Move over Latex, Resin is in town?

[jkdbjj]

OK, so I too have a Latex machine, and am starting to love it now that a lot of the wrinkles have been worked out.
However, during my investigation of Latex inks, the guru of print reviews himself Nicholas Hellmuth alluded to a much much better technology that he feels will end possibly, latex, solvent, eco solvent and maybe even UV.

Resin ink, is something he is heavily invested into, in terms of research and development. If memory serves there is a Brazilian company making printers with it, he claims far exceed the abilities of all mentioned inks above, and more green as well.

We all know first to market and the all might marketing dollar gets the worm (latex/HP), but I guess we should all be looking out for Resin printers, I'd say by the end of this year we might see a rise in them.

 

[National Sign Co. - Print]

AquEpoxy Ink
AquEpoxy ink is a new, patent pending ink technology that is the first and only green replacement alternative to UV. It is a totally new and eco-friendly, aqueous based solution that contains none of the negative environmental hazards found with UV, while boasting improved adhesion characteristics.

AquEpoxy is a two-part ink solution consisting of a colorant (pigment) and an aqueous amine based reactant that are jetted separately, but through its impingement on the substrate forms a strong bond, not unlike glue. It adheres to virtually any substrate, including glass and acrylic; two materials that have been a challenge for UV ink technology.

Another unique quality about AquEpoxy, unlike UV, is that it does not require a high intensity lamp system like those traditionally used with UV technology to cure. No energy hungry UV lamps equate to tremendous savings on electricity for our customers.

 

[CS-SignSupply-TT]

"Necessity... the mother of invention." Plato

 

[jkdbjj]

So I guess rather than call it resin, it is Sepiax Ink Technology. I'm sure you all may have heard of it already, but I am just learning of it. Sounds amazing once it is fine tuned and mass marketed.

 

[wildside]

i thought resin printers had been around for awhile????

summa, edge, etc......

the best part about printer technology is the major fact that it will get replaced with the next latest and greatest on a continual basis, tried and true are always better than the "next big thing", prove it in the field before i will sign on for sure

 

[jkdbjj]

Wildside, this sepiax stuff is totally new, I mean it has been in development for a couple years now, but totally new to the marketplace. Not the same as summa, etc...

 

[artbot]

i think it goes move over sepiax (resin) hello latex.

 

[Fred Weiss]

i thought resin printers had been around for awhile????

summa, edge, etc......

the best part about printer technology is the major fact that it will get replaced with the next latest and greatest on a continual basis, tried and true are always better than the "next big thing", prove it in the field before i will sign on for sure

Thermal resins such as used on Edge and Summa foils only require heat and pressure to transfer. The resin being discussed is sprayed like an inkjet along with an epoxy hardener to cause it to cure. Totally different thing.

 

[jkdbjj]

i think it goes move over sepiax (resin) hello latex.

Really, why? It just isn't getting the market support yet, but what makes you say that? Just sales numbers? Just curious. Because I see plenty of flaws with Latex already, which may get better but maybe not.

 

[rjssigns]

Here is what will happen. I'll get all excited about the latest advance in printers and buy one. Then some smarty pants will come up with an outdoor durable aqueous setup. Of course the inks will cost $1.29 a gallon too!

So if you want to see the next big printer revolution finance my next printer purchase. I'm fairly confident it would be obsolete by time I got it set up.

Printers are changing too rapidly for me to want to give up my Roland.

 

[BigfishDM]

Really, why? It just isn't getting the market support yet, but what makes you say that? Just sales numbers? Just curious. Because I see plenty of flaws with Latex already, which may get better but maybe not.

Im curious about the flaws you see in the latex technology.

 

[jkdbjj]

Im curious about the flaws you see in the latex technology.

First one is just a marketing issue. Technically it is not very enviro friendly with the machine running at such temperatures, the sepiax does not need that. Yes, my HP L25500 is "more" friendly in someways, but push come to shove, it almost cancels out with the energy consumption.

Other issues, are the profiling seems to be unstable. I have years of profiling for multiple machines, so I wonder if this profiling issue isn't user inexperience, but I have heard several times now, it is a pain to profile. Though, HP adding the spectro right on the unit will probably change that.

I also, had a hell of a time, dealing with the oiling issue, and have basically stopped using several medias, after LexJet, HP, and Onyx could not solve our problems.

so that is just a few for now.

 

[CS-SignSupply-TT]

Here is the web site for the biggest promoter of SEPIAX inks http://www.graphicsone.com/

 

[Nishan]

UV Ink - Thermoformed into a Bath Tub

artbot... you might appreciate this, Our Oce' principal in SA - has formulated this ink, reverse printed it on plexiglas and thermo formed it into a Bath Tub...

 

[jkdbjj]

This seems pretty green. Anyway, not a bad price for a small shop.

 

[artbot]

awesomely stretchy ink. i can only imagine what kind of pimped out bathroom a leopard tub would go in.

 

[Nishan]

LOL ... just sample prints, but will be seeing live demo of this 1st week march.

 

[Nishan]

Oh... and it is UV cured.

 

[P Wagner]

View attachment 73615
This seems pretty green. Anyway, not a bad price for a small shop.

This is being offered by the USA master importer of the SepiaX ink. The machine itself is an Epson Stylus Pro 9890:

http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/jsp/Pro/SeriesStylusPro78909890/Overview.do?BV_UseBVCookie=yes

What I am curious about on this machine is the fact that it does not have heaters that the SepiaX ink needs to properly dry. Unless Graphics One (importer of SepiaX) is retrofitting significant heaters into the Epson, I can't see how this setup works with the SepiaX inks.

In any event, the latex ink fraternity is being joined by Mimaki this month, so it appears that regardless of the specific ink chemistry, or the marketing jargon being used, variations of water-based inks are destined to replace solvent and potentially UV inks in the future (in my estimation).

 

[jhanson]

The machine is an Epson 9700, and it has been retrofitted with a heated platen system. It won't print on every material (the machine itself won't accept materials over a certain thickness anyway) but it does run adhesive vinyls, banners, tyvek very well, and can still print on all of the aqueous materials. Even offset poster paper works nicely.

Mimaki went with calling their ink latex, but I've heard it's more like SEPIAX in that it cures around 50-70C, while HP latex requires around 100C.