Krylon Kamar Varnish + Inkjet = Commercial quality printed DVDs

[gary39319392]

I know, this sounds crazy, but it works.

If you use inkjet printable DVD's (I use beall brand, but they all should work) and print in best quality on an Epson Stylus Photo 900, you get a pretty good DVD cover, but it still looks like it was printed on an inkjet, and it is a matte finish, totally unlike the high-gloss finish on commercial dvds.

I got the crazy idea of spraying a printed DVD with Krylon Kamar Varnish (probably any clear high gross spraypaint works, but I haven't tried any others). So print the DVD, spray it (um, on the printed side only, duh), let it dry as specified on the can, and you've got a DVD that looks like it came from a factory, not your little inkjet.

I'm sure that there are a dozen reasons why this is a bad idea. Could the sprayed-on gloss chip in the player? Could it yellow over time? etc etc. All I know is that I've been doing this for a few weeks now and haven't had a single problem.

Just sharing the info,

Gary

[barakori]

Now that a few months passed, any news on how the discs work?
Has anyone else tried it?

Thanks,
Barak

[vaylon]

I have been doing this for some time and it works great. But here recently all the G04 disc I have been getting have some kind of coating on the disc that causes the clearcoats to seperate like oil and water.
Haven't found a good spray yet that will work on the new disc.

[BQuicksilver]

Anyone else have input on this topic? Does the krylon spray into a nice smooth layer, or does the glossy coat look somewhat rough? I hit a few of mine with some engine enamel clearcoat i had around here and they looked alright, but the clearcoat was just a bit too bumpy, and I think a finer spray nozzle is necessary so that fewer 'globs' of clearcoat spray out.

[padre]

I've been using a Krylon-like Acrylic spray for my BeAll DVD-Rs (printable to the hub) and that's been over 8 months now, and they are working just fine. The Riteks seem to have a different absorbency rate or something, because they came out kind of crappy. But the BeAlls (4x) look just like commercial quality dvds, after printing with my Epson R200 and immediately spraying. I use my old 50 and 100 pack spindles to put the blank on, tape around the edges (cheap painters tape) and then spray down on them from about 18" away. The result is a nice, thin clear coat that is like glass. If you want, I can post the brand/model of the spray I use. It's about $5 a can.

Note: One word of caution, though - make sure you let the coating dry overnight before popping into a DVD player. It stays a little tacky for about 12 hours, and I had one standalone player get a little stuck with one - freshly sprayed. To let them 'cure', I mounted a bunch of 3" decking screws to a plank of wood, and then just rest the disc hub on the screw, overnight - kind of like a peg-board for tools. Works like a champ!

[BQuicksilver]

Definitely post what you use!:cool:

Funny, I was thinking about making a drying board like that as well.

[padre]

It's "Americana" Acrylic Sealer/Finisher DAS12 Gloss (they have a matte too, but I like the gloss fell & look). It's from a company called DecoArt. I buy it at a art & crafts chain called Michaels.

[windtrader]

whatever you use, make sure you let the paint cure well enough before using the discs. I'm not sure about the acrylics but lacquer takes several days to completely harden and cure even though it may be dry to the touch in less than an hour.

[DocDragon]

hmm, aren't you ppl worried about the acrylic diffusing into the dye layer? the reason i'm saying this is because when i used thick-end permanent markers, i noticed on some of my (noname) CD-R's (haven't tried on DVD-Rs yet) that the ink seemed to diffuse through the polycarbonate layer, and i could see some faint "stains" on the laser-side of the CD-R. :eek: maybe it's due to the amount of permanent ink that's left behind since this didn't happen when i use fine permanent markers :confused:

also, how does it look like longevity-wise? padre reports no problems on his 8-month old BeAll's. how about everyone else -- any data?

i'm curious as well whether the acrylic layer starts to shatter or break apart if DVD's are slightly bent, eg. while taking them out from their cases?!?

DD

[vaylon]

cd-r disc are made only half of what a dvd-r disc is made, if you took a cd-r disc and added a plastic layer on the printed side then you would have a disc with the composition somewhat closer to a dvd.
because the actual recording area is enclosed between two disc on a dvd, you are much more safer writting and working on it.
As for the spray acrylics on the disc.
You don't spray that much on them, just enough to put a sheen and a protective finish to your artwork. If you soak it with enough that it would run, then most likely the disc won't even play in a player ,it would be too unbalanced.
So far I have had great results with the diff coats.
My biggest prob is finding a coating that works with a particular type of disc. But the krylon 1305 works the best as a good all round spray.