ED1 Homelite XL to XL12 Conversion & Decals
Posted: Fri Jul 24, 2020 8:58 pm
This was a little project to re-brand my Homelite XL chainsaw to an XL12. Outwardly they look more or less the same, differing only on painting and decals as far as I can see. I did some re-painting on this chainsaw a few years ago, but only recently decided to take the time to change the 'XL' decal to 'XL12'.
I have access though work, to a large format vinyl printer & cutter. So it can print images up to 19" wide, and as long as a roll of vinyl. It also has a cutting head, so combining that with sticky-back vinyl, it can cut complex shapes. It's ideal to create stickers and decals. All I had to do was create the XL12 logo digitally, and the printer would cut out as many stickers as I wanted, all perfectly identically cut-out. It makes an infinitely better job than I would be able to do by any method I can think of.
I masked off and spray painted both sides of the saw to get a blank black on which to work. I used the same spray paint to dirty down the decals, dabbing with kitchen roll to get a mottled effect. Once I'd stuck them on, I rubbed the whole painted surface with soil to dirty it down a bit.
I have access though work, to a large format vinyl printer & cutter. So it can print images up to 19" wide, and as long as a roll of vinyl. It also has a cutting head, so combining that with sticky-back vinyl, it can cut complex shapes. It's ideal to create stickers and decals. All I had to do was create the XL12 logo digitally, and the printer would cut out as many stickers as I wanted, all perfectly identically cut-out. It makes an infinitely better job than I would be able to do by any method I can think of.
I masked off and spray painted both sides of the saw to get a blank black on which to work. I used the same spray paint to dirty down the decals, dabbing with kitchen roll to get a mottled effect. Once I'd stuck them on, I rubbed the whole painted surface with soil to dirty it down a bit.