DIYstompboxes.com

I was brainstorming on how to label some textured boxes without losing the texture.  It dawned on me, rust-o-leum and a stencil.


Is there easy ways to make your own stencils?  If done right, this could have a very silk-screened look to it.

I tried once, but making your own is nigh unto impossible if you are dealing with things like the dots on the i's and such.  I ended up going to a signmaker and gave them a vector file of what I wanted and they made it for me.  They had a $20 min order, so I got 72 copies of the stencil.  Luckily, I have made plenty of projects to put them on.

Quote from: Ripthorn on September 16, 2009, 09:45:08 AM
I tried once, but making your own is nigh unto impossible if you are dealing with things like the dots on the i's and such.  I ended up going to a signmaker and gave them a vector file of what I wanted and they made it for me.  They had a $20 min order, so I got 72 copies of the stencil.  Luckily, I have made plenty of projects to put them on.

so it was a logo or something?  do you have any pictures of those builds posted?  Thanks!

I've psuedo-stenciled.  I got mailbox letters from the hardware store, applied them to the box, spray painted over them and then removed the letters.  I need to find very small letters to do this again.  Sorry, I don't have any photos and my girlfriend has borrowed the camera for a couple of days.

Maybe you could try the rub-on lettering that they sell at art or craft stores. The issue with those is the letters are usually way too big for use on a stompbox for labeling controls and stuff.

BUT - There is a brand called Letraset, which is still in business today, that makes small rub-on lettering. I was using these rub-on letters as far back as the late 70s, and my dad used them a lot in his kitchen design business. I know that they also used to have white lettering in addition to black. Anyhow, here is some of what they have to offer: http://www.letraset.com/manga/shopdisplaycategories.asp?id=76&cat=Lettering
http://www.letraset.com/manga/INFORMATIONPAGES/RDLweb/View-Lettering-Sheets.pdf

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm gonna get some cardstock, print directly to it and try my hand at simply cutting the letters out for a stencil.

The thing is, I want paint-only labeling to use over textured powdercoat finishes for a pseudo-screen printed look.  If I was working with smooth boxes I'd opt for frequency centrals transparency method.

a little tip from when i was experimenting.  the best transfer I was able to make was with regular paper, packing tape, and spray adhesive.  Do up whatever you want in photoshop or paint, print it out, cover it with strips of packing tape on the top, and cut it out with an x-acto, spray the adhesive on the back of the paper and put it down. The packing tape holds everything together for a good few sprays and the adhesive helps corners stay down. i found it works best when the stencil fits entirely within the height of one strip of the packing tape. It'll work bigger, but the cutting out's more of a pain. Clear packing tape's been a good addition to a few of my problem workarounds.

I did a partial stencil on my last build. I was going for a graffiti-type of theme. I drew out my design on paper, cut along the outline, and used that as my stencil with spray paint. Then I used paint marker to fill in the internal lines for the letters. It worked because all my letters were connected and everything was intentionally jumbled together.

http://www.alphabetsigns.com/c/ST12/Custom-Mylar-Stencils.html

i wonder if these might work.  They come as small as 1/4" in letter height.

For airbrushing they make a semi-translucent masking material on a big roll called frisket. It's very easy to cut out with an exacto knife, and doesn't leave a residue, and you can draw guidelines on top of it.  Best way to cut it out is to put it on what's getting painted, and then exacto it out then and there, the knife marks won't matter because there is going to be a color boundary there.

Maybe you could stuff it in a printer, or just print a page on some thin stock and tape it on top of the frisket and cut through both.

That'd be good for one offs, they'd carry it at a serious city art store that had airbrush stuff.

Quote from: Processaurus on September 16, 2009, 06:53:02 PM
For airbrushing they make a semi-translucent masking material on a big roll called frisket. It's very easy to cut out with an exacto knife, and doesn't leave a residue, and you can draw guidelines on top of it.  Best way to cut it out is to put it on what's getting painted, and then exacto it out then and there, the knife marks won't matter because there is going to be a color boundary there.

Maybe you could stuff it in a printer, or just print a page on some thin stock and tape it on top of the frisket and cut through both.

That'd be good for one offs, they'd carry it at a serious city art store that had airbrush stuff.

Use stencils all the time but have only made a few attempts at lettering with them.  This one was done with frisket film and an airbrush. Taped a paper printout to the frisket film on top of a cutting mat then cut out with an xacto knife.  For the side arrow cut a stencil from masking tape.


Another attempt at a stencil. Old and dusty.


This is all stencils and masking.


Take care
dave

great work dave!  I will have to give this a shot!

Why not go with silk screen, a small screen and a pot of photo-emulsionm and ink is really not going to brake the bank.   

Quote from: peps1 on September 16, 2009, 07:48:04 PM
Why not go with silk screen, a small screen and a pot of photo-emulsionm and ink is really not going to brake the bank.   

could you point me to a source?

perhaps later on, i'm just trying to learn a few different techniques for one-off building.  

if actual silkscreening is easy to do at home, I might consider that if I ever make a run of pedals.

