Ok I'll try to find an original for the sizing and try to get a scan. Thanks!
Vintage Grinder Sticker Reproduction
- Thread starter mattblast
- Start date
Ok I'll try to find an original for the sizing and try to get a scan. Thanks!
Ss95003
Well-known member
Matt I sent a couple follow up pm. Haven’t heard back.
lafester
Well-known member
Kevin Scott used to have these stickers on his website.
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lafester
Well-known member
I asked about a pre-block label about 6 weeks ago but never got a response.
Thanks again
Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk
Thanks again
Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk
I’ve been working on a new method to make metal labels. Several folks have tried sublimation which is a simple way to transfer a full color print onto aluminum, but it requires a special coating that can chip off and has the wrong gloss level. I did a batch of 4 and some people likes them and others shared my concerns.
There is a photographic anodized aluminum photo process that has incredible quality and durability but is too costly to produce unless I make 100s or 1000s (metalphoto). The actual material cost is low but as a photographic process requires exposure units and developers (plus the chemistry). It’s designed for much higher production. A few companies have this equipment already but costs per tag are too high. Plus in order to add a second color requires using a dye selectively which adds cost. And unlike the black, any color will not have uv resistance (probably ok since grinders live in the dark)
Aluminum tags also require raw material sourcing (sheets at Home Depot are expensive and have no protection film to reduce scratches before use). I found a company (Wrisco) that sells large quantity of aluminum in both silver and gold finish in the 0.020” desired thickness. Even visited their facility where they have massive spools they sheet then can cut to size, hole punch and round as needed. Costs are a fraction of HD
But it will be too hard to align the print to a precut sheet so larger sheets need to be used then after they need to be trimmed, rounded and hole punched. It took a lot of searching but I was able to find a local engraver that was selling some equipment including a bench top metal cutting shear and a Whitney hand punch with a full set of dies. He has had a notcher but it made inverted notches and not holes. The new models my Imperial do both. Bit for now I can cut them to approximate shape then file smooth.
The numbers on the tag are not punched. They are engraved. So I purchased an engraver to do the job. It’s an old Newing Hall machine over 20 years old but should do the job nicely. It took a while to find a computer controller engraver on the cheap. First I ended up with a 50+ year old New Hermes manual engraver with a set of brass characters but that is a very tedious operation so I sold it to get the computerized one. Actually along the way I also picked up a CNC router 2x4 (Western Vision) which includes the optional top loading engraver spindle of standard 11/64” diameter. This machine can cut out the aluminum any shape I want.
This has been a several month project and I’ve put a lot of money into the equipment to start making perfect tags. I already have a full time job otherwise it would have been faster but slowly I’m getting to the point t where perfect reproductions can be made.
Forgot to mention the new process requires one last step. I’ve found that I can laser engrave a PVC free paint mask applied to the newly acquired aluminum sheets with fine detail and good speed. Working on getting an air cooled engraver that doesn’t break the budget but in the meantime I found two local showrooms with this equipment that have allowed me to test on their equipment. Due to several scheduling conflicts the final test was postponed and should be possible to do this week.
So for anyone interested that is my progress. It’s been slow but fun and I have a lot of new toys now (with more to come).
Unless there is a major issue with the laser process, I should be up and running early 2020!
Old Radar
Well-known member
Thanks for the update Matt! You're the Best!
lafester
Well-known member
That is awesome, thanks!
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Ss95003
Well-known member
Matt hat sounds awesome and clearly you have spent a lot of time on this side hobby. I don't mind waiting on the metal tag for you to finalize the process. Can I go ahead and get the vinyl one for the 1hp unit in post 279.
lafester
Well-known member
Awhile back I asked about a gold 1/2 hp and I saw you did make one later on for another member (and it looked great!). I am now in need of a 3/4 hp gold tag and was wondering if this would now be printed on metal or the old way.
Thanks!
Since you have not made a 3/4 397.19670 I will see what I can find for a good scan but mine is trashed.
-edit- here is one from the blockmeister thread:
View media item 44807
Thanks!
