Dye Sublimation

[bulldog]

Dye Sub is something I've heard about for years but never really learned about. I'm thinking of getting into it for mugs/phone cases/mouse pads/etc. Maybe some shirt transfers here and there if someone wants a photo on one or two shirts. Does this method produce an acceptable result for any of the items above?

Any GOOD places that can explain the process? (Or anyone here?) I do have a lot of experience with heat presses and making my own plastisol transfers just no clue on dye sub.

Do I need a special printer like a Ricoh SG7100DN that I see mentioned or can I use an Epson 1430 with some CISS dye sub ink?

Anyone ever used something like this for mugs and 3d items? http://www.rplsupplies.com/equipment/vacupress/vp3030.php It looks neat...wondering if it is a POS or not...

Any tips, pros, cons, better ideas would be much appreciated as I have zero experience with any of this but am very intrigued by the possibilities. Thanks!

[cbjamel]

http://www.dyetrans.com/ is a great way many videos showing different things. Problem with the vac system it only includes 3 cup wraps then you have the rest , and they only last so long from my understanding. The Richohs are way fast I have one, went from 4880 that died to a Ricoh get the bypass tray for sure and bigger cart worth the money. I can print a 8.5x11 in probably 5-7 seconds full page worth of ink. epson is way slower. Get a good heat press and mug press to do the large cups and your in business. My opinion.

Shane

[Denis Kolar]

Go with a Ricoh, do not mess with Epsons because they use different kind of ink and their printheads clog if not used almost every day.
Ricoh can sit for a while without printing. I have Ricoh 7100.

The prints look great on mugs, phone covers and other stuff.
You can print on tees to, polyester only tho. I did 1500-2000 sublimated tees in the last 15 months and I am a small home based shop.
You just have to make sure that your set up prevents hard edges on the tees. You would need edges on the paper to fall off the heat press pad. I print on 13x21 paper and I have bought additional pad for my Fusion press that I have cut down to be 12.25"x20". It still leaves slight mark from the edge of the pad, but at least the edge of the paper is not permanently pressed in the tee.

Also, clam presses are not as good as swingaway. It has to do something with a release, I think it pulls the paper away from the substrate and you get the ghosting in the print.

As for the training, Conde has a pretty extensive training on their Youtube channel. Also, their ICC profile for the Ricoh is the best on the market.
If you purchase from them, they will set-it up for you. I did that, but then I went away from them because you never know when they have stuff in stock and when not. They will ship the short orders without even telling you. After a few times having issues with orders, I now just order stuff that they carry only.

Good luck

[Frog]

Also, clam presses are not as good as swingaway. It has to do something with a release, I think it pulls the paper away from the substrate and you get the ghosting in the print.

My understanding was that clamshell types, tend to creep when clamping (since they can hit the back of the platen first, though some are built to overcome this tendency.

[Denis Kolar]

Also, clam presses are not as good as swingaway. It has to do something with a release, I think it pulls the paper away from the substrate and you get the ghosting in the print.

My understanding was that clamshell types, tend to creep when clamping (since they can hit the back of the platen first, though some are built to overcome this tendency.

Yes, that too. But also if the clam is auto open, that "jerk" of the top platen when it is opening messes up with the paper in not properly attached.

[bulldog]

Thanks for the replies! I have a swing press so no biggie. If you're doing mugs/glass/whatever are you baking them or did you get a separate press?

When you're talking about a shirt and the edges getting permanently pressed, is that because you're using more pressure than regularly? I get press edges with regular transfers but they go away by either rubbing it some or by the time it is washed. Just wondering what the difference is.

[Denis Kolar]

Thanks for the replies! I have a swing press so no biggie. If you're doing mugs/glass/whatever are you baking them or did you get a separate press?

When you're talking about a shirt and the edges getting permanently pressed, is that because you're using more pressure than regularly? I get press edges with regular transfers but they go away by either rubbing it some or by the time it is washed. Just wondering what the difference is.

On poly shirts you will get a defined line from the edge of the paper. That will be permanent in the shirt.
People usually use heat resistant foam, but that is PITA. extra silicone pad does the trick.

I have separate heat press for the mugs. Went the cheap way and got the multi purpose one that has 4 mug heating pads. I should have gone with a better press like George Knight.
For the glass, slate and other stuff, I use my smaller DK16 clamshell. It does not have an auto open feature and I make sure I'm extra careful when opening.
That one is nice because it needs 1/3 of the time to heat up compared to my Hotronix Fusion.

[sweetts]

I just sold my sublimation stuff, it is a good niche filler with all the things you can print with it, I didn't use it enough so I was dumping a lot of ink. I had a Ricoh and it worked great. If you are going to do shirts get the largest printer possible, the edges come from the edge of the paper so if you can have it extend over the presses edge you can eliminate it, or you can use a small press, that's what I did.