Bad Day today!

[Squadron Prints]

Well I thought I had cracked it but today has not been the best day! I have been producing mugs good style over the past few days with our standard artwork but being smart (not :-( ) I though I would be adventurous resulting in these . . .
Tried different settings and even taped the bottom - none of them worked!
http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/ll134/Gillibelle/Products/Bad1.jpg

Then tried these - disaster - the shadows on the photo have not come out well at all and have come out a blue colour so the moral of this story - clear and bright photos!
http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/ll134/Gillibelle/Products/Bad2.jpg

Then this - tried different white mugs and eventually the one shown on the top left is the best one but I have given up = the one on the top left was heated in the mug machine first to take the chill off as it is cold in the office!
http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/ll134/Gillibelle/Products/Bad3.jpg

The rest were ok - a couple of smudges
http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/ll134/Gillibelle/Products/F15E.jpg
http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/ll134/Gillibelle/Products/Tutor.jpg
http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/ll134/Gillibelle/Products/vulcan.jpg
http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/ll134/Gillibelle/Products/Lightning.jpg
Gutted - full of bright ideas but cannot get them to look nice! Stated at 8am this morning with No Hangover!!!!
Gill

[Kaz]

Hi Gill

the ones that have colour fading on the bottoms, try turning them half way through pressing and you'll get better results.

Has worked for me and a few others on the forum that had the same problem.

Kaz

[Squadron Prints]

Thanks Kaz - I did that! Previously that worked but today no luck at all! Fed Up - maybe they were just too cold! I tried them upside down and tried them completely taped - I thought it was a temperature thing with the base being thicker and taking longer to hear but it was happening at the top too! I tightened the blanket too! :-( Not a happy girl today :-(
Gill

[Justin]

Top images look very consistent in terms of the bottom edge not being straight. Which mugs are you using? has anything been changed, i.e. pressure, paper etc?

[Squadron Prints]

Paper the same - think the mugs are the same although Xpress did change their mugs so we changed our settings accordingly through trial and error! Might be the pressure though - I did tighten it up as it the blanket was fairly loose and when I turned them upside down on the old mug machine there was nothing to rest them on! I used xpress mugs only because they came in 'trays' of 12 in a box of 36 which were easy to wrap up and mail out! It seems that it is the tapered bit at the bottom of the mug that causes the problem. It is amazing how a twist and turn of the pressure could make such a difference! SO should the mug be tight in the blanket so it cannot move or should it be looser?
Thanks for your time!
Gill

[John G]

I've never been able to do full wraps - no matter how much pressure I applied on the press. A work around - not ideal, but will help - take approx 5mm off your design top and bottom and the prints will always be sharp,not faded.

Apart from the obvious - your mugs look really good.

[Justin]

When did you buy the Xpres mugs? They did change recently but have also been out of stock and offering a replacement but I assume they would notify of this first. I appreciate that some users turn the mugs half way through but I don't think this should be needed if the machine is working/set up properly. It does need to be tight and you should see the press blanket curl over the edges of the mug. Is the paper tight onto the mug, can you seen any gaps?

[Justin]

I've never been able to do full wraps

I also gave up doing full wraps and put a very small border top and bottom but I think this was down to the presses I used. Since having the Xpres press I've gone back to successfully printing full wrap although I still prefer the look with the gaps top and bottom as I feel it balances the image with the blank areas adjacent to the handle :-)

[Paul]

I dont think this is anything to do with not stright mugs. well... is a bit. not to much. as heat blanket CAN go in to uneven surfaces. if your can not then bit of silicon ruber is the solution for you. but you need to bump your temp and time up. personaly I think this is duo to as you said cold office. I always do what KAZ mentioned and it worked well. but sometimes in winter this is not enough so all I do is fill half mug with boiling water for fe seconds then put your artwork and in to the press :) I am sure it will help.


PAul

[Justin]

If you're printing with a flat press as well you can pop the mugs onto the top to warm through a little.

[Paul]

good tip J!! ;)

[Justin]

My office used to get really cold in Winter so it was also a good heat source! lol, not the cheapest form of heating though!

[Squadron Prints]

you should see the press blanket curl over the edges of the mug
Obviously the blanket is not tight enough then - thanks!

This is the other xpress mugs as their original ones won't be available for another 3 months - I think it will be back to trial and error! Just done some gardening so feel challenged enough to go and give it another try with all your advice - watch this space and many thanks again!

[bms]

This is the other xpress mugs as their original ones won't be available for another 3 months

I've heard this from a few sources now - does anyone know what the differences are between the original mugs and the replacements or why they are out of stock for such a long time. A company like Xpres normally keeps container loads of mugs in stock at anyone point in time so there must have been a major c*** up somewhere in the procurement department.