Since you have not made a 3/4 397.19670 I will see what I can find for a good scan but mine is trashed.
-edit- here is one from the blockmeister thread:
View media item 44807
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erik a
Well-known member
lafester
Well-known member
Thanks! I think I'll wait for the metal printing setup.
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lafester
Well-known member
I don't have scans but I am compiling a photo history of every model number I can find. I will probably post a thread on them soon. Here are the best photos I have found for those tags (plus a good pic of the sears best sticker):
edit: sorry all my pics disappeared. I'll update with the pics soon.
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Hi Matt:
Do you by chance also make vintage tool chest sticker reproductions? I am repairing/restoring an old Pilliod chest and I thought I would check-in with you. Many Thanks for all your good work for everyone this year.
Do you by chance also make vintage tool chest sticker reproductions? I am repairing/restoring an old Pilliod chest and I thought I would check-in with you. Many Thanks for all your good work for everyone this year.
lineguy77
New member
Mattblast,
You do some fine work. I just restored a Sears 1/3 HP bench grinder and was wondering if you had an extra decal. Its just like the one in post #102.
Thanks in advance,
Craig
You do some fine work. I just restored a Sears 1/3 HP bench grinder and was wondering if you had an extra decal. Its just like the one in post #102.
Thanks in advance,
Craig
jg4660
Well-known member
Hi Matt...I PM'd you for a label for a 1/2 HP Craftsman 397.19340 label. Its very similiar to the above label. Awesome work.
Thanks
JG
Thanks
JG
thomasutley
Member
Mattblast, have you ever had an opportunity to make labels for the Lisle Model 91000 drill grinder? I have contacted Lisle and today they confirmed they are no longer supporting this model with parts including labels.
I created new vector artwork in Inkscape that is a very close match.
Would you be interested in created three of these for units I'm in the process of restoring?
Dimensions are 3" wide x 2" tall. Original material appears to be a metallic foil thick enough to hold a serial number imprint. If this is impractical, a non-metallic label will do (see photo, attached, plus my image file).
Thanks!
Tom Utley
I created new vector artwork in Inkscape that is a very close match.
Would you be interested in created three of these for units I'm in the process of restoring?
Dimensions are 3" wide x 2" tall. Original material appears to be a metallic foil thick enough to hold a serial number imprint. If this is impractical, a non-metallic label will do (see photo, attached, plus my image file).
Thanks!
Tom Utley
jg4660
Well-known member
Here is the before:
And the after:
Matt...That looks fantastic...Thanks!
Attachments
thomasutley
Member
Attaching photos for reference.
Attachments
These stickers are amazing, I was just working on my grinder restore and was wondering if there was any way to get a replacement sticker.
I hope these are still being made and what do I need to do to get the sticker below?
Please let me know, I love how dead on the reproduction is.
I hope these are still being made and what do I need to do to get the sticker below?
Please let me know, I love how dead on the reproduction is.
Dollar Bill
Member
Matt, your artwork is magnificent!!
I'm cleaning up a mid 70's block grinder and would be interested in obtaining one your amazing stickers. Would you please PM me with the details on how to accomplish this?
I'm cleaning up a mid 70's block grinder and would be interested in obtaining one your amazing stickers. Would you please PM me with the details on how to accomplish this?
lafester
Well-known member
They sure had a ton of different 1/2 HP models.
Label looks great!
Any progress on metal tags?
Label looks great!
Any progress on metal tags?
Dollar Bill
Member
That looks fantastic Matt!!
Now I have to step up my paint job to match the quality of the label
When finished, I'll post before and after photos on Torqueman's show off your bench grinder thread.
All the best,
$ Bill
Now I have to step up my paint job to match the quality of the label
When finished, I'll post before and after photos on Torqueman's show off your bench grinder thread. All the best,
$ Bill
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lafester
Well-known member
Printed a few custom labels this morning. 
