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Soljet SC-500
We just bought a second hand Soljet SC-500 with Solink, for a very reasonable price. We’d been looking for a cutter to make templates to enable us to signwrite acrylic awning canvas. The Soljet was less than a new Roland cutter so our decision was easy 😀
A couple of questions. I’ve already exposed myself as a newbie so please excuse my muppetry…
1. has anyone had experience printing onto coated acrylic cloth? The stuff we use is teflon coated yarn and the ink seems to be very unstable. We’ve tried applying over a unibonded surface, but it doesnt seem to help. One solution could be to paint a white emulsion background (emulsion sticks to canvas very well) onto the canvas first, how would the solvent ink take to this? The awnings are for outside use and they are retractable so the surface needs to be flexible.
2. Are there any flexible spray-on laminates available?
3. The market for full-colour awnings is pretty limited at the moment, we’re going to have a go at doing the graphics on our vehicles – plus various product labels around the factory. What is the recommended vinyl for printing on with a Soljet?
Any help would be greatly appreciated
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7 Replies
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Try the manufacturers web site you usually get all the info there.
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I have a suggestion , Get the upgrade from solink to Eco-sol ink , that will allow you to print on uncoated media. Solinks print only on special coated media. Your local dealer will offer it , it wont be cheap but it will give you a ton more flexibilty. Essentially you will be getting a 54″ versacam.
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Thanks Rodney, who in the UK does the convertion?
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The roland agents offer it , it’s a little pricey , you could do it on the cheap by just flushing the system and using eco-sol inks , the problem is that the material you print on needs to be heated and the conversion involves bolting a heater unit into the platen area , you could pre heat with infra red , but results would be inconsistent. Heres an excerpt from the roland usa site re this
http://www.rolanddga.com/pdf/EX_Upgrade.pdf -
Thanks again Rodney, that’s very helpful.
As an update I’ve sent 10m of fabric to Roland UK who are going to try to create a profile for it. Fingers crossed they’ll come up with a solution so that I can remain on solvents.
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If its the Roland Sol-ink , its not at all solvent based , thats part of the problem. Unless your machine was converted already to take solvent inks?
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Finally got the Roland converted to EcoSol, although the engineer recommended sticking to coated media for best results! I printed a 3m x 1m PVC banner for a friends wedding, the print was touch dry immediately. Not had so much luck printing onto canvas, I may have to lay down a base coat.
Is it possible to contour cut first (using a felt tip into the knife carriage) remove and apply the base coat then re-align ready for printing or does the print have to come before the cut?
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