Magnetics

[Arlo Kalon 2.0]

I'm about to accept an order from an athletic booster club for some auto magnets of the school lion mascot. I've never printed directly onto punched magnetic material with the Edge before. Am I in for any surprises I should know about?
Thanks

 

[Fred Weiss]

Lots and lots of surprises.

You will need to babysit the material as it feeds through both the Edge and your plotter due to its weight. You must also insure that nothing made of steel is in the travel path.

The material has a fair tendency to not print cleanly so add some waste into your quote.

The material can only be score cut leaving an extra chore of tearing them away cleanly.

The material is very overpriced making your quote normally non-competitive as compared to locating a jobber that can do what you want.

The only justification for using this material is if the magnets are to be cut into other than squares or rectangles.

If you can work your design into a straight edged design or keep it simple enough to cut out with an Xacto, it is much better to do your print on vinyl, mount the print to standard magnetic sheet and trim out from there.

 

[Arlo Kalon 2.0]

Well, wish me luck Fred! The Gerber AutoMag arrives today, and I'll be running it thru the Edge. I'll be score cutting a football shape - so, can't opt for the easy way of just hand cutting a rectangle. I noticed on GA software I can't selecy magnetic material as the vinyl type... anybody know what I choose that I'm printing on for the Edge to set heat correctly? Thanks!

 

[Fred Weiss]

That's strange. I think the last time I printed on Automag was when I was still at GA 6.2. I'd check the material list again closely as well as see if there are any downloadable updates at the Gerber website for your version.

Beyond that, try starting out at an intermediate, printable vinyl and do some test prints. You will get an instruction sheet with the material which may also add to what you need to know.

I would suggest that you use a 60 degree blade for the score cutting.

 

[sign chick]

It's on there: "Gerber Auto Mag"

Fred is sooo right. Ya gotta babysit it while it prints. First time I was printing on it, the mag material stuck to the machine as it was feeding out. Same on the plotter. I took a piece of coroplast and propped it right underneath where the material comes out so that it wouldn't touch the metal.

Good luck!

 

[Arlo Kalon 2.0]

Well... I went for it, and everything you all said was right on the money. Having a third arm would be a definite benefit when printing a magnetic roll, but it turned out quite nice - I'm sure that's because I was forewarned and set the job up with coroplast "skids" on both machines so the magnet would ride on it without touching metal. THANKS for the suggestions!!! I have ended up with a product the athletic boosters are going to ravenously devour for a number of different sports!