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Mercer57

ceramic tile clock for my nephew

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I used poly coat, I got it off Amazon followed the instructions and it worked perfect.The only draw back is the mix only last 18 hrs without putting more activator in so I only made an ounce and only had a little left in that batch.Next batch I am going to try spraying ver. brushing to see if it works better. The biggest thing is making sure the tiles are clean and free of anything that might cause streaking or fish eyes.

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How much did that amount of Polycoat cost?  

 

Blank 6" ceramic tiles are $1.88 in small qty from Conde, or for a little bit more you can get the Unisub hardboard tiles which are easier to work with.  They don't require any special drilling procedures, are only about 1/3 the weight of ceramic tiles (less shipping & handling and easier to hang on the wall) and have a flat, smooth front with sharp edges, so you don't need a green mat over the top to get good coverage.  I go through a lot of the U5708 2x2" hardboard tiles which are only $0.54 each in small qty - they are perfect for making inexpensive refrigerator magnets.

 

You'll also notice the surfaces of the pre-coated tiles tend to be very smooth and don't have the little speckles and divots that you find in most cheap hardware store tiles.

 

I am quite impressed with how well your first attempts turned out - I've avoided trying the stuff myself because I heard too many horror stories.  Did you use a foam brush or a bristle brush?

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I bout the dye press stuff off of ebay got it last week and never got to using it had a large order for coolies and then Friday my moms heart rate dropped to 39BPM and couldn't breath they have no idea why. Any way to get back to the stuff. OWJONES the reason some of us buy this stuff instead of buying through conde or coastal is what if an order comes in for something and Conde isn't open on weekends the client wants it Monday, go to the hardware store and buy it, mix the chemical coat, let it air dry, then dry it in the oven, apply transfer, and cook that and bam product done.

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I am the kind of person that prefers to be able to make what I want when I want, I have $2.00 in that clock including the clock movement.If I want to do the withe board clocks I can get a 4x8 sheet and use my scroll saw and make any shape I want. I bought 2 clocks from coastal for like $19.00 on sale plus 9.95 shipping one 4x8 sheet of white board is $13.47 @ lowes.Just saying I have a shop full of tools and have been scroll sawing and woodworking for 12 years, and know the less I cam make it for the more profit I make , Its a matter of choice I was not trying to get you or any one else to do thing my way, there is to much craftsman in me to buy pre-made crap that cost way to much if I can make it my self. and BTW mad. 4.25 x4.25  tiles @ lowes are $.16 each copared t0 $1.23 on sale @ coastal . And I used a 1/2 tight bristle brush on these tiles the foam brush create way to many bubbles. I will be doing a keepsake box soon That will be way better than what they want $12.00 for and have less than $4.00 in. 

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I didn't. Like coastals mantal clocks the frame is more like MDF board heavily stained, everything is open which makes it harder to clean and it should have plexi glass at least over the the clocks face. I want to build my own with better wood,

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I hear ya, custom made is always better IMHO. I am in the education stage in this endeavor, which is why I am making and giving things to family right now, I have got some ideas in the works right now , one of which is making a nice keepsake box with some cnc router carving and tile dye sub in the lid.  

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I hear ya, custom made is always better IMHO. 

And I won't dispute that fact. However, when you look at total overall cost, you need to figure in your time as well. If you take a $0.25 tile and add $0.25 worth of Polycoat and it takes you $2.00+ worth of your time to avoid buying a $1.70 pre-made tile and you're OK with that, then that's a good deal for you.

I started out this business trying to cut every financial corner and do as much stuff myself and the cheapest way possible and more often than not, I ended up regretting it and having to either re-do it the expensive way, or re-do it several times the 'cheap' way until it ended up costing more than the 'expensive' way. If you ever want to ask about cheap alternatives, feel free, because I've tried many of them and most didn't work.

When I saw that you could buy a Polyester coating and apply it to surfaces and make your own items, I got excited and wanted to try it out, but did a bunch of research first and decided that after reading other people's reviews that it was a) a lot more work than I had expected and B) the results weren't up to the same level of quality that you get from the companies that do this for a living - or at least the results I could expect to get, because I have no artistic skills and would never be able to get a smooth, un-bubbled surface.

