Went out and bought some vinyl from an upholstry shop. Cutout the letters on cardboard and adhered them to a piece of MDF. Then I adhered the vinyl down onto the board/letters. This was a practice run as I will build my amp rack later next week with the finished product.

I am also doing a screaming bird logo too. Only thing I need to improve on is getting more adhesive right next to the letters' edges.

 

What kind of adhesive are you using? Contact cement works good, then use a small roller or rounded end of a toothbrush to bond the vinyl to the crevices in the letters.

 

3M General trim adhesive is the stuff I'm using. Does a pretty good job. I may try to use a heat gun around the letters...that may help it stretch a little better. I used an eraser to push around the edges of the letters.

 

Josh,

The problem you are having with the edges may be due to the fact that the cardboard has straight edges. That is why I recommended that you use foam, as it will give a slightly tapered look. The roller will help, too.

Thomas

 

I was thinking about that as well. I may try to use foam and then see what I get and then compare the 2 and see which I like better. I'm not sure if I will like the look of the foam as well as the cardboard, but you may be right. Thanks for the input.

 

Take a sharp razor and cut a bevel on the edges of the cardboard a little. But you do need some sort of an edge like that to get it cleaner.

 

I went ahead and did the foam as well. It looks bubbly and I don't like it nearly as much as the cardboard. The cardboard looks much cleaner and more definate. I may try to chamfer the edges as Gumby said. I think I just need more contact cement along the edges and I'll be good. I'll be sure to post pics when I'm done.

 

If you use wood and route the edges, it'll give the exact contour you are looking for, then you can adhere the vinyl to it.

 

Looks good... I was kind of scared by the title of the thread at first! Let us know when you finish it up!

 

Me too. I had an image of a guy trying to mount an old record deck in the console

 

what about using a heat gun to help shape the vinyl??

 

LoL, you guys crack me up.

I may try using the heat gun and see how well it works on the final product.