Full Version: Cactus Equipment & Supplies

From: Carl (CSEWELL) [#1]
 4 Mar 2007
To: ALL

I had been looking for quite some time for a new process/technology to supplement my laser engraving product line. Dye sublimation, sand carving, rotary engraving were a few that I looked at more closely than others. While capital can be easily attained by me through a loan, I was hesitant to invest too heavily on a new technology due to the risks and also the limited time available to develop and market a new technology/process.

I had heard a lot of good things about OEM transfer through this forum, so about 2 months ago I sent an e-mail to Mick at Cactus Equipment & Sales. The e-mail basically said, "Mick, sell me on laser OEM transfer." That he did!

And then some: he sent me OEM samples; he made up a t-shirt with my company logo (front and back) and shipped it to me at his cost; answered way too many e-mails and questions even though typing isn't one of his strong points; modified/shipped a Cactus mug wrap that resolved a specific problem *I* (and probably only me) was having; he offered countless solutions to help improve the quality of *my* mug transfers (most of it boiled down to operator error, the process is much simpler than what I was making it out to be); and......

The local Staples had the new OKIDATA C5500n on sale ($200 off for a short time) and I asked Mick if that would work the same as the C5200n that it replaced. Mick went to a local store, ran samples, and reported the results back to me! A far superior response than "It should."

I asked Mick about laying down (silkscreen) a white underlay (white silkscreen ink) on black t-shirts and then applying fabric VersaTrans laser OEM transfer over that. He had his local t-shirt shop do just that and Mick reported back to me that it looked favorable.

And the OEM transfer process? If it turns out to be half as reliable as Mick, I'll be more than pleased! In the last couple of weeks I've created high quality images on wooden nickels, Alder plaques, clear acrylic, Rowmark plastics (.020" thick and up), mugs, t-shirts, mouse pads, etc and have more to evaluate. All of the substrates are off-the-shelf items. Comments from people that I have sampled products to have been extremely favorable.

It's also been a marketing plus in visiting customers with personalized samples so that I could introduce them to my new capabilities. I'm working several large (for me) orders that any one of them alone could pay off the investment (and also the time!) that I have put into laser OEM transfer and then some!

Thanks Mick!

EDITED: 4 Mar 2007 by DGL

From: precisionlaser [#2]
 4 Mar 2007
To: Carl (CSEWELL) [#1] 4 Mar 2007

Just a couple of pieces of information to add. We buy our transfer paper from JBL Graphics (www.jblgraphics.com). I've found Bill Leek to be a very knowledgeable and helpful resource. We transfer color toner to glass using his SpectraTrans HD paper and it works well. If you're going to transfer color to glass, you'll find a couple of problems. The first is that laser printers do not have the ability to blend colors in the same way that ink jet printers can. This results in the white areas of a photo having no toner at all transferred to the glass. The solution to his is to frost the glass with a quality frost coating, and then (after it's dry and cured of course), transfer the image to the glass. The second problem is that the transferred toner is soft and easy to scratch off. Fortunately, the toner does a much better job of sticking to the coating and the frosting creates the "white" that is missing from the transferred image. We imprinted several thousand ornaments at Christmas using this technique. Very few problems doing it this way.

From: Stunt Engraver (DGL) [#3]
 4 Mar 2007
To: Carl (CSEWELL) [#1] 4 Mar 2007

Carl,

Have you seen the material Mick's going to be introducing in the near future?

It's a thin, durable substrate that can be used as a decorated plate, or an impressive back-lit plate.

Saw it in Las Vegas and the people who saw the samples liked it alot!

From: Carl (CSEWELL) [#4]
 4 Mar 2007
To: Stunt Engraver (DGL) [#3] 4 Mar 2007

Nope, I haven't seen it. Will he be supplying the material (substrate) or just the process (OEM Transfer) to decorate it?

I've seen and also done clear acrylic. Looks nice. You can bring out the colors and/or white with a white backing (paint, sign vinyl). Is what you saw different?

