Pages: [1]   Go Down

Author Topic: Drytac EliteCoater....  (Read 1370 times)

iCanvas

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 157
Drytac EliteCoater....
« on: May 04, 2015, 03:02:10 pm »

Hi everyone! I print and sell about 20-30 canvas prints a week, and have been spraying my prints, but am not completely satisfied with the spray process as there is occasionally bumps on the canvas and there is a lot of overspray. I also have tried rolling on the coating which I am also not very satisfied with. I can't seem to get rid of the roller marks left on the canvas. I noticed this Drytac EliteCoater on youtube and want to know if anyone here has used it. It costs about $2500.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahWtqmA_NiQ

There is also a manual coater from Daige.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fEpBA7yaDo.

I have an Epson 9900 printer and I use Epson Exhibition canvas matte and print up to 44" wide.
Any advice would be appreciated.

Gar
Logged

Landscapes

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 267
Re: Drytac EliteCoater....
« Reply #1 on: May 04, 2015, 11:39:37 pm »

Although both use the same principle, they look like night and day apart.  The first is very cool.  I like how there is little waste of material.  With the second, having to initially pour out so much to get the thing started means that lots will be wasted.  I imagine you have to babysit the first one by always squirting more on the roller though.  For the second, having to waste more canvas since you need quite a few inches to get it started is a bit worrisome, as is the fact that pulling it is highly irregular, and if you stop mid way, I imagine this might cause a line or streak in the coating.

$2500 seems a bit steep for just a bunch of metal rods with a motor, but if you're coating 100 canvases a month, hence 1200 a year, its only $2 per canvas for the first year if you look at it like this.  If you're really spraying this many canvases a month, I would go for it!
Logged

langier

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1503
    • Celebrating Rural America, the Balkans and beyond
Re: Drytac EliteCoater....
« Reply #2 on: May 05, 2015, 11:34:41 am »

I have the Daige EZ Glide and bought it 2nd hand on eBay.

I used the 9900 to print and then the EZ Glide to coat canvas on a project that required over 600 finished prints. I did about 20-30 per batch, sometimes coating 2-3 times a week.

It took some practice to master the technique but it was the best way I found for my project short of a large and expensive motorized coated. I looked into spraying, but that's another can of worms I didn't want to get into.

Though the EZ Glide is manual, it worked just fine. Smaller canvas could be coated in one pass if care was used. Larger usually took a second pass through the machine to get a very nice surface. I found that if I diluted my coating with 20% distilled water that I had better consistency with the coatings. You do need at least 4-6 inches to get your pulls started.

I have the 55 inch EZ Glide. It takes about 2 liters of coating. Set-up takes just a few minutes and clean-up was a matter of draining, flushing well with water then letting it dry. The biggest problem I had was to have enough space to hang up the canvas to dry. The largest I handled were 44x70 inches. Longer images would drag on the floor. Canvas will want to curl. To counter that issue, I cloths-pinned wooden dowels at each end.

If I'm doing a dozen or more canvases, I set up the Daige. Smaller batches I can easily handle with a foam roller.

When I am doing production it takes maybe five minutes to set-up the coater. You'll need a couple of large tables to coating. It takes about 2-3 minutes to coat each canvas including attachment of a dowel at the leading edge of the canvas, placing the canvas in the trough and closing the roller, pulling and hanging and then attaching a second dowel at the other end to keep the canvas from curling.

Every dozen or so prints you need to check the level of the trough and top off the laminate.

It seems like a lot of work to do it, but once you practice and get into the rhythm, it goes along quickly.


Logged
Larry Angier
ASMP, ACT, & many more! @sacred_icons
https://angier-fox.photoshelter.com

iCanvas

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 157
Re: Drytac EliteCoater....
« Reply #3 on: May 05, 2015, 03:29:43 pm »

Thanks Larry,

What liquid coating did you use? And is is flexible enough so that it doesn't crack when stretched along the edges?

Gar
Logged

langier

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1503
    • Celebrating Rural America, the Balkans and beyond
Re: Drytac EliteCoater....
« Reply #4 on: May 06, 2015, 07:25:48 pm »

I use Clearshield Type C Semi-gloss LL. There's about 4 formulations from gloss to matt, I think.

The coating enriches the canvas I use, Fredrix 777. Besides a very gouge resistant surface (we can't damage it with our fingernails), it adds UV protection, a great deal of depth with blacks become rich and full of life, but also must have some kind of elasticizer that makes the canvas stretch well by both hand and canvas pliers. Also, when we mount on heat-activated foamboard, the canvas even glows nicer and smooths out well. We've "cooked" the canvas and foamboard up to 10-15 minutes with no issues we can see.

Without the coatings, the canvas scuffs easily and appears flat and lifeless. After coating is when they glow.

A local framer brought in to me a "discount" produced canvas from his customer. It was printed on some synthetic canvas off shore. The print was lifeless and the framer didn't want to risk damage when he stretched it. So we gave it a couple of hand coats and now the print has come to life and shouldn't have any issue when it gets wrapped on a frame.

The only time I've managed to crack the image layer is when I've used Desert Varnish or similar spray on the canvas and receded with the Clearshield. It then cracks worse than mud in a dry puddle.
Logged
Larry Angier
ASMP, ACT, & many more! @sacred_icons
https://angier-fox.photoshelter.com
Pages: [1]   Go Up