rice paper print on to surfboard - who knows about this?

[Andymac]

I've got a customer wants to put logos onto wood paddles, and they want to print ricepaper and then varnish it on - apparently this is done on surfboards?

does anyone know this process?

what paper?

what ink? (what varnish or overcoat?)

other suggestions? I know waterslides might work, but I have no lacquer inks.

[farleypig]

i forwarded this to a friend of mine in RI that designs surfboards. i will let you know what i hear if i hear.

[andydiesel]

i did it years ago with nazdar 9700 for some board shaper guy and just did it recently with a giclee with using ultrachrome inks onto wood for a panel on my front door.

i don't know what the paper was for the board guy since he supplied it but it looked like your standard super thin rice paper.

[andydiesel]

i do remember it being a pain in the ass to print on such a thin material.

[imagine]

i did it for the graphics on my surfboard. i just went to the art store and bought rice paper printed it airbrushed it and gave it to the shaper to laminate in when they glassed it. i just used waterbased ink. i think surf shops/shapers will have the correct paper

[farleypig]

from my friend - hope this helps andy...

Hi Farley,
You asked the right guy! I've used the stuff on every surfboard I've made. It is also called "Laminate Paper." It is thin and fibrous kind of like tissue paper. Because it is so flimsy I tape it to a standard piece of paper around the edges before running through and ink jet printer. I use it for color logos, graphics, and also copy to go on the board. I have a few pictures of boards on facebook, check them out. When you print something out it has to have a white background. When the polyester resin hits the unprinted areas of the paper, the paper turns clear. Black ink holds up really well, but colors can fade over a period of a couple years. I read that this can be avoided by using "archival" inks. Also, the ink has to be water soluble so the resin doesn't smear it.
Usually the paper goes underneath a layer of fiberglass cloth (which also turns clear). But you can probably paint a very thin layer of resin on the paddle, place the logo on and then put some over it. A small rubber squee-gee would work best. Then another layer to seal it in after that. I don't know how varnish works. It might be fine. As far as resin, Suncure is the easiest to work with. Lay it on inside, out of the sunlight, then bring it outside into the sun and it gels in about 15 seconds, full cure in about 5 minutes. The paper also works with clear epoxy resins, but they can be a pain to deal with.

You can find the paper at these sites:

Surfboard Fins, Longboard Fins, Leash Cups, Rice Paper, Fin Boxes and other board building components (about 2/3 down the web page)

Surf Source

You could also get some other info by searching the forums at Swaylocks.com

Good luck!

Andrew

[Andymac]

Ha! Thanks GPeepers, that's perfect. I'll let you know how it turns out.

[stinkbait]

Andy Foo does this all the time. Email or call that goof...

[sicknimich]

I have printed surfboard lams with speedball they worked just fine when glassed in.