Unusual request from customer

[JIM PETZOLD]

I have a customer that does Aircraft interiors. I have done many odd one off projects for him, kind of cool work. He called me with one that I am stumped on.

He is re-doing the cabinetry in a high end corporate jet. He needs to put markings on cabinet doors. The doors are wood with a highly lacquered finish. The old doors appeared to have like a silkscreened marking under the lacquer.

The lettering is too small to cut on a vinyl cutter, it would be impossible to weed them out.

Does anyone know of anything that could be done? possibly some type of material that could be lasered to make a mask?

We have the screens that were used originally but have no idea about silk screening. What I know about silk screening, I believe you have to bake it to dry it, not an option.

Any suggestions or direction elsewhere would be greatly appreciated.

Jim Petzold
Ct Digital Graphics
203-888-6509

[Gary Hair]

You could direct print on them or laser and paint fill. The lacquered finish will be all the mask you need. Use acrylic paint and squeegee it in with a business card. Screen printing would probably be very expensive, but if you can afford a high end jet then money may not be an issue...

[JIM PETZOLD]

These have to be done AFTER the cabinets are installed. There is the problem.

As to cost, I can probably write my own check if I can figure it out.

[Gary Hair]

here you go...

[JIM PETZOLD]

Yeah, Now there's a high tech solution. Maybe I will just tell them to use duct tape & a sharpie. Thanks for the humor though.

[Mike Lassiter]

perhaps I don't understand.
Marking on "cabinet doors" but has to be done after the "cabinets" are installed. Why can't the doors be removed from the cabinets then marked and reinstalled?

[Guy Hilliard]

One thing you could do is print the decoration onto tissue and then imbed the tissue in the finish. With the proper tissue the tissue disappears and the decoration remains. One thing you need to look out for is some inks will run when they are hit with lacquer/solvent. A laser printed (heat set) design should work OK.

[Mike Null]

I'd look into doing an inlay. That will give you a high end look and a permanent mark. It would also return you a nice buck and enhance your reputation with this company.



SORRY--I just read your last post. Even so it would be my recommendation.

[Ross Moshinsky]

First thing, they should have never finished the door before figuring this out. Could be a very costly mistake.

My first idea would be to do an inlay with a contrasting wood veneer. That would require sanding off the lacquer finish, which is probably not in the cards.

The next idea would be to engrave, color fill, and then possibly re-clear.

The last idea would be to use gold leaf. You can throw the cabinet door on the laser, cut out a mask, weed the mask, apply the size, and then apply the gold leaf. I'm not experienced with gold leaf, but I'm fairly sure you can carefully clear over it. I believe you have to be selective which clear coat you use.

In the end, I think gold leaf is going to be the way forward. Create the mask on the laser and applying on site should work.

[AL Ursich]

Sublidecal ? Then recoat... ?

http://www.johnsonplastics.com/docum...sublidecal.pdf

[Mayo Pardo]

If you have the screens that were used originally, that's what you should use. (Assuming the wording hasn't changed). If the lettering is so small that you could not weed it in vinyl, it will be very easy to silk screen.
You don't have to bake the ink if you use solvent based ink or lacquer based ink. It's not the same as T-shirt screen printing which does require heat setting.

If you have ever color filled a lasered product, the process to silk screen something small and flat is not all that different. Typically you would use a softer squeegee to screen print but in a pinch it could even be done using a credit card or vinyl squeegee. And yes, you can screen print onto vertical surfaces if the doors absolutely had to be installed when you did this - the only issue with this is making sure the frame of the silk screen is not obstructed by anything in order to get correct placement of the image or lettering.

If the process seems too much to handle, look up some local silk screen printing company and ask if they print on flat materials other than T-shirts. You don't want someone that only has experience with T-shirt printing. If you find someone that seems capable, sub contract the job and avoid the grief and still make a few bucks.

This is not a job to learn how to do gold leaf on. It's not easy to do correctly and it's expensive material.
It takes a lot of practice after first reading how to do it.
The book titled Gold Leaf Techniques by Raymond Le Blanc is considered "the standard" textbook on it, and there is an updated version written by Kent Smith. Both available on Amazon and sign supply companies.

[Tim Bateson]

I agree, you already have the screens, just sub it out to a qualified expert & collect an easy payday.

[Gary Hair]

& collect an easy payday.

Now you jinxed it.

[JIM PETZOLD]

Thanks everyone. I have done gold leaf & the letters are too small to weed the mask. I have already started looking for a GOOD silkscreener. I will do that parts that I do best & let him do what he knows.