White faded edges along aluminium panel

[lightz]

I'm having some issues pressing my aluminium panels. The image along all 4 edges of the panel are appearing faded and lighter than it should be. The rest of the image everywhere else looks fine however.

I'm currently pressing my panels at 200C, 60 sec. Pressure-wise, I can't say for sure since my heat press doesn't seem to indicate it, but I believe it's around light to medium pressure.

Anyone else encountered this before? And is there a way to solve this?

[Andrew]

Have the edges got any sort of lip? I only use the sheet stock and cut to size in-house but I know in the past the coating at the edge does have the occasional problem. I would speak to your supplier as if you have pre-cut panels then it shouldn't be struggling to print to the edge.

[lightz]

I seem to have the issue resolved. I'm using the Freesub 4050, and I've been pressing with the rubber mat covering the bottom half of the press as per the supplier's recommendation. My paper was on the bottom facing up, with the aluminium panel on top facing down. It seemed that the malleability of the rubber mat caused the paper to crease along the edges of the panel, thus causing the issue. I flipped the paper and panel over so that the paper was against the solid top half of the press, and it's been working out fine since.

[Mrteajunkie]

Is it just me that presses everything paper side up then?
I would have though it was standard practice.

[Andrew]

Is it just me that presses everything paper side up then?
I would have though it was standard practice.

Metal you are supposed to press with paper underneath along with glass items. I guess you do need a fairly solid good quality mat though on the base of the press as indicated above. Most other items you don't get consistent heat transfer through the product. With items like glass coasters you can find a slight lip on the print side where the polymer coat has been adhered. If you try and print these directly to the heat platen it can result in faded areas where contact is not complete. You get less wastage printing the other way around.

[Mrteajunkie]

Metal you are supposed to press with paper underneath along with glass items. I guess you do need a fairly solid good quality mat though on the base of the press as indicated above. Most other items you don't get consistent heat transfer through the product. With items like glass coasters you can find a slight lip on the print side where the polymer coat has been adhered. If you try and print these directly to the heat platen it can result in faded areas where contact is not complete. You get less wastage printing the other way around.

Well you learn something new everyday.
I have always pressed paper up so will have to give it a go.

[webtrekker]

I've found that, when pressing aluminium sheet, the most crucial thing is the pressure applied. I use so little pressure that it's virtually just the weight of the top platen that is holding everything together. Never had white edges. I use aluminium from Sulimetals and press 'upside-down' as described by Andrew above.