printable magnetic material

[Big House Signs]

hey...just bought some digimag from fellers. After the material goes past the print head...it sticks (because it's magnetic) and curls up. I am on hold now with Fellers trying to find out what I'm supposed to do...any help wpuld be appreciated. Just got off phone...they are saying put tranfertape down...uggg got 300 tiny mags to do
Paula

 

[ChiknNutz]

I've never had good results printing direct to magnetic materal, so I don't even try any more. I simply print, laminate then mount to the mag mat'l. Yes, more time but better results and none of the problems that you are seeing plus no extra stress on the feed motor!

 

[TheSnowman]

Yeah, I have a Mimaki, and they said just don't do it. They said it can be done if you want to risk wreckin' your print heads (which I don't) so I never even went there. If I have a lot of magnets, I just order from Stouse.

 

[thewood]

Some folks will tell you they print directly to magnetic material with no issues. However, I wouldn't try it. IMO, you're asking for trouble--feed motor wear, headstrikes, etc. Print on vinyl and mount 'em.

 

[Big House Signs]

we put transfer tape on the platen so it's not curling...but the banding is very bad...well this was a waste..dam fellers. My gurl who runs the mimaki is out today and I am very frustrated!

 

[iSign]

you've been told the best advice that is followed by the vast majority of printer owners as seen from a dozen discussions just like this one.

Almost none of us bother doing what you're trying to do... and many of us do what Chris told you to do every week for years... without any discussion here, because it's just another quick brainless money making process in the day without blinking an eye.

print a sticker,
stick it on a magnet,
get paid!
No frustration!!


(When my "guy who runs the Mimaki" is out... I run it. If you are the owner, I strongly suggest you learn to do everything your employees know how to do, because some day they may be "gone and not coming back")

 

[Big House Signs]

well...not printing on the mag material...just put some vinyl in and then we'll apply it. And I do know how to run the mimaki...I'm just a little slower.

 

[iSign]

I know the feeling... I just proved that in front of my employee this morning. oops

 

[Simon Belmont]

I have a HP 9000 and had the same problem. Tried to cover the heaters with just about everything, but nothing worked. Now I print them on my flatbed, works like a charm.

 

[Firstmate]

chargeable magnetic material

I can't imagine trying to run magnetized material through the mimaki.
We buy 25" rolls of unmagnetized material, after printing on the mimaki, with the temps all the way up, and uni directional with a pause It prints fine, with no banding, kinda slow though.
After trimming we run it through an electromagnet device that polarizes the material AFTER it has been printed. this eliminates the problem of the material sticking.

 

[particleman]

About 3 years ago when we got our JV3 we tried it one time. It didn't take long to see that is just wasn't worth the effort. At least with banner or vinyl the material will give with a head strike a little, you pretty much are toast of the head slams into the magnet. I'm pretty confident we could have adjusted out the horrible banding, but it just wasn't worth the time. Print on vinyl, laminate, done.

 

[kalvix]

The print heads for the Mimaki are set at approximately 3-4 mm there is a teflon platen that you sit the heads on when installing and calibrating the head unit. The problem arises that the material is tall enough that it could hit and as stated destroy the heads. The banding occurs because the material is to tall and the machine is calibrated for a to have more space for the ink to hit the right target line. the option is to raise the head up, this is possible and within the capability of the printer, but once you raise up the head you will have to contact mimaki and get spacers to raise up the wiper and the capping station. we did this several years ago for a huge job where we were printing on really THICK material. We have a mimaki certified tech on staff. It isn't for the feign of heart and easier just to print on the same damn thing you always print on and stick it on the magnet.

 

[Graphics2u]

Wow! I'm glad I didn't read this before I printed 200 business card size magnets last week. I ordered the real thin magnet material and it printed just great. I can see the thicker material may be more trouble. The infeed and outfeed platens on my Falcon II apparently are made from an alloy that magnets won't stick to because they slid accross it just like any other material. I probably wouldn't have tried it if they would stick to the platens. I have that problem when I run them through my laminator to apply a print to them. A real pain fighting them sticking to the laminator.

 

[beermonster]

hello signs 101 from the UK!

i dont have a mimaki - but we printed on magnetic stuff just fine

how?

well its magnetic right? so - we plonked it on another sheet of the same - as in - stuck them together - too strong to be pulled apart and the added weight keeps them on the bed with the vacuum

no head strikes - all was good

except the price of the material - man thats not cheap!

 

[APC Tech NE]

Hey, now that's a great idea! Cheers to the original thinkers in this world. I would still be cautious of magnetizing the metal components on the machine though. Who knows what it will do.