# almost giving up



## adamajang (Jun 9, 2013)

after 2 months of exploring plastisol transfer I'm almost giving up. 
1. DIY flasher isn't giving me good gel cure on large images. (when trying small images I'm always perfect) 
2. 1st wash the inks come off. 
my only last option is to buy old microwave oven and try my luck there only the problem is how can I fit my large image inside regular sized ovens? 



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## rhilferding (Jun 18, 2010)

Hi,

Microwave? that's a new one to me. Are you making transfers or applying transfers? 

If you are making them, do you also have a hot press? 

Have you tried transfer adhesive?

No answers for you but I will try to help if you provide more information on exactly what you are doing.

Robert


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## Dtag1971 (Oct 2, 2011)

Ok this is what I need to know.. What mesh count you printing through? Are you printing a dark colored ink such as black.... then heat pressing them onto a light colored garment. Or are you printing white ink onto the paper then trying to press it onto a black or dark colored garment. What type of paper are you printing on? When I first started printing transfers I used my 16X20 heat press to gel cure..... very slow and time consuming. I have been using a flash unit for the last couple of years a 240 volt unit and I can print around 180 to 200 transfers an hour.....black ink. When i use the adhesive powder I can only get about a 100 an hour. If you need to private message me I'll give you my number and I'll help anyway I can. The transfer business has been good to me......please don't give up!!!!!


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## adamajang (Jun 9, 2013)

I need to transfer white inks to dark garments. I have been using diy halogen flash to gel cure. (when my image is small I can do perfect gelling ang transfers but when my print is large there comes my problem. poor washability some parts are good mostly the middle part. I know it's about my inconsistent flashing and kind of inconsistent curing due to large image. but what else can I do. I need large image for my projects. 

mesh 120
half inch off contact
h1 excalibur adhesive powder


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## adamajang (Jun 9, 2013)

I'm using t
excalibur transfert even tried using non stick baking paper. all seems well on small images. I've been flashing for 45secs measured the temp with ir gun for 180f. I'm curing the both sides of image. I mean the left side first (45secs) then the other half for (45secs) to MAYBE distribute the heat evenly. pressing for 170c 10secs medium- heavy pressure. 

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## adamajang (Jun 9, 2013)

I wish plastisol transfer would be kind to me too. :-( 

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## adamajang (Jun 9, 2013)

Here is the picture of my DIY flasher 
It is a wooden flash with halogen 2pcs 1000w with air blow (I used cpu fan lol) 









here is the shot inside the flasher









when printing small image i get the best quality (I mean strongest quality no crackings even tortured) here's a pic










and here is my problem when printing large images this are some photos of my failed prints (tortured washtest)














































hope someone help me out of this trouble 
Godbless us all


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## wormil (Jan 7, 2008)

Could be 2 separate problems... inconsistent flashing and inconsistent heat on your press.
http://www.t-shirtforums.com/plastisol-transfers/t176601.html

Ink peeling could be over-cure on the gelling stage or under-cure on the heat press. No offense but your transfers look terrible: poor definition, poor adhesion, inconsistent ink deposit, etc.; not sure how much of this is related to flashing or partly from a poor print to begin with. I don't say it to be mean but to help diagnose your problems. One problem using halogens is they create hot spots, basically the heat isn't distributed evenly. You can overcome this problem on direct prints but transfers require more precision. Even experienced printers with professional equipment sometimes mess up so don't feel bad; transfers look simple but are really quite fiddly. 

Try using your heat press to flash the transfers and see if that improves adhesion. Then stretch the print before washing, if the ink cracks it isn't cured and will wash out. If it cracks, rotate the shirt 90 degrees and press again. If it cracks again then most likely it was over-cured at the flash. If it doesn't crack after the 2nd pressing then the problem was your heat press.


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## adamajang (Jun 9, 2013)

okay I will surely try all of this.

-question regarding gelling at my Heatpress. I am using clam style press I wonder the inner most part of the press has less distance to my transfer than the area near me. it's like < should I rotate the transfer halfway? or moving the transfer while gelling would worsten the inconsistency? 

-on the print part I used the sharp side of coater when applying emulsion. later I found out it is better to use the round side. but after I finish learning a proper gell and cure I'll go make another screen. 

-should I use off contact? 

thank you kind sir for helping. 

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## wormil (Jan 7, 2008)

I've never cured ink with a heat press but a number of forum members have done it successfully, it might take a little experimentation.

Always use off contact.

You're welcome!


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## Dtag1971 (Oct 2, 2011)

The problem with the heat press as you said its lower in the back. So you will have to flip them around to cure the half that was farther away from the heat press. It can be done. But its slow. Here is another suggestion... when I'm heat pressing my transfers onto the shirt my temp is set to 400deg for 10 seconds at heavy pressure. that is for transfers that are dark colors and that are going to be pressed on light colored t's. For white ink i set my temp at 360deg medium pressure and for 6 sec. All of my transfers that are going to be printed on dark colored t's will have the adhesive powder on them. I'm currently looking at a vastex d100 conveyor dryer. Entry level dryer but for transfers I think that unit would rock!!!


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## adamajang (Jun 9, 2013)

how to improve this? I got white as underbase and black on top but the whites are seems like showing 
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## adamajang (Jun 9, 2013)

and this one? seems like there's a constant mark on my print that I need to wipe the screen everyone to remove that lines 

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## adamajang (Jun 9, 2013)

third question (sorry for multiple posts) can i press vinyl on a plastisol print (watermark) 

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## STARFISHTSHIRTS (Aug 5, 2007)

I have not had much luck with making tranfers, I need to invest more effort. Mine cannot take the wash very well. Thanks for posting your issues I got some good pointers. Regarding your pic of the white showing thru the black lettering, I think I would change the art and not put the underbase under the lettering. Regarding pressing vinly onto plastisol, not sure on that one, but... I can tell you that is a simple design and it would look great cut in shirt vinyl and pressed on, you can do two colors no problem. That would keep all the edges nice and sharp... good luck, im still working on my tranfer skills which are lacking....

as an after thought, is the texture of the material causing the cracking, have you pressed a tranfer on a regular cotton shirt?


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