How to Make Trophies & Awards : Sublimating on a Plaque

Sublimation is a process by which the metal of a plaque is dyed a color to mark the words. Watch a professional trophy maker sublimate a plaque in this free manufacturing video.

Expert: Keith Stunson
Contact: www.goawards.com
Bio: Keith Stunson is the president of Michelson's Trophies, Inc. of Miami, Florida, and has been in the awards business for 40 years.
Filmmaker: Paul Muller

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• trophies
• make
• build
• awards
• plaques

[friggydiggy81]

the best, and really only, imo, reason to sublimate a plaque is because it doesn't scratch, the image is permanent (also applies to t-shirts, where the image won't fade or crack). the materials are more expensive and the equipment has a reputation for being temperamental for the ink. anyone considering sublimating should consider screenprinting or heat transfers, too. of course, it depends on your business plan and volume, but as a rule you don't sublimate large quantities.

[friggydiggy81]

@TexasBeaner214 when i have a call for sublimation, i use the ink. if there's white in the plaque, i use the treated white aluminum. i've had great results with the epson workforce 30 printer and it doesn't clog up *too* bad if you run the nightly maintenance test.

[friggydiggy81]

albundy, you can treat things to be sublimated, but it's a process i've only read about, never tried, and it doesn't sound particularly sensible since so many items are sublimatable. it can be done, though, and requires some kind of polyester treatment and baking. the sublimation ink itself is special and not cheap and requires a special printer, paper and heat press as proper heat and pressure is needed. honestly, i don't sublimate plaques, i use a heat transfer. it scratches, but it's cheap.

[ncmach1]

@TexasBeaner214 Yep, thats just what a fellow said on t-shirt forums. Man they look great.

[TexasBeaner214]

@ncmach1 yea i have those they are made by Unisub

[ncmach1]

@TexasBeaner214

Ah but thats just it. These plaques have no aluminum on top of them. The black transitions to the white top with no seams.

It is one piece.

[TexasBeaner214]

@ncmach1 yea it does need the coating or it wont work & the aluminium needs it also

[ncmach1]

@TexasBeaner214

Oh ok. I didn't think about sublimation. im familiar with it. I do t-shirts and vinyl.

Yea your right. I have some plaques I have won in car shows that is done with the black plate and like you say the top is a real nice gloss white with the image.

Looks real sweet.

But I thought sublimation required a polyester surface for the ink to penetrate like on mugs and license plates.

I will Google it.

[TexasBeaner214]

@ncmach1 if im not mistaken the plaques are white in the middle and i think he uses inkjet not toner sublimation for his tropy plaque in my opinion toner sublimation is better for gold and silver aluminium sublimation over inkjet.the inkjet stuff is for t-shirts,mugs or any white substrate that is made for sublimation

[ncmach1]

What is the process to put the image onto the black composite plaques like you have laying on the table?