4 Foot by 5 foot Corian Sign with Dye-Sub Graphcs and Laser Text

[Keith Outten]

Thanks Everyone,

This was a challenging job and I am glad it is delivered and installed. Mostly because of the weight of the finished sign, the older I get the less I enjoy heavy lifting. Secondly when you work alone if you hurt your back production stops.

Today I intend to finally purchase a lifting hoist for my shop, this is something I have been putting off for a long time as I have always been able to move things with little effort in the past. Occasionally jobs like this one come up and I wish I had taken the time to install a hoist so I don't intend to put this off any longer. No doubt Murphy's Law will kick in and I will never need the hoist but I don't want to take the chance.

I don't have any problems moving heavy objects to and from my shop, I have pallet forks for my tractor. I don't have any problems moving items inside my shop since I purchased a pallet jack but lifting anything heavy inside is where I am disadvantaged so I hope to resolve that issue today.
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[Brian Michael clancy]

looks great Keith!
You are a great example on what you can do with Corian.
I just got my new router so I'm starting to experiment with the signage myself.
keep up the good work.
Best
Brian Clancy

[John Bion]

Keith, this work is indeed stunning, thanks for sharing the complete process.
How would CLTT do on a job like this and would it be at all UV tolerant (for outdoor applications), using Corian as the medium?
Many thanks and Kind regards, John

[Keith Outten]

John,

Thanks.
I don't have any experience with the CLTT process. I started using dye-sublimation several years ago when Ken Dolph suggested that I give it a try when I acquired my first heat press. What I do know about Corian dye-sub is that when you heat Corian to the point that it is very soft the dye transfer will penetrate below the surface and thats why it is more UV tolerant. No other hard substrate that I know of is capable of sub-surface sublimation.

I really enjoy this technique and I'm still learning with every job. If I was a bit younger I would purchase one of the really big heat presses from Felder and market very large Corian dye-sub jobs because they are very unique and would be even more profitable. Since Conde has a 54" wide roll paper printer and their fees for printing are so reasonable the only expense on large projects would be the heat press.
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[John Bion]

Keith, Thank you for taking the time to reply.
I have done quite a number of corian signs following your previous posts on the subject and since I am looking at using CLTT on wood and acrylic (as I understand it: Dye Sub can’t be used without a pre-treatment on wood and acrylic?), I wondered about extending the possibilities on Corian. If I bite the bullet on CLTT, I will try it on Corian and post some results.
Thanks again and kind regards, John

[Scott Shepherd]

John, I wouldn't count on CLTT lasting that long outdoors. CLTT is on top of the material. I can take acetone and wipe it right off. Also, I'd be a little hesitant to say you can CLTT onto acrylic. That would be a "yes and no". Some, thicker acrylics, yes, thinner, not so much. Keep in mind, CLTT is still at 325F degrees, and the times are generally longer than Dye Sub. That means you'll start really softening the acrylic in the press at that temperature.

If your product can handle being heating to where it's soft, and you can get it out of the press and cooling flat enough, you might be able to pull it off. I haven't had any luck in trying it.

[John Bion]

Scott, I appreciate your comments, Thanks. The main reason for looking at CLTT has been to replace my old method of transferring Inkjet images onto wood (with variable results and wastage of time and material) However I had thought that using it on acrylic sounded good too, so thank you for that warning. Do I understand correctly that I would not be able to use dye-sub onto plain wood and untreated acrylic?
Thank you again and Kind regards, John

[Scott Shepherd]

Yes, that's correct, you can't dye sub onto either of those and at 400 degrees, I don't think you'll dye sub much acrylic at all.

[John Bion]

Thanks Steve (Scott).

[Mike Null]

John

Beside the temperature issues for dye sub you must have a polymer or polymer coated substrate.

I agree that CLTT would not be suitable for outdoor applications.

[John Bion]

Thanks Mike,
I have read a bit about UV affects on Sublimated Corian, with variable results and this a little time ago. What is sublimated Corian like outdoors? I hope I am not flogging a dead horse, sorry if I am.
Thanks again and kind regards, John

[Mike Null]

John

I'll have to defer to Keith on that one.

[Keith Outten]

John,

Nobody really knows what the average life span is for dye-sublimated Corian. I have had some exterior signs that have been in service a couple of years without fading but it will take more time to see how long they will last. I ran a test using FRP a couple years ago, they lasted about 5 weeks.

My first test of Corian was a sample that I placed on my truck dashboard for four months of Summer. I compared it to a duplicate I had on my desk at work and they were identical. Based on that I decided to make a couple commercial signs and watch them for a number of years.

[Bill Munroe]

Beautiful!