How to paint logos/graphics/legends onto a powder coated surface? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Archipelago
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: August 25, 2019, 06:06:57 am
content: Hi all,I've been making guitar pedals for the past few years in my spare time and they've been for myself and my friends in local bands. Recently, I've been asked to make 5 of one model and I've been thinking about making a batch of 20-30 instead since then it would be cheaper for me to order parts and I could sell the rest online. That would also force me to make them more professional looking.While I have been able to source metal cases that are perfect for the pedal, I'm not sure how to proceed with the paint. I prefer powder coating so I already know a guy who can powdercoat cases for me.Now, I'd like to paint on a detailed logo with letters and some graphics. Kinda like in this pic. It has to look sharp and it has to be durable. I can't use vinyl because that peels off and looks horrible when it's stepped on for a while or abused/thrown around the bags (musicians can be really rough on the equipment).I've looked into stenciling: cut out a reverse image stencil from vinyl, stick it on, spray paint over it and then remove the stencil... but I have a feeling that lines will not look sharp at all and I don't even know how to make stencils so I'd have to order them. And sticking each one of them on the case would be incredibly time intensive (i'm guessing here).Anyone have some ideas on how to paint in a logo and legends onto a powder coated surface? Thanks!

author: 1audio
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 25, 2019, 06:11:49 am
content: I used to have a two stage process with a black base coat silkscreen graphics and a clear coat that also protected the graphics. The clear coat was textured so it was less sensitive to surface flaws and was very durable probably important for pedals.Sent from my LG-H830 using Tapatalk

author: wilhe_jo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 25, 2019, 07:48:40 am
content: If you have a cheap laser and powder coating equipment, then just powder-coat it twice (text color first, then you case color).After that fire up the laser and selectively remove your outer coat.For me, this turned out to be the best method.Stencils&Spray paint wasn't too easy... well, is can look nice if you do a very thin text-layer but that is not so easy.Additionally, I found that not all rattle cans work well (non-even spraying => you need too thick of a layer)... maybe with an airbrush you have better results.73

author: mfro
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 25, 2019, 08:29:55 am
content: Did you talk to your powder coater already?He might be able to put decals below a final clear coat (at least mine does as he offers bicycle frame coating with decals) which is probably the most scratch proof solution you can have.

author: 1276-2449-1-ND
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 25, 2019, 01:45:12 pm
content: When I made pedals I silkscreened the graphics onto powder coat. Very durable and professional looking.I made all the silkscreening equipment myself including screens since nobody makes silkscreen gear that small. I had a local T-Shirt silkscreen company coat and expose the screens for me, but eventually I did that myself too. There's lots of info online as well as youtube videos of pedal makers silkscreening pedals (which I copied).There's heat-cured ink that bonds to polyester (powder coat) so no solvents are involved and you can take your time instead of using, say, epoxy inks which have heavy fumes and require solvents for cleaning and only have a work-time of a few minutes.Nowadays I'd probably look into a UV printer which are down to around $2K. A lot of print shops have UV printers now too.

author: David Hess
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 25, 2019, 02:07:47 pm
content: I like reverse printed Mylar but as you pointed out, an attached film will peel up in this application unless it is secured at the edges.Can a second color of powder coating be added using an adhering stencil mask?The usual solution is to screen print which is something you can do yourself in small or large quantities. Some screen printed inks are incredibly tough.

author: sokoloff
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 25, 2019, 02:17:25 pm
content: Commercially, that would almost surely be done with tampography (colloquially, "pad printing"). We do it in-house for quantities as low as 10 I think (there's a laser-etched consumable for each design, but those are cheap in the context of a factory that already has laser engraving equipment).Very durable and can get quite sharp lettering.Look for "pad printing near me" or similar and get a quote.