Sublimation on metal

[thespringonion]

I have had an enquiry on printing on metal, not sure if subli is the way to go but details as follows:

Looking to get some graphics on a thin alu/stainless steel sheets with a shiny/brushed alu finish, approx 100mm by 50mm, the shape is not symmetrical and grahpic-wise it's black & white vector (not photos)

Does anyone do custom cut subli metal sheets? Or would it be better if I get a workshop to laser cut the custom shape from a metal sheet and press with the magic touch's CPM or similar?

[JSR]

You might want to talk to Martin at BMS. They do metal sheets (http://www.printerowners.co.uk/sublimation/399/sublimation-metal.htm) and they state -


If you have a particular size that you would like then please contact us for pricing.

Hope this helps.

[TransferGraeme]

Sublimation is a good option, particularly if you want to do short runs, although the metals available at present (a situation which will change quite shortly I believe) are pretty much limited to thin aluminium sheet with a range of finishes.

On another matter laser cutting of coated aluminium is very difficult - and for small quantities very expensive - it needs to be guillotine cut.

[bms]

Agree with Graeme here - we can cut the metal but only into pieces with 4 straight edges (squares or rectangles) with our guillotine.

[R.Prints]

I have cut the ali with a stanley knife in the past to get shapes, straight cuts only. The ali is quite soft so a couple of cuts then snap, once cut run a file/sandpaper down edge to remove any sharpness left, taking care not to slice your hand.

[thespringonion]

Shame none of the edge on the design is straight! :( :( :( The challenge is now on to shape metal sheet without going into laser cutting I guess :P I might have a go with some shears later

Does TMT's CPM work well on metal or it only works on particular type of metal surfaces?

[bms]

TMT's CPM work well on metal or it only works on particular type of metal surfaces?
Does need to be a coated metal, so should work on most.

[thespringonion]

Many thanks guys, I'll get my head down on this and see how it goes!

[Andrew]

I have just had bespoke shapes cut but it needs to be done on a machanical router not laser. It's not cheap either. I've been looking at getting an engraver / router for this but they are the best part of 10k.

How many of each shape did you need cut?

[thespringonion]

For the first run I will only need about 20, I did not promise the customer anything yet as I'm still looking for the right approach to do this (laserjet, waterjet, mechanical plotting.etc.)

Andrew, mind if I ask the cost and the quality of finish?

[Andrew]

For 20 I would guess atleast £3 + vat each before material costs. It leaves a clean finish ready for printing. Not sure if I have any images but will check. Also did frp which worked well.

[thespringonion]

Thanks for the heads up Andrew, do let me know if you have so pics. The cost is a little steep but acceptable, if I'm still struggling to come up with a way to tackle this then I'm open to this option