[sdiy] Lazertran ROCKS!!

[David G. Dixon]

I just did my first panel with Lazertran.  I was kinda scared because the
stuff is fairly expensive (about $35 for 10 sheets) and I was concerned that
it was going to be weak and hard to manipulate.  However, it's actually
pretty tough and very easy to arrange in place on the panel.

I printed my FPD design out backwards on a piece of paper, then cut a piece
of Lazertran 1/8" larger on all sides, taped it to the original piece of
paper over the printout, and sent it back through the printer to print on
the Lazertran.  Then I removed the Lazertran from the paper and soaked it in
cold water to loosen the decal.  I actually did it face down, and put the
aluminum panel blank in the water face up underneath it, since I was worried
that the decal would be too weak to lift easily out of the bath for
placement.  However, I needn't have worried, and I actually ended up taking
both the panel and the decal out of the bath to put the decal in place.  It
was easy to slide it around on the plate and get it centred.  Then I took a
soft silicone kitchen spatula and squeegeed the decal to smooth it out and
squeeze the water out from under it.  Then I put it under the tap and rubbed
it with my fingertip to remove the gumming (since it was gum side up/printed
side down on the panel).

After that, I put the panel on a cookie sheet and put it in the oven at
about 170 C for one hour.  Over the coarse of the next 1.5 hours or so, I
gradually increased the temperature of the oven from 170 C to 400 C.  The
decal went shiny, and it appears as if the few little air bubbles that were
trapped underneath it disappeared as well.  The excess around the edges also
seems to have wrapped itself around the edge of the panel, which is nice.

It's cooling in the oven as I type this.  I will take it out in the morning.
Then, if it's too shiny, perhaps I'll give it a gentle rub with some Vim (a
very mild cleanser) on my fingertip to roughen it up a bit.

This was extremely easy to do, and it looks fantastic, although the oven
business is a bit time-consuming.  It would be best to do three or four at a
time.  In any case, I think I've got this whole nasty DIY panel business
sorted at last.