Kitebuilder.com

[Barbara]

Roy Broadley of Kites Up in the UK is doing some great stuff with printing on Ripstop. Last year at Fort Worden there was a parafoil built out of fabric he had printed a photo on, looked great! I beleive he is doing this on a commercial basis for kites, banners, etc. They do have a web site, drop him a note, http://www.kitesup.co.uk/
Barbara
_________________
Chair, AKA Kitemakers' Competition Committee
Coordinator, Midwest Area Kitemakers Retreat
Join us for the next MAKR, March 10-12 2006, contact me for more information!
www.makr.info

[dpb]

If you want a larger format printer at a more reasonable price (or is that merely a less unreasonable price), look for used E sized roll fed machines. E-size machines print 34x44 pages (35x45 if they print full size bleeds). Most roll fed machines also have a "banner" mode which feeds the roll through 44 inches wide by as long as you wish. For example, I once printed NASA's 360 deg photo of the mars rover landing. I put it on a sheet that was 44 inches tall by about 20 feet long, for display on a wall (I even gave a copy to one of the engineers who worked on that project and they were thrilled).

Tektronix put out one printer that size: Phaser 600. It uses solid ink (the ink is solid like a crayon. It is melted and shot out of a jet, and then cools and is solid again). It has 2 fusing options: a hot press fuser (melts and mashes the pixels down into the media), and a less harsh cold press fuser (which only uses pressure to mash the pixels down into the media). The hot fuser does a more thorough job of fusing, but some medias are heat sensitive. The ink is waterproof even if the media isn't and it prints on most anything (Ken Conrad keeps asking if we have an extra).

Hp has had an aqueous inkjet of about the same size. Quality is nice and it has one coated media which feels like white Mylar. The ink is not waterproof though and the technology is probably more restrictive on media (fewer choices as Solid ink will print on almost anything).

Both technologies (solid ink and aqueous inkjet) go through ink big time and it can be expensive. Both can be scratched if you try, though the aqueous inkjet is probably more robust than the older technology solid ink (like that used in the Phaser 600. Tektronix doesn't even sell that printer anymore). Both can have a Mylar layer fused to the front, to protect the ink from the environment. It adds weight and cost though.

New, large format machines run from $2000 to $20,000 (and up). Be sure that you check the types of media available, and cost of media and ink. If you get an older machine, definitely be sure of the quality (old machines can have problems, and you're not going to have a warrantee), and be sure you can get sufficient media and ink (Some manufactures keep doing supplies for obsolete printers and some phase the supplies out after 10 years or so).

The really large printer I mentioned before are another ink/paint technology entirely, as are the printers mentioned by Harold (acid dyes).

Dave
_________________
Cherry Blossoms fall like rain,
A lively kite steals the sky,
Paradise in a moment.

[dpb]

If you find a print shop in your area with one of these large format, roll feed machines, you could always ask how often they upgrade and why. Some shops automatically upgrade to the newest technology every couple of years so they can say they have the latest and greatest. Others only upgrade when their printers become obsolete, or trashed, or they can't get supplies anymore. If they are the first type of shop you might get a good deal. If they are the second type, then sigh and walk away; you would be buying a headache.

Occasionally too (very occasionally), you can find one at a bankruptcy or going out of business auction. It won't happen very often, but then you probably won't have too much bidding competition either. Be sure to check on the costs and availability of supplies before you buy though.

Dave
_________________
Cherry Blossoms fall like rain,
A lively kite steals the sky,
Paradise in a moment.

[dpb]

Btw, I just found a page to one of the huge scale printers I was talking about. Be sure and look at some of the huge banners they show. Also note that they talk about doing backlit banners so the inks must be somewhat transluscent. I don't know the weight of the vinyl they are printing on though.

http://www.vinylbannersprinting.com/

Dave
_________________
Cherry Blossoms fall like rain,
A lively kite steals the sky,
Paradise in a moment.

[kiteguy]

[kiteguy]

I finally found the source for the idea of putting logos on kites using ink jet printer and transfer paper.

To be honest, I have not tried this on a sail, yet. I have done it on storage bags several times, though. They seem to be holding up fine in that application. Another of our club members has done it, too.

Take a look here for more information.

http://www.xs4all.nl/%7Epdj/transfer.htm
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Dave Ellis
Kites + Kids = Education

[dpb]

I wanted to reopen this topic. At Ft Worden, I saw the latest sublimation dye kites produced by Ken Conrad and they are much improved over what I had seen before. Also present was the British guy (I am embarassed that I forgot his name for them moment, but I am sure that someone will produce it for me), who does sublimation transfer. I was very impressed by his stuff. The fabric was not normal Ripstop; at least it did not feel like the Ripstop I am used to, but it may be the norm for Britain. It did accept and display the sublimation dye quite well. It definitely has a future.

Dave
_________________
Cherry Blossoms fall like rain,
A lively kite steals the sky,
Paradise in a moment.

[dpb]

I believe it was Roy Broadly who was at Ft Worden. He uses a large format printer with the sublimation dyes (I got to talk to him about it for a bit).
Dave
_________________
Cherry Blossoms fall like rain,
A lively kite steals the sky,
Paradise in a moment.