DSF

OK, we just made our first mug.

Equipment : Mug Press (probably chinese)
Ricoh 3350n
Sublijet Ink
True Pix Classic Paper
BMS European Mugs.

Settings :
170 deg (C)
140 Seconds.

Problems:
1. Solid black appears as though its been rubbed alot for 10 hours (very hard to see in pic but above the "K" on 2nd pic), so in places it looks a little thin. This isnt confined to one area, its just the odd patch here and there.

2. Uppermost/lowermost edges very feint, Im assuming this is the curvature in the mug so I need to reduce the size of the design a little.

3. One edge near the handle is feinter than the other.

Pics to illustrate :

[ATTACH=CONFIG]580[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]581[/ATTACH]

Any tips to help improve this would be appreciate.

First thing that springs to mind is your template is VERY BIG and by the look of it you are trying to get a full colour print on the mug from top to bottom.

Like all presses, heat is lost from the edges and even more so in presses that are cheaply built. I would reduce the size of your template - top, bottom and sides giving you nice clean lines on the top and bottom and reducing the size may help with the print near the handle.

I would add a little more pressure also from the look of the transfer

(yh templates definately to big top to bottom, currently 95mm x 210mm, may knock it down to 85mm x 200mm to see if that helps)

Forgot to add the process we used :
Waited for machine to hit 170 deg.
Put in mug
Started Timer
When it beeped removed Mug and peeled paper.

Instructions that came with heat press I think say...
Wait for machine to get to 170
Put in mug and temp will drop
Wait for temp to rise to 170 again then press timer button
After timer has beeped, press timer button again then wait a further minute
Remove mug.

Uincrase temp to 185c and medium/heavy preasre. As adam mentioned that heat is lost on edges so you need to cook it bit longer. Try 180sec.

A lot of peeps on here use 180 - 180 once press is up to correct temp, I get away with 160 temp and 170 seconds time. All presses will differ, especially the cheaper ones.

I'd increase the pressure a little and put a border of 3 - 5mm top and bottom - may even take it a little more distance from the handle too. On the cheaper presses there's no way you're going to get top to bottom coverage, or really close to the handle.

Is the image sharp or is it just the photo that's blurred.

John G;31651 wrote:Is the image sharp or is it just the photo that's blurred.

Image is sharp (photo a bit blurry), just trying again 185 @ 180s and gonna see hat happens

Paul;31648 wrote:Uincrase temp to 185c and medium/heavy preasre. As adam mentioned that heat is lost on edges so you need to cook it bit longer. Try 180sec.

I wouldn't recommend this with Ricoh printers. You need less heat not more.

But i would. I dont think this heat press is accurate. Will see whays going to happen.

Well I did notice this time the heat drops to 160 odd while a mugs in the press, I dont know how normal that is?

Any the result using 180 @ 180s is....

The black is blacker for sure, still a little patchy but it is a small amount apart from across the top edge were Kelly didnt put the mug in the middle.
All edges and text are pin sharp so definitely an improvement...