Chroma Crystal Full Color

[Martin Boekers]

If you were interesting in printing full color on awards you might be interested in this.

http://www.qlt.com/store/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=111SK&Category_Code=111MA&Product_Count=0

Basically you print mylar the with a UV curing adhesive, you expose and seal it to crystal.
Possibally able to work with acrylics too, with a different (maybe not?) adhesive.

This set is available until Friday for just under $1500.00 It's starting to get in the price range that
it is becoming interesting......

[Gary Hair]

It produces a really nice product but it's really finicky to work with. From the brand/model of inkjet to the technique of getting just the right amount of adhesive to eliminating, or removing, bubbles, it's a lot of work for what you get. Even though the sublicrylic blanks are very expensive in comparison, they are so much easier to use that the price ends up being inconsequential. I would sublimate sublicrylic all day long and be very happy with smaller margins than to spend another minute with color on crystal. That's just my opinion, for what it's worth.

Gary

P.S. You don't have to have their fancy uv machine, you can make your own with blb tubes for next to nothing. I happened to have one I use for epoxy doming that I modified to do both. All I really needed to buy was the adhesive and film.

[Chuck Stone]

P.S. You don't have to have their fancy uv machine, you can make your own with blb tubes for next to nothing. I happened to have one I use for epoxy doming that I modified to do both. All I really needed to buy was the adhesive and film.

standard blb? Or is there something special to look for?
(I never tried it, so I'm curious!)

[Gary Hair]

Standard, Home Depot, blb's

[Dan Hintz]

Hmmm, was never sure if those black light bulbs had enough "black light" (UV-A), as it were, to do a good job... I expected to need a higher-quality source. But if you say it works...

[Martin Boekers]

Hmmm, was never sure if those black light bulbs had enough "black light" (UV-A), as it were, to do a good job... I expected to need a higher-quality source. But if you say it works...


It has always worked at the shows as they demonstrated it at. Maybe different adhesives
react to different wave lengths?

I have seen others use these type of devices for glueing crystal pieces together.

What light source and adhesives do you recommend, in case I decide to build an exposure unit myself?

The demos I have seen through the years seem to be pretty good, as for as bubbles and adhesion
goes. I don't see color being HUGE sales as they would like you to believe. I do see some potential
for signage though. The sublimation pieces are just too expensive for my market. I have tried
laser transfer (magic touch) to acrylic albiet lower quality and inconsistant. I would love to see .125 & .25
sublimatable acrylic sheets at a reasonable cost. I do a lot of cool things with sublimatable hardboard
stock as I can cut it to size and shapes.

My biggest goal this year is to come up with new sales, as opposed to clients replaceing last years awards
with a different style one.

[Gary Hair]

Hmmm, was never sure if those black light bulbs had enough "black light" (UV-A), as it were, to do a good job... I expected to need a higher-quality source. But if you say it works...

It may take a little longer to cure than a higher output bulb/tube would take but when you consider the cost different it's something I can live with. I built a 12" x 24" "oven", it has a tray area for doming and a glass top, 12" x 12", that I used for color crystal. I also use the top for exposing my sandcarving photo resist. This box cost me about $75.00, including the 8 tubes, and takes the place of about a thousand dollars worth of equipment: doming oven, chroma color machine, letralite.

Gary

[Chuck Stone]

does that adhesive work on acrylic or only sublicrylic?
(I don't have dye sub, so I'm wondering)

[Gary Hair]

Not sure what you mean Chuck. The adhesive I was talking about is used to adhere the printed mylar type film to crystal, nothing to do with acrylic or sublicrylic.

Gary

[Chuck Stone]

sorry.. I must have misunderstood that you were using it on sublicrylic
rather than on the crystal. (too many big words. I get lost)
I was wondering if the adhesive works on regular, plain ol' acrylic.

[Gary Hair]

It might but I would be worried about it crazing (cracking), changing color and/or softening. It is possible that it might not cure as some acrylic has uv inhibitors. Sublicrylic, just so you know, is acrylic that has been coated to be dye receptive and is used with dye sublimation paper/ink - fairly expensive but the results are great.

Gary

[Chuck Stone]

I'm just trying to work out the combinations in my brain. I have inkjets, but
they're not dye sub inks. One dye, one pigment. And I've been messing around
with transfers using gel mediums, gesso, digital ground, acetone and toner,
even Purel. But I was wondering about putting the transparency right onto
the acrylic and this looked interesting.

[Gary Hair]

Inkjet onto the color/crystal film can be a great product if you can get the various things worked out perfectly. You need to get deep, dark colors from your inkjet onto the film, the ink must be durable enough that it won't smear if you move the piece around too much getting it aligned and getting the air bubbles out, and you need to be really proficient at getting the bubbles out (sounds the same as the previous but it's not really). If, an only if, you can get those variables down to a science, then you'll have a great product. Unfortunately, I couldn't... not for lack of trying though!

Gary