Hey Guys,

I have a special rod that I am building, it's a memorial rod. Is there a way to put a picture on a fishing rod?? I thought I saw a way to do it a couple years back but I haven't been able to find anything. Thanks!!!

There's probably more than one way to do this but for me it's pretty straightforward.

Print the desired picture on clear back decal paper.
Do a white underwrap with nylon thread.
I add a black thread underwrap border on each side of the white thread. This gives the decal a place to seamlessly blend into the background of the blank.
Give the underwrap a coat of color preserver.
Apply the decal and epoxy.

The reason I use white nylon for the underwrap is that you get a picture with a little "glint" from the thread.

Here's an example of the finished product using this method.
[www.rodbuilding.org]

Thanks,
Chad Huderle

Huderle Custom Rods
Prior Lake, MN

Thanks a lot Chad, I'll give it a go.

A MAC Custom Built Rods
www.amacrods.com

I USUALLY USE MY PRINTER / SCANNER TO "SHRINK" A PHOTO THEN I CUT OUT THE PHOTO APPLY SPRAY ON CONTACT GLUE TO THE BACK OF PHOTO LET IT SET THEN APPLY TO ROD BLANK THEN COAT WITH FLEX COAT SPIN DRY
I HAVE DONE QUITE A FEW RODS LIKE THIS USING BEACH BUGGY PHOTOS AND EVEN MOTOR CYCLE PHOTOS I HAVE A FRIEND THAT WANTS ME TO PAINT THE ROD THE SAME COLOR AS HIS "TROPHY " 1970 V W AND ADD THE PHOTO OF HIS V W TO THE ROD I DID ANOTHER OF MY FRIEND ON HIS INDIAN MOTOR CYCLE WITH THE ROD PAINTED TO MATCH THE BIKE
Larry

The best way I have found to do photo decals, and I've done a lot of them, is to print them on Papilio white vinyl media. I don't think photos will look near as good on a clear decal, but I could be wrong.
1. Use a program like Paint Shop Pro, Photshop, or MS Paint (which is on every Windows computer) to design your decal into a size that will approximately match the rod onto which it will be mounted. Like 3.1416 + a little times the rod diameter for the height of the decal, and the length you need for the width. This is the biggest challenge, getting a photo that "fits" the rod.
2. Print it onto the media with printer settings for photo matte paper and highest quality.
3. Cut it out with a paper cutter or similar tool to get straight edges.
4. Spray it with a fixative like Papilio's clear UV filtering fixative or other equivalent-the fast drying clear stuff you can buy at art shops or hardware stores. This keeps the CP and epoxy from ruining the photo. (I usually print multiples on a sheet of media to handle screw-ups and spray the whole sheet before cutting them out)
5. Use a sharpie to darken the edges of the individual decal
6. Apply the decal to the surface. Some recommend applying to a base coat of epoxy to ensure a perfectly flat, glossy, surface to which the decal will stick without compromise.. Make sure to use a burnishing tool with the backing of the decal for a protective layer between the tool and the decal to really paste the decal down to the surface. Particularly, be aggressive along the seam, but always use the protective layer.
7. Apply CP to all edges of the decal to help prevent them from being attacked by the epoxy. Make sure you get it well sealed, and don't worry about any bad appearance you get from the CP, it will not be visible when you get done.
8. Apply wrapping finish over the decal.

If you've never done this before I would recommend a practice run on an old piece of rod to be sure you get the process done before doing it on your special rod. However, if you screw up the decal, it can be carefully removed cleanly by carefully starting at a corner and peeling the whole thing off (before you apply CP or finish, of course). If you have questions, send me an email.

I like the Papilio white paper decals, haven't tried the vinyl yet though.
I use the same procedure that Mike Danek outlines above.
I print on plain paper first to make sure I get a good fit.
[www.rodbuilding.org]
[www.rodbuilding.org]

I also print a test on plain paper, James. That is a very good idea. Forgot to mention that. I haven't tried the paper from Papilio. The white vinyl is very thin, adheres well without tending to straighten out and lift, so doesn't require a "tie down" procedure like some of the stiffer hologram media need. By the way, if the stiffer ones are used and need to be tied down overnight I have found that electrical tape works well. Put a protective piece of thin paper over the decal, then very tightly wrap with electrical tape, stretching it well while wrapping. It develops a lot of quite evenly distributed compression on the decal, leaving no tracks like one might get from thread if not properly protected, and it's a lot faster for me than using thread (no power wrapper).

Very nice work, James!

I use the same system at Mick and James but I use permanent stick address labels from 3m for my media, works well and the adhesive is super strong.

______________________________________
Super Tight Lines......Don

Chad Huderle Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> There's probably more than one way to do this but
> for me it's pretty straightforward.
>
> Print the desired picture on clear back decal
> paper.
> Do a white underwrap with nylon thread.
> I add a black thread underwrap border on each
> side of the white thread. This gives the decal a
> place to seamlessly blend into the background of
> the blank.
> Give the underwrap a coat of color preserver.
> Apply the decal and epoxy.
>
> The reason I use white nylon for the underwrap is
> that you get a picture with a little "glint" from
> the thread.
>
> Here's an example of the finished product using
> this method.
> [www.rodbuilding.org]
> /photo/16443/title/thank-you-rod/cat/500


That's really cool. I didn't know that could be done.