Panel silk screening questions

robjohnson · #1 10-01-2006, 05:29 PM

Ok, so I have some questions for all of you that have had your panel text silk screened on. Roughly, how much did it cost to have this done on your panel? How long did it take? Are you happy with the results? Any durability issues?

I am asking this because I am seriously considering screen (silk) printing my panel. I am going to attempt to do this myself (I know...I am nuts).

Any experiences/info you could share with your screen printing experiences would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Rob

JordanGrant · #2 10-01-2006, 05:58 PM

Rob,
You should also consider using clear decals on your panel. I did that on mine and I was pretty happy with the results. I put a couple of coats of clear paint on top, and after that you can't even tell that there are decals there. One downside is that you have to use some dark color for the text - since you can't print the color white in your standard laser printer.

Anyway, its another option for you to think about.

AlexPeterson · #3 10-01-2006, 06:39 PM

Rob, if you are nuts, than so am I. I silkscreened white lettering on my black panel about 6 years ago. I really did it mostly because I'd never done anything like that before. I had drawn the panel with a CAD system, so adding a text layer was easy. I fit everything on about a 20" x 16" screen. It took two setups to do the panel, no big deal. Seems like it cost about $200 for making the screen and buying epoxy paint. I do not know if I'd do it again, as it makes it difficult to change the panel layout. But, many panels look cheesy because of homemade looking labels.

L.Adamson · #4 10-01-2006, 07:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlexPeterson

But, many panels look cheesy because of homemade looking labels.

On the other hand, you can make some great looking decals with the computer, using different fonts, colors, and borders. I print these on Avery clear label sheets, and then clear coat the complete sheet of decals.

I've got several sheets for spares, and with luck, some can be changed, although I've pulled paint.

I've even made a worded label with a background matching my panels light grey color to hide a scratch.

robjohnson · #5 10-01-2006, 08:44 PM

Guys, thanks for the prompt responses on this. I have also thought of labels (not that Dymo thing either) as an alternative route. I also did some research on dry transfer stuff, but past experience creating printed circuit boards left bad memories with me on this route.

Alex, do you have any photos of your panel that you could share with me? Did you use standard epoxy paint? That was one major question I had -- all of the sites I found related to this all reference ink (presumably because they are screen printing tee-shirts). I was concerned that ink would smudge right off of a painted panel. Good to know some type of paint will also work with this method. Any additional tips/hints would be greatly appreciated (screen mesh size, emulsion method used, etc.)!!!

Rob

mburch · #6 10-02-2006, 07:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JordanGrant

You should also consider using clear decals on your panel. [...] One downside is that you have to use some dark color for the text - since you can't print the color white in your standard laser printer.

I've been thinking about this for my airplane, although my panel will be dark-colored so I'd need white text on the labels. Does anyone know of any reason why I couldn't just take a sheet of clear label stuff to Kinko's and use their color laser printer to make white labels?

mcb

Davepar · #7 10-02-2006, 09:15 AM

Laser printers can print cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. No white.

Here's another option: http://www.pulsar.gs/

It'll do white labels. I bought the kit, but haven't used it yet. A few folks have had good luck with it. Searching on the forum should provide more info on it.

Dave

ClayR_9A · #8 10-02-2006, 10:42 AM

I used a layout program (Quark Xpress) to create a large document the size of my panel, and positioned all the labels exactly where they were supposed to be. I then had this printed at a graphics shop using a special laser printer that prints on transparency film. Everything is clear except for the type. (it'll print as long a sheet as you need)
I took that to a powder coating/screen printing place and they printed onto my already painted panel using an epoxy type ink. They then sprayed a matte clearcoat over the entire panel. It came out looking great.

close-up photos are here: http://www.eaachapter.com/rv9a/panel.htm

http://www.3dpowdercoating.com/

If I ever do it again, I would use any type of computer program that allowed accurate positioning of the type on the page and I'd create several 8 1/2 x 11 pages for each major section of the panel. (one page for the switch labels, etc) I'd just print these on a laser printer or good ink-jet printer on plain white paper, and I'd take these to the screen printer for them to make the transparencies and screen using whatever method they would feel comfortable with. They don't need to print the entire panel in one shot... they could make one screen with the various labels on it, and then move that one screen around on the panel for each section, just squeezing ink through the portion of the screen that they are printing. (or masking the panel as necessary)

-Clay