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Anybody own a Digitech....I has questions about printing on glass

Caw

Minister of Percussive Maintenance
My company is looking into replacing a snail slow UV Flatbed flatbed and I'm wondering how Digitech ink sets(are they propietary? their website has little to no info on the subject) stand up with printing glass? I've actually been in talking to the owner and I'd love to see some real world users opinions....
Thanks!
 

Pauly

Printrade.com.au
My company is looking into replacing a snail slow UV Flatbed flatbed and I'm wondering how Digitech ink sets(are they propietary? their website has little to no info on the subject) stand up with printing glass? I've actually been in talking to the owner and I'd love to see some real world users opinions....
Thanks!

I have not seen an inkset that can adhere to glass without an adhesion promoter.

There are ceramic "inks" for ceramic printers. but you still need to toughen the glass for them to bind with the glass.
 

Caw

Minister of Percussive Maintenance
I have not seen an inkset that can adhere to glass without an adhesion promoter.

There are ceramic "inks" for ceramic printers. but you still need to toughen the glass for them to bind with the glass.
I am aware of that, I'm still looking for someone who has this printer and has experience with glass. It's a smaller part of what I need this printer to achieve, but real humans who have done it have a lot more pull in my mind than a salesperson telling me that it's possible.
 

Pauly

Printrade.com.au
I am aware of that, I'm still looking for someone who has this printer and has experience with glass. It's a smaller part of what I need this printer to achieve, but real humans who have done it have a lot more pull in my mind than a salesperson telling me that it's possible.
There's a handful of people with a digitech here. But i doubt any of them have printed glass.
I probably have the most exp with glass here. We produce hundreds of glass splashbacks a year & other glass applications.
 

Caw

Minister of Percussive Maintenance
S
There's a handful of people with a digitech here. But i doubt any of them have printed glass.
I probably have the most exp with glass here. We produce hundreds of glass splashbacks a year & other glass applications.
OK, soooo what UV LED Printer are you using to achieve this? what adh. promoter do you use? what is your process?
 

Pauly

Printrade.com.au
S

OK, soooo what UV LED Printer are you using to achieve this? what adh. promoter do you use? what is your process?
We have an Oce Arizona. But it doesn't matter what it is. It's whether you like the print quality, the bed size, the speed, tech support, ETC.
We've developed our own adhesion promoter that work for our processes, but there's plenty out there that'll do the job.

As i tell everyone looking for a new printer. Ask for samples on the stocks you want to print on. (substitute acrylic for glass) get a demo. look at the speeds etc.
Opinions are great, but there's a lot of people here that'll just boast about a product they have with no exp on something they've never used.
 

FireSprint.com

Trade Only Screen & Digital Sign Printing
You might try Kolorcure Metal and Glass Primer. There are alot out there. Troy Lesher will jump on here shortly I'll bet. Send them some samples of your material and see if their ink sticks. I'm confident they will test it for you. In terms of adhesion, digitech has some of the best ink I have seen across a variety of substrates. You're on the right path.

Vanguard would also be worth a look for sure.



FireSprint is a trade-only supplier of yard signs, stickers, and foamcore. Join our nationwide network of resellers today!
 

parrott

New Member
Have had our Digitech X2 about 9 months now. Have not tried it on glass but we print a bunch of acrylic and other substrates. About to start a run of 2500 pieces that we do every quarter. It’s non digital grade and their inks require no primers or adhesion promoters. Pretty incredible.

I am happy to answer any questions you may have.
 

Caw

Minister of Percussive Maintenance
Have had our Digitech X2 about 9 months now. Have not tried it on glass but we print a bunch of acrylic and other substrates. About to start a run of 2500 pieces that we do every quarter. It’s non digital grade and their inks require no primers or adhesion promoters. Pretty incredible.

I am happy to answer any questions you may have.
That's what I keep hearing, lots of good....What do you mean by non-digital grade?
 

Caw

Minister of Percussive Maintenance
You might try Kolorcure Metal and Glass Primer. There are alot out there. Troy Lesher will jump on here shortly I'll bet. Send them some samples of your material and see if their ink sticks. I'm confident they will test it for you. In terms of adhesion, digitech has some of the best ink I have seen across a variety of substrates. You're on the right path.

