Headstock Logo
Posted: Tue Sep 17, 2019 2:30 pm
Hey guys, I ran across this product, which works for making a logo, or decoration on your guitars. It's made by Sunnycopa in Korea, and it's called Film-Free Waterslide decal paper. It comes in some colors, as well as metallic. The metallic includes, gold, silver, white, holographic, and holographic pattern.
What's unique is that this produces a waterslide decal, without the decal. I bought the gold and the hologram (plain) and I've experimented on ebony, which is what I use for my head plates.
According to Sunnyscopa, this product is made for nonporous surfaces, like glass. They make a special glue for porous surfaces, like wood, but I ordered the W1 glue for non porous. The reason is because their W2 glue supposedly leaves a residue, which I didn't want. So, I experimented.
A laser printer is required. I have a laser printer that prints in black/greyscale only; color is not needed. You also need a lamination machine. According to their website, the lamination machine should have temperature control and 6 rollers. These are expensive.
I found a used Apache AL13p on Ebay for $50. It's got the temperature control, but only 4 rollers. It work great, but I made changes in the procedure, which are listed below.
To use with wood:
First, I sanded the wood to 320g, then sealed it with thin ca glue. Once the glue was dry, I sanded with 320g again, to smooth the surface. Then, I simply followed the Sunnyscopa instructions, with some modifications.
It wasn't hard to do and the writing and graphics came out great.
You guys know that I like to inlay and I now design and cut my own inlay motifs. But, I've decided that I'm going to use the film free waterslide decal instead, for my logo. Only the ink is transferred. You can apply finished over it. Polyurethane doesn't hurt it. Alcohol will not destroy the decal, so you can use shellac over it. I'll have to experiment with nitro.
This doesn't mean that I won't be inlaying the headstock. But for the average guitar, I think this will look very nice and it'll be cost effective.
If you're interested, here is the website. Check out their YouTube videos. http://m.sunnyscopa.com/
Country Roads Logo in gold lettering, with holographic clipart. This was only an experiment, so it's not as pretty as it will be when I use it on a headstock.
What's unique is that this produces a waterslide decal, without the decal. I bought the gold and the hologram (plain) and I've experimented on ebony, which is what I use for my head plates.
According to Sunnyscopa, this product is made for nonporous surfaces, like glass. They make a special glue for porous surfaces, like wood, but I ordered the W1 glue for non porous. The reason is because their W2 glue supposedly leaves a residue, which I didn't want. So, I experimented.
A laser printer is required. I have a laser printer that prints in black/greyscale only; color is not needed. You also need a lamination machine. According to their website, the lamination machine should have temperature control and 6 rollers. These are expensive.
I found a used Apache AL13p on Ebay for $50. It's got the temperature control, but only 4 rollers. It work great, but I made changes in the procedure, which are listed below.
To use with wood:
First, I sanded the wood to 320g, then sealed it with thin ca glue. Once the glue was dry, I sanded with 320g again, to smooth the surface. Then, I simply followed the Sunnyscopa instructions, with some modifications.
It wasn't hard to do and the writing and graphics came out great.
You guys know that I like to inlay and I now design and cut my own inlay motifs. But, I've decided that I'm going to use the film free waterslide decal instead, for my logo. Only the ink is transferred. You can apply finished over it. Polyurethane doesn't hurt it. Alcohol will not destroy the decal, so you can use shellac over it. I'll have to experiment with nitro.
This doesn't mean that I won't be inlaying the headstock. But for the average guitar, I think this will look very nice and it'll be cost effective.
If you're interested, here is the website. Check out their YouTube videos. http://m.sunnyscopa.com/
Country Roads Logo in gold lettering, with holographic clipart. This was only an experiment, so it's not as pretty as it will be when I use it on a headstock.