Producing a clean signature section is the most frustrating part of fly rod building. In seems that no matter how hard I try there is always some screwup that requires me to spend more time and effort to deal with than the entire rest of the rod. The latest one(s) is dealing with a bubble that always seems to present itself under the sticky back labels that rod manufacturers offer. Under the epoxy they appear as a white dot against the dark background color of the blank. Any suggestions as to how to avoid, or deal with, these would be greatly appreciated.

Gerald...it has been my experience over the years to lay down a coat of epoxy finish on the blank before applying the Decal. It sounds as though you have done the same...this is Good. More importantly i learned a Long time ago not to touch the underside of the Label with Anything!!! Not even my very expensive surgical tweezers. What i do is wear non powdered Surgical/ Examination gloves, then take a double edged Razor blade like the old Gillette, Shick, type your Dad used to use. Use the blade on it's Flat to gently lift one corner from the backing paper.Then using the gloved hand gently grasp the Decal on it's edge,top and bottom at the center of the Decal and gently center it on the Blank. Once centered start at one end of the Decal and gently press down and otherwise smooth out any air, working all the way down from one end to the other. i have found that if a part of my finger should come into contact with the underside it will not leave any type of mark or distort the sticky adhesive that will subsequently create a blemish. it is due to the Glove this does not happen. Even tweezers making slight contact will leave a bleamish in the adhesive, burnishing later will not remove it...trust me i have tried... I Hope this is of some help...im sure the other Lad's here have their own way that works well for them also. Cheers!!!....Wayne

not sure and don't want to know whose labels you use, but i can tell you that i almost always messed up labels. till i tried decal connections label (peel an stick) first one was perfect, no more ordering two to be safe.

Jim,......I think he is talking of the ones offered from the manufacturers withthe rod data.

Gerald...... I too have trouble with these. I follow the directions using the masking tape to pull the front and the rear protective backing off. I start in the middle and burnish all the way and I still have bubbles.

Ohio Rod Builders

Canton, Ohio

Check this video out. It should help Near the bottom of the page [www.mudhole.com]

They use masking tape ?? Maybe a clear scotch tape to see the decal better

Bill - willierods.com



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/20/2011 08:11AM by bill boettcher.

And I thought only I had this problem because of my fat fingers

Thanks guys. Decal Connection has been my fall back position. They now have gone away from waterslide, for some reason, and gone to a neat sticky back. I have not had any trouble with any of them so far, but I still miss the water slides which have the "thicknes of smoke". The sticky backs are considerably thicker requiring multiple coats of finish before the edges disappear, each coat adding the potential for sag, fisheyes, uneven leveling, etc requiring still another sanding and a followon coat..,

The exact problem I was referring to in my original post were bubbles that seem to appear under a decal, defying burnishing or pressure to eliminate. In fact, heavy burnishing can leave marks on the decal surface that show up as streaks under the finish.

When I become emperor my first act will be to require all manufacturers to use waterslide decals.