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Reproducing Calcomp Logo

djg

djg

Experienced Member
Joined
Oct 24, 2008
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423
Location
MD
I've made a reproduction of Calcomp plotter accessory box and was wanting to know if anybody has experience with reproducing a logo like this and could recommend a method.
Suspect it was screen printed originally. Might be able to do that but seems somewhat involved. I've done toner transfer for PCB which might work. Solid areas like the middle C tended to be somewhat uneven and don't think it came out that nice looking. Thoughts? Logo is 3 inches long.

logo.jpg
 
Exact cut vinyl decal might work, if you don't mind it being slightly raised.
 
For me the finish on the wood would play a part in the choice of application.

Screen printing would be good but for line detail that fine it would probably require an azide UV photoresist on a high-Denier mesh count mask fabric. That might not be a cheap option. CNC vinyl cutting as suggested could work too, but needs to be carefully transferred from the vinyl backing to transfer paper first.

If the box was varnished then I would make a waterslide decal, as is done in scale modelling. The decal needs to go onto an already varnished surface so there is no sheen difference between the decal substrate and the surface. Once the decal is on then once dry another coat of varnish is applied to matt it in and make the substrate optically disappear.
It's probably not applicable for your case but in modelling the decal often has to go over compound curves (eg. an aircraft wing or fuselage) so two products, MicroSol and MicroSet are used to soften and make the decal stretch then the other liquid sets it.

Here are some waterslide and iron-on decal experiments I made a few years ago for the late model PDP-11/05 console using the added DIGITAL fascia plate.
They were done on a good colour laser printer. The top ones are printed on waterslide decal material and the lower ones on iron-on decal material.
DEC_PDP-11_05_decals_waterslide_iron-on.png
 
Box has a clear polyurethane finish. Looked online and think I understand waterslide decals. Looks like I can buy clear sheets and print with my printer. Is the Iron-on a form of toner transfer with only the toner transferring or is there a clear backing that also bonds? I find a lot for t-shirts but not for other materials. Do you know what product you used?
 
I got around to trying the iron-on decal onto a piece of very smooth finished ply. I had the iron on the hottest setting, no steam and held it on for a minute. Even after that, only some of the laser printed bit transferred.
It did not transfer the substrate, only the printed part. I've misplaced the decal papers at the moment so I don't know if that was the correct application instruction.

I bought both types at a scale model hobby expo but I've found the exact same one on Oz eBay, for the waterslide type at least:
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/293826764299

I would suggest trying your local hobby shop as they would surely have something similar. When I printed them, I ran a piece of plain copy paper through first and then cut out the image and taped on a piece of the decal paper than ran it through again. This was in case the printer left any speckling on the rest of the decal paper.
 
Did try the waterslide option. When buying it I saw this waterslide version that is a form of toner transfer so decided to try it. If it didn't work would remove it and go with the normal.

https://www.sunnyscopa.com/collecti...waterslide-decal-paper?variant=36426730143910

They also have normal waterslide. Can get from Amazon. Better transfer than I have gotten with other toner transfer methods but still not perfect. Zoom in on the picture you you see little spots of missing toner. Just looking at the box normally its pretty good with a few spots of missing spots of toner visible. Looks better than zoomed in on the picture looks. The waterslide decal before removal was not that noticeable so another coat of finish should hide it. It won't have any missing toner. Decided looked good enough not to mess with it further before VCF. This method uses alchohol to remove glue residue. Found the water based poly I used isn't alchohol proof which casued some problem but was able to fix. Didn't really like how the poly worked period.

box.jpg
 
Probably looks fine at 6 feet away. Have you contacted any crafts people to have a genuine screen print made? It seems to me is that the trick is getting enough pigment transferred.
 
Chuck(G) said:
Probably looks fine at 6 feet away. Have you contacted any crafts people to have a genuine screen print made? It seems to me is that the trick is getting enough pigment transferred.
Click to expand...
Looks perfect from 6' away. Logo is around 3" long. With reasonable viewing distance you can detect that it has a couple pinholes in the solid areas. The 50 year old boxes aren't perfect anymore either. I don't think I'll go to the effort of getting a screen print. If it doesn't hold up or I feel like playing more I'll try the waterslide label.
 
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