Decals

baron von greenback said:

How come we cant do bike decals like original really thin they all seem to bit thick with this vinyl or i am wrong

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Actually, those narrow fonts are usually done with screen printing or pad printing.
Screen printing is wonderful; many say it's dead, but the quality and depth of screen printing inks just aren't achieved with digital printing. For example, many greens or oranges struggle to turn out well digitally.
That's one of the advantages of UV DTF: if you have a Pantone or RAL or whatever, it gives you the same or very similar color.

And yes, it has some volume; it's not much, but it's noticeable.
But the advantage of being able to make a letter as tiny as the Ritchey one on my pedals and having it fit perfectly makes up for it.

Another detail of this system is that the tone is glossy, and that can complicate some logos.

By the way, if you get a file, you can use it for laser engraving.
I'm planning to do it on a crank.
For now, I've tried doing it on the top of a Ringle headset for my Zaskar, which I gave a USA theme, and I'm honestly very satisfied.
The good thing about laser engraving is that it engraves on paint, metal, plastic... the bad thing is that if you make a mistake or it goes wrong, you've ruined the part.

Good info i understood half of it haha but that ringle top cap looks good can you alter depth of the engraving also if i take a photo of say a ringle seat post to a sreen printer can they recreate it or do i need dimesion of the logos or would they take like a tecnical drawing (i cant do computers)are you in uk obi juan i been trying to find someone that does stick on stencils and stick on indivdual letters ie ringle as i going to be doing my own anodising so i want to mess about writing say ringle down a seatpost in a diffrent color to seat post like an xlite one

baron von greenback said:

Good info i understood half of it haha but that ringle top cap looks good can you alter depth of the engraving also if i take a photo of say a ringle seat post to a sreen printer can they recreate it or do i need dimesion of the logos or would they take like a tecnical drawing (i cant do computers)are you in uk obi juan i been trying to find someone that does stick on stencils and stick on indivdual letters ie ringle as i going to be doing my own anodising so i want to mess about writing say ringle down a seatpost in a diffrent color to seat post like an xlite one

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Before doing anything, I'd try it with one of those Kalloy models that we all have stored away in a drawer somewhere.
The seatpost is one of the most difficult parts to engrave because it's cylindrical, so I want to start with some cranks, which are flatter.

Well, actually, I already started with the Ringle headset cover, a simple and replaceable part in case the experiment doesn't work out.

If you have a photo, it has to "draw" the logo and vectorize it to a format the machine works with (DXF, DWG, etc.). My advice is to first search online to see if you get lucky and the logo already exists in some print or cutting format.
For example, I searched "Ringle vector logo" and found this:

https://www.brandsoftheworld.com/logo/sun-ringle

It's probably not what you're looking for, but sometimes you just need to modify the file slightly. If you're looking for other brands like Specialized, Mavic, Klein, Ritchey... you'll be very satisfied with your search.

Next, you need to specify the size, which is usually the height x the aspect ratio (or vice versa, the length x the height ratio). You decide based on the space you have available or how closely you want it to resemble the actual logo.

I've just restored a Look saddle made by San Marco. I didn't reupholster it like I did with the white Avocet; I only restored the leather. I like those "marks" of use—they tell stories of countless cycling adventures.
The logo had to have 13 mm letter height, and the length is proportional; it wasn't retouched. In this case, the logo could still be measured with calipers, which is very good.
Again, I used UV DTF, but it's the most practical for these restorations. I found the logo on "Seeklogo"

Here I used a system similar to the one you want to use with Ringle:
I found a NOS Paris-Gao-Dakar rear hub, but without the original decal.
Then a front hub in good condition appeared with the decal still clearly visible. With care and oil, I was able to peel it off intact.
Then we scanned and vectorized it.

Now I have a beautiful set of Paris-Gao-Dakar hubs.
In this case, the important thing was the length of the decal, since the space is the hub's cylinder.

And the final points:
The engraving depth can be adjusted, but it's trial and error. The best thing to do is bring an aluminum plate and test different intensities.
On the Ringle lid, I used a low-power fiber laser, and that was enough. But with other materials, you have to do tests before deciding which intensity is correct, so that it's well engraved and doesn't burn.
I have photos of other jobs (not bicycles) where I keep this data. Let's see if I can find a wood engraving job for Fever Tree on the server; I need a lot of tests.
The Coca-Cola engraving on wood took me about seven attempts to get the best result.
The good thing about lasers is that they can engrave on anodized surfaces, paint, etc. I'm also attaching an image of Coca-Cola laser-engraved over black screen printing. In this case, the engraving was necessary to "etch" the methacrylate and make it light up.
Well, my name is Juanjo (short for Juan Jose) and I live in Madrid, Spain.
But if you need a file or anything I have, just ask and I'll send it to you (I obviously can't share my clients' trademarks without their permission ).