Does anyone know how I could transfer simple numbers and colored circles onto a wooden board game that I am making and have it look professional enough to sell?
Lee
transfer image onto wood
Wed, 04/20/2005 - 11:49
Wed, 04/20/2005 - 11:59
#1
transfer image onto wood
Lee,
I guess I would consider silk-screening. Though having someone that IS a professional in this areas would help the end product look better then the average joe could do.... But I do have a co-worker that is into this on the side and he does some great work.
Sadly you might be able to pull of some type of Stencil painting..... though I would worry about the actual end quality.
Wed, 04/20/2005 - 12:01
#3
transfer image onto wood
Doh! Simultaneous duplicate posts (though the time stamps don't match... hmm... honest, Zzzzz's post wasn't there when I replied!)
Wed, 04/20/2005 - 12:36
#5
transfer image onto wood
You can have it either way. You could have the screens professionally made and then given to you to do the printing yourself (which is essencially putting some ink at one end and dragging it across the screen with a squegee), or you could give them the artwork and the wood and they would do everything for you.
It would obviously cost more to have them do the printing, but for 500 pieces, it may be worth it.
The screen printing wouldn't print inside the holes, unfortunately... but there are ways to get around that. Do you need the holes recessed? Is this a dexterity game of sorst where a piece gets trapped in a hole (as in crokinole)?
Alternatively, you could use clear sticker sheets for the artwork to go inside the holes. Nosissies has used them to great effect in a game. They really look like the image was printed directly onto the wood (and would be especially effective if the artwork was recessed inside a hole).
Alternatively, you could have rubber stamps made with each number that you need. Then it would be no problem stamping the numbers (in whatever colors you want) inside the holes.
If you go with a screen printer, they may have more alternatives to accomplish what you want. Let them know what you need to have done and they should be able to help you out.
Wed, 04/20/2005 - 12:49
#6
transfer image onto wood
Lee
I use silk screening to do both my game boards on felt and my game pieces on wood discs.
You can see it at http://www.pyromythgames.com/products/product.html , boulder games actually has a better picture they did themselves http://www.bouldergames.com/detail.asp?Product_id=1176
You can silkscreen onto a flat surface but you won’t be able to silk screen into a hole. The screens which are reusable cost $25+ depending on the size and the related chemicals for filling and cleaning them will cost $20 to $30 to get started. Doing 500 boards yourself will be allot of work even if you are experienced with silk screening. You might check around your area for shops to do it for you. As for printing into the holes they may also have a way of doing it I am not familiar with.
Feel free to contact me if you have other questions, when I was looking for information on silk screening there was no one willing to help me and it cost me money.
Good luck.
Wed, 04/20/2005 - 14:11
#8
transfer image onto wood
If you are going to consider stamping, check out these type of scrapbooking tools...for stamping.
This is a magnetic stamp tool:
This is one of the many magnetic stamps that works with the above tool:
Each character can be placed on the tool alone, they have different font styles and numbers (the numbers are part of a date stamp set they have in the line of product)
Wed, 04/20/2005 - 20:07
#10
transfer image onto wood
Those images are from:
http://www.addictedtorubberstamps.com
you can start there, but I would suggest a trip to your local craft store. Most places like Micheals, AC Moore carry these items.
Also, I think the tool set main stamp handle piece is about 1/2 inch, so it should fit into the 3/4 inch hole you are talking about.
Wed, 04/20/2005 - 20:18
#11
transfer image onto wood
Rubber stamps might sound good at first, but if you need 500 pieces with 40 prints each, that means 20.000 prints, which is a lot of work to do by hand. Add to that the risk of ruining a board because the 39th stamp goes wrong, and you have a nice formula for disaster.
Tampography (also called pad printing) is probably your best choice, but I have no idea if the costs are reasonable or not for your needs. It is the only printing method sepecifically designed to print irregular surfaces, and it allows printing on wood as well as plastics, glass and other materials.
If tampography happens to be too expensive, you might build your boards out of two pieces mounted one over the other: the bottm one, flat, with the values silk screened on its top face, and then the other piece, 1/8" thick, with the holes, pasted over, so that the holes match the printed values:
HTH,
Seo
Wed, 04/20/2005 - 20:40
#12
transfer image onto wood
Good thinking seo.....
I would agree that doing a two layer approach, using silkscreen would be a great solution. Since you only want 3/4" circles, you might be able to get someone (or you might be able to do it) to drill the top layer, might need some minor sanding, but it is another solution for the top layer.
There is always someone on here that helps, my brain did not even consider the option seo suggested, another great reason to post!!!!!!!
Thu, 04/21/2005 - 06:25
#14
transfer image onto wood
I think the two pieces method will work better, plus it lets you print the bottm of the holes right to the edge (you should print about 2/8" in excess of the hole diameter, actually, to allow for any minor disalignement during the mounting process).
It shouldn't be too much work compared to the 1/8" depth holes for a one piece board. The extra work produced by the need to glue the two pieces would be more than compensated by the simple task of printing on a flat surface.
As the board is round, you might be forced to think a method to ensure proper alignement when you mount both pieces. Probably the best way to go would be working with two square pieces, print, drill, mount and just then cut the monted board round. This will make the mounting easier while giving you a perfectly smooth border, as both pieces are cut round together.
You might want the top board to also be silk screened (before the drilling) with your brand, the game name or some decorative graphics. Even if you want a totally clean top, it migh be a good idea to silk screen the refference points for the drilling of the holes, to ensure placement consistency and speed up the process (it would also be a lot of work to measure by hand the pplacement of every one of the 20.000 holes).
As Zzzzzz already mentioned, a little final sanding will improve the finishing.
Fri, 04/22/2005 - 17:36
#16
transfer image onto wood
Don't forget to post some photos of the finished boards once you got them.
:-)
Are you talking about transferring an image onto a single board or a bunch of images onto a bunch of pieces?
The best way that I have heard of for transferring images to wood is by silk screening. There are a number of kits for do-it-yourself silkscreening with screens available on all sizes (big enough to fit your board artwork).
You could look into having the screen professionally made for you. This would be especially helpfull if your image size exceeds your printer capability. It's not hard to print onto a transparency sheet and make a screen from a letter sized image, but if you can't print as large as you need, you may want to have it done for you.
There are places to get large quantities of screen printing done for you. Many people here have had a variety of successes using screen printers to transfer images onto everything from wood to fabric. For a smaller run, you could probably do the printing yourself from a home made or professionally made screen.
Best of luck!