Sure screen printing is easy at home, Iv got a rig that will pint up to A1 in my studio/workshop/spare bedroom.

All you really need is a screen (wooden/metal frame covered in mesh) and you can get them pre made and ready to go dirt cheap on ebay. (all mesh is rated depending on hole size, you will be fine with 180  mesh the standard size for paper/card).

Then you got two techniques you can use.......the cheap stencil method, or the slightly more expensive photo-emulsion method.

Stencil Method
this is really easy to do, and you only need something called stencil mask (again you can get it on ebay or any art store that deals with screen printing) all stencil mask dose is block the holes in the mesh where ever you paint it on the screen......so you paint everything apart from the mesh in the shape of letters you want to print. alot of people just put a photocopy or a printout in negative under the mesh and trace it.

let it dry and print!
(then clean your screen with stencil strip and start over) 

photo-emulsion/photo-paper method
This is a more complex method where you expose a image onto a screen covered in light reactive photo-emulsion, or film (like printing a photo from a negate. i wont go into it here as a discription would probuble put you off what is really at its core quite an easy method.

they have DIY kits for $25 just for people who want to do small scale at home, if you look for the Speedball Diazo Photo Emulsion Kit 8oz, this is really good, and you can get it in artshops, ebay and even Amazon.com do it.

Here is a good youtube videos explaining the process.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SS2ntWPMICc

Any questions, just give me a shout!  :icon_biggrin:

Will that photo-emultion stuff work to do a PCB?

Quote from: ItZaLLgOOd on September 17, 2009, 09:29:04 AM
Will that photo-emultion stuff work to do a PCB?

Do you mean screen-print the the tracks onto a PCB?

To be honest, iv never given photo emultion a go (but i cant see it being corrode in the etching processes!)......but Iv seen alot of people make PCBs using Photo Etching film.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkGt9nFER1s

but I still find The "Toner transfer method" For PCBs using just gloss paper, an iron and a laserjet printer a lot less messy and faster!   

While this may not be the best or easiest way, I used this on my first pedal, simply because it was what I had on hand. It was difficult but came out looking pretty nice. Sorry I don't have any pics, sold it a long time ago.
I covered my box in strips of blue painters tape, printed my lettering out on regular paper and taped that over the painters tape and used a scalpel like thing to cut out the letters through the paper and tape. This did leave cuts in the box though, but as these were on the edges of the spray paint, they weren't noticeable. You can also cut on a cutting board and move the tape stencil to the pedal if you would like.

A while ago I made some stencils by cutting some thin plastic with an xacto knife. I did it just for shapes/textures. It would be pretty hard with small letters.

Just had a thought  ;D

Have you got a laserJet printer? if so you can use the "toner transfer method"

Just print out you POT labels and any artwork onto a sheet of gloss photo paper (or a page from a glossy magazine) flipped horizontally.

then place the print out toner side down on your pedel and run over a house hold iron on its hottest setting, really lean on it and give it a good going over for about 5min. (the page will stick to the pedal)

Then place in warm water till the paper peels away, rub over with a toothbrush to get the remains of the paper off and you should be left with black printer toner letters boned to your pedal......seal with a lacquer, and its done!

you can get really thing detailed lines using this method, and it how I make PCBs.

(if photos would help illitrate ths, just let me know and i will go take some!)  

Quote from: peps1 on September 17, 2009, 07:28:56 PM
Just had a thought  ;D

Have you got a laserJet printer? if so you can use the "toner transfer method"

Just print out you POT labels and any artwork onto a sheet of gloss photo paper (or a page from a glossy magazine) flipped horizontally.

then place the print out toner side down on your pedel and run over a house hold iron on its hottest setting, really lean on it and give it a good going over for about 5min. (the page will stick to the pedal)

Then place in warm water till the paper peels away, rub over with a toothbrush to get the remains of the paper off and you should be left with black printer toner letters boned to your pedal......seal with a lacquer, and its done!

you can get really thing detailed lines using this method, and it how I make PCBs.

(if photos would help illitrate ths, just let me know and i will go take some!)  

i have access to a laser printer, and I plan on learning how to etch my own pcbs soon.  It sounds like a good idea, but I would worry about the heat messing up the finish on the pedal.  Should I be worried?  I usually use PPP's powder coats.

Also, I don't necessarily want black.  I found those custom stencils online.  I'm gonna give it a go with those and some temporary spray adhesive, any suggestions?

Quote from: aziltz on September 17, 2009, 07:37:40 PMIt sounds like a good idea, but I would worry about the heat messing up the finish on the pedal.  Should I be worried?  I usually use PPP's powder coats.

I have no clue  ;D but im doing some test right now with plain aluminom and painted to see what effect the heat would have.

Quote from: aziltz on September 17, 2009, 07:37:40 PM
Also, I don't necessarily want black.  I found those custom stencils online.  I'm gonna give it a go with those and some temporary spray adhesive, any suggestions?

will be good to see how the custom stencils come out, I personaly would you a Scotch Low Adhesion Masking Tape to hold them down and mask off.

thanks, scotch should be easy to find.