decal on hobie

Does anyone know if you can apply decal letters with a heat gun to hobie kayak? Manufacturer of decals told me that they do it all the time to polyurethane boats. Are the hobies made from the same materials? He sad that I have to hold heat gun (on lower setting) 1 to 1 and 1 /2 inches away from the letters for 1-2 sec. and that is all. They are in eastern Australia and I am in Perth---Western Australia so they can not do it for me. I am scared to do it myself ! Will kayak start to melt? Or would this be OK to do? Any suggestions please? The site is:http://www.boatnames.com.au/

Gagarin Milutinovic
Perth
W.Australia

Com on guys!!!!!!!! I can not belive this. 47 views and no one got an answer????? Does anyone know? Please help!

C'mon..... you're talking about 47, now 53 guys or folks that haven't done it. I don't see the issue. If you can't tell how warm to make the plastic before reshaping or melting, you don't need to get near it with a hair dryer. They're probably talking warm to the touch, warmer than "not warm"......... then, just beyond that is way too hot and you've melted it. Experiment on your 5 gallon paint bucket.

_________________
Yakkingaway
Portsmouth, VA

The material is Polyethylene. We do adhere graphics to our boats at times. The factory uses a propane torch with a wide tip... like what is used to shrink wrap boats for the winter. They "Flame" the plastic... just brush the hull with open flame. This helps the graphics stick by changing the surface in some way.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Don't think you should have any problem. I have some 3/8 inch steel dies and decided to put my initials into the hull. Gave them a tap with the hammer and they didn't even leave a mark. Got out the torch and heated the tip of the die for 30 sec., then touched it to the hull. Nothing. Heated the die for 45 sec. Nothing. Went to 1 1/2 min (just short of red hot) Held it to hull for 2 sec and it left a nice imprint. It's tough stuff.

Disclaimer: If it melts the hull I was wrong, and you won't be able to find me.

_________________
I'm right 98% of the time. The other 3% I don't worry about.

I think Matt is talking about just prepping the plastic. I have read that in other context as well, by flame flashing poly in advance to remove the glaze you improve the adhesion of whatever you stick on (decals, epoxy, etc.). I seem to remember that before flashing water beads on the poly but if you have flashed it correctly as Matt described, water tends to sheet. After flashing, however, you still have to stick on the decals with adhesive.

Most boat letters are vinyl. Warming a little might encourage the vinyl to better conform to the hull and could help the adhesive bond, this may be what the decal manufacturer was describing.

I think the process is to flame flash the poly first, apply the stick-on vinyl letters, warm with a heat gun, and rub with a clean rag to get the bubbles out and conform the vinyl to the poly.