Doming Kits For Complete Newbie

[Andy Gorman]

These people do doming equipment to suit all levels of involvement.
The last time I dealt with them they did a starter kit with a trigger, 10 resin cartridges and flame gun for about 70 squids.

Interfax Acuflow Limited
Unit 2B Reddicap Heath Road
Sutton Coldfield
West Midlands, B75 7DU
Tel: 0121 378 2289 Fax: 0121 378 2223
Email: sales@acuflow.co.uk

There are other suppliers of course, but I don’t know any.

[Robert Lambie]

there is an old demo kicking about on the boards somewhere. that gives you a cheap alternative i think.
these guys really push the doming to the limits. were at signuk this year. worth a look 😉
http://www.likwidart.com/

[John Singh]

Likwid art
We were stuck at this place for ages mesmorised

Got the kit –
had a bash –
not bad –
learning still

Got to use it up quick or it goes off

John

[Iain Gordon]

John,

How much will the starter kit do and how long is the shelf life??

Iain

[Andy Gorman]

I’ve been told a shelf life of 6 months but I would imagine it varies as there are different types of resin.

[Peter Normington]

The shelf life is really not relevant. If you cant use it/sell it within a month, dont do it.
Peter

[Andy Gorman]

Yes but the price can get substantially cheaper the more you buy. If you can justify buying 5 litre tins you’ll pay about the same as a couple of starter kits for it. It is a market that I would only get into again if I could get the quantity work though. Just my preference. It is fun to do and some fantastic results can be had with very little training.

To answer your other question Iain, roughly, a 2″ x 1″ rectangle would have about 4 grammes of resin on it and the usual size for a hand triggered cartridge is 50 grammes for about a fiver. They do come in bigger sizes, obviously.

[Peter Normington]

G,
Thats what I said didl eye?
The fun bit only comes if you are making a profit
Peter

[Peter Normington]

if you buy the kits, 50 grammes = 30gms taking into account the mixing, and waste in the tubes
Peter

[Andy Gorman]

Personally I think there is more money in making one offs. Look at some of the samples on the likwidart website. None of these things are particularly difficult to do, and imagine what sort of price you could ask.

Of course, to make the run of the mill stuff like pc badges and car badges you need to have printing kit, so that counts me out anyway.

[Rodney Gold]

In doming the useage is 1gm per sq inch in general – depending on dome height.
The kits are hugely expensive but exceptionally convenient.
Script doming (the domed letters) are not that easy to do , you need some practice prior to doing it. DO NOT dome anywhere near moisture – it must be a warm dry place – moisture is the cause of most doming problems like foaming or bubbling etc.
To give an example of how cheap bulk doming stuff is , we pay less then 8 quid per kilo which is less than 1p per gram , 50 grams costs about 40p , but we do high volume doming.
We charge about 300+ quid a SQ meter for printed , die cut and domed decals and often approach the 500 quid mark – a really profitable endeavour. A 2″ x 1″ decal domed , at 300 quid a sq meter is only 40p or so , quite cheap for the customer.

[Andrew Bennett]

quote Robert Lambie:

there is an old demo kicking about on the boards somewhere. that gives you a cheap alternative i think.
these guys really push the doming to the limits. were at signuk this year. worth a look 😉
http://www.likwidart.com/

Thanks for the link Robert.
This was an eyeopenr.
Are there any books/mags/papers etc on doming, application, idea’s, application or techniques do you know please?

[Rodney Gold]

That is called script doming , I’m not sure how they go about it , but we use a dispenser that is carried on a computer controlled XY table , kinda like a big CnC overhead router table , it dispenses a 2 part urethane on cut vinyl letters or whatever and is programmed to follow the shape of the letters. This requires some serious machinery in both the dispensing unit and the table itself. It also has to be done in climate controlled conditions. the programming is not easy either as there are considerations as when to start the flow , stop it , corners , ends of letters and so forth.
There are no books as far as I know , however I think I have written a few quite comprehensive posts on doming , search the boards for “doming”. The applications are endless for domed products.

[Andrew Bennett]

Thanks for the reply Rodney.
I will search the boards.

[Paul Rollason]

Andy

If you e-mail sales@acuflow.co.uk and ask for a price list they will also send you a pdf of instructions on basic doming

paul r

[Andrew Bennett]

Cheers Paul,
I will do just that.

[Andrew Bennett]

I did and you were spot on.
Thank you kindly

[Paul Rollason]

Hey Andy

I also found this http://www.mockridge.com/doming_questions.htm

I found it very interesting

paul

[danny_uk]

Hi

Where do you get the resin for £8 per Kg if you don’t mind?

Thanks

quote Rodney Gold:

In doming the useage is 1gm per sq inch in general – depending on dome height.
The kits are hugely expensive but exceptionally convenient.
Script doming (the domed letters) are not that easy to do , you need some practice prior to doing it. DO NOT dome anywhere near moisture – it must be a warm dry place – moisture is the cause of most doming problems like foaming or bubbling etc.
To give an example of how cheap bulk doming stuff is , we pay less then 8 quid per kilo which is less than 1p per gram , 50 grams costs about 40p , but we do high volume doming.
We charge about 300+ quid a SQ meter for printed , die cut and domed decals and often approach the 500 quid mark – a really profitable endeavour. A 2″ x 1″ decal domed , at 300 quid a sq meter is only 40p or so , quite cheap for the customer.

[Martin Pearson]

Danny you probably can’t get the resin for £8 yourself for a couple of reasons, firstly Rodney’s business is not in the Uk so the prices he pays will probably be very different to the prices over here and secondly he was mass producing stuff like this so spent a lot of money with the companys that supplied him.
Try contacting someone like Mockridge for prices as they will probably be as cheap as anyone else for this sort of thing.