Vanguard would also be worth a look for sure.



FireSprint is a trade-only supplier of yard signs, stickers, and foamcore. Join our nationwide network of resellers today!
Thanks! Good info.
 

Caw

Minister of Percussive Maintenance
*Well thanks for being an ungrateful know-it-all. Clearly Pauly was trying to help, and clearly you need lots of it.
He first claimed that people who own digitech printers didn't print on glass, then he claimed to be an expert on glass...then wouldn't give specifics like it was some kind of trade secret. None of these claims answered the question I asked. Let's be careful on who we call names.
 

White Haus

Not a Newbie
He first claimed that people who own digitech printers didn't print on glass, then he claimed to be an expert on glass...then wouldn't give specifics like it was some kind of trade secret. None of these claims answered the question I asked. Let's be careful on who we call names.

Let's not. Clearly it is a specialized process (I've tried, and moved on) and why should he waste his time helping you?
 

parrott

New Member
Most flatbed printers need digital grade (more expensive) acrylic for their inks to stick - and even some of them will still need a adhesion promoter.

We run your standard acrylic with no promoters and get excellent adhesion. Their inks are as good as your gonna get (in my opinion) for adhesion.

I would highly recommend a demo with them. They were extremely straight forward on our demo and there was no smoke in mirrors. Strong company with a great product.
 

Caw

Minister of Percussive Maintenance
Most flatbed printers need digital grade (more expensive) acrylic for their inks to stick - and even some of them will still need a adhesion promoter.

We run your standard acrylic with no promoters and get excellent adhesion. Their inks are as good as your gonna get (in my opinion) for adhesion.

I would highly recommend a demo with them. They were extremely straight forward on our demo and there was no smoke in mirrors. Strong company with a great product.
That makes sense, I've just never seen the term before. Thanks!
 

Django

New Member
I have not had the opportunity work on or run a digitech but I have tested their ink set on other manufacturer's equipment. They could've changed ink since but about a year ago I tested on 2yr old coroplast, acrylic, random glass pieces, and cabinet laminate/formica. The adhesion was by far some of the best I had seen in a long long time. The glass pieces and formica I could not get to come off using the standard adhesion check. If I scraped with a razor blade at an angle, only then would the ink start to chip off.
 

Caw

Minister of Percussive Maintenance
I have not had the opportunity work on or run a digitech but I have tested their ink set on other manufacturer's equipment. They could've changed ink since but about a year ago I tested on 2yr old coroplast, acrylic, random glass pieces, and cabinet laminate/formica. The adhesion was by far some of the best I had seen in a long long time. The glass pieces and formica I could not get to come off using the standard adhesion check. If I scraped with a razor blade at an angle, only then would the ink start to chip off.
Hmm...that's pretty nice. I will have to take that into consideration. Did you use any additional adh promoters or just print straight to the glass?
 

Django

New Member
Hmm...that's pretty nice. I will have to take that into consideration. Did you use any additional adh promoters or just print straight to the glass?
No adhesion promoter at all. I will say that the ink did not have as good of flexibility as other inks did but just a small difference. The white ink did not have flexibility at all but they may have corrected that by now.
I did test other aggressive inks with adhesion promoter during that time and they did not come close to those inks.
Do still do your due diligence and request samples.

In my experience with ink, the more aggressive the adhesion and more opaque the white, the more maintenance and likelihood of printhead concerns/issues.
Keep in mind that every printer does the same thing. The difference is in the technology, quality of build, service/support, and most importantly the quality of the ink.
 

Caw

Minister of Percussive Maintenance
No adhesion promoter at all. I will say that the ink did not have as good of flexibility as other inks did but just a small difference. The white ink did not have flexibility at all but they may have corrected that by now.
I did test other aggressive inks with adhesion promoter during that time and they did not come close to those inks.
Do still do your due diligence and request samples.

In my experience with ink, the more aggressive the adhesion and more opaque the white, the more maintenance and likelihood of printhead concerns/issues.
Keep in mind that every printer does the same thing. The difference is in the technology, quality of build, service/support, and most importantly the quality of the ink.
Will be getting samples definitely, but thanks for the info.
 
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