Ski Builders Forum

Hi guys and happy new year.

Iv been researching for a long time and making financial plans and finally I will invest in my own sublimation machinery.

Iv been inspired bu Endre's solution from this thread
http://www.skibuilders.com/phpBB2/viewt ... 7f60c52d77

and it suits me the best as I have limited space and finaces.

The setup will consist of an Epson T3200, Sawgrass ink, and a vacuum pump controled press of following:

MDF (or wood) table
heating blanket
4-5mm thick aluminum (is it better to have a thick or thin sheet??)
silicon gaskets around for the seal
topsheet
1-2mm silicon blanket seal folded around the top
MDF or wood top.

seems reasonable??

1) I was thinking to avoid the top aluminum sheet in order to reduce the heat loss? Would MDF work? I heard some bad stories but does anyone have hands on experience?

2) Plan is to hook it up to a vacuum pump so I can get nice pressure quite fast. From what I read it should be doable with this pressure. Now I dont have much experience with Vacuum pumps, can anybody here recommend what to look for? Technology, spec, price etc?

Thx in advance
M

I'm not sure since I didn't really looked into sublimation for now but I believe the aluminum has to be there, it will stock a bigger amount of heat that just the blanket. Basically your heat blanket heats the aluminum so it will be at the right temperature as soon as you push it against the topsheet material (or as soon as you pull the topsheet against it with vacuum pressure).. and it will keep the temperature quite constant.
I'm not 100% sure of that but that's the way I see it...