I did a search but could not find exactly what I wanted to know. Among the water slide decal papers that you can print on yourself, are there any that will work in a regular ink jet printer?

Jemes,

Try here

[www.papilio.com]

Hope this helps,
Andres Perez
Miami Fl

With ink jets and decal paper you may find that since the ink cannot be absorbed into the paper it beads up giving a fuzzy look to fine details.

I have a brother inkjet that the ink completely beaded up to the point there was no image.

I've had much better results with the color laser.

The laser is definitely better, but you can produce good results with an ink jet and the Papilo paper. Be sure to let it dry, then coat with krylon workable fixative before applying to the rod.

Terry

I have never had a problem with the Testor's clear waterslide decal paper:
[www.testors.com]

James, give this place a look. Have used a lot with great results. They have both white and clear backed paper. like others said make sure you coat with a finish before wetting.
www.belldecal.com

Thanks for the ideas. I am going to try at least a couple of the things you guys mentioned here.

My experience with the Papilio white vinyl is that it fades very bad. My first rods were built with Testors Clear waterslide with the blank painted silver or white before applying and they have not faded one bit. This is both using the same HP7160 printer and spraying the decal with Krylon or Treehouse acrylic clear before applying. The HP7160 has passed away and has been replaced with a Brother 835 which doesn't produce as crisp of an image, it looks like is beading up a little but not too bad.

Being an ex-printer industry guy, I can tell you that Brother has a bad rep for any image or text quality requirements. They are cheap but you get what you pay for. Go to a review site to see the best PQ rated desktop printers and it's likely to be an HP, Canon or Epson model. If you want to go to the next step, some of the small desktop lasers are excellent for this application and will generally give you better text quality, especially on waterslide than ink-jet. Canon and some of the Xerox brands are probably best bets here.

Terry

Guess I'll add my two cents too.

I've done a lot of labels, both ink jet and laser. My first printer was an HP ink jet and it did a great job until it died. I got another HP after that but wasn't real pleased with the black, it was more of a very dark purple when compared to my earlier labels. I returned that and got an Epson Artison 710. It prints great ink jet labels using the Papillo clear back decal paper. An aside, it's been hit and miss when using the white backed decal papers as they tend to be more brittle and can tear.

I also have an HP color laser. I use it a lot for photo decals. They are great because there's no drying time involved or a need for the fixative spray. Just print and apply. Only thing I don't like with the laser is that after the epoxy is applied over it, the black isn't as true as the ink jets. It's got a little gray tint to it.

Thanks,
Chad Huderle

Huderle Custom Rods
Prior Lake, MN