Printing Icons on wood

[gkb]

I’ve been designing Icons on slate which have been produced by a third party friend, but now retired I want to go the whole hog and take this up seriously. I want to set up for dye sublimation on wood, say up to 45-50mm thickness. I'm looking at the Nova Chrome A3+ Deep Impact swing arm press and the Epson ET-18100 A3+ printer (with sublinova inks???). Looked at the Epson SC-F500 but more than I want to pay, and from what I’ve read on here on Sawgrass have their problems. Advice from those who know the equipment, or alternatives, would be appreciated. The posts on the forum which touch on this have been helpful, but I haven’t found anything particularly up-to-date. I’m a Mac addict – that may influence the printer?

[whitprints]

Sadly you cant print on to 'any' wood, it has to be coated to take a sublimation print, and ive never seen anyone doing anything 45-50mm deep.

Im using a epson16150 with a different brand of inks without issue, just setting up a 15000 as well .

A lot of places dont like support MACs due to the printer profiles needed as it keep altering on macs everytime they do a new update!

[gkb]

I much appreciated your response [MENTION=6376]whitprints[/MENTION]. Yes, I am aware of the need to fully prep the wood for sublimation by sanding to smooth finish, sealing the wood (optional dependent on type of wood) and applying the sublimation base coating. Becaus e I want to sublimate on high quality hardwood, part of my research was to obtain a sample from a company not so far from where I live, that was a 30mm freestanding block in maple. It was also a present for a longstanding friends 70th birthday, and was outstanding. Unfortunately they are no longer offering this service to the public. I understand 45-50mm is possible, but not so much called for. The icons which I will produce will be in vibrant modern styles, as well as classic. Wall hung plaques will be 22-27mm, and freestanding plaques 45-50mm. This is a learning curve for me, but having seen samples of what is possible, I am believing for good results…eventually!

Indeed there can be issues with Mac compatibility in certain situations but, having used macs since 1988 I am not about to change now. I also note there are quite a number of Mac users doing sublimation, so don’t see it as such a problem. My reasons for posting was to enquire if anyone out there had experience of sublimation onto wood, with any recommendations as to the equipment, inks, etc they used. Re the printer, having looked at those already recommended, the ET-18100 A3+ seemed a great option at a more reasonable cost for equipment and inks. Inkexperts are promoting a Mac only version of this model, it is required to run on Mac OS15 Sonoma, which is the OS of my 27” iMac, I’ll disable auto updates and stay with that. As far as I know, the Nova Chrome A3+ Deep Impact is one of the two presses in my price range that will accept the depth of material I wish to sublimate.


Before shelling out on the equipment, I am enquiring if those wise and experienced heads out there who can advise me further, saving me making costly choices which I’d later regret. So [MENTION=6376]whitprints[/MENTION] thanks again for taking the time to respond, much appreciated– all comments and suggestions are gratefully received! Regards [MENTION=13548]gkb[/MENTION]

[Justin]

I've never managed to get a decent enough or consistent base coating, not saying it can't be done but it's a whole load of faff unless you can charge a huge premium.

We print onto thick wooden blocks using UV, bare wood or painted.

[whitprints]

Ive bought a small UVDTF printer to try to do things like this via transfers - not got round to setting up yet though - been sat there about 2months so far lol.

[gkb]

I'll be interested to hear how it goes once your set up. All the best with with your endeavours!

[gkb]

Indeed, [MENTION=1]Justin[/MENTION]… it’s going to be a challenge… that’s part of the attraction. I imagine there are pros and cons for both, perhaps in an ideal world the answer would be having both? However, the difference in setting up costs alone means I’m not considering UV. Plus, for what I intend, the dye sublimation route more than meets my needs. However, I appreciate your input and…who knows what’ the future holds!

[Justin]

Interested to see what you are producing, I'll check my suppliers to see if they supply any wood that may be of use.