Oh, I forgot to mention that I also was semi-successful with OEM Transfer on lacquer(?) coated brass. Very impressive, but I ran out of samples before I could fine tune the process.

From: Stunt Engraver (DGL) [#5]
 4 Mar 2007
To: Carl (CSEWELL) [#4] 4 Mar 2007

Carl,

The material is going to be supplied in stock sizes (rectangle) because it's difficult to cut in-house.

Hopefully, Mick will see this thread and elaborate.

From: Carl (CSEWELL) [#6]
 4 Mar 2007
To: Stunt Engraver (DGL) [#5] 4 Mar 2007

quote:
Hopefully, Mick will see this thread and elaborate.


He might not! I got the name of his company wrong. It's Cactus Equipment & Supplies (not sales).

Sorry Mick!

From: Stunt Engraver (DGL) [#7]
 4 Mar 2007
To: Mick [#6] 4 Mar 2007

Mick,

Refresh my failing memory. :-)

What's the name of the material with the impressive backlighting properties?

From: Stunt Engraver (DGL) [#8]
 4 Mar 2007
To: Carl (CSEWELL) [#6] 4 Mar 2007

Carl,

I've covered your tracks.

I doubt that would have been enough to keep Mick from noticing this thread. :-)

From: LaZerDude (C_BURKE) [#9]
 4 Mar 2007
To: Carl (CSEWELL) [#6] 4 Mar 2007

quote:
He might not!



Carl,

He will. Trust me.

I'll get on the Mick bandwagon with you. He has spent a lot of time with me as well. The thing I admire about Mick, is he does not take any of this "too" seriously and genuinely cares about helping.......

From: Mick [#10]
 4 Mar 2007
To: Stunt Engraver (DGL) [#5] 4 Mar 2007

Geeezze, now I have to work on Sunday! (insert Chucks laugh here, but it is too cold for me to have a grass skirt on)

The material is a very thin (about .020" if I remember correctly), but tough, electronics grade ceramic. It images VERY nicely, edge to edge with the OEM transfers. It is stunning when back lit with a nice picture on it.

In stock now are 5" X 7" pieces and they sell for $18 / dozen.

Mick Eminger
Cactus Equipment & Supplies
www.cactus-equipment.com
800-440-6847

From: Carl (CSEWELL) [#11]
 4 Mar 2007
To: Mick [#10] 4 Mar 2007

Mick;

Is that the same stuff that they use for thin-film PCBs (printed circuit boards)? It sure sounds the same. And boy is that stuff brittle! And extremely abrasive. I spent several years working with that material in a manufacturing environment. Those high-tech PCBs were used inside switches for power tools.

If memory serves me correctly, they laser scribe that material in the green state (unfired) so that it can be later singulated (separated) along the score lines. I can't imagine trying to cut that stuff after it has been fired without score lines.

From: sprinter [#12]
 4 Mar 2007
To: ALL

I have to jump on the "Mick" bandwagon as well. Talk about great customer service! He has always gone out of his way for help and answering any questions I have had while setting up my equipment and trying different processes.

I am totally satisfied with his products and plan on placing another order tommorrow.

Thanks again Mick for your help!

From: Mick [#13]
 4 Mar 2007
To: sprinter [#12] 4 Mar 2007

Thanks everybody, you are way too kind, wait till you know me better !

From: Stunt Engraver (DGL) [#14]
 4 Mar 2007
To: Mick [#13] 4 Mar 2007

Mick,

I think I know you as well as anybody (7 yrs.) and I can say that the praise is well-deserved. :-)

From: Harvey only (HARVEY-ONLY) [#15]
 5 Mar 2007
To: Mick [#13] 5 Mar 2007

I know you better. I know you from before EE was started, through DSSI.

You are an honest, dedicated supplier who goes the extra mile for all customers and potential customers.

Your innovation is also spectacular. Your new products always work beyond the advertised specifications.

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