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doming with an ALPS printer
I’m wondering if anyone has done any doming with the ALPS printer. I make a lot of decals on vinyl with my ALPS MD5000. As most of you know it will print gold and silver foil and white ink as well as metallics etc. Seems ideal for domed badges. I know ALPS ink is OK under 2 part polyurethane car paint. Is the doming liquid a polyurethane?
Adrian
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25 Replies
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Hi Adrian I don’t know the answer but we have domed on print done from the gerber which also prints gold silver and white, so I don’t know if the print process is similar.
Lynn
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long time ago i tried this with alps wax carts in the pc 60 and although it printed very well the dome did not want to stick to the wax print.
using the resin ribbons all ok but the alps will not print the resin ribbons i believe.chris
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Chris the doming we used wasn’t ribbons it’s in a two part gun affair 🙄
Lynn
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lynn was my explanation that bad
chris
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no chris it’s proberbly me sorry 🙄 I’ll get my coat
Lynn
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Drat! Oh well…. Thanks for posting
Adrian
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quote Chris Wool:long time ago i tried this with alps wax carts in the PC 60 and although it printed very well the dome did not want to stick to the wax print.
using the resin ribbons all OK but the alps will not print the resin ribbons i believe.Chris
i remember something like this happening to some samples done using wax carts. we hand laminated the sample and i stuck it on a board for display… it did not go down correct right away so i picked the corner and peeled it away… it left the base vinyl sticking perfect and the print on the laminate. virtually no resistance at all… i would guess, like Chris says, the same would happen with the dome.
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Been looking for an ALPS printer for a while now and they just never seem to come up for sale second hand in the UK.
I get plagued by customers asking if i can do a 1:24 scale replica of their logos and i`ve researched that only the ALPS can give required results. 🙁
You`d think in this day and age there would be an alternative.
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Tell me about it. I bought dry transfer paper for doing die cast model logos but the process is slow, white is a problem as its a laser printer and the finish isn’t that good.
I have a Citizen printer with a white ribbon but it wont take to the paper. I’ll have to try the water slide method but if that doesn’t work I may just give up 🙁
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quote Rod Gray:Been looking for an ALPS printer for a while now and they just never seem to come up for sale second hand in the UK.
I get plagued by customers asking if i can do a 1:24 scale replica of their logos and i`ve researched that only the ALPS can give required results. 🙁
You`d think in this day and age there would be an alternative.
Really? I’ve been wishing for a nice used Gerber Edge. Surely an Edge would print the same things as an ALPS. It’s just that I own 2 ALPS and would like to get some more use out of them.
Adrian
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quote Kenny Ramsey:Tell me about it. I bought dry transfer paper for doing die cast model logos but the process is slow, white is a problem as its a laser printer and the finish isn’t that good.
I have a Citizen printer with a white ribbon but it wont take to the paper. I’ll have to try the water slide method but if that doesn’t work I may just give up 🙁
What problems are you having with the decal printing? Maybe I can help.
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[/quote]i remember something like this happening to some samples done using wax carts. we hand laminated the sample and i stuck it on a board for display… it did not go down correct right away so i picked the corner and peeled it away… it left the base vinyl sticking perfect and the print on the laminate. virtually no resistance at all… i would guess, like Chris says, the same would happen with the dome.[/quote]
I print labels/decals on clear 2mil vinyl (KPMF)and laminate them with the same material. When I cut them out I leave a 1/16th margin around the decal. Works fine but I wouldn’t want to have to reposition one. Of course, I have trouble repositioning pretty much anything that’s stuck down anyway…it always stretches on me.
Adrian
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quote Rod Gray:Been looking for an ALPS printer for a while now and they just never seem to come up for sale second hand in the UK.
I get plagued by customers asking if i can do a 1:24 scale replica of their logos and i`ve researched that only the ALPS can give required results. 🙁
You`d think in this day and age there would be an alternative.
i was asked same a good while back by a friend rod… he makes scaled down model steam trains and the like.. i printed them no problem with my pc60 back tehn and he was over the moon. wax ribbons scratch so easily… ide have thought the thermal prints to be better.
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The finish isn’t great but I think that will come with practice. The main problem arises when I need to make decals for anything that hasn’t a white background. Because the laser inks are so translucent, the body colour shows through and makes the decals hard to see and also causes a change in colour.
What I would need is a solid ink or a primer underneath. That would make either screen printing or an alps the best option. The Gerber doesn’t give the best finish for very small decals in my experience
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Kenny,
To print on anything other than a white background wouldn`t you first have to print white on the tranfer paper?.
