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FLAAR report on SEPIAX Ink

tomence

tomence

New Member
Thanks for this report, by reading it i noticed that to be able to use this ink you have to have a printer with DX5 epson heads, also have to print in photo mode to get slower speeds to allow the ink to dry, if it prints too fast it won't dry, and color management is a must to be able to profile this ink with the material been used. It is still new ink i was excited before but not anymore, until i hear somebody with lower epson heads using it like DX4 or DX2 for the converted FJ's and CJ's
 
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artbot

artbot

New Member
thanks! and we are!

and...

dX5 schmeeX5! you can put whatever you want in a printer and it will print it. for one, there is a youtube of a guy printing with sepiax ink, think it is a sp540? don't remember.
as far as the purging... i suggest using straight solution, then going to straight butyl cellosolve, then straight distilled water. the cellosolve is miscible in both ketones and water (water is technically a solvent). so it allows for compatible cleanser away from the ketone and then to water. mixing any solvent ink at all with water based will coagulate and make a mess of the tiny parts of a printhead.
 
Rooster

Rooster

New Member
The DX5's are designed for a smaller particulate size. Using older heads designed for a larger particulate size shouldn't be an issue.

Printing on anything is cool, but I saw no mention of a white ink being available. I would have to assume that their process inks are translucent so this could be a limiting factor.

Thanks for posting that up. I had heard they required a lot of heat, but it sounds like that's only for non-porous materials. Certainly not as bad as the latex inks, that's for sure.
 
artbot

artbot

New Member
if you've got dx4's (running 3 or 4 heads), you can run both solvent based and water based simultaneously out of the same printer. right now i'm running poly propylene/water and water in my 3r head position with cmyk in heads 1 and 2, and white/uv clear in head 4. the only issue i've encountered is the wiper will have both water based and solvent on it. so every night i manually clean my wiper and cap tops. the dx5, i wouldn't suggest this. the proximity is not good.

also, epson has some kind of water based white (hollow resin particles). haven't seen a sample of this stuff.
 
artbot

artbot

New Member
muuhaahhaaaaHaaaaa!!!!!

@auto-fx

i do get to fart around a good bit. who says you have to have a uv lamp on your printer to print uv? just blaze it with a uv wand after printing...

here's uv clear on aluminum. neato!
http://www.signs101.com/forums/member.php?u=21160
 

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AUTO-FX

AUTO-FX

New Member
That IS cool artbot.:thumb:

So is this new ink the wave we should wanna ride or do we want to wait and see if they need to perfect it???
 
artbot

artbot

New Member
i think i'm gonna get a bottle of just cyan and run it my water based print head #3. also, i'll do some clotting/settling/coagulating tests with it to see what protocol is best for converting from solvent to sepiax.

i have a feeling it might cure some headaches i'm having with a couple substrates. supposedly it can print on PET! that is a very low dyne surface. if it can print, and the image not crawl on that stuff, i'd agree that it can print on anything.

i'd like some more info on uv resistance/stability. haven't read a definitive discussion on that. just that it last as long as solvent. i want data. not a simple comparison.
 
G-Artist

G-Artist

New Member
I don't think speed is really all that much of an issue, but heat is.

At the Orlando show they had a retrofit machine printing Tyvek. I suppose they did that for two reasons. The first was for ease of heating the substrate to the proper temp (50°C?) as that stuff is very thin...plus Tyvek is cheap compared to vinyl.

It was immediately usable when it came off the printer. I ran a bunch of tests with a sample I took home. That ink sticks. I also like the idea of instant lamination - no out-gassing.

I negotiated for that machine on the show floor. Almost had it but it was the only one they had made and one of the dudes said it needed to go back and serve as a model to build others. Glad I didn't get it. Flaar didn't rate that particular printer as well as I expected.
 
sjm

sjm

New Member
Sounds like a derivative of Latex ink to me. It looks like it may hold some real promise.
 
artbot

artbot

New Member
has everyone seen these two videos of a guy using a high powered halogen, it's a bit crude, i think if i was to build a retrofit, i'd just do what mutoh did. i'm sure they tried everything (heated platens, and a mini "hair dryer"). the "hair dryer" could easily be built from an acrylic bending element wrapped around an aluminum tube near the end of the air supply (provided by a mini blower).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjHjVK2Jpzg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jjd2TX9cq9M

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ru3h0kSUkXo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZoPFMO0XnU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ru3h0kSUkXo
 
N

NZDR-Payne

New Member
This ink requires pre/post heaters that Epson water-based printers do not have. You might be able to figure something out but there would be much more involved than just switching the ink.
 
G-Artist

G-Artist

New Member
According to the folks at GO, they will be selling heater retrofits for various makes and models of machines that could use their Sepiak inks. If they do, and do so reasonably, that would be a huge plus.

Whether they will and whether they will be sucessful has yet to be determined.
 
B

boggiom72

New Member
Sepiax ink possibilities

Can I use sepiax only with dx5 printheads?
...And I need a heater (so not a waterbased ink printer like epson)...

this limits the choice to
· Mimaki JV5/JV33 · Mutoh ValueJet 1204/1604/2606... · Seiko IP 3020

Is there anything else?

HP designjet 8000? or the ecosolvent hp's?

I also need a some printer I can use white with...
Mimaki makes a white...
So my choice is really narrowing...

Or by now there is something on the market?
In addition I have to find something used... Ahhh... Very difficult!
Please help!
 
artbot

artbot

New Member
i've considered doing the white/solvent and then the sepiax in the same machine. but i'd like to see how they act together. you will get wiper contamination even if the inks are separated by different printheads. from what i can tell, you can use sepiax ink with any epson technology head. going back in the lineage only insures that it will work better because it will be a finer latest technology ink in an older design of printhead that doesn't require such finely ground ink.
 
B

boggiom72

New Member
Sepiax ink possibilities

Can I use sepiax only with dx5 printheads?
...And I need a heater (so not a waterbased ink printer like epson)...

this limits the choice to
· Mimaki JV5/JV33 · Mutoh ValueJet 1204/1604/2606... · Seiko IP 3020

Is there anything else?

HP designjet 8000? or the ecosolvent hp's?

I also need a some printer I can use white with...
Mimaki makes a white...
So my choice is really narrowing...

Or by now there is something on the market?
In addition I have to find something used... Ahhh... Very difficult!
Please help!
 
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