Chaos Theory, Process Engineering and...

[tonypep]

The Art of Discovery.
 Having heat sealed all types of materials on a variety of substrates; our large foil program development was thought to be a fairly easy task (at least by me).
Wrong.
Having a heat seal department with all types of machines was only the first in a whole series of interdependant variables that rival the screen printing process.
Coming soon to a PW future issue.

[TCT]

Are you talking about a in line foiler for on the press?

[tonypep]

That doesn't work........running the foil through the dryer tarnishes it to the point it looks more like shimmer ink. We need mirror finished products

[sweetts]

make a roller with a pickup roller on the other side, have that over a bottom heating heatpress you should be able to pound out a shirt every 20 seconds mindlessly where's the problem lol


Roger
RT screen designs
Www.rtscreendesigns. Com

[TCT]

Tony, I'm not trying to question you(lord knows you have more talent in your pinky finger than I have cumlativily) but I think that has a lot to do with the adhesive and probably foil also you use. I have 2 and seen at least a dozen prints from a in line foiler that are great. Here is one from just the other day I came across-


Like I said I'm not trying to question you, just more curious. I have been toying with the reality of adding one here but just not sure I can justify the price.

[tonypep]

Never said there was one. We do have 6 machines, air, shuttle manual, etc and can heat press in 7 secs. They have different rubber durometer beds and do not all dispense heat in the same way.No time for the rest but working on the pre-op/post op efficienies as well. Currently at 2,000 per day

[TCT]

Couldn't you just add one of these to one of your presses?
http://www.mrprint.com/uploaded/pdf/MegaMidas_EN_LTR.pdf
At 2,000 a day it would pay for itself in no time.

[tonypep]

Lord no. I don't think M&R even makes them any more. The process is very slow and again, the mirror finish tarnishes in the dryer. Unacceptable. Plus we use irredescents, colors, glitter foils, clears, color change etc. They all have different pull characteristics.

[TCT]

Alright man, I was just trying to help. If you ever want I can put you in touch with a guy up in Canada that was doing over 2,000 foil prints a day manually(with a heat press) and switched to a in line on press foiler and has been singing the praises ever since.

Sounds like you have something coming too though also!

[tonypep]

No Problem appreciate it and all responses. Yes I am looking at a four station shuttle that does 2k per day all on its own

[ABuffington]

Hello guys,

I posted on the other foil thread already, but I just remembered another method using a fusing machine from Germany that is normally used to put fusing onto collars on dress shirts and other apparel.  Just take the hot shirt out of the oven, put it on the fusing belt, slap on some foil, and the machine presses the foil automatically as it goes through the fuser and the worker on the outtake removes the foil and stacks.  One machine per press, but non stop mirror foil production.

Al

[ZooCity]

I don't envy you on this project Tony.  I agree all around that in-line would be awesome but worry that older M&R presses would just deflect like crazy, frustrating the heat seal process.  Then again we don't do foil so I don't know how much pressure it requires.  I have seen a couple of these in line stampers though, one would presume it's working for someone but I wonder about setup/teardown as well and losing the heads on the presses.  Could the tarnishing be solved by going with a different brand/weight/quality/finish of foil leaf?

If I was in your shoes I would consolidate all the heat presses earmarked for foil production with new, same make heat panels and platen bed material.  I'd think you might want to just purchase new heat presses so as not to rob the current heat seal dept of their machines. Couple of these suckers might do the trick:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TSZQ5L_7p4

[ABuffington]

We printed millions of shirts with foil for Disney during the Little Mermaid/Beauty and the Beast era.  I have found that peeling cold yielded a better mirror finish.  Peeling hot in line on mirror prints often left the foil textured on the edges and uneven.  In line is OK if the design hides it. ie elements are small, or mostly outlining the art instead of solid areas.  If you try the puff foil technique it must be peeled cold.  Running puff foil back through the oven re-lofts the puff and the tarnish adds to the metal look, also maintains the look after washing.  Ed Branigan, now with Nike, did some amazing foil techniques while working for Insta Graphics.  Bases with wrinkled foil application in line, followed by blister puffs with the tips coated in a different color foil done in line, followed by another detailed blister puff element with a different foil color covering just the tips or details.  The cool thing about this technique is you can use the foil more than once to foil tip blister puffs, or it foils gels in irregular patterns where they highlight the print but aren't the whole print.  I like Insta Graphic Heat Transfer presses, floating head to level to shirt seams, folds, puff inks or uneven prints, consistent temps across the heating platen (crucial for puff foiling), precise air control, and you can sell them used and get back almost all the money you spend on them.  They last forever and never breakdown.