Help: Applying Vinyl Laptop skins on rounded edges..

Hey~

I got a sheet of carbon fiber vinyl (usually used on cars I think?) that I want to put on my notebook. It has kind of a mettalic foil-like backing that actually reflects the textures of the actual CF on the design-side. I tried the traditional cut-a-little-more-than-the-edges method on applying it but sadly, it came out wrong.

So I'm asking for tips on how to apply it around the rounded egdes of the LCD bezel part--sorry, I wasn't able to take photos yet, but I think most of the laptops nowadays look like mine so yeah..

One more thing, since the cf sheet seems like it's kind of metallic-based, when I try to apply it in an obscure angle I get wrinkles all over the thing.. How do you think could I avoid this? (well at least I have more than I need so I could experiment )

Thanks for your input guys.

 

I think most laptop skins have a silicon adhesive so that you can rub out the bubbles/wrinkles and reapply. It would be really difficult to use regular adhesive. Also, you may want to trim tiny triangles from the corners so that it flaps over the edges w/out overlap. Whay kind of laptop do you have?

 

It's an Acer Extensa 4630G. I already did the triangles on the edges, but it still wrinkles.

Oh, and the bubbles can't be pushed out if the adhesive is already set. So I've been peeling it off again and again to remove the bubbles.

 

Use a hair dryer on the vinyl while applying it. It will cause the carbon fiber pattern to distort a little, but then again a real carbon fiber notebook cover wouldn't be have a perfect pattern in real life.

I've also heard of applying a little bit of water to the notebook surface, and then squeegee-ing it out with a credit card. I don't recommend the second method.

 

try heat gun and pull vinyl around corners

 

heat gun goes too hot and might burn the vinyl. hair dryer/blow dryer is the better heat method to go around corners without bubbles or wrinkles

you can also use water/alcohol mix when applying vinyl and then squeegee

 

normally i just do the poor guys method using a lighter to heat it up and pull the vinyl over the corners.

 

Actually the bubbles are fairly easy to eliminate with the use of a needle. Use a pin to one or two small holes, then squeege out the air. Even if it seems like it doesn't go competley flat, it will with time.

 

try soap+water on the adhesive side of the vinyl (so you can move it around and position it) and using a hairdryer to heat it up so that it's "stretch-able." this should work since it's a common method used to apply vinyl stickers (like the cf that you have) onto cars. you can also use an exacto knife to cut off and trim excess vinyl.

 

actually for cars. we use water and alcohol.

soap and water takes too long to heat and dry