Alternate graphic solution

SCHÜSS · Post by **SCHÜSS** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 1:07 am

Hi, sorry if this has already been discussed.

I am pressing my skis on thursday and we are still researching the best way to do the graphics.

I am not the best with stencil art or screen printing.. i worked this out in one of my art classes a few years ago -so i decided that wasnt an option for now.

i looked into custom vinyls or stickers.. which are water proof and UV resistant. They would work and look awesom but for now.. out of the budget. (around$150AUS Or $115US)

Then i came across the very basic idea of simply printing out the design from a household computer. and i asked around and my father has a large photographic printer at his work (so i could print the ski graphic off in one huge bit)

I tried photgraphic paper at home.. glued a sample sheet onto a bit of aluminium and then applied a layer of resin on the top. It looked awesome.. but i left it outside in the sun (29ºc) for 3 days. it faded dramatically.

I tried normal bubble jet or inkjet on normal paper (not glossy) and it faded even faster!

So with all my hopes crushed.. i decided to try a sample, printed by a LASER printer.. and applied the resined the top (for a smooth glossy appearence + the durability advantages). So far so GOOD. If you have a laser printer.. or can use someone elses.. It could be a cheap alternative for ski graphics.

My tests only went for 2 weeks.. so i am not sure about long term exposure..

Has any one else tried this kind of printing graphics? If so how did you go?

Also if you have any other succesfull methods of appliying graphics to your skis lets hear about them!

hafte · Post by **hafte** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 6:47 am

You might also try what surfers use in their laminates. Rice paper. Here is a link to a place that has rice paper that can be put through a lazer printer. Nice thing abot this stuff is that unprinter areas are completely clear when wet out with epoxy.

http://www.fiberglasssupply.com/Product ... ilcom.html

You'll have to scroll down to the rice paper lower on the page.

I have also had great success with tye died silk as well.

Hafte

SCHÜSS · Post by **SCHÜSS** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 8:40 pm

that sounds like something to look at.

So now i have to decide weather or not to use LASER glossy paper.. or LASER rice paper?

kelvin · Post by **kelvin** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 9:48 pm

We use rice paper and an inkjet printer for a lot of our graphics and it works pretty well. On darker backgrounds though, the rice paper doesn't completely disapear. Lighter backgrounds, like on the upper crusts, look really good.

-kelvin

Mutombo · Post by **Mutombo** » Wed Mar 29, 2006 11:46 am

does the ink move when pressing due to the epoxy?

SCHÜSS · Post by **SCHÜSS** » Thu Mar 30, 2006 4:25 am

im not sure about rice paper.. but with normal glossy paper from both Inkjet/bubblejet and LASER it it doesnt move at all. just inkjet fades real quick

Mutombo · Post by **Mutombo** » Thu Mar 30, 2006 12:40 pm

ill do some tests and put here some pictures. Thx for your advices!

MonkeyButt · Post by **MonkeyButt** » Tue Apr 11, 2006 12:37 pm

Are you planning to do this above the topsheets? If so, i am wondering about durability issues.

Also, someone mentioned silk... would plain ol' cotton material work? I am rather interested in the results myself... keep us posted.

SCHÜSS · Post by **SCHÜSS** » Fri Apr 14, 2006 4:02 pm

Hi, well i was thinking of putting the graphics under the topsheet. that works well with paper and rice paper. you have to have the topsheet on top becaise, as you said, duribility issues.

cotton yould work, but make sure it is high density. as in the weaves are closer together. This will make your image or graphic more detailed! but it is also harder to apply the graphic ontop cotton..

if you do use paper make sure you resin it on top and Bottom of the paper. then apply the topsheet on top or just another coat of resin. dont use spray on adhesive or anything because it doesnt soak through the paper. the resin would soak through cotton and bond really well.. however i would assume it would make the ski slightly stiffer??

hafte · Post by **hafte** » Mon Apr 17, 2006 7:33 am

Cotton does work, but it will soak up more resin adding significant weight and as mentioned possible stiffness to the ski. I have also found that it is more expensive than silk believe it or not. Check out this place. http://www.silkconnection.com/products/ ... k/habotai/. I have used the 5mm (mm is a weight designation) and the 8.5mm on my kayaks. $7-14 for a 9’ boat. The nice thing about silk is it will go as clear as the glass when it is wet out.

It dyes easily and you can paint on it with the dyes as well, but you do have to use a washable resist to control the flow of the dyes or add carrageen (sp?) to thicken the dye so it can’t flow as fast into the weave. I have used the same dyes as you would on cotton, but you have to test. There is some color shift. Anything put under will show through (i.e. laminates, wood grain, sparkles etc). Dark background colors will hide the dye work.

Because of the light weight it can be a bit tricky to work with around some contours, but should be pretty easy with skis and snowboards.

Mutombo · Post by **Mutombo** » Mon Sep 25, 2006 2:02 pm

Hi all! Let me return to this post again because I have a few questions.
We did some test to add graphics to our creations but we found some problems.
We used normal paper (80 gr/m²) over the wood and cover it with a film of PE, for the first one we used usual PE but for the second autoadhesive PE. In both cases it didn´t bond with the epoxy, but after removing the plastic, we found a nice looking of our drawings (we used a laser printer). We thought about using some coats of varnish but if you pull the paper you can remove it because it is easy to tear, besides this, with the epoxy it became half trasparent so we could se the wood. No we have decided to use photographic paper because it´s stiffer (200 gr/m²).
Do you think is it going to work?

safetylast · Post by **safetylast** » Fri Dec 08, 2006 12:48 am

Has anyone tried using iron on transfers? You can print on the transfer paper using your ink jet printer and iron it on to any color fabric.
HP has it available on their website, or most craft stores should sell it.
It holds up pretty well through the washer, might work well for graphics.
Let me know if anyone tries it.

mattman · Post by **mattman** » Fri Dec 08, 2006 4:47 am

yes, i have done many longboards with iron ons. works great actually. I had a layer of texalium as my topsheet layer and ironed onto composite layer directly. the only thing is to make sure that you resin over the surface of the iron on because resin wont pull through that area of the fabric. other than that it is nice and vibrant, does your white backprint for you if you are using dark fabrics (as long as you use dark fabric iron ons), and it melts to the texture of the fabric adding a nice looking techy texture. best of all, you dont have to worry about your graphic during the layup!

Tore · Post by **Tore** » Wed Dec 20, 2006 11:59 am

Ok, finished an exam today and had a few beers now, but STILL can't stop thinking about pressing my first skis this cristmas...

I know that it is possible to buy clear UV-resistant paint. What if you spray that on whatever you want to use as a grafic layer, would that work?

MartinJern · Post by **MartinJern** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 3:16 pm

Bringing up an old thred ...

Did anyone try the iron-on tranfers on skis?

My plans is to iron black graphic on a white cotton fabric and put a clear topsheet ontop.
will the epoxy stick to the print or will it leave me with delam problems?

And the white fabric wont stay white after wetted out will they?

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Alternate graphic solution

Alternate graphic solution

Hafte

Just a thought

UV-resistant paiting