The first is a small variation of a craftsman 1/3 HP grinder. I never made this label before without a serial number. Odd that craftsman made the label for the exact same model with and without the serial number. Probably as production increased they skipped the serial number to speed production.
Then a totally new design of which I cannot take any credit. This one was provided to me as a PDF file but needed a little cleanup to fine tune the logo and remove duplicate paths. Printed using a spot color then laminated with scuff resistant film.
This label was the most challenging. The original metal label was sent to me to take measurement of but it was beat up and faded and took a while to figure out what was missing.
Here is the final print after countless hours working on the file. It is laminated with a glossy polycarbonate film and made as an overlay to stick over the original aluminum label. The label is printed on clear so that the metal will show through.
I’m really close to printing directly on metal. Hoped to have it ready to go 2 weeks ago but the shop with the printer had to shut down for now. Hopefully they are back in business soon and I can try again.
And to be able to make other custom labels and products, I picked up a 40w laser engraver with a rotary attachment (that permits mugs and bottles and tumblers to be etched).
It came with a BOFA activated charcoal and HEPA filter unit so I can use without venting outdoors.
The first is a small variation of a craftsman 1/3 HP grinder. I never made this label before without a serial number. Odd that craftsman made the label for the exact same model with and without the serial number. Probably as production increased they skipped the serial number to speed production.
Then a totally new design of which I cannot take any credit. This one was provided to me as a PDF file but needed a little cleanup to fine tune the logo and remove duplicate paths. Printed using a spot color then laminated with scuff resistant film.
This label was the most challenging. The original metal label was sent to me to take measurement of but it was beat up and faded and took a while to figure out what was missing.
Here is the final print after countless hours working on the file. It is laminated with a glossy polycarbonate film and made as an overlay to stick over the original aluminum label. The label is printed on clear so that the metal will show through.
I’m really close to printing directly on metal. Hoped to have it ready to go 2 weeks ago but the shop with the printer had to shut down for now. Hopefully they are back in business soon and I can try again.
And to be able to make other custom labels and products, I picked up a 40w laser engraver with a rotary attachment (that permits mugs and bottles and tumblers to be etched).
It came with a BOFA activated charcoal and HEPA filter unit so I can use without venting outdoors.
Attachments
lafester
Well-known member
Thanks for the update! I bet that 1.5 hp rockwell is a beast.
SGKent
Banned
matt are you able to make something like this in metal? Going on a Guardian Floor jack. I lent it to some neighbors years ago and they dropped their car on the original tag that is long gone. Am having jack rebuilt and I thought maybe I could come up with something that would be similar to the original. Haven't been able to find anyone with the same jack to be able to get a better quality image so I made this. I've got it in JPEG and MS Publisher. it will be 2 3/4" tall by 3.0" wide:
View media item 102003
View media item 102003
Some vintage Baldor Grinder Labels I printed today. Some of these were challenging to design and to print due to the small details.
These two were easy - simple designs on white media.
A bit more difficult layout plus had to print on metallic.
These took over an hour to design. They are all in vector format and were designed using basic shapes and path editing.
The hardest part was Printing black text over the red. There is about a 0.012” shift between colors in output that had to be corrected by manually trapping the colors (I used a choke) the assigning over print attribute to the black.
Took several tries to get it to print perfectly.
Close up before and after trapping (fixed one on left)
These two were easy - simple designs on white media.
A bit more difficult layout plus had to print on metallic.
These took over an hour to design. They are all in vector format and were designed using basic shapes and path editing.
The hardest part was Printing black text over the red. There is about a 0.012” shift between colors in output that had to be corrected by manually trapping the colors (I used a choke) the assigning over print attribute to the black.
Took several tries to get it to print perfectly.
Close up before and after trapping (fixed one on left)
Attachments
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JoCoSawdust
Well-known member
The already fantastic quality of your work just keeps improving Matt. I really like the textured lamination.
torqueman2002
Well-known member
Beautiful, simply beautiful!
Old Radar
Well-known member
Really looks great, Matt! Looking forward to having my Pre-Block label done on metal!
SGKent
Banned
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