[owleyes]

Hi,

I've been printing with dye sublimation for several weeks now. And I'm finally starting to get nice imaging. I saw a post by someone who said he pressed for 60 seconds. I had been working with 25 to 40, by the book. I think Vapor recommends 25 or 30. That didn't work for me.

Now I'm trying to get the pressure right. They say "light" pressure. I'm using a Geo Knight DK20s, which has a pretty heavy platen. Do I just use the weight of the platen? Slightly more, but one-finger tight? A slight pressure to close with one hand? And, is it really that critical?

Many seem to suggest using Vapor Foam to avoid getting permanent press lines. The instructions say to only press enough to squeeze the foam half way (or so). To me, that seems like no more that the weight of the press.

Thanks,
Steve

 

[WalkingZombie]

Use 1/2" foam, tear the imaged paper edges to give it a tapered end, and one hand with one finger to close the press is sufficient, squeezing the foam halfway (to 1/4" thickness).

Test the pressure and thickness of foam, with the foam and scratch paper in the press before actually pressing. If your press is off and cold, you can test it with a shirt as well.

That's how we do it.

 

[owleyes]

Test the pressure and thickness of foam, with the foam and scratch paper in the press before actually pressing. If your press is off and cold, you can test it with a shirt as well.

That's how we do it.

Do you mean test the tightness by trying to pull the paper out when it's closed, to see if it's clamped down enough?

 

[WalkingZombie]

Do you mean test the tightness by trying to pull the paper out when it's closed, to see if it's clamped down enough?

No. Just visually see if the 1/2" foam is squished down halfway (1/4").

 

[owleyes]

So, you use both foam AND tearing the paper? I’ve been testing both options. I find negotiating the foam piece, along with the transfer sheet, the shirt AND two sheets of cover sheets to be very cumbersome.

Tearing the printed sheets seems to work to eliminate press lines, but it makes it impossible to position the print, without lines on the back using TexPrint.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[WalkingZombie]

Yes, we use both. When using dye sub, we usually only do a max of 25 shirts, so it's not that time consuming.

Make your own lines on the back of the sheet with a pencil or use a sharpie to mark your points of top/bottom, etc... If you have sufficient light around your press, you should be able to see your print a little bit through the back. Sometimes we make a couple marks on the back when we can't see it.

 

[miamirhinestone]

We print the sheet bigger than the shirt or press no paper marks are left to deal with

 

[WalkingZombie]

We print the sheet bigger than the shirt or press no paper marks are left to deal with

If you have a wide format printer and large press, then yes. If you have a max. 13x19 printer and a smaller press, then you have to work around that with the solutions above.

 

[jflores0002]

You actually don’t need to compress the foam. If your top platen and bottom platen are both flat and you have balanced pressure then just kissing the shirt will do the trick. Do like an earlier post said and make a line with a pencil on the reverse side of the transfer. That’s how I press my transfers. I have a homemade laser system so my mark is lined up with laser line. I wouldn’t use a sharpie or any marker....