I’m upgrading my Sublimation eco tank soon to an A3, as the space does not have one but does have a heat press this could be a lot of fun for members to add art/graphics/text: to woodwork, laser cut acrylic and Polyester based textile. You can additionally with the use of TPU, sublimate as the 3D printer prints on the face of the printed object. The nozzle runs hot enough for TPU at 215-230 degrees to at a molecular level bind the ink of the sublimation paper to the TPU.
Is there a donation process for tools does it have to be PAT tested first or can I just bring it in?
Details
Epson2814 eco tank A4
Condition Notes
Less than 12 month old
Donation to sewing space
Induction and Training
Youtube
Maintenance
Must be used once a week or it will clog up, I’m planning to be at the space on Wednesdays
Sounds interesting!
But it needs to be approved by the @textilestechs…
We have historically had very poor results keeping inkjets and the like from drying out, and we don’t want to keep buying ink that gets wasted… so the techs will need to take responsibility for maintaining this otherwise I suggest we pass…
Just an additional note that this is an ECO Tank, it both is and is not an inkjet as such ie the ink nozzels does not heat up. I agree inkjets are a real pain. This printer has 4 tanks that you put liquid sublimation ink into it and need to use it once a week .
My very big printer Roland BN20-A that I use to print food and packaging labels also needs to be used once a week to keep it alive; all printers with the exception of a lazer are a bit painful
A sublimation printer would be a lot of fun to try. If it doesn’t get used, it will die - literally. But if it takes off, then I expect soon we may be discussing adding an A3 sublimation printer. I’m super interested in how it might be used with 3D printing - though I’m totally clueless about how that might work. This might interest @3dtechs too perhaps? If textiles pass, might it be possible to have Dorine as a sublimation tech? Or perhaps a bit like the airbrush? Having Dorine’s experience with sublimation would be fantastic too if she’d be willing to take that on. It takes very little space, so no great risk unless the ink is super-toxic or highly inflammable (?). From what I gather, the process doesn’t even need extraction.
Previous inkjets died, but those didn’t offer sublimation, so that past experience isn’t really anything to go by. Worst case is it also dies. But that’s much better than us investing in buying sublimation equipment at some point and that then being wasted. So whatever happens, there’s an advantage in this low cost / no cost opportunity to see if it takes off or not - a kind of live and let die approach.
That link gives message ‘Sorry, you don’t have access to that topic’.
I can see lots of great uses for this - for example could design a clock face and print it on acrylic. (Are the inks ok to use in the laser?). It could perhaps add lettering to an electric guitar, or making custom electrical units and labelling switches etc. Using with 3D printing is really interesting - can you give any links which help to understand how that works?
Yup yup it taps into such a divers and literally unlimited range of stuff from full on Geek to fluffy bunnies. Was my 2nd best “Inclusion” tool. Imagine pairing it with Stable diffusion and DAL-I; just last night I got a hint I’ll be getting an early Xmas present, subscription to ChatGPT hence DAL-I. We already host stable diffusion locally creating Genshin Impact stuff and other weirdness.
Paraprint on YouTube has a channel, she talks the process through fairly well for 3D.
I’ve always cut first for laser, then sub. My heat press is not massive and I don’t want to use to much of my cast acrylic it’s more expensive
You’re geeking me out! I’m comfortable with fluffy bunnies, after that it’s a whole new thing - but seems really really cool and exciting. If textiles pass, Andy said there is an area in the clean room at the front by the corner that’s available for something. I’m sure there are other places we could find for an A4 printer that can do really really cool stuff with. Even the shelf above the Mac-pro where the Ultimaker+ used to be. Do you have any photos of things you’ve done with it?
@asander1, @joeatkin2 - this is so cool. Can we incubate this with a live and let die approach with Dorine as tech and see how it goes? Maybe a one off £50 for consumables to get it started?
All is printed with either generic 95 TPU or Receus 82A - No actual fabric was used, you can create your own fabric just using infills/walls an no top/bottom layer. For adding colour/pattern just tap a printed sublimation page on the bed and off you go.
For the euro rack acrylic stuff/cheeks it’s just cut, print pattern on sub paper and heat press. Your limiting factor will be size if it can be cut on the laser it “should” fit the heat press. No need to laminate you acrylic unless it’s a design decision. 3mm is pretty strong and 5mm is super strong.
The textiles reply was on the other thread but I think it was private. We are keen to get the printer - and I’m dying to try some things with acrylic.
My only proviso was having cart blanch to streamline the sewing area to accommodate it. By which I mean moving on some of the unused sewing machines without everyone complaining!
