halogen oven, crisp text seems to have a little ghosting

[justroll]

To me it seems that the edges of my prints seem to fade a little bit with the surounding area.

It's hardly noticeable but it seems that the edges aren't crisp enough for me .

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in detail
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when the item is printed on the paper it is crisp, so i assume it happens during the sublimation process. I have tested A+/AA+ & premium mugs, they al seem to have the issue so it has to oven step.

I preheat the oven at 180°C- 200°C

mug is silicon wrapped, i leave it in for 10 min at 180-190°C; after that i get it out and put it in hot water (around 50°C) and leave it there to cool down, then i unwrap it ..

Am i doing something wrong ? Input is highly appreciated, or is this the limit of sublimation ?


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[Mrteajunkie]

I don’t use an oven but I don’t get that issue in a press unless it’s not in for the correct amount of time, either over cooking or under cooking.

[webtrekker]

I no longer print mugs, but when I did I used the same temperatures as you for 9 minutes, dunked in lukewarm water for about 5 secs and removed the transfer while underwater. This used to give me nice, crisp prints with my oven.

Just out of curiosity, have you tried pressing these same prints in a mug press? I'm just thinking that it may be down to the resolution or antialiasing of the original image.

[justroll]

[MENTION=4080]MrT[/MENTION]eaJunk [MENTION=7061]webtrekker[/MENTION]

Both you mention cooking times, so i'll try to adjust that one down to 9mins..

I don't own a mug press, but i can assure you that the print is crisp when printed, once i remove it from the mug the print is also faded

Webtrekker, can i ask you why you stopped, i'm always curious why people start/stop their business when i'm just starting one

[webtrekker]

Webtrekker, can i ask you why you stopped, i'm always curious why people start/stop their business when i'm just starting one

Sure. I'm retired so was just doing it for a pension top-up really, but the main reasons were down to very low profits and too many inconsistencies in the products. I won't send out anything that I don't consider to be perfect.

[justroll]

[MENTION=7061]webtrekker[/MENTION]

Bringing time down did improve the print, point is, this looks like lot of hassle, what works for 1 mug, won't work for 4 mugs i assume, i need to retime the oven for 2-3-4.. mugs. What i also noticed is that the temperature seems to be non consitent, nor the dial setting. If today i put it at 190°C it gives me during the cycle it goes from 180-200, which seems still doable for sublimation.

I'm a little bit woried then when ramping up production i'm gonna hit the problem like you mentioned "incosistency", more due to wrong timing, settings,.. then compared to a pid controller mugpress.

I have been reading alot of posts, and may i conclude these assumptions

1) top to bottom -> oven + wrap
2) margins kepts safe like the big players ( 215x80mm) -> mug press ?

[webtrekker]

I have been reading alot of posts, and may i conclude these assumptions

1) top to bottom -> oven + wrap
2) margins kepts safe like the big players ( 215x80mm) -> mug press ?

Yes, that works and seems the logical way forward if you own both an oven and a press.

For me, the 'inconsistencies' I mentioned were across the board. There seemed to be just too many variables to be able to consistently produce good mugs for resale. One day the prints would be great but the mugs were anything but, and the next day vice-versa. I did loads of experimenting and came to the conclusion that I'd either have to try and get away with sending out orders with imperfections or not send any out at all.I chose the latter. Sublimation, to me at least, is not an exact science. At times it produces amazing results, at others it has me tearing out my hair trying to figure out what went wrong! I'm getting too long in the tooth now to have time to waste on something that seems to have a mind of its own!

[justroll]

So i have been doing some testing ... noticed that my blacks are black with 1 mug around 12-13 minutes, 14 minutes start fading to occur

also noticed that sublimation paper is important .. using copy print paper is a no-no

[Mrteajunkie]

Have you not been using sublimation paper ??

[justroll]

i did, then switched to copy paper, comparison below, conclusion pretty clear; do NOT use copy paper