Has anyone ever printed vinyl and used as a design under epoxy for something like a table? I have a Mimaki CJV-200 and want to print and cut a large design to put across a large table. Then it will be sealed with epoxy. Any issues I should worry about? I've done single color vinyl for this before, but not printed. Any possibility of fading or colors bleeding if dried for a sufficient amount of time?
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Printed Vinyl sealed with Epoxy
- Thread starter GGSports
- Start date
Boudica
I'm here for Educational Purposes
We did this a few years ago. I used cast vinyl... we tried some test first - laminated vs unlaminated. I think we went with laminated. They were logos for a large conference table. Turned out great. I was able to see it in person some time later.
I should note... all we did was produce the decals. Our customer did the epoxy on their custom made tables.
Thanks for the reply. That's all I'm doing is providing the decals. I don't have a laminator although that does sound like a good idea. I may end up outsourcing if I can't do it without lamination.
MarkSnelling
Mark Snelling - Hasco Graphics
While I haven't done this myself, I have a customer who uses Drytac's Polar Grip and they give it a day to cure on the table before they put the epoxy on top. When they didn't give the adhesive time to completely cure for a day or two, they had a few failures.
DL Signs
Never go against the family
I've done this a lot. Used to do custom bars for stadiums and venues, portable bars for beer companies, custom chairs, etc. Epoxy works over vinyls and UV printed substrates. I just used IJ180 for most, because we always had a printer loaded with that anyway. We also did floor graphics that were sealed down under epoxy resin.
I always laminated for additional UV protection, laminates are formulated for that, epoxies are not. If you're doing it from start to finish, and if it's wood or porous material, I recommend a clear coat/ sanding sealer or similar product before you apply vinyl for better adhesion than vinyl to raw wood which can de-laminate over time and lift. Shellac based clear sealers work awesome, dry fast. Also recommend sealing the bottom of the panels too so they don't warp over time. Just some tricks I picked up from doing it so much. It's a little extra work, but makes it last longer.
I always laminated for additional UV protection, laminates are formulated for that, epoxies are not. If you're doing it from start to finish, and if it's wood or porous material, I recommend a clear coat/ sanding sealer or similar product before you apply vinyl for better adhesion than vinyl to raw wood which can de-laminate over time and lift. Shellac based clear sealers work awesome, dry fast. Also recommend sealing the bottom of the panels too so they don't warp over time. Just some tricks I picked up from doing it so much. It's a little extra work, but makes it last longer.
DL Signs
Never go against the family
Found a pic of one I did maybe 15-ish years ago, a Fosters surfer themed portable bar. This is epoxy over printed vinyl on the bar tops. Bar tops were glued planks, CNC cut to the shape of surf boards, sanded, two coats of clear sealer applied, tops sanded again to make it smooth for the vinyl application, vinyl was applied and epoxied. Just one of many custom ones we built. We either laid vinyl or printed them on the flatbed before applying the epoxy.
