DSF

Hi Everyone. new to this forum and I have to admit that I have never used the sublimation process. I will give you a little background about what I do and what I am trying to achieve with the advice of you experienced guys and girls on here please.

I produce artwork via Adobe Photoshop, I currently use a normal A4 laser printer to print these images off and then use a gel medium process to transfer the art work onto the substrates that I use like pallet wood etc. However I am now looking at producing more items and at larger sizes that what my A4 laser printer will only do. I would be looking to utilise a change in substrate such as using birch plywood if possible

I have looked at varying products from heat presses and sublimation printers, to UV flatbed printers and DTG printers but I am finding conflicting information online from my searches in regards to being able to transfer images onto different surfaces.

I understand that going down the UV printer route would eliminate all my queries, but the cost of these devices is around £8k upwards which is nothing I can afford at the moment. The cheapest option available is via a sublimation printer and heat press, in terms of price comparison.

What I don't want to do is purchase equipment and then find out that it wont do what I want it too. So my question is, if I want to print a design in A3 format on to say a piece of A3 plywood would I be able to do this successfully with the right sublimation printer and a heat press ? or would this not be possible.

I am at a loss at the minute at what to do. I want to start producing larger pieces of work but do not know what is the best option.

Any help would be great please

Thanks
Mark @ Kikozo

Hi Mark

Going to be a really short answer here, but that is because I am really busy...

The substrate you want to print on must contain polyester in some form or another otherwise the sublimation ink will not "adhere" to the product, in short I doubt it will work on plywood unless it is treated with a sublimation coating which could get expensive. The more polymer in the product the better the image quality.

That is a very brief answer, hopefully others will be able to explain it better and in more detail.

Lastly, you could always ask someone to test it for you...

Thanks for your reply, does anyone know if i was to sublimate straight onto birch plywood for a limited time if i would be able to transfer an image over successfully ? Understand that there may be a loss on true colour as lighter tones would be replaced by the grain on the plywood.

Just wondering if anyone has tried this or knows someone who has. I have seen someone selling their art on birch plywood and they mention that they use a heat based transfer system using uv resistant inks and specialist paper

For UV protection I imagine you'd need to be looking at printers that use solvent-based inks, not dye-, or pigment-based.

Saying that, I have successfully transferred images to wood using normal sublimation inks in a Ricoh printer on JetPro Opaque II paper. A coat of lacquer or varnish over the finished product may help give a certain amount of UV protection.

webtrekker;126270 wrote:For UV protection I imagine you'd need to be looking at printers that use solvent-based inks, not dye-, or pigment-based.

Saying that, I have successfully transferred images to wood using normal sublimation inks in a Ricoh printer on JetPro Opaque II paper. A coat of lacquer or varnish over the finished product may help give a certain amount of UV protection.

Hi thanks for your reply. In regards to when you did your transfer did the image come out okay but obviously with slight colour changing due to the natural colour of the wood being used. I would be looking at using a birch plywood that is light in its own colour. I want the natural grain and wood colour to come through as part of the finished item.

In terms of the UV protection I would obviously need this if selling the art work to potential customers to stop fading of the inks.

Is there a protective medium that could be used or would I need to look at alternative option such as a wide format solvent based printer that can take transfer paper but again the purchase of a solvent based printer would be quite high I believe.

The setup I was looking at was a Virtuoso SG800 with high capacity carts and an A3 swing head heat press.

To be honest, if you're serious about printing to plywood as a business, then the only way forward is to invest in DTG type printing equipment using UV stabilised inks.

If you're just interested in selling a few prints locally then explore other methods, but they won't give you the professional finish of DTG. (or maybe that should be DTW, in your case! :biggrin: ).

The main thing is to first understand your market, then buy the best possible equipment you can to achive your aims. Remember that good quality equipment, although costly at first, will have a better resale value should your business fail, and also will help you achieve sales to cover the initial cost of the equipment do to the higher quality products you will be making.

To me, at least, this is what I would be striving for if I was going into the wood printing business ...

You could go to an A3 laser and heat press and use hard surface transfer paper from the magic touch

https://youtu.be/Hk-lCpU8RRY

cpm from magic touch as suggested by Arfermo
but....A3 laser printers are quite a cost
AND - for laser transfere you need a really good press capable of high pressure - like an Adkins = money!

Also, Adkins don't have much clearance, so could only do on thin wood.