If you're a hobbyist and this is how you spend your free time, then there is no harm in doing things the way you're doing them and it's probably a lot more rewarding for you when you're done, especially when it turns out as well as your's did.

If, however, you're a business and you're trying to stay cost competitive with other businesses, then spending $10 in labor to save $1 in materials isn't going to work well in the long run.

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The whole labor thing is why I have migrated to doing some of this as compared to scroll sawing witch is labor intensive and hard to sell for what you really have invested in it.I can do one of these clocks in less than 45 min including coating ,curing, printing ,pressing, and installing the clock movement .that's doing a one off start to finish.I understand you point of view and why it is best for you situation.I am disabled and home school my 9 yr old autistic son and take care of 3 more children and in between I  learn all I can to hopefully one day when the nest is empty I can use all my toys full time LOL.My wife is awesome , works full time and is just a few course's from graduating Furman  University with a degree in Accounting.

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I always have felt like doing the decorating / printing of the substrate is half the battle I want to learn every part. I prefer to offer more than just your standard tiles that conde or coastal offers. Plus like I said what if someone comes in wants something when you don't have it within a couple of days,

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dakotagrafx, I found the foam brush made for more bubbles than the close bristle brush, if it does bubble use the water sprayer like the directions state and let it dry and I found it smoothed out the bubbles. don't give up if on it refine the process its not to steep of a learning curve. Hope you have great success, I enjoy doing my own stuff.

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Thanks Mercer - I  bought it to experiment and to actually put a white patch on dark granite tiles from home depot, lowes, menards etc cause i thought they would look cool and not one has anything like it - but business has been picking up a lot and don't see me ever taking the time to use the supplies - I have a few die hard rock solid suppliers for sublimation that I don't' have to dink around with so my time is not taken to "make the items" ready to press;    I have had a bad case of attention deficit  , , ,, , hey squirrel since starting this 9 years ago,  sometimes it is just best to pull out of little stuff like this for me and pay attention on how to get all the work i have been getting - done more efficiently.   I still have plenty of the projects piled up high around here I need to whittle down.   plastisol transfers have helped on many orders that i don't want the entire order screen printed. (one project for my past empolyees was a take on the old Jackson prison bed and breakfast - was great cause on the first order of about 50 shirts we pressed them on sizes to meet the order but over the next 8 months we got sporadic orders in for different sizes and I could press just the sizes we needed each time. some orders are fine screed directly and I can sub that out too  still making decent money without all the mess, etc of screen printing , not to mention all the space that takes.

 

so . . . .. squirrel!

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buy a whole box of the stuff for $30 + shipping   

Yup I bought that guys kit, Still planning on playing with it now that the temp is going up again, and hopefully get to my dads table saw and hopefully it works.

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I used poly coat, I got it off Amazon followed the instructions and it worked perfect.The only draw back is the mix only last 18 hrs without putting more activator in so I only made an ounce and only had a little left in that batch.Next batch I am going to try spraying ver. brushing to see if it works better. The biggest thing is making sure the tiles are clean and free of anything that might cause streaking or fish eyes.

 

You're my new hero. I've purchased this same kit and I haven't had a chance to play with it yet. You have given me hope. It looks great by the way!

Thanks.

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Would you mind linking the stuff you bought off Amazon? I searched poly coat and a few different ones came up. I think I'm finally going to pull the trigger on doing Sublimation, I've only been talking about it for months now! I wanted to go with the larger printer which I saw US Cutter finally has back in stock. I did so much research before and the only thing really holding me back was I wanted to coat anything I wanted, and a lot of people said it doesn't turn out and it's better to buy objects that are pre-coated. Your post is an inspiration to me and thank you for sharing it! 

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This  is the stuff I got, just remember FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS and make sure the item your coating is clean and free of residue once coated us the water spritzer to smooth out any bubbles. I let mine dry for around 30 minutes before curing in the oven. Good luck! I hope you have success . here a video link as well..  

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B00727PE2Shttps                                                                                              

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