? printing direct on magnetics

[rvolkers]

Mimaki cjv30-130
how are folks printing direct on magnetic material?
what have you folks been using for a metal barrier?

 

[Solventinkjet]

It's generally not a good idea to print directly to magnet with a roll to roll printer. A head strike could cost you a head which is $$$$. Most people will print on some vinyl and laminate it on the magnet, use a UV printer, or sub it out.

 

[JBurton]

I thought the idea was to use non-magnetic rolls, then magnetize the end product afterward? That or a flatbed I imagine. Solvent has a good point about headstrikes, I've heard them mamiki's have some kinda expensive one compared to the desktop ones hp sells.
At any rate, magnum magnetics would be my first call.

 

[Gino]

Never, as in never.... did we ever print directly to a magnet. Not worth the risk. Now, we print them on the flatbed.

 

[netsol]

I thought the idea was to use non-magnetic rolls, then magnetize the end product afterward? That or a flatbed I imagine. Solvent has a good point about headstrikes, I've heard them mamiki's have some kinda expensive one compared to the desktop ones hp sells.
At any rate, magnum magnetics would be my first call.

i have planned to remove the platen on one of our rolands and duplicate it out of aluminum to make printing magnetics easier. in truth we don't do that many

i believe we call that a solution, in search of a problem

 

[Boudica]

We've printed magnets on our Roland XR. It was the thinner kind, not vehicle magnets. For the back, to keep the magnet from sticking to the printer, we made panels out of the stronger vehicle magnet, and used double sided tape with polystyrene. Stuck those to the printer and it worked fine, the roll fed right through.

 

[Mike Paul]

Just outsource them and take your wife or husband to dinner.
Nobody prints directly to magnet material…

Not worth replacing print heads.

 

[ikarasu]

Even with our flatbed we don't print direct.... Just isn't worth it.

If someone bought a thousand magnets or something, maybe it would be - but most people buy 5-10... It's faster to print on the vinyl that's already loaded and just mount it to magnet, and less risk.

 

[Grizzly]

We cut into 8ft sheets and print them on the flatbed. But I do know you can use rolls and print them direct with UV roll printers.

 

[White Haus]

Print on vinyl, mount to .030 magnum magnet stock.

 

[FlorenceC]

We tend to apply vinyl to roll magnet material, but we find our usual magnet rolls don't always allow for magnets to be used on top. For a specific client, we've used Aslan Ferrosoft but don't order in sufficient quantities to make it worth the trouble, plus it has a tendency to crack if wound too tightly by the supplier. These days I just require that particular client to source their own magnetic whiteboard (or to allow us to order one for them) and we apply the vinyl afterward. Cheaper and much less of a hassle.

 

[Joseph44708]

I Love printing direct to magnet material on my Roland XR640. Roll to Roll. Never have I had a head strike in five years.
I don't print magnets daily, I save them up and run them monthly, On about four rolls of material 30"×50'.
All printed on a Roland XR-640 and cut on a Graftec 2250.
All shapes and sizes.

 

[ABA Visibility Products]

Mimaki cjv30-130
how are folks printing direct on magnetic material?
what have you folks been using for a metal barrier?

Hello rvolkers
The easiest thing to do is to not print on magnet directly. Either use vinyl as others have suggested above, or you have us print direct for you. We print direct using both UV and Latex depending on the job. If interested give Cathy or Bryan a call at 801-305-1655 or email sales@abacatalog.com and they will get you taken care of.

Thanks

 

[JBurton]

Regarding your inquiry about a metal barrier, it's unclear what specific purpose you have in mind. If you could provide more details about the context or application, I would be better able to assist you.

Right, well, since this is a sign forum, most folks are referring to ink when they say 'print'. Now there are a couple of 3d printer threads on the forum, but they are few and far between. In this instance, the op wanted to print (ink) on a piece of magnetic material that he would sell to a customer, when the magnet travels through a sign printer, it comes across numerous metallic areas, which cause it to stick, causing the printer to not print (ink) properly. A metal barrier in this instance is not made of metal, but putting a barrier over the metal, preventing the metallic properties from interacting with the print media.

 

[JBurton]

I Love printing direct to magnet material on my Roland XR640. Roll to Roll. Never have I had a head strike in five years.
I don't print magnets daily, I save them up and run them monthly, On about four rolls of material 30"×50'.
All printed on a Roland XR-640 and cut on a Graftec 2250.
All shapes and sizes.

Those look nice. What brand/series of magnetic are you running? Are you having to magnetize the magnets after printing or did you need to do anything to keep the magnet from sticking in the printer?

 

[Vortex37]

We print magnet stock direct on our HP Scitex flatbed. It’s kind of a pain since there is a strip of steel on the input and exit tables that the magnet wants to stick to, so I tape a strip of styrene over it whenever I run magnet. You also kind of have to babysit it to make sure the magnet exits onto the table instead of slipping through the gap between belt & table and dropping onto the floor. When that happens it also messes with the feed because gravity pulls it down faster than it should advance so you get banding. The one positive with magnet is that ink tends to stick really well so you can cut to bleed after flatbed printing and it doesn’t chip.

 

[Joseph44708]

Those look nice. What brand/series of magnetic are you running? Are you having to magnetize the magnets after printing or did you need to do anything to keep the magnet from sticking in the printer?

Here is a picture of the label

 

[Joseph44708]

Here is a picture of the label

 

[jfiscus]

Add another vote for printing to another product and laminating, then laminating it to the magnetic stock.
The strain on the printer pulling the heavy material will wear the feed motors out if you're printing large rolls, and that is if it doesn't stick to your platen. Then you have the risk of headstrikes... Plus, even after you factor those in the print quality we get from the magnetic is inconsistent/crap for solid color prints. We do a decent amount, and it sucks, but we do it the hard way and provide a quality product to our customers.

 

[garyroy]

Joseph,

Thanks for the info. BTW. it looks like your printing .020 thickness based on the label from your screen shot.
Do you also print direct to .030? That's obviously 50% thicker and closer to the print head. That might present a problem.

BTW, that Graphtec cutter you have is old style, right? I don't think they make that one anymore.
It's like an old iron tank. Keeps on running.