darcshadow

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Posts posted by darcshadow

  1. Posted

    Yeah, I was a bit surprised how easily the stainless steel showed scratches and wear so the powder coating will prevent that. The next one I'm going to do will be a non transparent color with a second layer on top. It'll be a test to see how well the design holds up since it will have a bit of an edge to it, that in theory could chip. I believe powder on powder will hold up well. I will also make one with a negative space design to see how well the powder hold up on the steel alone. I suspect I may need to put a clear coat over that one to get a long lasting design.

    • Like 1

  2. Posted

    Oh, I'm agreeing it'll can be a mess and take some time to get up and running as desired just that the size of the database shouldn't play into it. Unless the new system is not compatible with the existing database then having to convert data into a form the new system can use could take quite a bit of time.

  3. Posted

    Database size doesn't typically affect the easy of a forum update. Updates rarely touch the database and just modify the user interface. Occasionally updates make a significant change though that causes the current style to not be compatible and it can take a good bit of time to get the forum to look the way you want.

    • Like 1

  4. Posted

    Yes, the yellow and pink are transparent/candy colors so anything under it will show through. The black shows through better on the yellow than it did the pink.

    • Like 1

  10. Posted

    Second go at a tumbler. Used vinyl as mask to lay down the black, baked it, then put the yellow over. I'm really pleased with how well the black shows through the yellow, much better than the pink did. Using 631 as the mask, but it's a bit tricky. Let it bake too long, try to take it off while the cup is too hot, or after it cools down and the adhesive doesn't want to come off. Have to find that sweet spot of warm but not too hot and the vinyl peals off easy but have to be quick cause the cup cools pretty quickly.

     

    I also think my toaster oven may be too small to do these. I think I "burnt" the yellow a little. You can't really see in the photo, but there is some discoloration of the yellow that I believe is because it was too close to the heating elements.

     

    And I know the image is copyrighted and all but this is just for my pleasure and Dodge has enough of my money, they can give me this little thing. ha!

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    • Like 2

  11. Posted

    You'll want a booth of some kind as well to put the part in while you're shooting the powder. I just use a large cardboard box with a small fan in the back to pull air through the box and keep the powder from drifting back toward me. Not the best setup, but it didn't cost me anything and works well enough for now. My goal is to build something eventually and put laminate on it so that it is smooth and easy to clean. There is a good amount of powder "wasted" that if you have a clean surface and clean brush you could reclaim about 80% of the wasted powder and reuse it.

     

    I also just picked up an IR thermometer to better know what the temp. of the item in the oven and adjust the oven as necesary. The toaster oven doesn't do well at regulating it's temperature when I stand it on it's side to fit the taller items in.

    • Like 1

  12. Posted

    The Eastwood kit is what I have. It's only $90 right now and does a decent job for hobby type stuff. Most parts also need to be blasted to clean them up prior to powder coating so you'll want a blaster cabinet, and then you'll need an oven to back the parts in. For now I have a large toaster oven but I'm keeping an eye out on craigslist for a cheap/free oven to stick out in the garage.

     

    Powders are pretty cheap to, $15-$20 or a pound and you can do a lot with a pound. Like vinyl the real cost of powder coating is the initial hardware cost and then just time, the actual product is really cheap.

    • Like 1

  13. Posted

    As others said, don't trace a font. From the image you posted however, looks like you also need to tweak your trace settings. It appears you were using either Color Quantization, or one of the Multiple Scans options. For a simple black and white image you want to use the Brightness cutoff. I usually start my threshold to 0.65 and the adjust as needed. Tweaking the items on the Option tab can help as well. But getting a good trace of a font is nearly impossible.

  14. Posted

    Not that any of us need another hobby project but I've gotten into powder coating and my wife asked me to powder coat a Yeti Rambler. To damn expensive to practice on so I bought a cheap knock off from Walmart and gave it a go. Using the vinyl cutter I cut the designs the used it as a stencil for the powder, layered down a black design, then went back and put a candy pink over the entire glass. Not perfect, but turned out well and I'm sure the next one will go a little better.

     

     

     

     

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    • Like 5

  15. Posted

    Don't know how vinylmaster works but in Inkscape I'd duplicate the cart then inkscape a box behind it and then use the difference tool, called punch in some software, and subtract the card from the box. then just delete the left over portions of the box that I don't need. There may be a better/easier way, but without seeing the vector file it's hard to say.