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Resin Doming supplier in Australia?
Hi,
I saw this wicked resin doming machine at the sydney sign show and thought "I need that".But, it was really expensive. 🙁
Then I looked at all the posts here about the little hand held cartridge domers and I can probably afford those, but I can’t find anything like it here in Oz. Does anyone know where to get them?
Also, from what I can work out it is a polyurethane mixture like clear coats for cars but thicker, so surely someone has come up with a home brand version they mixed themselves after a few too many cans. This is what makes Australians so special, our do it yourself attitude towards anything and everything. Every day someone here tries home dentistry with the same results…. 😥
Any ideas would be apreciated.
Cheers
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26 Replies
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Spandex used to sell a cheaper doming system here. Not as good as the AGS one tho (I think the one you refer to was from AGS?)
May be worth talking to Spandex or Graphic Art Mart.
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Sweet, Thanks Shane. I will call them both tomorrow.
I saw the AGS one, but I don’t know if I will have enough customers interested in domes to justify such a large outlay.
Some of the posts here mention a disposable system, nice and cheap to get some work happening, then if people are interested, buy the big machine.
I am kind of exclusive with my work, I pick and choose what I feel like doing. It’s not the right way to run a proper business but I am not a proper business. I mainly deal with the race car and high performance vehicle scene and domed sticker/badges would be pretty sweet.
Did you end up making it to the Sydney Visual Impact show?
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I emailed these guys earlier today: http://www.liquid-lens.com/
Waiting on a reply. But I have seen the manual kit similar on another site for 300Euros which isn’t cheap by any means. Add shipping onto that and it’s nearly half the price of the AGS kit.
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quote Ben Shaw:Did you end up making it to the Sydney Visual Impact show?
no mate didn’t make it. As it happens things got manic here last week, if I’d had my airfare booked I would have had to cancel it anyway 😕 My mum and dad were away on holidays and didn’t get back until friday night, so I was running around like a whirling dervish trying to do their jobs and my own.
That, and I won 2 tenders that I didn’t expect to get.
Definately next year tho :lol1:
I was going to buy the AGS doming machine when I saw it at the Gold Coast sign show, just couldn’t stretch my finances after buying the Massive Print edger, but my opposition bought it down the road. I’ll just get him to subby for me. Perhaps you could do that too?
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300euros isn’t cheap (i guess). Plus if you buy stuff from overseas and it has a problem, you end up fairly stuffed. Also, if you need their resin everytime you order you will be up for a big wait, and lots of shipping.
Did you see the AGS display at the Sydney show Jason? They had some cool looking stuff. Most of the simple domes I think look quite cool, but some of the coloured squiggly ones look kind of cheesy or like little kids stick-on earrings. Which is probably very handy if that is what you want to make. (sorry if someone does that) 😳
Let me know what liquid lens say if you don’t mind.
Bummer that you didn’t get down Shane but it was probably similar to the gold coast one. Good to have so much work on. What’s a massive print edger?
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Hey Ben yeh I saw their stand. I’m still not quite sure what we would do with it mainstream. I’m not sure what these things would retail for. I would personally use it to add some dimension to some of the signs we would make. I don’t think creating badges and that sort of thing would be very viable for us. Then again I don’t know that market so I can’t say.
I spoke to a lot of people and quite a few indicated the Gold Coast show was better then the Sydney one. Maybe cause it was more crammed it felt busier. I was in Sydney from Thursday till Sat and Saturday was by far the busiest day.
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I mainly do car stuff so little badges saying tuned by so and so would be useful. That big machine AGS had is massive overkill for what I want to do. More like that bottom kit on the liquid lens site.
I went on Thursday and Friday and saw the digital wrapping seminar on Friday morning but most of the suppliers thought I was a Tafe student so I got ignored sometimes. Next time I will suit up for the occasion. It certainly didn’t seem packed on the days I went, lots of room to swing a cat. That would have brought in the crowds.
I hadn’t ever been to a big trade day like that before, so there was heaps of things I had never seen before. I tried to see everything and learn as much as I could but my brain got full and missed a few things. It was pretty hard to concentrate on any one thing for too long with so many flashing lights and shiny things.
Also, the free margaritas were a nice touch.
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I was at the seminar also on Friday. I went to the one on Thursday as well. Robyn is pretty good.
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Yep, he was really good. Well worth the trip in just for that. I couldn’t get in early enough for the Thursday one, but I wish I could have. If I had known it was you I would have said hi.
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I was the congested sounding guy who was asking a lot of questions. Was sick most of last week which didn’t help. I’m going to his training two day program in Melbourne. Will let you know how it goes.
