Domed Items

[Jeff Belany]

I did a search and found the term used quite a bit, and, I do know what the final product looks like. My question is this -- can someone briefly explain the process and equipment needed to make domed products? I guess I wonder how expensive it is to get into this process.

Thanks in advance. This forum is the best!!

Jeff in northern Wisconsin

[Mike Null]

Al Ursich who is a member of this forum does a lot of it and if he spots this will tell and show you what it is.

[Gary Hair]

It's pretty easy to get started, you only really need a few items:
1 - Epoxy - epoxies.com sells it and much cheaper than you'll find elsewhere. Only caveat is that you have to buy a gallon from them or the price is ridiculous for smaller quantities.
2 - UV light (BLB from Home Depot work fine) You don't need anything fancy, just a way to hold the tubes about 1/4" - 1/2" above the pieces. People sell ready made units for outrageous prices.
3 - micro torch to pop bubbles
4 - Epoxy dispenser - I have a squeeze bottle that works fine.

Make sure the substrate is level, the epoxy will self-level and if you either use too much or apply to a slanted surface then you'll end up with a mess. I use a 12" x 24" x 1/4" piece of glass and place all of the pieces I'm doming on it. I apply the epoxy starting on the outer edge of the piece and work my way to the middle. Don't try to cover it all at once, it will tend to level and spread on it's own. After a few pieces you'll get a good idea how much to use. A toothpick helps to drag the epoxy to the edge of the piece, just be careful not to drag it off the edge. I built my "oven" using tubes from Home Depot, all in it was about $50 and easily fits the 12 x 24 glass sheet. I cure mine for about 15-20 minutes, blb tubes aren't very high powered and take longer than a more powerful UV tube. There are a few places that sell supplies and even "kits", they are, in my humble opinion, a ripoff - marked up way more than a reasonable amount.

I think I posted a picture of my "oven" here a while back, a search might find it.

Gary

[Rodne Gold]

A search here on this site of "doming " will give you lots of information.
I have a big section on my website re doming which I do a lot of.
http://www.southafrica-trophyawards....-doming/doming

[AL Ursich]

Gary hit all the high points. There is 2 kinds. 2 Part that is more UV Stable and is used more for Outdoor stuff like that fancy Car Logo and the UV Cure one part. For me, the UV Cure works best and will yellow slightly over time, but still looks great.

It is pretty easy to do. 80% of what I sell is Domed. I even made a Paint Pot to put out the Epoxy. My latest, I use the 2 bulb 4 foot Shop Light Fixtures with a 8 bulb setup. I drill holes in the top and bottom of the 4 foot fixture to let the heat out since I use a group of 4 fixtures. I use the Heavy Cookie Trays and put Aluminum Foil in the bottom and use a Rubber made Metal Sink Grate upside down to keep the tags off the aluminum foil. I cure for about 5 min and then check for Worts on the back where excess runs over on the back. I chip it off and clean with Alcohol then place on another Cookie Sheet lined with copy paper for a final cure.

One thing I have learned is when the Humidity gets bad I must De Humidify the Shop with AC as the Shop Fixtures will FAIL to light the UV Bulbs when Humid..... Better quality fixtures work fine... Just a FYI...

I used a new heavier Epoxy last year from Epoxies.com but when it got cold, the bigger tags with the heavier epoxy with a higher dome all warped, some even cracked. I had used 2 Gallons through the year. I have had to do all the bigger tags over for free... Tried to get a deal from Epoxies but no go... Full Price thank you... I use the 7155 with no problem. I use a Mustard Pump to fill Huge Black Syringes. The last batch of Epoxy the opening is smaller than the pump... Progress...


The Cricut Vinyl Cutter Supplies make a Stainless Spatula for moving Vinyl with a 3/4 inch wide stainless blade. I have saved many tags by using the spatula to get under the edge to remove the Dome due to a error or a BUG getting stuck in it... It really IS a Bug Zapper Light.... And Bugs love it....

The latest tool I have found is the box of 100 Plastic Tooth Picks with a little plastic Scrub Brush on the end for cleaning your teeth... The little brush really works great to grab any contamination off the wet dome.

The Trick with the Paint Pot is to use as much Plastic as you can. I use a 1/2 inch PVC Pipe as a dip tube into a plastic quart container in the pot. AL at Epoxies suggested to NOT use Reactive Metals like Steel in the jig.

I have made a business of making Epoxy Domed Accountability Tags for Fireman. Having the web name AccountabilityTag does not hurt either as that is how 95% find me.

