randalle 50 Posted July 31, 2011 I'm really struggling with 3G Jet, I mean I WANT to love this product... well, I want it to work... thus I would love it. But it is such a fight to use. (a few observations) It is HARD to weed. If you don't use tape on it, it will curl. Unless you are printing and pressing an 8.5 x 11 square... it is VERY unmanageable. If you do use tape on it, it will pull off some of the ink. Anybody got any tips and tricks to share with me? What is your exact process?? Thanks Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BearlyRich 167 Posted July 31, 2011 Maybe I'm missing something, but you do not weed 3G. You print on it, cut around what you print (if needed) and then press it on. Unless you're doing something very fancy, or odd, I'm not sure. But I like the stuff a lot... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
randalle 50 Posted August 2, 2011 Maybe I'm missing something, but you do not weed 3G. You print on it, cut around what you print (if needed) and then press it on. Unless you're doing something very fancy, or odd, I'm not sure. But I like the stuff a lot... Sorry for the delayed response... had a couple day battle with my own stupidity vs. my cutter and my cutter won (until today!!) So take a simple shape like a star. Say a 3" star (for simplicity of discussion sakes). 1. You print the star, then remove all the rest of the sheet by either cutting it out by hand or contour cutting it. If you contour cut it, you can peel away the excess white sheet easily enough. If you don't contour cut it you have to cut it out with no tolerance around the star (no excess white) which makes removing the star (intact) from the backing paper a real pita (in my opinion). These are just my observations, chime in anywhere... please. 2. Now, in my case with a contour cut star (assuming I actually got it off the backing without tearing it up) I either need to drop it on my shirt to press it and close the press fast enough that it don't curl into a messy little ball OR put tape on it. I haven't had any luck not resulting in a messy ball of vinyl. So, I found some RT4075 (i think) that is made for the purpose of holding your 3g still while you work without it bursting into proverbial flames. My first try resulted in it actually peeling some of the ink off the vinyl... thus me making this frustrated post. I will try again tonight with the tape and see if it works. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BearlyRich 167 Posted August 3, 2011 Ah, so you're just talking about removing the backing. Yep, that can be a real pain sometimes. I peck away at corners with my fingernails. Works okay. I thought RT4075 was plain old transfer tape for sign vinyl? Maybe I have the wrong number? But I do not know of a transfer tape for heat press vinyl so using that may cause more problems? Don't you put some kind of sheet on top of the 3G before pressing? I use parchment paper all the time in my press. Doesn't 3G come with a sheet? Can't remember at the moment... But, I have had no problems with it curling and use a sheet over it to hold it down in the press. Maybe you're too aggressive when peeling the backing off and stretching the 3G so it curls after the backing is removed? Sorry, at the moment, that's all I got... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
randalle 50 Posted August 3, 2011 Ruining 15 or so sheets of 3G tonight trying to work out my usb issues on my LP.... I got plenty of practice with working with 3G. I believe I've bridged the gap with removing the backing.... just took a little patience (not my strong suit) The 4075 is just regular paper, I had to dig and dig and dig... but somewhere on one of the 3G pages @ coastal, they have a little "oh hey, you might want to try this" where they are pimping out the tape for use with 3G. I was desparate, so I bought some on the spot. Short answer, yes... if you use 3G for anything but big squares.... you want some of this tape (imho) My first real fiasco with 3G going south on me was a name and a number on the back of a shirt. By the time I got the name square, it was curling... by the time I got the number square... it too was curling and the name was a mushy ball of ink. Total chaos. I do have a teflon sheet, I guess maybe I just had two left hands while trying to put it all together. Even so, I felt the overall experience was very lacking. At any rate, I did a few test presses tonight with my tape and 3G and it was pretty smooth. I was impressed. I just stuck the tape on top of my design and walked it over to the press. The tape sticks down to the shirt just enough to hold everything still and square -minus the curly edges. I was able to fret my alignment for a good minute, then press with no issues. Removal was smooth, and the finished product looked GREAT. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BearlyRich 167 Posted August 3, 2011 I don't think I'd put the app tape in my press, but now that you've mentioned it, I might try it just for the fun (between sheets of parchment!). The heat tape sounds like a good idea but I would worry about it peeling up the transfer. If it doesn't, great way to hold things in place. I'll admit that I haven't done a whole lot of 3G transfers and most of them were big and mostly square or one piece small items. So I wouldn't have the problems you're facing. One thought I had was this. You can "tack" down a single piece in the press for 5 seconds or so and then apply another piece. Might be easier than trying to place multiple pieces all at the same time. As far as over pressing, I wouldn't worry. Out of curiosity, I've pressed things at 375 or more for longer than 3 minutes ( in 2 or more pressings) doing tests on things and saw no damage. This stuff is very lenient and forgiving. Just don't under press... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
randalle 50 Posted August 3, 2011 That eases my concerns about double sided pressing. Thanks. Give the tape a try, you'll love it. You don't need the parchment. I did a press @ 350 for 27 seconds last night and it didn't peel the xfer. This is the paper I'm using. http://www.coastalbusiness.com/r-tape4075-rlaconform-hightack-standardpaperapplicationtapeclickforsize.aspx Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BearlyRich 167 Posted August 3, 2011 Okay, let me get this straight... You're pressing with the rtape on top of the 3G and shirt, and the rtape doesn't melt or stick or destruct in some way? Or did I miss something? I thought the tape you were talking about was the high-temp tape used mostly for sublimation? Yes, I did a transfer once without the parchment. Took me an hour to scrape off the goo from the top plate of my press Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
randalle 50 Posted August 4, 2011 Okay, let me get this straight... You're pressing with the rtape on top of the 3G and shirt, and the rtape doesn't melt or stick or destruct in some way? Or did I miss something? I thought the tape you were talking about was the high-temp tape used mostly for sublimation? Yes, I did a transfer once without the parchment. Took me an hour to scrape off the goo from the top plate of my press Yes, Top Platen - tape - xfer - shirt - bottom platen. It does not stick or melt in any way... but LOL you should see what happens when you use clear tape.... instant melt (but actually easier to peel off than a transfer when you forget to cover it with something). Nope, no high temp tape, just plain 4075 tan color high tac tape. You might do it once with parchment just to feel comfortable with it, but I feel really confident that once you try it this way you will really like it for any complex stuff. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BearlyRich 167 Posted August 4, 2011 That's amazing. I would never have thought that rtape would handle the temps. I'll definitely have to test this out to see, and to see how much it does take to melt it Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
randalle 50 Posted August 4, 2011 I have some more R&D to do, but I pressed a few last night and it went great. More info soon. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
