Running Thin Styrene Through A Roland Ecosol Printer?

[player]

I have an expandable trade show booth that has 4 26.5" x 88" panels that are fastened by .5" magnetic strips. I would like to make some panels for it. The existing panels are really nice, with a super tough matte finish. Almost clear gravel guard looking. There are also slotted plastic hooks on the top that hold it in place in tandem with the magnetic strips.

I have read here that some run thin stryrene and print directly to it.

I am wondering if this is hard on the printer? Does it wear on the grit roller, rollers etc. more than vinyl material?

Is it prone to head strikes?

If it is safe and feasible, what's the quality like?

Is there a tough roll on clear that is really low gloss and scratch resistant?

Is anyone familiar with this style of booth? Where can I buy the top plastic "bread tag" style hooks?

Thanks

 

[Jester1167]

A long time ago I used to run small 2' x 2' or 2' x 4' sheets through a Roland sp540. You have to slow everything down because you can't use any heat and head strikes are a real issue. I also used a high pass count so it laid less ink per pass and had more time to dry. We found that if you flexed the sheet upwards in the back, it was less likely to bow and you were less likely to get head strikes.

If you have plenty of work and money on hand I would outsource it or print on vinyl and apply it. In my opinion the learning curve and risk aren't worth it. The smaller sheets we dealt with were easier to work with and we were making name badges. A head strike meant we lost a few badges, not the whole sheet. We weren't concerned about the head strikes damaging the heads themselves. The material is so ridged that the black plastic on either sides of the print heads were the only thing that made contact. They scraped the ink when the sheet bowed between the pinch rollers.

 

[player]

A long time ago I used to run small 2' x 2' or 2' x 4' sheets through a Roland sp540. You have to slow everything down because you can't use any heat and head strikes are a real issue. I also used a high pass count so it laid less ink per pass and had more time to dry. We found that if you flexed the sheet upwards in the back, it was less likely to bow and you were less likely to get head strikes.

If you have plenty of work and money on hand I would outsource it or print on vinyl and apply it. In my opinion the learning curve and risk aren't worth it. The smaller sheets we dealt with were easier to work with and we were making name badges. A head strike meant we lost a few badges, not the whole sheet. We weren't concerned about the head strikes damaging the heads themselves. The material is so ridged that the black plastic on either sides of the print heads were the only thing that made contact. They scraped the ink when the sheet bowed between the pinch rollers.

Thanks. I had not thought about no heat. I will take your advice and not print direct.

Does anyone know of a tough super scratch resistant mat finish laminate?

Thanks

 

[Jester1167]

General formulations has a textured lexan laminate in 3 thicknesses that works well. Think I got in from fellers ages ago.

 

[Jester1167]

Pretty sure it was the latex under polycarbonate over laminate