Today in materials testing - pre-finished plywood found in the laser bin.
@Sarah found a magnificent bit of scrap in the laser cart, and so we tried it out with one of her designs. And the results were great.
With no additional coating, these came out really well. The better result was the bottom of these two, which used a higher pressure, and seemed to better counteract the warp that the board had. The very top of the upper image is where the lines become less sharp, and the color doesn’t saturate as well.
This is 90 seconds at 375F, recommended high pressure. 1/4” pre finished ply
Also, using @jamesfreeman’s trick, flipping the board over and sending it through the press a second time for the same duration helped flatten the board.
Not necessary. What you practically did is transfered the dye or ink into the laquer of the plywood. But if youre ging to use them as coasters and not decorations, it would not hurt.
We are using the sublimation printer in textiles (inkjet printer that has been loaded with sublimation pigment). You print onto specialty sublimation paper, and then press that paper onto your substrate using the heat press next to the printer in textiles.
The name of the process comes from the behavior of the pigment when heated - it goes directly from the solid state to a gaseous state, which then permanently bonds with the plastics in your final product.
I teach intros to our sublimation tools on the first Sunday of each month. Tomorrow’s class is full, but next month still has space. (Exception for next month - because of new years, it’s on the 2nd Sunday)
I’ve posted quite a few of my bits of experimentation with this process over the past few months, if you’re inclined to go searching for that. It’s been a really fun tool to play around with.
