Hi again Swaylockers, once again Im here asking for your knowledge and help.
I have searched the archives on this subject but I still havnt been able to find a definative reason of why I keep getting the intermittent problem of my logos bleeding.
Since relocating I had to pretty much buy everything new, new printer, new resin, lack of access to sunlight means im no longer using uv catalyst. So everything before that I had 'wired’suddenly counts for very little.
I bought an epson printer, logos print out fine but when glassing in the logos I get bleeding of the black ink, I went and bought some generic ink in case it was the epson ink causing the problem but still I get the same problem.
It does seem that the longer the resin takes to cure while putting on the logos the worse the problem is, but I know that too much catalyst can also make the resin a yellow color.
I always used a epson printer before although different model without problems but I had also used uv catalyst. I hope someone can help me before i end up pulling all my remaining hair out.
I did a test with the new ink unsing vegetable oil on a printed logo without any bleeding, so im baffled at why the resin is causing bleeding. Im currently using surfcel resin but I also had some bleeding before with silmar. The printer is a regular ink jet printer.
Put your printer on a lower ink volume setting. This is different than a fast draft mode where it prints a low quality image. It jsut uses less ink, so it shouldn’t bleed as much or at all. This might be under advanced settings or something. Don’t use high ink volume or any photo paper settings, because those tend to just lay down tons of ink. Also, maybe try letting your lams dry?
That was on lower ink volume than normal, black ink printed on rice paper, placed inbetween layers of 6oz glass and done with epoxy. This was my first time with rice/lam paper and it went well.
I generally use the 'best photo’setting because the other settings generally dont print sharp enough or give enough color depth, I have used this setting in the past with good results. The surfcell resin is generally thinner and slower than other brands of resin I have used in the past so perhaps this is why the problem is worse now than with the silmar resin, although there is clearly a problem somewhere with the ink. Do I go out and buy a new printer or is there a solution?
Has anyone had problems like this and how did they resolve? Anyone have any tips on what printers and cartriges work without problems?
Im really stuck with this as I have 2 surfshops waiting for boards and until I can resolve the issue I cant supply them.
Hi Barry, thanks for your input, you are someone I have always highly respected here on sways.
I thought overworking could have been a factor as well if the resin was more prone to causing bleeding.
However more testing without working the resin at all still gives bleeding, At this stage im surprised that I have got away with boards with passable logos, the last board I logo’d will take some work to cover up and fix…
So now im pretty convinced that its an ink problem because on the last test I did the logo bled a horrible yellow through to the foam after I pulled part of it up to investigate underneath.
A friend is going to lend me his printer for a few days so I’ll do some more tests.
Please could you give me more info in for screenprinting,for example what kind of print shop I need to go to and what I need to ask for with what type of ink? And would they be able to print on my rice paper that I brought with me (in the attempt to avoid problems like this) .
The past couple of years I’ve had really good luck using Laser Printers for my logos. The early laser devises used silicone fuser oil to prevent jamming so I would not have recommended them but the machines manufactured the past few years have abandoned that technology. To be safe I always give my logos a light dusting of matte acrylic spray.
Below is a test sample I did the first time I did a color laser printed graphic. The finished board is now over 2 years old and the graphic looks just as good today.
There are companies that specialize in surfboard graphics, I’m sure they would be able to print your logos professionally on rice paper. Just do a yahoo or google search for “surfboard graphics”
I print rice paper and fabric on two 24" Epson wide format printers and a 44" HP wide format printer. The Epsons Ultrachrome yellow pigment ink will tend to bloom/ bleed if you over catalyze or scrub it too much with the squeggee. No problems with the HP using Vivera pigment inks. The newer Epson printer can be set to print with just black ink instead of a CYMK rich black. That way if you’re printing just grayscale art there’s no bleed/bloom issues.
Professionally made laminates are screen printed with Nazdar enamel inks.
…all those printer laminates look homemade. The Black looks very bad and the definition and depth is not good if you compare with screen printing.
I do mine and the tints are epoxy, the best; but most use vinylester tints, that are ok too.
You have a problem due to most generic tints have recuts to go down in cost; so you have a Black that s a mix of several things and sometimes bleed with a shadow of Green or Yellow because of that.
Screenprinting is cheap and can DIY or let all the stuff in hands of a screenprinter.
A good detail that you do not see even in professional laminates is to let couple of mm of White reticule in the edges so you have the best definition and visualization on colored boards or after few years of Sun abuse in clear boards.
