PDA

View Full Version : Doming - Anyone tried it?



Stitch Up
11-11-2009, 04:02 PM
I saw a few demos of the doming process at the last Sign UK exhibition, it was quite interesting but coud one make a profit doing short runs?

[flash=425,350:16lecwbn]http://www.youtube.com/v/W8E5-w2Rq6g[/flash:16lecwbn]

GoldRapt
11-11-2009, 08:25 PM
I know of people who do it as an add on, it is a very unstable..read expensive thing...to do, or so I am told.
It akes a lomg time to get as god as the guy in the vid.
Check these guys out
http://www.likwidart.com/

mrs maggot
29-12-2009, 04:43 PM
this set up on ebay at the moment, the couple have come home from spain where they have shut their business, its item 320468107955 from print4u the seller

GoldRapt
29-12-2009, 07:20 PM
and they want collection in person?

mrs maggot
29-12-2009, 10:53 PM
yes only because they seem a little confused over the whole postage thing, i will happily collect it on behalf of anyone on the forum, and then post out to them, i use a courier service for £8 if that helps there is a bit of weight there with the glass shelves.

laura

Paul
07-01-2010, 03:52 PM
I found this web site here (http://make-a-gift.co.uk/package-1.htm) and if you already got cutter you can order small sample pack to try it out.
it cost £151.65+VAT so is not huge amount of money. I think I am going to give it a go ;)
I can see some pssibilites in there :D

chongsta
07-01-2010, 08:59 PM
Ive seen this ages ago but never triedit. I guess it was a bit expensive back then.

What do people charge for this? e.g. how much would you charge for a keyring or something small?

Is it worth doing for one offs or would runs be better?

where are you thinking of using it Paul?

cheers
Dave.

Paul
07-01-2010, 09:12 PM
well... lets say blank bottle opener/keyring
http://make-a-gift.co.uk/con1/016.jpg

it will cost about £2.20 then you need to add cost of making it + profit.... so end cost of bottle oppener would be about £4 :)
I was thinking about making stickers only to promote my stuff. I must say sticvker made this way look very good.

mrs maggot
07-01-2010, 10:09 PM
the lady never sold hers that was on ebay, i have her contact details - for £50 it would be a good start there is loads of stuff included

chongsta
07-01-2010, 10:14 PM
Thats a realy good looking bottle opener :) Is just normal printed vinyl? is the adhesive strong enough or would you use a dab of glue as well?

I would sell that for more than £5 mate!

Hmmm...ya got me thinking now!

D.

jock
28-01-2010, 07:50 PM
I do a lot of doming, anyone thinking about it , the only tip i can give is get a UV light scource for curing as humidity in the air causes blisters

Paul
28-01-2010, 08:40 PM
how long does it take to cure when you use UV source?


thanx

Paul

GoldRapt
28-01-2010, 09:01 PM
The real question must be how big a UV light source, in a bed of some sort with a lid or just a light suspended. A4 or A3.?

jock
28-01-2010, 11:09 PM
@Paul , i leave it under for 25-30mins

@GoldRapt , i only use A4 , my uv light is attached to a black sink basin 8) ,
i made myself , the reason being they are too expensive for what they are,easy to make your own
I have two 8 inch tubes

GoldRapt
28-01-2010, 11:27 PM
Jock can you pst some photos sometime please so others canbuild one?

jock
29-01-2010, 09:51 AM
I will go get a lead for my phone today and get some posted

alan1image
09-05-2010, 03:58 AM
Not sure if the UK have these but been using self adhesive doming stickers here they come in a range of sizes 25mm, 76x25mm, 64x19mm and 25x25mm the most popular sizes.

I use the liquid resin and use a uv curing machine works out very cheap to do.

Justin
22-07-2010, 11:02 PM
Just bought a load of keyrings and there's a small recess when the insert is put in, I wonder if this gap could be domed?

Paul
23-07-2010, 06:23 PM
cant see why not :) Have you got your doming kit yet justin???