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That will be sweet. It’s something I just can’t do. One man operation by night only, dad by day. Flying all over the country is a bit out of my reach. I have trouble just getting to the shops to buy milk. Luckily almost everything else can be bought off the net.
Have fun down in Melbourne and let me know how great it was so I can live vicariously through you.
Cheers
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With the AGS doming equipment can you get away with the VIZION E33 Manual Poly-Dispenser or do you need the mixing unit also?
I didn’t ask this question at the show. Can you mix it by hand?
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Ben that liquid lense starter kit is £185.00 plus postage. Not too bad. So about $430 plus shipping.
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The mixing unit was the expensive part and the most important bit because it is a vacuum mixer. I think they said the mixer was $2000, which is heaps of money. I just spoke to Project Engraving. They have a manual kit, very simple thing and it is costing under $150 for a setup.
It’s just a caulking gun and cartridges, but it will help to have a muck around with, see if it’s worth doing this way. Then if there is a big call for it, invest in a machine later on.
I ordered the little kit, I will let you know more once I get it.
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quote Ben Shaw:What’s a massive print edger?
glad you guys had a good time. Can’t imagine the Gold Coast show was better though. Spandex were not even at the Gold Coast Show. Were they at the Sydney one?
Benn check out http://www.massiveprint.com.au
As far as not having a market for doming, its amazing what doors open when you can confidently say you can do something.
I don’t have a market either, but I can see plenty of potential here. One of my opposition created a business in doming simply by doming his own stickers he puts on his finished product. Now he’d be one of the major doming suppliers in the area.
The secret to a good doming system is the life of the resin. Most of the cheaper resins only last a few years in the aussie UV. The AGS one is a 10 year guarantee from memory. Far superior to any others I’ve seen
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Hey guys,
I got another doming question. I’ve mentioned it to a few clients and they’ve responded well to it. So we will buy the AGS doming equipment in a few weeks.
My question is when you say do cut vinyl or printed cut vinyl and the letter are all separate and then you dome it. When you apply it do you have to do one letter at a time? Obliviously you can’t application tape it over the top like you normally would. I just wanted to clarify this.
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You can use application tape on top of the domed letters , you just have to take the liner off prior to applying and obviously have to be careful about it.
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quote Rodney Gold:You can use application tape on top of the domed letters , you just have to take the liner off prior to applying and obviously have to be careful about it.
my thoughts too.
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Cheers guys. That will allow me to supply them to our clients then. Some one them have logos and I doubt they’d like a background that isn’t in their logos.
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I’ve been mucking around with the cheap doming stuff that I bought. It’s good fun. I’ve made a few mistakes on the way, but once you get used to it, some very good results can be had.
There is definitely massive advantages to the machine systems, but the results from the little system are excellent. It’s also a good way to get a feel for what the customers want.
Jason, when you get the machine, let me know how it goes. I have worked out the you need a REALLY dust free area to work in, and leave the prints to de-gas for a few days before doming. There is something in the resin that is a dust magnet. Its the same magical force they put in wet paint that makes cat hairs come from miles away to rest in your work. I don’t own a cat, but the hairs still come over to mess things up.
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quote Ben Shaw:Its the same magical force they put in wet paint that makes cat hairs come from miles away to rest in your work. I don’t own a cat, but the hairs still come over to mess things up.
its the same stuff that attracts fingers too. Why is it that people say "is that wet" AFTER they touch it 👿
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It’s amazing how it works that way every time. There were a couple of the domes that got destroyed by two separate people and it went the same way both times.
I said – Look at these cool new domed stickers, don’t touch them they’re still wet
They said – what, these ones here
and then proceeded to stick a finger right in the middle.
Why is it so?
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How long does the resin need to dry?
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We use semi flexible urethanes that allow handling after 1/2 an hour and packing withing 2-3 hrs of doming.
Most important thing when doming is the area must be moisture free.
I don’t degas prints for any length of time , we start doming a few hours after printing and cutting. -
Take a rubbish bookshelf with level shelves , bolt a few 60w incandescent bulbs under the shelves , make a curtain for the shelves out of clear builders plastic and you have a nice hot dust free drying rack , cheap as chips!!
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quote Ben Shaw:It’s amazing how it works that way every time. There were a couple of the domes that got destroyed by two separate people and it went the same way both times.
I said – Look at these cool new domed stickers, don’t touch them they’re still wet
They said – what, these ones here
and then proceeded to stick a finger right in the middle.
Why is it so?
My father is called Bob ‘wet paint’ Drew. He’s the worst culprit here. 😕
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