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Old 11-13-2023, 10:58 AM   #5
Willie Makeit
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Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Alabama
Posts: 1,206
Re: Steering wheel w/ woodgrain aluminum trim

Quote:
Originally Posted by 72malibu View Post
The 3m worked well. The trick is that the trim has multiple curves -- it's both bowed in and curves up like a smiley face. The material comes rolled up and the curve of the roll is opposite of how you need to work it if you want to keep the woodgrain to parallel to the trim. The material has a relatively light tack until you press on it, so you can reposition. I started from the center, holding the material in a curve opposite of how it was rolled up, and worked outward to the sides. I cut more material than I needed. Then I used tools to push it into the creases really well. Finally, I used an x-acto knife with a new blade and trimmed it out. I'm super happy with the result.

I first tried making a template using blue painters tape (trimming it out like above). The template was good and laid out on the material well. But I found that it was much harder to trim the material without using the aluminum trim itself as the guide, and my first attempt didn't produce a very clean-cut decal.
Thanks for the advice & helpful hints! I'll be sure to repost here with my results.
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