Halogen mug oven ... first impressions ...

[webtrekker]

[User Deleted]

[mrs maggot]

Keep us updated, esp how many mugs you can do at once, and where you go the oven from.

Did you tell Bertie Basset you would cook him too - Allsorts my fav the blue knobbly ones.

[webtrekker]

[User Deleted]

[James990]

I've been using a halogen oven for a long, long time, now. I have three on the go, works out much cheaper in running costs then mug presses etc.

[Customprintwales]

if you think the results are good wait till you get your electricity bill.

It is much cheaper than a mug press to run.

I've been using ovens for over a year and loving it. Any halogen oven works as long as it's 1300 watt or more for best effect. I bought my latest one from Amazon for £29 delivered

If yours doesn't have an extender ring then you can but those separately and it lifts the lid up by about 5 inches so you can do larger items like drinks bottles.

I love them. I've never has a problem with cold spots when doing things like money boxes and candle holders. Even the heavy pencil pots sublimate without rick of cold spots once you get your timings right.

Every time perfect

[TerryQ]

[QUOTE=webtrekker;128436]I thought I'd try a halogen mug oven to see if there were any advantages/disadvantages over a mug press or a conventional electric/gas cooker.

Well, I only received it yesterday, but so far the results are excellent!

This is the oven ...



You may notice that I have an oven thermometer in there too. This is because you can't trust the temperature dial to give you the exact temperature you need for sublimation. With the dial set at 180 deg C it was only measuring 160 deg C on the thermometer, so I fiddled around and now have it 'cooking' at 180 deg C. The thermometer was £3.99 from Amazon.

I've now got it down to 10 mins to print a single mug, using the cheap (less than a fiver) silicone mug wraps from ebay. I haven't had time to try 4 mugs yet but I'll get around to it soon.

The prints blew me away! MUCH sharper than any I've produced with my mug presses, particulary small text. Colours were great and uniform, and black was very black, not brown. Inks and paper are the same I've always used, from City Ink Express. Mugs are 10oz Listawood Duraglaze Durham AAA.

These ovens only take a few minutes to reach temperature, which is good. The very bright light of the halogen bulb switching on and off is a bit annoying when I'm working on the computer at the same time, but bearable. You can hear the blower but it's nothing excessive and the only other sound is the timer ticking.

All in all, it looks like I'm going to be doing most, if not all of my mugs in the oven from now on. :wink:[/QUOTE]

Thanks for posting this, you have convinced me to give it a go :-) Im not at all familiar with silicone wraps, as I have always used a mug press - do you have a link else? I use the Durham 10oz ceramic mugs and the China (Birmingham) mugs

I have a halogen over already (regular domestic one)

Thank you
Terry

[webtrekker]

[User Deleted]

[TerryQ]

Thank you - Ill order some now, and have a go after Christmas

[Customprintwales]

When I used a mug press I had problems with faded bottoms (ooh err) with money boxes because of the heat sink. You have to pre-warm them with a mug press. Never had a problem using an oven. Nice even print from top to bottom.

Even the heavy bases you get with the ceramic pen pots don't cause a problem when using a halogen.

Once you get the timing right then it is pretty much going to work all the time identically until the bulbs blow. I use mine about 4 hours a day and they last a good 6 months before blowing.

You can buy new bulbs fairly cheaply and I don't think they are too hard to fit but I've never tried - at £30 for a new oven it's not worth the hassle

[webtrekker]

[User Deleted]