[Squadron Prints]

Well I have a few mugs lying around - I think these are the last 6 of the BMS mugs that I had - tried it with heating up the mugs first, tried it turning them but still not much difference
http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/ll134/Gillibelle/Trial6.jpg

[bms]

Do you have much overlap of paper at the top and bottom of the mug? The bottom creases look like the paper is creasing causing ripples to form in the transfer. I tend to cut our paper flush with the bottom of the mug to avoid too much creasing. A tight(er) press might also help - the top right pictures look almost spot on to me and a few more (around 20) seconds might have overcome the slight problem.

[Squadron Prints]

The xpress mugs . . . their original ones were off white and came in the packaging I liked (3 levels of 12) - then they changed to a brand new pure white (2 levels of 18) so we changed our settings to reflect this and the other reason that I used them was because I was given 2 boxes from a mate and I wanted all my Squadron orders to look the same. They hang them up on a board and different sized mugs look strange.
Anyway xpress say they have reverted to the off white ones again as the pure white ones are coming by container on a ship and that obviously takes longer! All I want are mugs that are the same shape and colour for my repeat customers!

[Squadron Prints]

Do you have much overlap of paper at the top and bottom of the mug? The bottom creases look like the paper is creasing causing ripples to form in the transfer. I tend to cut our paper flush with the bottom of the mug to avoid too much creasing.
No overlap of paper - timings are approx 160 with a turnaround at 80 - OK - I will give it a go . . . .

[bms]

I think you're using the DF1 mug press? What idle temp do you have this set at - 110? I'd try one, starting at idle temp so as the mug press heats up it is also heating the thicker part of the mug at the bottom. Then this will heat up to operating temp (170 degrees) for a time of 150 seconds (normally). If you do swap around then the time of 160 is okay, but never had the need to do this and can't really understand why you would want to do this as the press blanket is the same temp all over.

[Squadron Prints]

Yes Martin - I bought the package from you guys! I am very happy with our other mugs but this photo thing is a challenge - my other half is a photo perfectionist too so not easy :-)
I have mug number 24 in cooking now and this is the last one I am going to try - settings as you say, mug warmed so fingers crossed. I need to go and cook in the other oven for hungry tummies! :-)

[Squadron Prints]

Ok - that's it out, cooked and cooled and it's not good so giving up on this photo mug lark for the moment and will keep going with our other mugs! MANY THANKS for ALL YOUR HELP and comments! Back to the drawing board to try to make my millions :-) Off to cook in the other oven as some other folk around here are hungry!
Thanks again
Gill

[Justin]

We need to see this one through Gill! lol, we'll get to the bottom of it ;-)

[Squadron Prints]

Aye I hope so! :-)
Dishes to do now! At least the Pork Steaks, Green Beans and Saute Potatoes cooked ok :-) LOL :-) Well there is no marks left on the plate that is so I assume the food was a success :-) LOL

[Justin]

Did the green beans go right to the edges of the plate or did you have to leave a small space there? Were the potatoes the right shade? ;-)

[Paul]

...and did you warmed plates up first??? ;)

[Kaz]

PMSL at you lot

[Squadron Prints]

:-) LOL :-) Morning - Green beans were ok although a little over cooked - Yes I warmed the plates up first and the Potatoes were done to perfection! PMSL - thank you for your concern :-)
Gill

[hooperjaws]

Did you get any further with this Gill? Im having similar problems too. I am trying to get a photo to within 5mm of the edge, but there are a couple of spots where I get fading. I am wondering if it is un-even pressure or un-even heat in the oven I use (not using a press). Im going to try to change the way I wrap the mugs, then I am going to try to cook them a little longer, so see if this helps to encourage all the ink to "jump" onto the mug!

[Squadron Prints]

I have given up on the photo mugs for now but by far the best mugs were the 11oz ones from BMS and warming them certainly helped - even sitting the next mug on top of the mug that was in cooking so that it heated up the base of the mug but then I forgot (doing what a woman does best "MULTITASKING") going back to add the paper and burning my hands :-) SO stuck to using our own artwork and got loads done in time for the airshow next week!
http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/ll134/Gillibelle/Products/WallofMugs.jpg

http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/ll134/Gillibelle/Products/WallofMugs2.jpg

[John G]

Cracking job - that's kind of what I do, stick to what I know and you get much more done.

Never been able to offer full wraps, dare say after a few hours testing i'd get usable results but haven't the time or loads of spare mugs to do this.:eek:

[Squadron Prints]

loads of spare mugs to do this.
That's the trouble it gets costly - it seems to be ok if I leave .5 cm at the bottom but my other half doesn't like how it looks and it is slightly squint then it looks worse!!!
We will see how they go! Hopefully sell a lot!

[Lee]

I manage to do a full wrap, but I dont go wider then 21cm... I have also, where poss now though make the images 80mm high, therefore leave 5mm either side because I think it looks quite goos with the white space nr the handle - does depend on the pics though.....!