Justin
23-07-2010, 07:33 PM
No, not sure where to start just yet, single/double epoxy...uv/heat curing.... :oops:

Paul
23-07-2010, 08:36 PM
some good prices here if you want to give it a go :)
http://www.mdpsupplies.co.uk/productcat ... ame=Doming (http://www.mdpsupplies.co.uk/productcat.asp?parentcatname=Doming) Supplies&parentcat=28

Justin
23-07-2010, 09:05 PM
So this is based upon a single epoxy or is it 2 and needs mixing? Also, I assume that the mini blow torch is for setting the epoxy so no UV required?

Ian M
23-07-2010, 11:21 PM
Justin,

It is a 2 part acrylic & both parts are in the applicator so when you press it both parts mix as it comes out of just the one nozzle.

The blow torch is usually used to get rid of the air bubbles that become trapped.

I think you would still need the UV to set them.

You could always do it like I do & use a small company that just do arylic doming. :D

They have just done a large job for me & I have 100% mark up on it :D

Ian

Justin
23-07-2010, 11:24 PM
I'm guessing the UV is the expensive bit? I was asking about Crystal printing which also uses the UV source, maybe I could use the box for both?

Ian M
24-07-2010, 02:55 AM
Justin,

I don't think you need a UV lamp as the acrylic air dries as it has a catalyst mix in with it.

Have a look at this link as I found it quite useful http://www.make-a-gift.co.uk/packages.htm

Ian

Paul
24-07-2010, 08:30 AM
air dry will take few hours to cure. with uv units few minutes :)
but who said UV unit must be expensive??? you can but just uv bulb or any uv unit on market. dont need to be doming dedicated one ;) I will use my wife nile cure lamp :D

Jase
27-07-2010, 02:48 AM
The biggest problem with doming is if your not UV curing you need a room with a humidity level of around 40%, otherwise you will be plagued with problems with bubbles, also the resin has a short shelf life, yes its relatively easy to do but unless you have the right enviroment for the resin to cure it can be very wasteful and expensive.

Ian M
27-07-2010, 03:03 PM
Thanks Paul & Jase.

I'm learning more & more about doming now. I'd love to have a go at some time myself but, just think it might be a step too far just now.

Ian

Justin
13-08-2010, 06:13 PM
http://www.victory-imaging.co.uk/techni ... ctions.pdf (http://www.victory-imaging.co.uk/technical_specs/Signmaking%20Consumables/easyFLOW%20Instructions.pdf)

Just found this start up kit which seems to be a very good price, would love to have a go. All looks a little time consuming for the double sided keyrings I do but worth the effort. I wonder how practical it would be just doming 1 or 2 keyrings though?

Jase
14-08-2010, 02:32 PM
Not very practical because you would have to bin the rest of the resin cartridge if you only did 1 or 2 key rings so it would be expensive

Justin
14-08-2010, 02:44 PM
Yeah, that's what I was thinking :( I just did a run of 72 keyrings which would have looked great but doming would have added a lot of time to the job. Future jobs are likely to be 1 offs so I don't think it's practical...unless I can find another way.

Ian M
14-08-2010, 03:32 PM
http://www.victory-imaging.co.uk/technical_specs/Signmaking%20Consumables/easyFLOW%20Instructions.pdf

Just found this start up kit which seems to be a very good price, would love to have a go. All looks a little time consuming for the double sided keyrings I do but worth the effort. I wonder how practical it would be just doming 1 or 2 keyrings though?

Hi Justin,

I got the impression that you can re use a cartridge from what it says within the 'gun assembly' instructions on the leaflet. I'd probably be contacting a local car main dealer as they always seem to be very interested in nice looking key rings. That way you could keep a few domes in stock for them or some other customer who would want repeat work.

I have to admit it does look good does that starter kit & just ideal if working from home or somewhere without much space.

As I said before I have a company who make the domes for me & I'm now finding my customers who have had the domes done keep coming back for more. One of my customers has now had around 400 domes done in various sizes in the last 6 months.

Justin, if you PM or email me I will let you know a bit more of what my customers use the domes for & it just isn't key rings.

Ian :D

Jase
14-08-2010, 07:57 PM
Yes you can reseal the cartridges whoever its not really worth it because, when you open the cartridge you have to dispense some liquid to get rid of the bubbles, then you put on the nozzle and dispense some more resin to get rid of the bubbles, after you reseal you still have to go throught this same procedure in order to use it again, whoever this time you will have introduced even more bubbles into the cartridge, its better to use a cartridge fully rather than reseal it in practice.

