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Thread: Dye Sublimation heat transfer to acrylic questions

  1. #1

    Dye Sublimation heat transfer to acrylic questions

    Hi all,

    With my laser up and running, I also have a heat press and an inkjet that prints sublimation ink onto sublimation paper.

    From everything I've been reading, it appears you can't simply print out a graphic onto sublimation paper using sublimation ink and then heat transfer it to a piece of acrylic. Is that true, does anyone know?

    If so, is there another way other than simply using Sublicrylic, which is scarce and expensive? I've seen coatings you can buy to coat acrylic for sublimation. Do these work. Are they easy to apply, quick drying, etc?

    Any suggestions, tips, etc.?

  2. #2
    Join Date
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    You can't sublimate acrylic, the dye won't penetrate because it's not polyester based. You can try coatings but in my experience they are pretty much worthless - too time consuming and inconsistent to be a viable option for anything remotely professional looking or profitable. I know sublicrylic is expensive but what little I did with it worked and I could count on it working every time. I gave up dye sub a little over two years ago, I have a UV printer that took its place, and it will print on just about anything I throw at it - including acrylic.

  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by Gary Hair View Post
    You can't sublimate acrylic, the dye won't penetrate because it's not polyester based. You can try coatings but in my experience they are pretty much worthless - too time consuming and inconsistent to be a viable option for anything remotely professional looking or profitable. I know sublicrylic is expensive but what little I did with it worked and I could count on it working every time. I gave up dye sub a little over two years ago, I have a UV printer that took its place, and it will print on just about anything I throw at it - including acrylic.
    So how would one print something like a colour logo on a plastic/acrylic name badge then engrave the badge?

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
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    Gig Harbor, WA
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    Believe JDS is the only distributor with coated acrylic for sublimation

    https://shop.jdsindustries.com/site_...all/SAC022.png

    .
    Mark
    In the Great Northwest!

    Trotec Speedy C25, Newing-Hall 350 (AMC I & HPGL), NH-CG-30 (Carbide Cutter Sharpener)
    Sawgrass 400 Gel Ink Printer, CS5, 5/9/x6 CorelDraw

  5. #5
    You could hot stamp or screen print it. Johnson Plastics offers such a service.
    Mike Null

    St. Louis Laser, Inc.

    Trotec Speedy 300, 80 watt
    Gravograph IS400
    Woodworking shop CLTT and Laser Sublimation
    Dye Sublimation
    CorelDraw X5, X7

  6. #6
    I've become a little bit of an expert on the matter after this summer.

    I had an order for 200 sublicrylics. The quality of these products is VERY hit or miss. I dealt with two of the major vendors in the awards world. One had a product with inconsistent coating (hairs, scratches, blotches) but the actual color and final product on a good award was very nice. The other looked great out of the box but the coating was completely faulty. Peeling off the paper resulted in issues. Looking at it wrong resulted in issues. It was a horrific experience. Generally speaking, the only sublimation material I trust 100% is aluminum and FRP. Hardboard is typically also good. MDF is hit or miss. Glass/Acrylic is a nightmare.

    My guess is I'll end up buying a UV printer in the next 5 years. I'm not looking forward to it because I generally don't like doing full color layouts because I find them aesthetically unappealing and a heck of a lot more work. For now, I'm happy to outsource that type of work but I know that won't last forever. People aren't able to plan 2-3 weeks in advance and that means needing the ability to do the work in house.
    Equipment: IS400, IS6000, VLS 6.60, LS100, HP4550, Ricoh GX e3300n, Hotronix STX20
    Software: Adobe Suite & Gravostyle 5
    Business: Trophy, Awards and Engraving

  7. #7
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    My printer can print on 10" x 24" material so I would just print then engrave or engrave then print.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Cape Town, South Africa
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    Colour laser toner transfer
    Like this
    Rodney Gold, Toker Bros trophies, Cape Town , South Africa :
    Roland 2300 rotary . 3 x ISEL's ..1m x 500mm CnC .
    Tekcel 1200x2400 router , 900 x 600 60w Shenui laser , 1200 x 800 80w Reci tube Shenhui Laser
    6 x longtai lasers 400x600 60w , 1 x longtai 20w fiber
    2x Gravo manual engravers , Roland 540 large format printer/cutter. CLTT setup
    1600mm hot and cold laminator , 3x Dopag resin dispensers , sandblasting setup, acid etcher

  9. #9
    Ok, then my next question is, can you laser cut FRP plastic to shape. ie, let's say I wanted to print a hockey rink on a sheet of FRP plastic, could I then cut the rink to shape using a 60w CO2 laser? Or vice versa, could cut the plastic then heat transfer a dye sublimated image to it?

