I've never fully mastered getting good results with my Pearl labels and was glad to see Pat Barnard's article in the latest Rodmaker. I followed Pat's instructions exactly and here is the problem.
[www.rodbuilding.org]
There are two coats of finish on the threads and the finish is absolutely smooth, yet I continue to get cloudy areas under the label. I used a hairdryer to gently warm the finish, used the transfer tape, and used the Brayer roller. Once applied there doesn't seem to be a way to rub them out. All help is appreciated.

Steve Hartzell
Lake Conroe - Willis, Texas

If I have a decal that does not lay on just right, best solution I have found is to wrap over it with thread and good tension. That generally squeezes it on good.

Thanks - Marc

Keep it simple - that's all I can handle!

You may have a couple things going on there. First, you are using some sort of textured underlayment such as outlined in the original article by Dave Gottfried some years ago. That makes it much harder to really pressure the decal on what would otherwise be a flat surface.

I've also found that any sort of adhesive decal tends to "ghost" a bit due to the adhesive itself. Some thread colors don't show this as much while others seem to make it stand out like a sore thumb.

Give a shout to Larry at LRT in the morning and see if he can shed any more light on this for you. It's a common problem and even Pat's excellent article won't negate it 100% in every instance. But enough guys are working with these decals that further solutions are cropping up every day. Larry would be on top of them.

.................

Thanks for the comments guys. There is a textured underlayment, however I put on two coats of finish then sanded it smooth and added another thin coat to get the surface very smooth. I think the thread color may have something to do with the ghosting (good way to describe it). I never considered that but it does make sense. I'll give Larry a call tomorrow.

Steve Hartzell
Lake Conroe - Willis, Texas

Steve,

I looked at the picture you posted and I can see what you are speaking of. The wrapping under the decal appears to have some "dimpling" as part of the design. The ghosting appears to be where the decal media had originally made contact with the underwrap over a dimple and then released itself between the two high spots, causing the adhesive layer to be "smudged" at the contact point. If you would look at it under a hand loupe of at least 12 power, you would see a series of tiny pockets and peaks of adhesive layer where it was pulled from the decal media. Even if epoxy wicks itself under the decal at this point, the smudged area won't repair itself. Wrapping over the decal may have prevented this release but also may have left markings on the surface of the decal. Also try not to touch the decal area until after the decal has been applied. Use low tack, packaging tape as a transfer film layer if you need to to make decal application easier.

High quality Peel & Stick decals should have an adhesive layer sufficient to adhere well not only to high gloss surfaces, but also on less than optimum surfaces such as threadwork and other not-so-smooth surfaces. They also have adhesive layers that may be listed as "Pressure Sensitive" where the implication is that they need pressure to activate the adhesive. This can be obtained by a rubber roller or burnishing the decal through a transfer film layer to protect the decal surface while working it down into the nooks & crannies!!. I don't believe just finger pressure will do the trick.

I am familiar with the Pearl printers and other printers that are made by the same manufacturer as I use them at work and they do quite well. However, decal quality for rodbuilding should be determined by the flexibility of the media and the quality of the adhesive layer. Make sure you have both.

Thanks
Charlie.

Thanks for the detailed explanation Charlie. I've since removed the label that I posted and have redone it. I got better results the second time but not perfect. There still is one area with some ghosting. The textured underlayment is visual and not physical. I put two coats of Prokote on it, sanded it smooth and then added a third coat. This gave a perfectly smooth surface to apply the label but it retained the visual affect I was looking for. One thing I did this last time was to trim the label as close to the text as possible. This is one of the tings that was said in the article in Rodmaker and it did help. I used the transfer tape provided by Larry Tobin and never touched the label or the blank prior to application. I see two things here that may be causing this for me. One, this is a small diameter blank and the label is flexing a little as it is applied. Trimming close to the text helps this a lot. Second, the transfer tape may be a little heavy (thick) for this application and it may be contributing to problem one. I'm looking for some light duty transfer tape but so far all I can find is for large quantities.

Steve Hartzell
Lake Conroe - Willis, Texas

Steve,

On occasion, I have used a piece of 2" packaging tape with the glossy surface as transfer film media. The lower quality, meaning "house brand" of packaging tape, is best due to its lower adhesive tack. However, if the adhesive layer of the decal is not sufficient to prevent lifting by the transfer film when being removed, then that may indicate what the problem is in the first place.

The Transfer film that Larry supplies I am familiar with and it is listed as having medium tack and is good stuff. I use the same brand but without the grid lines, if that is what you have. The transfer film should be thick enough to prevent abrading through and scuffing the decals. I have applied decals with the same transfer film I just spoke of on St Croix burgundy 3wt 6'6" fly rods that are very close to 1/4" in diameter at the grip with no issues from the transfer film. To me, transfer film is more beneficial when applying small decals and extremely large decals because it adds rigidity to the large decals and something large to hold onto when using small decals. The thickness of the transfer film should not be an issue for any size decals.

Cutting the decal close to the printed area is a good move. That removes the "factory edge" that could have been contaminated with debris such as lint, grit, etc even in small amounts & sizes that in turn shows up as a nasty looking perimeter around the decal area.

Keep the faith as you will solve this issue and then there will be another one that will take you by surprise and bite you in the hiney. . . . .Have you been introduced to SILICONE yet???????

Thanks and good luck and keep 'em Turnin'

Charlie