More important than temprature is the room humidity level and this needs to be below 45% otherwise you will get bubbles in the dome upon curing, you can use a dehumidifier if your room is more than 45% but this might take a day or so to get the level down, I would check this before buying a kit, another watch point is some inkjet inks can react with the resin and run into it.

cheers

Jase

daviddeer
05-09-2010, 12:16 AM
On a side note I have used two different types of paper. The one from mulberry was kind of plastic, the ink ran and the doming acrylic peeled off the paper. The one from make-a-gift is shiny ink jet paper which holds the ink well and the doming acrylic bonds firmly to it. The problem is their website is very hard to get around and you have to ring them to order it. The domes work out at about 40p each when you create a whole sheet of A4. Expensive yes, classy.... definitely !
Bubbles can be removed with the 'bubble remover', which is just a lighter in a posh case or use an ordinary lighter and flick it on over the dome once.
The doming substance seems to be some form of cyanoacrylate (similar to super-glue) but air drying. There are other acrylics out there including UV curing and cold setting for pouring into moulds. I love the idea of making self adhesive logos and small car decals and doming them. I am toying with the idea of doming a plastic fly in the bottom of a mug. Just have to figure out a marketing strategy. It would certainly make washing up more challenging. :lol:

djhutton
17-01-2011, 05:50 PM
I've been doing this for a while, the problem I found was that the stuff you can use with an inkjet is not waterproof, so any badges worn outside will run and the dome come off. You can use printable vinyl using a laser that's waterproof (Magic Touch Vinyl) but the resin doesn't spread as well.

So I made 'samples' using the inkjet paper and small sample tubes of resin from Liquid Lens, then when I get orders I subcontract out the doming to a company that does it all the time (Keyfactors) so all I have to do is attach to the blank and collect the money :) The results are great (as long as you get the artwork right) delivery is quick and an easy job.

BTW there is a shelf life on the resin so don't buy too much at a time or all you'll get are problems.

DJ

DREAMGLASS
17-01-2011, 06:34 PM
I've been doing this for a while, the problem I found was that the stuff you can use with an inkjet is not waterproof, so any badges worn outside will run and the dome come off.
I did some long term tests last winter, using inkjet printable vinyl and using waterproof ink. The domes were attached to some old plastic facia and left to weather.

For the first four weeks they stood up well to sunshine, rain, frost and snow. Although the ink remained impervious to the weather with no bleeding of colours, the domes eventually started to seperate where the dome came iinto contact with the printed surface. It appears the ink formed a skin to which the dome eventually started to break contact. Whilst doming on items destined for outdoors is certainly feasible, it really is a question of experimentation.

Resin cartridges CAN be re-used as the mixing only takes place in the nozzles. Simply unscrew the old blocked up nozzle and put on a fresh one. The spare nozzles aren't cheap though.

Stitch Up
21-10-2012, 10:55 AM
So, what's the latest with doming? Good, bad, profitable or waste of time?

Any new systems out there that don't cost the earth?

Anyone here tried it, lost money or made money?

carter2
26-11-2012, 07:01 PM
Domed labels are much more permanent than many other labels and do not show wear; the clear polyurethane substance, even after curing (hardening), is self-healing. Minor scratches or cuts heal themselves and the label looks like new once again.

Stitch Up
26-11-2012, 07:36 PM
Which system do you use - assuming of course that you make your own :)

carter2
26-11-2012, 07:49 PM
Available in both Piston and Gear Pump models, Exact offers Doming Systems for varying production demands including units with programmable XY motion, capable of tracking difficult script labeling.
Exact is the cheap and effective system for doming!

serz
16-10-2018, 02:41 AM
ehh last message from 2012. (( I have a question , im trying to produce transparent doming stickers. I bought 3 type of sticky paper , doming liquid doesnt stick on that paper, i can take it off . Which material is right one ?
does anyone have any information about transparent doming ?

mrs maggot
18-10-2018, 05:29 PM
are you putting it on the non sticky side? depending on who's kit you have bought, you can get information on youtube or here https://www.mdpsupplies.co.uk/doming.asp there is a guide at the bottom.