  10. #10
    In my opinion, no. Whenever I've tried cutting that material with the laser it results in a charred mess. You can cut it with various saws--slower and not so precise but still pretty good if you're careful.

    Ross has some good advice--outsource. You don't have to do everything in-house.
    Mike Null

    St. Louis Laser, Inc.

    Trotec Speedy 300, 80 watt
    Gravograph IS400
    Woodworking shop CLTT and Laser Sublimation
    Dye Sublimation
    CorelDraw X5, X7

  11. #11
    If you want to do a hockey rink, buy hardboard and cut it out on the laser and then sublimate it. Comes out pretty well. I had to do that for a project once.
    Equipment: IS400, IS6000, VLS 6.60, LS100, HP4550, Ricoh GX e3300n, Hotronix STX20
    Software: Adobe Suite & Gravostyle 5
    Business: Trophy, Awards and Engraving

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
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    Shohola, PA Pocono Mountains
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    Quote Originally Posted by Adam Less View Post
    Ok, then my next question is, can you laser cut FRP plastic to shape. ie, let's say I wanted to print a hockey rink on a sheet of FRP plastic, could I then cut the rink to shape using a 60w CO2 laser? Or vice versa, could cut the plastic then heat transfer a dye sublimated image to it?
    I cut FRP with my little hobby CarveWright CNC. I use a 1/16th circuit board bit and it comes out pretty good. My pear shaped tags have a rough edge due to the low resolution of the servos and encoder. Rectangles look great until the rounded corners.

    So a Rotary Engraver would cut out your FRP very well.

    For Sublimation you can also consider Clear Mates... It is a clear polyester sheet with a sticky back. Getting the air bubbles out as you apply it would be a challenge.

    As far as the Spray Coatings, they must be baked in a oven after applying and that is not friendly to Acrylic.

    And if you do Hardboard rather than 400 degrees for 1 Minute, I do 300 degrees for 3 Minutes. At 400 degrees you sometimes get blow out where moisture within the hardboard blows holes in the coating sounding like a gun shot.

    Like Gary said, UV Printer is the way to go for your application.

    Just had a thought.... For a Logo to be applied to a badge, consider a White Mate's cut to the logo size then printed as dye sub then EPOXY DOMED then applied to the badge.

    Epoxy dome is easy to get into...

    AL
    Attached Images Attached Images
    1 Laser, 4 CarveWrights, Star 912 Rotary, CLTT, Sublimation, FC7000 Vinyl, 911 Signs, Street Signs, Tourist Products and more.
    Home of the Fire Department "Epoxy Dome Accountability Tag and Accountability Boards".

  13. #13
    Here's some ordinary cost clear acrylic with us,opted images made by a guy who didn't know he couldn't. Not me though. A friend from England.
    image.jpg
    355 - 10400 : )

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
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    Shohola, PA Pocono Mountains
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    Quote Originally Posted by Neville Stewart View Post
    Here's some ordinary cost clear acrylic with us,opted images made by a guy who didn't know he couldn't. Not me though. A friend from England.
    image.jpg

    And how were they done Please?

    AL
    1 Laser, 4 CarveWrights, Star 912 Rotary, CLTT, Sublimation, FC7000 Vinyl, 911 Signs, Street Signs, Tourist Products and more.
    Home of the Fire Department "Epoxy Dome Accountability Tag and Accountability Boards".

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    Cuernavaca, the eternal spring, Mexico
    Posts
    17
    Hi Rodne!
    You mean that you print in paper with laser printer then transfer toner direct to acrylic? Can I Know more about the method? The result is impressive!
    Edu

    Laserpro Spirit 30w

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