Author Topic: Reusing Decals when replacing ramps etc.  (Read 5482 times)

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Offline ktm450

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Reusing Decals when replacing ramps etc.
« on: June 25, 2011, 04:38:34 PM »
On the WCS94 I am currently restoring I had a ramp that needed a bit of work, I was going to fix it but I found a NOS one too cheap to pass up.
The delema I had was some of the decals attached to the ramp were no longer available, so I had to work out how to reuse the ones I already had.
After flame polishing the ramp (yes I had to flame a NOS ramp, there were a lot of scratches in it from sitting in storage unfortunately) I was ready to take the decals off the old ramp and adhere them to the new ramp.

Here is a photo of one of the decals I had to reuse:





The process I used was to use orange power, it can be purchased at your local supermarket:





I then flooded the area and used a stiff bristled paintbrush to slowly push the orange power under the decal alowing time for it to work breaking up the adhesive:





It is a very time consuming process, you have to resist the urge to rip the decal off instead of waiting for the orange power to do it's job:





Once the decal is off, it has a lot of adhesive residue left on the face of it, remove this with some isypropyl alcohol:





All cleaned up:





For the next part you need some 3M 467MP tape, it is not the cheapest stuff but does a great job it is like a tape with gum attached so when something is laid on it it transfers to is making it a sticker:





Lay the decal down on the tape carefully, press down, then cut around it, using your finger push the excessive adhesive away from the edges leaving you with a little 'snot' ball:





Your decal is ready to be reused, you can leave it attached to its backing until you need to use it:





When ready to use simply peel off and place down with a little pressure like you would a normal decal, brand new, almost  *%*


Offline pinballheaven

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Re: Reusing Decals when replacing ramps etc.
« Reply #1 on: June 25, 2011, 04:54:14 PM »
Great job, you made a fairly difficult task look easy and that orange power certainly did the trick!

Jeff

Offline Bayview

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Re: Reusing Decals when replacing ramps etc.
« Reply #2 on: June 25, 2011, 05:10:18 PM »
You did a grand job of that  ^^^
Looks awesome. Well done & thanks for the info. @@* @@*
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Offline pinnies4me

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Re: Reusing Decals when replacing ramps etc.
« Reply #3 on: June 25, 2011, 06:33:13 PM »
Fantastic result Matt, well done!!

Wonder if that orange power would work with mylar removal?  !@#
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Offline ktm450

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Re: Reusing Decals when replacing ramps etc.
« Reply #4 on: June 25, 2011, 07:24:07 PM »
Fantastic result Matt, well done!!

Wonder if that orange power would work with mylar removal?  !@#

I'm pretty sure it would, doesn't seem to be too harsh on anything I've used it on

Offline Strangeways

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Re: Reusing Decals when replacing ramps etc.
« Reply #5 on: June 25, 2011, 07:38:11 PM »

Great Tip, Matt ! Looks like it was time consuming, but well worth the effort.
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Marty Machine

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Re: Reusing Decals when replacing ramps etc.
« Reply #6 on: June 25, 2011, 08:40:17 PM »
Am i looking at it the wrong way? but did you put the decal on the TOP side of the ramp?
I would stick it underneath the ramp, to protect it from ball-wear.

Also, if it is stuck on the underside, you can cut the 3M tape a bit wider, so the side edges align at the edges of the ramp to help conceal the decal-edge.

Hopefully you scanned the decal into your PC for future use, since you can't get them ;-)

my 2c ;-)
MM

Offline Duckman

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Re: Reusing Decals when replacing ramps etc.
« Reply #7 on: June 25, 2011, 10:19:36 PM »
So you won the ramp hey Matt?   LOL.

I was working and missed it by an hour, i  will be watching the next one &&

Fantastic job re-using the decals, handy tip to know

« Last Edit: June 25, 2011, 11:41:24 PM by Admin »

Offline ddstoys

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Re: Reusing Decals when replacing ramps etc.
« Reply #8 on: June 26, 2011, 12:48:43 AM »
Man what a top job and a very useful tip I know my bride of Pinbot will need the same treatment if I ever get around to instaling the new ramps

Offline oldpins

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Re: Reusing Decals when replacing ramps etc.
« Reply #9 on: June 26, 2011, 07:37:03 AM »
Great tip. Nice work  ^^^

Offline pinball god

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Re: Reusing Decals when replacing ramps etc.
« Reply #10 on: June 26, 2011, 10:55:24 AM »
Thanks Matt, that sticky tape will be real handy for me in the future. I've been doing stuff the hard way it seems.

By the way, those hands seem familiar, you don't do washing detergent ads on tv?  @@*
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Offline mildflame

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Re: Reusing Decals when replacing ramps etc.
« Reply #11 on: June 26, 2011, 12:17:10 PM »
 :lol I thought it would be WAY! too delicate! :lol I'll need to give that a try oneday
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Offline ktm450

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Re: Reusing Decals when replacing ramps etc.
« Reply #12 on: June 26, 2011, 02:12:54 PM »
Am i looking at it the wrong way? but did you put the decal on the TOP side of the ramp?
I would stick it underneath the ramp, to protect it from ball-wear.

Also, if it is stuck on the underside, you can cut the 3M tape a bit wider, so the side edges align at the edges of the ramp to help conceal the decal-edge.

Hopefully you scanned the decal into your PC for future use, since you can't get them ;-)

my 2c ;-)
MM

Definately underneath, you can not cut the tape wider, as the tape is only really gum, the tape backing just supports the gum whilst you are laying your decal down on it, once you remove the excess gum with your finger the decal is the same as the original with new 'gum' adhesive, then you just peel off the tape backing and apply.

Offline ktm450

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Re: Reusing Decals when replacing ramps etc.
« Reply #13 on: June 26, 2011, 02:16:29 PM »
So you won the ramp hey Matt?   LOL.

I was working and missed it by an hour, i  will be watching the next one &&

Fantastic job re-using the decals, handy tip to know



I won that one back in October for about $50 I think

Offline ktm450

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Re: Reusing Decals when replacing ramps etc.
« Reply #14 on: June 26, 2011, 02:19:47 PM »

Great Tip, Matt ! Looks like it was time consuming, but well worth the effort.

It does take awhile, I think I reused about 10 decals and it took me half a day of mucking around, but when you can no longer purchase things you have to make do.  I'm happy with the results, it is very hard to tell they are not brand new  *%*
« Last Edit: June 26, 2011, 02:25:28 PM by ktm450 »