You can find a bunch of videos on you tube on doming. If you do Stickers with a ink jet type setup you will need to place a clear sheet on top as the UV Resistive Dye and Pigment Ink. You will see that in some of the videos. The INK will react with the Dome and prevent it from curing at the surface and the dome will be Cured hard but will SLIDE OFF....

I even DOME Hitch Covers.... Use Reflective White Vinyl, Clear Sublimation MATES to print the image on. Mates over the Reflective, Stick the Reflective to the Hitch Cover and DOME. I went to the Importer of the Hitch covers as the ones I was getting from my Sublimation Supplier had a piece of Double Stick Tape to hold the FRP Hitch Insert. It was hard to get the Double Stick Tape GLUE OFF... The Sticker would show the BUMP.... I think this is a better product than FRP... Reflective Sticker and Doming. I just replaced my first one last week as the guy backed into a Snow Bank and broke it... over 5 years...

I am sharing all my SECRETS..... Hopefully some will share about the Less than $10K Chinese UV LED Flatbed Printers on the Sign Thread that I started....


Good Luck,

AL

[Frank barry]

Good morning all
a big thank you to all of you for the information on how to dome products it is a process that is of interest to me I had looked at doing it small tags/lables
could anyone suggest a printer I could use for sheets of pre cut labels as many tend to print a little off on the pre cut sheets


thanks in advance

[Rodne Gold]

I have gone a different direction to AL.. We use 2 part polyurethane resins and don't use UV.. however for home or small setups I would start with an epoxy..I would not use UV stuff for a start up / try it out scenario but recommend to use one of those gun/cartridge kits.
I do high production doming and I turn around doming in less than 2 hrs , IE from printing to packing and despatch. This requires resins with ultra short gel times , in the order of 5-10 minutes and cure times in the order of 1 hr , difficult to work with unless you have dispensing , mixing etc machines

Doming wont work on paper , unless its coated and even then you risk having resin soak into the edges where its cut.

Frank if you have a laser , you can print using any el cheapo inkjet printer (or laser printer) on laser friendly self adhesive deskjet/laserprinter vinyl from www.papilio.com and then stick it in the laser and kiss cut it and then dome it with one of the 2 part gun kits. Will require some fiddling in respect of registration , but its not too difficult , we did it for ages. We now print using eco sol inks on vinyl and use a Roland print and cut machine to do so. If you find it takes off , then consider the UV cure route or , IMO, better still , the polyurethane resins.

The most common problem with any doming is bubbling , caused by 2 problems 1) mixing air into the resins ..the gun with the cartridges and the static mixer spout will negate that and 2) HUMIDITY .. ALL the resins are hygroscopic and will attract moisture from the air , even when you think its hot and dry , its a lesser problem but STILL a problem. If you want to dome with success , buy a cheap dehumidifier (often sold by hardware stores for keeping basements and garages dry) HUMIDITY and moisture is YOUR ENEMY....

What are you wanting a UV printer for?

[Michael Hunter]

2 - UV light (BLB from Home Depot work fine) You don't need anything fancy, just a way to hold the tubes about 1/4" - 1/2" above the pieces. People sell ready made units for outrageous prices.
Gary

A cheap way of getting a small UV curing lamp is to buy one designed for curing nail varnish.
I got one from ebay for about £9 which does fine for curing UV setting glue.
It has four lamps inside and is lined with aluminium foil so that the UV light reflects everywhere.

There is a big hole at the front - where the hand is supposed to go in - which I cover up with a piece of cardboard when it is in use.

[George Brown]

You can also get bactericidal clear UV bulbs. Just make sure you don't look into them much, they can damage the eyes.

[Jeff Belany]

Thanks for all the info. As I said -- this forum is the best!!

Jeff in northern Wisconsin

[Balsanu Gabi]

Hi all,

I made some tags from 3mm acrylic (white) painted (black) and engraved (same side with black paint) and I think to use some resin for doming.
What do you think:
- it will work?
- the resin will mess up the paint?
- which one is better (for outdoor)?

Thank you
Gabi

[Joe Hillmann]

Maybe this was already covered and I missed it or didn't understand it but what do you do the doming on? By that I mean what do you use as a base that you dome with the epoxy?

[Balsanu Gabi]

Hi Joe,

I am doming an acrylic 3mm thick painted and engraved (or at least try to do...)

[Rodne Gold]

You can dome anything that does not absorb the resin or has inks that migrate into the resins.
In terms of self adhesive "stickers" , you print and cut the stickers and weed away the excess vinyl , you then dome on to the remaining self adhesive vinyl and the resin stops at the edge of the cut vinyl and (hopefully) doesn't spill onto the carrier paper and then builds a "dome".
A good item to practice doming on is a coin...