So yesterday, when i got few free minutes from my 7 month old twins and 4 yr old whom thinks hes Ironman, I went down to apply my decal over the area I finished. After I applied it I put my FlexCoat high build over the decal area. Everything looked good, set it in the dryer and came back and the one edge of the decal had lifted. Unfortunately the epoxy was dry by the time I noticed. So now I have a corner noticeable. Should I try to use a knife/razor to remove this section? An then reapply? Never had this happen previously.

I read or watch a video somewhere on decal application. One should wrap the sticker/decal around a pencil/old blank pre-application the prep the decal to adhere to a round object.

Jerme's method helps but I would not stop there. Use a thin coat of CP around the edge of the decal. It should prevent the edge from lifting.

I know Jerme's method works well, but I don't have a power wrapper, so wrapping that length for me is a pain, so I put the backing for the decal over it and really rub hard with the smooth edge of my thread packing tool (or a sharpie works fine, just something hard and cylindrical , concentrate on the edges, then the CP, and they stick down just fine.

Thanks guys, actually do and did most of the suggestions, first time I have had this happen haha. Question was more towards what next, I know how to prevent it moving forward, but now that it happened I just went ahead and used a razor to slice the area that had lifted and re-coated. Should be good to go now. Thanks for the info though, will try to incorporate those.

Keep u posted how it turns out



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/26/2020 02:55PM by Jay Burns.

I always put a thin coat of Elmers glue on decals after applying them and before applying finish to the decal. Elmers dries clear and seems to "seal" down the decal. Works for me.

There is one cause of decal lifting that never seems to get mentioned, and that is, transferring oil from ones fingers to the adhesive side by handling it improperly. I have seen a number builders I know put their finger onto the adhesive, this is a NO-NO !

How to fix? I think the only option to try is to shave the lifted edge and recoat.

One thing that helps a great deal when working with decals is to use a Tweezer. Always keep a selection of various tweezers with different tip sizes. This way the clean non oily tweezer can do all of the decal handling and no worry about skin oil transfer.

Another good thing to help out in this department is a pair of latex gloves on the hands during this process. Again, no skin oil transfers to anything on the rod.

Best wishes.

I'm no expert for sure! But I bought a QLOUNI Rubber Seam Roller from Amazon $10.00. With the roller I roll from the middle and around the blank, than the same on the bottom half. With the roller i can roll the heck out of it before and after taking the protection part off. I also apply CP to it.

Don, that method is a great method.

Shaved and recoated turned out great, question was more how to move forward after it happens rather than how to prevent. Luckily this is the first time this has happened for me, but I have learned a lot in the thread and have some new ways to be proactive and prevent.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/31/2020 07:56AM by Jay Burns.

Good news. for the future do like Don does or use your thread packer like I do, concentrating on the edges, then use CP. No need for a long temporary wrap.