What i mean is print the word in white only, maybe even with a slightly wider outline then reload it back into the printer and then reprint using the normal colour.
Wouldn`t that help with the transparency problem?
Aligmnent might be a problem when dealing with such small lettering.
Half a millimetre out is enough to make some of these model makers have kittens 😀
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quote Robert Lambie:quote Rod Gray:Been looking for an ALPS printer for a while now and they just never seem to come up for sale second hand in the UK.
I get plagued by customers asking if i can do a 1:24 scale replica of their logos and i`ve researched that only the ALPS can give required results. 🙁
You`d think in this day and age there would be an alternative.
i was asked same a good while back by a friend rod… he makes scaled down model steam trains and the like.. i printed them no problem with my pc60 back tehn and he was over the moon. wax ribbons scratch so easily… ide have thought the thermal prints to be better.
Hi mate,
Never really got to see any output from a P60 other than a demo years by a bloke called John Boyle (who sold us our Pnc 1100).
The letters on some of these trucks are half a millimetre high and shaded 🙂 . This ALPS/ OKI DP5000 printer apparently uses the same carts as a P60 and is a thermal transfer printer. It seems to score on accuracy tho.
As i said in another post, these model makers are verging on insane when it comes to creating replica`s and anything short of perfection just won`t do.
The problem i have is that my customers keep coming back to me asking if i can do it and i feel obliged to at least research it. There are companies out there advertising and offering to create decal kits but they a. charge a fortune and b. tell you it can take up to 8 weeks. 😀
Someone sell me and ALPS /OKI D5000 Thermal Printer !! 😉
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The ALPS is an amazing machine, especially considdering the price they sold for. I think I paid $375 CDN fo my MD 5000.
The detail of text (so small I can hardly see it) is nothing short of amazing. I print a white undercoat if i need say, a yellow decal that has to go over black. The ALPS does this by itself pretty much…that is you don’t have to reload the media. It just feeds it backwards and then overprints the decal. The registration is spot on even at rediculously tiny sizes. I have never seen Edge output but just assumed it must be better than the ALPS at the price the machine goes for. Is this not the case? Kodak had a version of the ALPS called a "First Check". These seem to be a very well kept secret now for some reason. Very hard to find any info on them. They look to be an ALPS MD 5000 but Kodak wanted about $4000 as I recall.Adrian
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What you say is correct Rod but the printer I have that can print white uses a wax/resin ribbon and won’t print onto the paper. THe Laser printer I use for colour cannot print white.
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the pc 60 head is based on the alps with the advantage of duel voltage for the different ribbon types. when using wax carts in the pc60 the output is identical with the added advantage of contour cutting.
chris
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Just had a quick scan of ebay. A few ALPS on American Ebay but none over here.
It sounds ideal for me. Is a PC60 comparable in quality & running costs?
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i have PC600, e never use wax ribbons
i also have a few APLS, OKI, CITIZEN ribbons /looks like Roland wax/
is posibble to print with it on vinyl that i normaly use with resin ribbon, like some Orafol, Multifix series, etc?Roland use Alps licensed technology for printing heads for PNC and PC printers, that mean its very simillar, like heads used in Alps printer, but i dont know did some can wrong when i use Alps cartridges. maybe, waste my printing head?
as i know, wax ribbons uses for printing on transfer for t-shirts -
Can you tell me a bit about how the doming went? I was wondering if the ink remained unaffected by the doming liquid. What doming liquid did you use? Did the domes fall off, or was the whole thing a success? I wouldn’t mind hearing about how you lined up the prints for the Roland to cut either.
Adrian
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Doming resins are either epoxies or urethanes , the epoxies will give you adherence and bleeding problems , the urethanes wont. 2 part flexible urethane doming is the way to go , but is critcal in terms of 1) mixing ratio and 2) any moisture. Getting either wrong will result in foaming , bubbles or the stuff not gelling. 2 part urethanes will work with your wax based prints for your application.
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Thanks Rodney.
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I get modal transfers made by a man local to me who uses Alps printers, if the transfer is going onto a coloured background you have to put a white under coat print down first. As has been said the detail is amazing.
He said he has to send the printer away to be refurbished as they can’t get new parts for them anymore and sometimes it plays up straight away and other times it work perfect for months.
I also read some were when researching these printers the dot size is smaller and cleaner than a good laser printer, also they can use resin ribbons as far as I know I just think they are hard to get hold of. Have a search on the web.
But don’t quote me on that please 🙂
Steve
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