First Doming Labels Resounding success

[Chris Wool]

look just fine to me.

what material and printer please.

chris

[Mo Gillis-Coates]

Hi Chris, it was Metamark 65 micron Gloss Chrome and printed on a versacamm sp300I

resin is supplied by http://www.make-a-gift.co.uk

Cheers
Mo

[Chris Wool]

thanks

if you print and cut then leave for a day or two does the film curl up.
how long did you leave it from print to doming.
i do doming but not over happy with the chrome film i use

chris

[Mo Gillis-Coates]

left 24 hours before doming, but didn’t weed until just before doming, i have had the basic labels without the doming curl, think that was down to over cutting, I used 140g on this one, probably could get away with about 110

[Chris Wool]

depth of cut should not affect curling which is caused by the material shrinking as the solvents dry out.
even leaving a day before cutting don’t help on mine but just leaving a 2mm unprinted border normally stops it.

chris

[Nicholas Gormley]

These look really good. Can could you send me details on how you made them and set up the printer for these?? I have a SP540V. What material you used or can normal digital vinyl be used?? (Metamark MD5) Any tips on applying the resin??? Any help would be great as i want to try some of these.

Nicholas

[Mo Gillis-Coates]

Hi Nick, well as i said Metamark did a printable gloss chrome which i used as the base, the great thing is, where the red ink is, it looks metalic as the chrome shines through the ink.

The normal profile is supplied by Metamark ICC colour profile set up on thier web site, there is a selection for your machine.

As far as the doming is concerened for me it was trial and error, but the basics are:

– Curved edges work better than square or pointed corners.
– You really need to apply the resin on a perfectly flat level surface
– Don’t put too much on at first as it will find it’s own level, then experiment with how much is required for the depth of dome
– If your getting a Kit from the people I mentioned in the thread, you wont need the stacker trays if you are putting it on to cut vinyl, I recommend just getting the gun, the resin and the heat gun (for bubble removal, although I haven’t used mine yet)
– 50ml carts are best to start with as they only do about 30 labels and you won’t waste any that way you can try it out without it costing too much. a 50ml cart is about £7.50

I charged the customer 72p per label for these and he was as happy as Larry and ordered 500 there and then production cost for the labels (material only) was about £85 for 250 labels (I got 250 labels on 730mm x 800mm of vinyl)

Time wise it took me about 5-10 mins to dome 30 labels so I quoted for 5 hours work including set up, print and design. I also took into account that during the process you will probably waste around 10% of the labels when you quality control.

I hope this helps

Regards
Mo

[Mo Gillis-Coates]

Just had a tip for the guy at Metamark re the curling up of labels. this is down to the ink contracting after print, so…….. print and leave for a couple of days before cutting, give the ink time to settle (obviously don’t forget registration marks)

Pop it back in the cutter and.. roberts your relative! no curling.

Result! 😉

[Chris Wool]

told you that 2 posts ago

[Andrew Blackett]

quote Mo Gillis-Coates:

50ml cart is about £7.50

They are having your eyes out there mo – give Interfax Acuflow a call and you’ll get them for half that!

Andy

[Mo Gillis-Coates]

Thanks Andy, and Chris, yeah you did, and there was me thinking i was the curer of all i’lls, get some valuable information from a trusted source and pass it on…and oh nuts… still not solved then eh?

[Nicholas Gormley]

Thanks for the info Mo. Going to order some of this and give it ago and see what results i get!!

Nicholas

[Jason Xuereb]

Have you got a product code for the Metamark?

We use the Coburn chrome and oh boy does it curl at the edges on full bleed prints.

[Mo Gillis-Coates]

Hi Jason, it’s Metamark MD-BS/G you can find a full spec at http://www.metamark.co.uk/Pages_dv/8_spe.htm

However as Chris pointed out hes having problems with the curling too. If you phone them they can get you a sample out.

The advice I was given by them was to print registration marks and leave it a good 2-3 days after you have printed before you run a cut on it.

On the labels I have domes here they are fine as the resin has stopped the contraction, however at the same time I printed some labels which I didn’t dome, but I did cut at the same time as printing, those labels now a week later have curled beyond all recognition, again the domed labels are absolutely fine.

I will run another test on the chrome I have left from the sample and leave them for a few days before cutting and see what happens to them if you like, that way we will know how it performs and will save you having to pay out for anything

Mo

[Jason Xuereb]

Wth the coburn range I had printed it and left it a week. We then cut it and domed. Overnight as the resin was curing the edges curled up slightly and didn’t leave a level surface of the resin to move out over. We have to leave an unprinted margin to solve the issue. But some customers don’t like that especially as per your example with the black background and they want the chrome lettering to show.

Might give the metamark a go.

[Mo Gillis-Coates]

Ok I’ve had no problems with the domed labels and the last time I did them I cut them directly after print and domed them on the same day.

They seem to be fine

[Quentin Tomkies]

Interesting reading, as I have just started getting into doming. Jason, I have had the same problems – I used the Coburn chrome, and have had to leave an unprinted contour to stop the curling.
Out of interest, has anyone found a good resin supplier in Australia?

Cheers
Q

[Warren Beard]

I have made som eon the Metamark chrome and although had the same curling problems as discussed above once domed they are fine, I have one on a keyring I use daily and hasn’t lifted in the slightest after about a month so far.

sorry forgot to mention it is also solid black print to the edge and left 24hrs to dry before doming.

cheers

Warren

[Quentin Tomkies]

Warren, even though you left it 24hrs before doming, did you cut straight away, or leave the ink to dry before cutting?

Cheers
Q

[Jason Xuereb]

Quentin

Do you need cartridges or have you got a mixer with a dosing unit?

[Quentin Tomkies]

Hi Jason

I need cartridges…

Cheers
Q

[Matt Boyd]

been doing doming for about a year now and use our edge fx for all our doming….no curling or any type of problems, have great success with it !

[Chris Wool]

quite agree matt thermal is better for this. still use my pc60 for some

[George Zerbino]

Same here, 12 years of doming with the edge, but I have done quite a lot of stuff on the grenadier prints as well, no curling to report of.