Chainsaw with water transfer printing - custom 'paint' job!

I know a guy who does "dipping' as a side business. It's also known as water transfer printing or hydro-graphics. No matter what you call it I'm always intrigued at all of the crazy stuff he applies colors & patterns to. From the minute I first learned about this I wanted to do some experimenting with chainsaws. I have a lot of ideas I'd like to try eventually, but first I thought I would just play a bit and I picked a pattern I thought was pretty cool and had him do the majority of a little MS170. It was a brand new saw, disassembled straight out of the box. I had him do anorange camo type pattern on the body parts and just for giggles (completely non-conventional) I had him do the bar in carbon fiber. I also had him do a set of MS460 covers, but I haven't gotten them from him yet. I know I'm not the first person to do anything like this, but I think it's awesome and wanted to share! For the record, it's brighter orange than it looks, but the lighting in my shop isn't great...

 

KEWL !!!

 

More photos...

 

That is friggin awsome!!!

 

Does the saw run in reverse?

 

Did u have to take the whole saw apart?

 

Chains on wrong!!!!!

 

Dammit! Got in a hurry trying to get it back together and get some photos before dinner...

 

Down to the very last screw, Including removing the emblem from the fan cover, the oil pump, the AV mounts, etc. The only sub-assemblies that remained in tact were the engine (thanks to being a clamshell) and the carburetor.

 

I would've played it off as "I was just trying to see who was paying attention."

 

That's pretty slick.

 

Wow dude !! Wow !

 

Too pretty to use now, but I like it

 

Not that my intention was to advertise for him, but I would not be against sending some business his way. Customer pays shipping, so it adds up, but for sake of examples I had him price out an MS261 cover as well as a set of MS460 covers. He said $25/ea for the two 460 plastics, and $45 for the 261. The best part is that you can have old faded plastics and make them cool again. Fading & roughness is no issue, as long as they aren't broken you can revitalize them. There are literally hundreds of patterns to choose from. My next go-round will probably be making a pro saw look like that Stihl carbon fiber prototype. I was going to do that do a 661R I got my hands on, but I traded the darn thing off before I even got it out of the box...

 

Yeah, I have no plans of using it. Frankly, I probably won't even keep it - I just wanted to see how it would turn out. I've seen 'normal' MS170s sell on eBay for well above their retail price which never ceases to amaze me, so this might end up being a study as to how much some custom work can add to that already inflated price!

 

I wonder how durable the coating is?
I have done a little research, but would like to hear from a real user.

 

That's a very good (and common) question. I know he does this process to everything from golf cart bodies and automotive valve covers to firearms and fender flares. I think a lot of it has to do with what the base material is, and how heavy he goes on the top/clear coat. I didn't want this saw to be too shiny, so it's a fairly flat clear coat. I would assume a shinier clear coat would be more durable and can probably be applied thicker?

I would be most interesting to me to know how it hold up on guns since they see similar action to a chainsaw; lots of handling, branches, briers, etc.

 

I have been considering having a synthetic rifle stock done, but was concerned about the durability. I would hate to ruin the stock if it didn't hold up