sublimation slates

[AdamB]

So,

I pressed two slates earlier with a slicon mat.

Both slates were pressed with the same image so I could see a comparison (my boys!).

Slate 1 was pressed with medium pressure for 6 minutes at 195 degrees.
Slate 2 was pressed with medium pressure (It was slightly tighter) for 7 minutes at 205 degrees.


[ATTACH=CONFIG]143[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]142[/ATTACH]

After the 1st slate I noticed that some colour didn't take and some of the edges were faded (image not taken).

So, I adjusted the pressure, time and temperature for slate 2.

Points to note:

1. This is a natural product so the surface won't be 100% flat. The silcon mat does help in places but perhaps a little longer may solve the faded areas (however, you don't want an image that's too saturated in places .......... catch 22).

2. The surface once pressed is a kind of matt finish. Don't know why but I was expecting a gloss finish - probably spent too long looking at placemats!

3. The slates come in bubble wrap, in a sealed box with the stands complete. The box is of a plain (but suitable) design. I was going to push these out as 'Welsh Slate' but the box has text on it and colour is spelt 'color' so they're now 'Welsh Slates, imported from America!'.

4. Check your slates, on taking the second one out of the box I saw that some of the white surface had chipped off. I know that this is a natural product but I wouldn't be able to sell this particular slate as it looks damgaged - not natural (I will check the rest of them and e-mail Martin on this).

5. All in all a unique product that looks pretty good indeed. It's different and the weight of them give that unique selling point that you could add a little more (in price) too.

Apologies if there's any spelling mistakes in this - I did a little "speed typing" but having fingers like bratwurst sausages doesn't help with a laptop keyboard!

[Paul]

great job mate! Iam going to move yyour post to review if thats ok.

[AdamB]

great job mate! Iam going to move yyour post to review if thats ok.

Yeah no problem Paul - I will edit the post to explain about printing the image and taping it to the slate if required?

[smitch6]

some good points there Adam and i think i'll hold off buying some until i hear some more reviews
so far they seem good but ppl are having slight problems pressing them

maybe martin could do a few and report his results

[Kaz]

I've also done 2 and they are only fit for the bin

As Adam says, the colour is faded round the edges, could be because of my heat press, not really sure.

The whitening round the edges of the slate is supposed to sublimate aswell, not sure how though.

I also had problem with the paper sticking to them.

Not going to bother offering these as they are more hassle than they're worth

[AdamB]

I've also done 2 and they are only fit for the bin

As Adam says, the colour is faded round the edges, could be because of my heat press, not really sure.

The whitening round the edges of the slate is supposed to sublimate aswell, not sure how though.

I also had problem with the paper sticking to them.

Not going to bother offering these as they are more hassle than they're worth

It's a shame Kaz, but let's face it - these are not the 'Conde Systems' ones that are 'raved about':

SubliSLATE’s uniform thickness and ultra flat coated image area provide beautiful and consistent photo transfers while the individually fractured edges help to seamlessly blend transferred images into each piece – resulting in elegant and one-of-a-kind photo gifts and awards that superbly demonstrate the value and desirability of the sublimation transfer process.

Ref the white area around the edges - not really sure how you sublimate to that .................. it's probably there for effect (not that it gives you any).

[Paul]

it will sublimate to them but i think you need to leave 1/5 inch of picture for bleed. I am going to try my now Can you let me know what paper you used kaz???

[Kaz]

I used trupix with my Ricoh Paul, and I had the image much bigger than the actual slate, and just wrapped the A4 sheet round the slate and taped it.

You could have something in that Adam, though mine looked really flat.

I did notice that on one part of the "spray" it had actually sublimated to it, I still don't have my silicon sheet, but curiosity got the better of me, lol

[Paul]

ok so i wont use trupix. will use texprint and see if that will make any difdrence.

[JSR]

TruPix has a bit of a habit of sticking to certain products it doesn't like. Used to have the same problem on glass worktop savers and glass coasters, and colour-change mugs if the pressure was too great. TexPrint doesn't suffer the same issue but the transfer might not be as sharp.