Ski Builders Forum

So I’ve started to investigate sublimation printing on my bases. I’ve found a printer locally who has facilities and a willingness to help, he printed some test samples for me the other day which came out well however the samples have been returned with some waviness in them. Is this just par for the course and there is a way to flatten the base material again (if so what’s the secret) or has he done something a bit funny. Sub conditions that he has written on the samples is 1minute 200C and 1500psi. I’m using clear sintered base material.

Secondary question is do you print on the outside of the base material or the inside? The image from the print side looks much better but it looks as though the sub has impregnated maybe 50% of the base thickness so I worry that through the grinding process I may end up with thin spots on the graphic which will cause colour variation. Thoughts?

Thanks

Some waviness is to be expected especially with base material. The only way to mitigate this is to cool the material under pressure. Many snowboard companies just clamp the base material between two thick metal sheets to cool them flat.

The pressure for sublimation sounds really high! I sublimate at 30-40 psi. Do you know what type of sublimation press he uses?

As for the side to print on, all clear materials (inlcuding topsheets) are usually printed on the inside and are then coated with a white epoxy based ink as you cannot sublimate white. This makes the picture a bit more blurry, but reduces the risk of grinding through the graphics.

Industrial process (regarding to isosport) is to cool under pressure after sublimation. Not sure if this is done with roll or plate machines. The problem is you have just a few seconds between, otherwise it starts to act like a snake already

I tried this yesterday. Bad idea...
Just when I put the base and print in the press (vac + 160C+ 2min) I realized that the base is a thermoplastic (polyeten). The base was almost "liquid" when I took it out and never found it's way back to it's original shape. End of story!

This is a rundown on sublimation printing of snowboards (2016)
The cooling aspect is mentioned also.

Ooops...I got some new ideas!
Things that I have not foreseen in my sublimation process, The cooling down aspect/press!

Always something!

Fighting the snake The idea of 2 cool down presses is neat, when you do more topsheets in a queue one press gets too hot after a while. Or you add active cooling (air or water)

OAC wrote: ↑Wed Jan 13, 2021 10:55 am Ooops...I got some new ideas!
Things that I have not foreseen in my sublimation process, The cooling down aspect/press!

Always something!

I just wonder about the temperatures they do. Isosport told me also a high value like that, but on my tries i managed to melt the paper into the material. So for me its lower temp and longer time....