Could rice paper under fiberglass cause problems?

 

Tossing around many ideas in my head for decorating a Kaholo prior to glassing (hopefully soon) and now I’m thinking about printed designs on rice paper. The technique seems a lt less stressful than trying something "freehand," and the visual is pretty sharp. However, I’ve only seen this done with relatively small designs- a small image or inscription, for example. Would larger applications potentially interfere with adhesion of the fiberglass? I’m thinking about a design running down the length of one of the side panels, essentially uninterrupted.

Any thoughts on this?

Thanks,

Patrick


12 replies:

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RE: Could rice paper under fiberglass cause problems?

Not going to be a problem at all. I've used rice paper several times, works great.

George K

RE: Could rice paper under fiberglass cause problems?

The epoxy resin saturates the rice paper, so there will be no adhesion problems as long as you use the correct paper.  Make sure you test it on a scrap before you go for the whole thing! 

I did a test of several different weights of rice paper that I got from a specialty online store (they specialized in asian art supplies) and found one that worked really well and was nearly invisible.  I think I did a post on it here a few years ago you might be able to find if you do a search - if you're doing a large design on the top of the deck it might be worth it to test a few different types.

RE: Could rice paper under fiberglass cause problems?

Thanks Kathy. I read every darn "rice paper" thread I could find on this site but couldn't find the post you mentioned... until I just tried Google. Found it in all of 2 seconds. For anyone else looking for this info, the preferred paper KathyD alludes to above is "cicada wing (APS-57P04) paper from AwesomeArt.com." The rationale was that it was thin enough to be transparent but not so thin as to cause problems with injet printer ink.

While we're on the subject, I wondering about application. While I've read a lot about the idea in general, discussion is often thin on some details. I've seen various recommendations- lay the paper (dry) under glass, then wet everything out together; wet out the paper first, then glass over whie everything is still wet, and so on. All these methods seem like they'd work, but I haven't seen mention of what I'd like to do to keep things less nervewracking. Basically, I'd like to adhere the rice paper image first, but let this layer dry before laying down the fiberglass. This sounds easier than trying to position and smooth out the glass over tacky epoxy. Anyone see any problems with this or have another preferred idea?

Thanks,

Patrick

RE: Could rice paper under fiberglass cause problems?

Hi Patrick,

The issue I see with laying down the rice paper with resin, letting it cure, and then glassing over it is that you'd need to make sure the rice paper is absolutely flat (no wrinkles or bubbles) or after it's cured it could cause issues with getting the fiberglass cloth flat with no bubbles (and you wouldn't be able to sand the rice paper layer!)  However, I think it would work as long as you squeegee it well, just like fiberglass.  My concern would be that the rice paper may not be strong enough to squeegee.  I'd test out squeegeeing the rice paper to see how strong it is saturated with the resin.   

I seem to recall putting on a thin layer of epoxy, laying down the rice paper and getting it pretty well positioned and then putting the glass on top, adding more resin, and then squeegeeing the glass (which protects the rice paper) to get out the bubbles than inevitably form under the rice paper.  Unfortunately I can't remember if I squeegeed the rice paper very hard - anyone else do this more recently?

RE: Could rice paper under fiberglass cause problems?

Thanks for the reply, Kathy.

My only experience with fiberglass involves spreading it out and smoothing it down over perfectly smooth substrate. I've been imagining that the tacky, wet onlays will "catch" the glass, compicating the layout and elimination of wrinkles and such. Sounds like this is not really the case?

I intend to practice on small areas, but of course the real deal will be trickier.

Thanks,

Patrick

RE: Could rice paper under fiberglass cause problems?

I didn't do rice paper, but did put some fabric on my Kaholo.  The wetted fabric did catch the fiberglass a bit, but getting it to lay flat wasn't a real problem.  I had much bigger problems with getting it to lay flat in exactly the same way it did when I cut the cloth earlier.  Don't cut the cloth beforehand, and it lays down pretty easily.

Secondly, make sure there aren't any wrinkles in the rice paper before putting it on.  I didn't iron my cloth flat, and some of the wrinkles in the cloth ended up causing ripples that were difficult to deal with.  I ended up sanding through glass and decorative cloth in one spot.

It will be a bit more difficult on one of the side panels, since the cloth needs to wrap over the chine, but I don't think that'll add an insane amount of trouble.  I am tempted to try it on my next build.  ;)

-Matt

 

RE: Could rice paper under fiberglass cause problems?

I did fabric and rise paper under glass, no problems. Best fabric is cotton, but silk also works. Avoid polyester, that's what they make "Peel Ply" out of, and as the name suggests, poly doesn't bond to resin at all.

When applying fabris I fold the glass back, wet out the area, lay down fabric and saturate it, then bring the fiberglass over and wet again, followed by a  squeegee jib after it soaks for a bit.

For rice paper, wet, apply rice paper design, lay glass down and wet again - squeegee . . . 

RE: Could rice paper under fiberglass cause problems?

The site you reference above, AwesomeArt.com doesn't seem to be available.  It says the domain is for sale.  Does anyone have a good source for either rice paper designs or a source for great fabric for the Kaholo?  

RE: Could rice paper under fiberglass cause problems?

Daniel Smith Art Supplies has a large selection of rice paper.

RE: Could rice paper under fiberglass cause problems?

I am sorry, I should have been more clear.  I am looking for a source for the designs.  I am not very artistic so would like to be able to look through an e-catalog for designs and have them shipped to me.  Thank you again for any and all information.

RE: Could rice paper under fiberglass cause problems?

   Yes, sometimes you may face problem due to rice paper under fiberglass. Nice website. I also have a website through which you can solve the issues by HP Printer Support so that you can contact our experts.

RE: Could rice paper under fiberglass cause problems?

May have been mentioned elsewhere (not read all the graphics underlay threads) so I strongly suggest that those folks contemplating such an endeavor search out a source for printing graphics that uses pigmented, ‘archival’-quality inks for their underlays. You do NOT want to spend time, effort and $$ on this only to find later that the dye-based inks most home-type printers use are showing the effects of exposure to sunlight.

My own choice would be something from Epson, but HP makes some fine pigmented-ink printers as well. More usually these printers will be capable of printing on media wider than 13” where most home printers are limited to 8-1/2” width so let that be your first clue....

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