DIY Print D-Rollers

[tomb18]

I've read the threads here on the do it yourself print d-rollers.  I'm about to embark on my own and a few questions for owners of the commercial devices and others that may have done their own.
First of all I object to shelling out $300 (canadian!) for a glorified paper towel roll even if it works.
Second, having spent an afternoon searching through several comprehensive patent databases and talking to a patent lawyer at work, it seems that the commercial makers have not filed any patents, or their applications were declined.  Of course advertising that one has patents pending when they do not is illegal.
My guess is that their patents were not granted and therefore it's free market to improve and make an affordable version for hobbyists.

Enough ranting...
Does anyone know what material the sheet is made of?  I have heard people who have made their own have used mylar.  The mylar I have seen so far seems quite thin and not rigid as let's say acetate.  It's big advantage seems to be it's antistatic properties.  Dirt seems to not go near it.
Thus for a DIY version, the first thing should be to get thick enough mylar.  Does anyone know or can measure the thickness of the commercial versions?

Next, what is the thickness of the strips running down the sides?  Is it more than 10 mils? (.01" )?  This would mean that it would separate the mylar from the second layer by more than the thickness of a sheet of paper.  Is this what actually happens in the commercial versions?  Is the mylar stiff enough that if forms two rigid layers where the paper is sandwiched in between with no pressure contact?

I would be greatfull if any of these answers could be given by people who own the commercial versions.  I do not plan to sell this myself, cause if I did I would just buy one, clone it and be done.  Between the ink, paper etc, I can use all the extra cash available!

Thanks for any help

[neile]

I made one following the steps posted in a PDF by someone in another thread in this forum (just search for it, I'm sure it'll come up). It used window cling film from Home Depot and vinyl from a fabric store. Took me about an hour to make and works just fine. Only real problem is the dog hair that gets stuck to it

Neil

[T_om]

Go to your local Big Box DIY store (Home Depot, Lowes, etc.).  Go to the paint department.  For 10 bucks you can buy a roll of heavy painters paper, 3 feet wide and very long.  The roll is about 2.5  to 3 inches in diameter.

Done.

I have been rolling prints up in this paper for two years now and it works perfectly.

Tom

[framah]

I took a 3" dia cardboard tube and attached a vinyl pull down blind onto it.  I try to put the art far enough down the length of the blind that there isn't any chance the attachment would leave any marks on the paper. It doesn't need to be really tight, just snug. I then put it into a larger tube to set while it does its job.

The other way is to put it into a heat press for a couple of minutes then under weights till it is cool. That would only cost you about $8,000 +/-  

[Tim Gray]

Go to your local Big Box DIY store (Home Depot, Lowes, etc.).  Go to the paint department.  For 10 bucks you can buy a roll of heavy painters paper, 3 feet wide and very long.  The roll is about 2.5  to 3 inches in diameter.

Done.

I have been rolling prints up in this paper for two years now and it works perfectly.

Tom

I've made my own, but this idea makes more sense.

[sergio]

Try the core tubes of roll paper. They do the job pretty well.

[Bartone]

took a 3 inch roll core, used some 2-inch tape to attach a piece of seamless paper to it - maybe 5 feet long. I'm sure it's not archival, but hey, it's only rolled up overnight at the longest. Put the rest of my money into my new camera fund. Why would anyone actually PAY for this?

[tomb18]

took a 3 inch roll core, used some 2-inch tape to attach a piece of seamless paper to it - maybe 5 feet long. I'm sure it's not archival, but hey, it's only rolled up overnight at the longest. Put the rest of my money into my new camera fund. Why would anyone actually PAY for this?

Well I tried this with mylar.  Turns out the mylar is too thin (3 mil) and the edge of the paper causes roll marks on the media.  Going to try with 10mil mylar next.

The commercial version works and works well.

[rickk]

I had also been frustrated with paper curl until making a simple "d-roller" with perhaps the same design referred to in post #2 (static-cling window film stuck to vinyl sheeting wrapped around PVC pipe). Anyhow, it works far better than I would have imagined, and I haven't noticed any surface damage to HP, Hahnemuhle, or Ilford papers. It was certainly worth the $25 in materials and a couple of hours of assembly (repeatedly pressing out the bubbles in the Windex between the window film and vinyl). In fact, it works so well, the price of the commercial product seems worthwhile if the budget DIY option didn't exist.

Two suggestions if you make your own:

when buying the vinyl, bring a large mailing tube or pipe to the hardware store to wrap your vinyl sheeting around as it comes off the store's roll. Otherwise, it will probably get folded, which creates minor flaws in an otherwise smooth sheet.

keep your work area as clean as possible, when making the "d-roller", storing it, and using it. The static cling properties of the window film do attract dust, paper lint, and dog hair as mentioned previously.

Good luck.

Rick

[ThePhotoDude]

I've heard somewhere that the commercial version is quite heavy, is this true? Could you weigh the core down by filling it with sand and sealing it?

I am in UK and cannot buy the commercial one (even if I did have the money) as all the resellers are US based.

Am making mine with the PDF that is on LLVJ forums, um, [a href=\'index.php?act=findpost&pid=173842\']in this post.[/a] - unless there is a newer version somewhere?

Mylar, I have found on this site: http://www.growell.co.uk/p/0309/Mylar-Refl...e-Sheeting.html

And the rest of the stuff I can probably get from B&Q.

[Jeremy Roussak]

I've heard somewhere that the commercial version is quite heavy, is this true? Could you weigh the core down by filling it with sand and sealing it?

Why would you want to do that? The thing doesn't work because the core is heavy: it works because it smoothly rolls the paper against its curl, as I understand it.

Thanks for the link to the mylar page.

Jeremy