Al Heeley Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 Quick question: What's the best way to get permanent lettering onto a die-cast enclosure for a home-made stomp box? I want something that looks reasonably professional and won't wear off after a couple of months in a gig bag. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toasted Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 You could cut vinyl pieces and apply. You can print on your computer and varnish/bake over. You could etch the bare aluminium with etchant and an etch mask (this way is bitchen') You could draw it on with a sharpie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Heeley Posted January 21, 2009 Author Share Posted January 21, 2009 Acid etch sounds inpractical for me - I need a screen, acid, etch resist (tranfers?) Vinyl letters - interesting, but on-line sites concentrate on shop signage, big letters, expensive one-offs, how well will they stick to a die-cast metal box? How much wear and tear can they take from being trodden on or bounced around in a gig bag? Special ink-jet decal paper - used before. Needs a good coat of lacquer to seal afterwards in order to protect from wear and tear. Not always good adhesion to metal. What about Letraset type letters + varnish overspray? Be interested to hear more about this baking of the letters to fix them to the metal case. What sort of computer printout could be baked on to metal? Sharpie? Last resort for that home-made vibe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toasted Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 Could I recommend: [url="http://www.beavisaudio.com/techpages/boxinaday.html"]http://www.beavisaudio.com/techpages/boxinaday.html[/url] What are you making? :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnylager Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 [url="http://uk.rs-online.com/web/search/searchBrowseAction.html?method=getProduct&R=3885848"]http://uk.rs-online.com/web/search/searchB...t&R=3885848[/url] ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
umph Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 paint it on then apply enamel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Heeley Posted January 21, 2009 Author Share Posted January 21, 2009 (edited) [quote name='umph' post='387355' date='Jan 21 2009, 12:00 PM']paint it on then apply enamel[/quote]Err, how exactly do I go about applying enamel? The golden rule is: Is it something likely to stress out the wife if I do it in the kitchen? Toasted: It's for my mark II A/B/Y box, also for better truss rod cover lettering for the Lemonbacker. I think the 'bake in oven' step is divorce-territory. Brother labelling machine - wife has a Dymo one I'm allowed to use, its ok but it looks lame. Will explore the vinyl lettering + acrylic craft varnish spray route as the most feasible. Edited January 21, 2009 by Al Heeley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yorick Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 Use model enamel or nail varnish...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lfalex v1.1 Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 [quote name='Al Heeley' post='387338' date='Jan 21 2009, 11:44 AM']What about Letraset type letters + varnish overspray?[/quote] Would have been my suggestion. But if you made it, don't you [i]know[/i] what the controls do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Heeley Posted January 21, 2009 Author Share Posted January 21, 2009 [quote name='Lfalex v1.1' post='387449' date='Jan 21 2009, 01:07 PM']But if you made it, don't you [i]know[/i] what the controls do? [/quote]Heh, thats a dangerous assumption! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Cooke Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 [quote name='Al Heeley' post='387436' date='Jan 21 2009, 12:58 PM']Err, how exactly do I go about applying enamel? The golden rule is: Is it something likely to stress out the wife if I do it in the kitchen? Toasted: It's for my mark II A/B/Y box, also for better truss rod cover lettering for the Lemonbacker. I think the 'bake in oven' step is divorce-territory.[/quote] what are you, a man or a mouse? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Heeley Posted January 21, 2009 Author Share Posted January 21, 2009 (edited) Squeeek squeeek.................actually she's pretty tolerant to my guitar dependance but I do have 18 instruments clogging up differnt rooms of the house plus a bass and flying V in process of being built plus a vintage tele restoration project for our drummer, and 4 effects boxes on the go, so I don't want to push my luck too much.... Edited January 21, 2009 by Al Heeley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xgsjx Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 Craft shop such as Hobbycraft sells stick on letters of all varieties (adhesive back, rub on, etc) or you could get either rubber alphabet stamps and an ink pad or a vellum pen, embossing powder & a heat gun (or hot hairdryer), that way you can put what you want with embossed letters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toasted Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 Al, what are your stompbox projects? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Heeley Posted January 21, 2009 Author Share Posted January 21, 2009 1) Home build TubeScreamer [url="http://simnettguitars.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=1272.0"]http://simnettguitars.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=1272.0[/url] 2) DOD 250- type overdrive 3) Basic A/b passive box 4) A/B/Y passive box with LED indicators 5) A circuit to turn plasticine into pure uranium so that one day I might rule the world (-note: this one is still at the conceptual design stage) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toasted Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 Good work, Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silent Fly Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 [quote name='Al Heeley' post='387436' date='Jan 21 2009, 12:58 PM'](...)I think the 'bake in oven' step is divorce-territory.(...)[/quote] Unless you use a dedicated oven for just non-food purposes, it is also step in the danger-zone. Some of the chemicals used in varnishes stick inside the oven. When the oven is heated again they are released. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Heeley Posted January 21, 2009 Author Share Posted January 21, 2009 So here are the options: 1) Buy a new dedicated oven to bake a stomp box case, and start divorce proceedings 2) Learn how to enamel 3) learn how to screen print 4) buy some ink-jet decal paper from Crafty Paper for £3.95 and spray it with lacquer. 5) Find an online vinyl lettering company I'm thinking I'm formulating a plan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toasted Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 Let me know, Al. I need to order some lettering so if we can do it together to work our cheaper, maybe? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Heeley Posted January 21, 2009 Author Share Posted January 21, 2009 Do you know Vinyl Craft? Some of the guys on the UK Guitar builder forum recommend them. I have ordered a sheet of inkjet-printing dry-rub paper from Crafty paper, will let you know how it works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toasted Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 Thanks for your PM and kind offer, Al. Let me know how your lettering goes and then we can take a look. Could be good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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