Doming - Anyone tried it?

[Justin]

Yeah, that's what I was thinking I just did a run of 72 keyrings which would have looked great but doming would have added a lot of time to the job. Future jobs are likely to be 1 offs so I don't think it's practical...unless I can find another way.

[Ian M]

http://www.victory-imaging.co.uk/techni ... ctions.pdf

Just found this start up kit which seems to be a very good price, would love to have a go. All looks a little time consuming for the double sided keyrings I do but worth the effort. I wonder how practical it would be just doming 1 or 2 keyrings though?

Hi Justin,

I got the impression that you can re use a cartridge from what it says within the 'gun assembly' instructions on the leaflet. I'd probably be contacting a local car main dealer as they always seem to be very interested in nice looking key rings. That way you could keep a few domes in stock for them or some other customer who would want repeat work.

I have to admit it does look good does that starter kit & just ideal if working from home or somewhere without much space.

As I said before I have a company who make the domes for me & I'm now finding my customers who have had the domes done keep coming back for more. One of my customers has now had around 400 domes done in various sizes in the last 6 months.

Justin, if you PM or email me I will let you know a bit more of what my customers use the domes for & it just isn't key rings.

Ian

[Jase]

Yes you can reseal the cartridges whoever its not really worth it because, when you open the cartridge you have to dispense some liquid to get rid of the bubbles, then you put on the nozzle and dispense some more resin to get rid of the bubbles, after you reseal you still have to go throught this same procedure in order to use it again, whoever this time you will have introduced even more bubbles into the cartridge, its better to use a cartridge fully rather than reseal it in practice.

More important than temprature is the room humidity level and this needs to be below 45% otherwise you will get bubbles in the dome upon curing, you can use a dehumidifier if your room is more than 45% but this might take a day or so to get the level down, I would check this before buying a kit, another watch point is some inkjet inks can react with the resin and run into it.

cheers

Jase

[daviddeer]

On a side note I have used two different types of paper. The one from mulberry was kind of plastic, the ink ran and the doming acrylic peeled off the paper. The one from make-a-gift is shiny ink jet paper which holds the ink well and the doming acrylic bonds firmly to it. The problem is their website is very hard to get around and you have to ring them to order it. The domes work out at about 40p each when you create a whole sheet of A4. Expensive yes, classy.... definitely !
Bubbles can be removed with the 'bubble remover', which is just a lighter in a posh case or use an ordinary lighter and flick it on over the dome once.
The doming substance seems to be some form of cyanoacrylate (similar to super-glue) but air drying. There are other acrylics out there including UV curing and cold setting for pouring into moulds. I love the idea of making self adhesive logos and small car decals and doming them. I am toying with the idea of doming a plastic fly in the bottom of a mug. Just have to figure out a marketing strategy. It would certainly make washing up more challenging.

[djhutton]

I've been doing this for a while, the problem I found was that the stuff you can use with an inkjet is not waterproof, so any badges worn outside will run and the dome come off. You can use printable vinyl using a laser that's waterproof (Magic Touch Vinyl) but the resin doesn't spread as well.

So I made 'samples' using the inkjet paper and small sample tubes of resin from Liquid Lens, then when I get orders I subcontract out the doming to a company that does it all the time (Keyfactors) so all I have to do is attach to the blank and collect the money The results are great (as long as you get the artwork right) delivery is quick and an easy job.

BTW there is a shelf life on the resin so don't buy too much at a time or all you'll get are problems.

DJ

[DREAMGLASS]

I've been doing this for a while, the problem I found was that the stuff you can use with an inkjet is not waterproof, so any badges worn outside will run and the dome come off.

I did some long term tests last winter, using inkjet printable vinyl and using waterproof ink. The domes were attached to some old plastic facia and left to weather.

For the first four weeks they stood up well to sunshine, rain, frost and snow. Although the ink remained impervious to the weather with no bleeding of colours, the domes eventually started to seperate where the dome came iinto contact with the printed surface. It appears the ink formed a skin to which the dome eventually started to break contact. Whilst doming on items destined for outdoors is certainly feasible, it really is a question of experimentation.

Resin cartridges CAN be re-used as the mixing only takes place in the nozzles. Simply unscrew the old blocked up nozzle and put on a fresh one. The spare nozzles aren't cheap though.

[Stitch Up]

So, what's the latest with doming? Good, bad, profitable or waste of time?

Any new systems out there that don't cost the earth?

Anyone here tried it, lost money or made money?

[carter2]

Domed labels are much more permanent than many other labels and do not show wear; the clear polyurethane substance, even after curing (hardening), is self-healing. Minor scratches or cuts heal themselves and the label looks like new once again.

[Stitch Up]

Which system do you use - assuming of course that you make your own

[carter2]

Available in both Piston and Gear Pump models, Exact offers Doming Systems for varying production demands including units with programmable XY motion, capable of tracking difficult script labeling.
Exact is the cheap and effective system for doming!