Sublimating on coated Aluminum and Laser Engraving

[Ken Maxwell]

We have just started in with a Epolig Laser and we are also doing Sublimation. We have a Hix Hobby Press and I have been able to transfer pictures on to the plastic just fine. The question is I bought a sheet of aluminum .030 thick and I'm having problems getting the picture to come out good. I did 400 degrees for 40 seconds and 55 seconds and the same results both times. The picture is cloudy and kinda blotchy. What am I doing wrong???

Thanks in advance for the help

[Mike Null]

Ken

I do laser sublimation on aluminum at 350 degrees at 30 to 40 seconds at about 40 psi. If you are doing inkjet sub you might try reducing your time.

I seem to recall that you must use metal properly coated for inkjet sub.

I always get better results when I remove the protective covering.

[AL Ursich]

Cut your metal into strips and do test pieces in different time increments and pressure.

Are you drying the transfer on your press before pressing?

A wet transfer will cause problems.

Pre press the metal to remove moisture.

Properly coated metal? Is it Sublimated metal?

I get end rolls of newspaper print for a dollar and use two strips in my press, pre pressed to remove moinsure. above and below the product.

AL

[Stephen Beckham]

Ken,

I'm feeling your pain. Here is what my laser sub will do with large white metal sublimation. Before everyone tells me about settings and such - I can (and do several times a month) put this same picture without any setting changes on Gold Dynasub without any problems. The curious thing is that I use the laser sub for name plates (2X3) on the white and do not get any spots like below.

Also - when I use my inkjet for the same photo on white - no problems at all. So I pretty much gave up on the white metal when it requires a large size and laser sub.

[Mike Null]

Steve
You are lucky that you can do even 2x3 plates without the "ghosting". That is a known drawback of color laser sublimation on white substrates.

[Lisa Griffiths]

If you are pressing for the correct amount of time and temperature for the material, we have found that blotchiness is usually caused by not enough and/or uneven pressure in most cases. Though we do preheat subtrates that do hold a lot of moisture, we have never preheated the aluminum and have never had a problem with it.

You'll know if you go too long or have too much pressure. It will look blurred and you won't have nice crisp color edges and outlines. The colors will bleed some too - especially into white areas.

The brand of coated metal you are using will make a big difference too. For example for inkjet, I believe Dyetrans & Unisub use different time and heat settings. We have had great results with the Unisub .030 aluminum at 400 degrees, med-heavy pressure (setting of 5 on a Hotronix Swing-Away Press) at 60 seconds.