylon, or the CP or the epoxy. Something containing silicone got on there, somehow. I don't have to guess - that is a textbook photo of what actual silicone contamination does to finish.

Silicone is contained in many products, including perfume and cologne. Anyone that was using any such product in your home, or a product containing a stronger concentration even just outside your house, could have caused that. But I am 100% certain that silicone caused the problem in your photo.

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Tom, I know it looks like that but to my knowledge there was no silicone use in the house. I did use pledge on a rod out in the garage a week ago but I left the rag in the garage. I used the remainder of the same batch of TM Lite on a smudged decal that had no Krylon on it and it did not fish eye at all. I suppose it is possible that something in the Krylon did this, although I checked the MSDS today and didn't see anything. If I had to bet, I'd say that three mist coats of Krylon might need to dry overnight.

Tonight I'll try it again.

Thanks

I used the shiny side of the backing to protect the decal when I burnished it on. Sounds like others do that too so I doubt that is a problem. I'll turn the air exchanger on high for a few hours and give it another shot.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/11/2009 06:32PM by Chuck Mills.

I can't tell you where it came from, but it's silicone. I've used the Krylon spray for over 15 years on homemade decals and never had this happen. I just don't think it's the Krylon. there's nothing in there that would cause the epoxy to react that way.

There's an easy way to tell - rig up a test and use the Krylon matte spray on one and not on the other. Do everything else the same, using the same brush, CP and epoxy on both. See if the one with Krylon does this.

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Are we talking about regular Krylon matte spay or the Krylon matte FixaTiff spray?? I use the Fix a Tiff and have never had a problem

Mike (Southgate, MI)
If I don't want to, I don't have to and nobody can make me (except my wife) cuz I'm RETIRED!!

I'll try that test tonight. In thinking back, last night I cleaned up the edge of the hook keeper wrap on the decal rod with a gray Scotchbrite pad so I could add a bass decal. However, I also deglossed a couple areas on a musky rod that was in for repair. I know that rod had been polished with Pledge a couple years ago because I built it for my nephew. I don't know if the silicone would be around after two years, and I don't know if it became airborne after the cleaning. I'm not sure which rod I deglossed first. Next I put a coat of the TM Light on a BillMar bass decal that I bought from Custom Tackle at the ICRBE - no fish eyes. Then I did the holo decal on the same rod with the same TM and brush. Lastly I did a guide wrap and a BillMar decal on the musky rod with the same TM and brush. The only problem area was the holo decal. This is the first decal from this printer that I have ever put finish over. This is also the first sheet of holo paper I have used. It's possible the contamination came from the printer or the paper, or even the rotary cutter that I used to cut the decal. I'll clean everything and start over.

Hopefully I can find the answer and share it here to save someone else a headache.

I was using Krylon Matt. I checked four stores and no one carries Fixatif in my town. I checked the MSDS sheets for all Krylon clear sprays today and they are all similar.

The Fix-a-Tif is good, but the regular matte spray will do the same job. Nether contains anything that should react with your epoxy.

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I cleaned the cutter, the ruler & the tweezers and just did one with no Krylon. It turned out great. I used regular TM this time. I have no time to test tonight. I printed a spare and I will cut it in half and spray one half with Krylon and coat it later. My guess is that something was contaminated.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/12/2009 11:09AM by Chuck Mills.

I almost want to ask if you showed that first decal to anyone prior to putting epoxy on it. I know what most people do when they view a wrap or decal - they run their finger across it.

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Just my wife, and she knows better.