DSF

Don't get me wrong, we still have our laser sub equipment and will use it many times. There's always a market for crap, cheap items.

Give the customer what they want everytime. I'll churn this stuff out all day & everyday if it sells

Stitch Up wrote:Don't get me wrong, we still have our laser sub equipment and will use it many times. There's always a market for crap, cheap items.

Give the customer what they want everytime. I'll churn this stuff out all day & everyday if it sells

Well I received my sample mug from Mik (Market Mik) and wouldn't call it crap! Obviously I am no authority on mug decoration but then neither are most of the general public!
All I can say is that it appears that Mik is making a fair living selling them on markets at the weekend! Good on you Mik.
The two most prosperous shops in my High Street at the moment are 'Poundland' and '99p Stores' both of these are selling 'cheap' items not necessaraly crap but cheap! Both of these retailers are, I believe, expanding rapidly throughout the country, taking advantage of the current economic market where people are finding themselves short of cash!
I should also mention that both of the above retailers stock ranges of decorated mugs & you've guessed it at £1.00 each! It also appears that they are not having any problems shifting these (crap) mugs at this price. Why? Because they are cheap and functional.
So Mr Stitch Up, you stand on your mountain and sing how beautiful your Sublimated mugs are, charge what you like for them & probably sell very few!
I have today been to my local Asda and purchased 40 packs (yes that's 160 mugs) for just £40.00 I won't be able to sublimate them as they are not sublimation mugs but I will be decorating them and selling them cheap!
To the workshop

Phil

I went to the local Asda today and founf that smartprice mugs were £4 for All white workamans type, and stonewear mugs were £4 for 4 two black and two white but sort of ovaly shaped.
Flash, im the mug here
can you post a picyy of which mug you bought please?

GoldRapt wrote:I went to the local Asda today and founf that smartprice mugs were £4 for All white workamans type, and stonewear mugs were £4 for 4 two black and two white but sort of ovaly shaped.
Flash, im the mug here
can you post a picyy of which mug you bought please?

I won't be able to get a picture until Monday as I dropped them all off at the shop, then I have a few camera issues
What you want are the Asda 'Smartprice' mugs. They are packed in a long line of four and all white.
I can assure you they are £1.00 for the four, yes, 25p each
Don't go to the Broadstairs Store they are OUT OF STOCK

Phil

Them fluffin barstewards at the Bristol stores have them at £4 a line phil.
But hey, for xmas pressies im back tomorrow mate

And dont forget other ways of decorating these mugs

GoldRapt wrote:Them fluffin barstewards at the Bristol stores have them at £4 a line phil.
But hey, for xmas pressies im back tomorrow mate

And dont forget other ways of decorating these mugs

Everything is cheap down this way mate, i'm in the 'butt-end' of Kent!
I've had a play with water-slide Transfers today and I must say I am pretty pleased with the results I'm going to bake a couple tonight as this is meant to make them more durable.
If I find they are still not durable enough i'm going to experiment with Acrylic Clear Lacquer.
I have also purchased a worktop mini-cooker (Argos £39.09) today & will purchase a couple of mug wraps and try the Laser Transfer method also.
Both of the above methods will produce a mug cheaper than Dye-Sublimation and if priced correctly will sell in the shop, if not, Ebay

Phil

Shop! Shop!, you got a fluffin shop! You one of them millionaires phil
Dont forget spray paint and armour etch

GoldRapt wrote:Dont forget spray paint and armour etch

Don't joke about things like that............my Missus is a bit tasty with an Air-Brush There you go another method of decorating a mug! Durable too

And no, not a millionaire, but practicing I will be once i've decorated these mugs 8)

Phil

Ah but your still thinking white mugs mate

Stitch Up wrote:If you go down the route of laser sub printing of mugs you'll probably look at the final result and think; "Hmmmmm, I'm impressed". Then, like us you'll print several hundreds or maybe even 1000s.

Then one day you go to one of the trade shows and visit the Novechrome or Xpres stands. There, you'll witness the creation of dye-sub mugs, plates etc etc and you'll think; "Hmmmmm, mine are crap".

Believe me, laser sub'd mugs are crap when sat alongside dye-sub mugs.

And yes, laser sub'd mugs do scratch too, maybe not immediately, but after a while they look even crappier

Hi Stich,
When you say "laser sub" are you talking about the same process that i am using?
Dye sublimation, as i am sure everyone here knows , is the process whereby the ink on your transfer is converted directly to a gas with no liquid stage. It then permeates the "coating " on the mug to produce the image.

Laser transfer however is the process where the toner is deposited on a specially formulated paper which allows the toner to release when heated and attach to the surface of the mug. The "glazing" process i talk of is when the toner is then heated at a high temp to allow it to bond to the new surface properly, a by product of this is that is becomes glossy.
Theoretically if you could build a printer that used mugs instead of paper, you could print directly onto the mug.

I personally have no favorite except that i found that it was cheaper and more cost effective for me to go down the laser route. With respect to quality and price, i have found that the mugs i produce are as good as any dye sub mug i have seen and when a customer holds both types in their hand, they really don't care how it was produced, as long as its what they want.
If a business buys a hundred mugs , they will only look at the cost, as long as it looks good. If an individual buys a mug they will either treasure it, so it will always look good or they will use it , in which case they will probably break it before the quality of the process used to make it will become an issue.
If however I wished to produce works of ceramic art, I would be a potter and i wouldn't use either method.

Each one of us has their own favorite method and i do realise that this forum is a dye sub forum I just happen to like being able to buy readily available toner and transfer paper then produce 3000 pages before i have to buy more.

mik