UV Printed Keychains

This is ridiculously simple (and not a great picture), but it’s my first time lasering something specifically to print on the UV printer and working with a jig on that and figuring out placement. These were part of an activity station to make your own keychain, but my daughter and her friend ended up just making a bunch of them for people to take.

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Did you cut then print or print then cut?

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I cut then print. I was making 100+ and this was 24 hours before a big event I was coordinating. It’s GF medium maple because I didn’t have time to worry about finishing the wood and I wanted to keep them masked to avoid cleaning.

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Ooo i need a uv printer :slight_smile:

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They came out great. Congrats on your new toy!

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Super smart. Nice job all around.

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Those look really slick!! I may need to look into getting a UV printer…

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Nice! So the finish does not interfere with the printing…cool!

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The UV ink sticks quite well to a lot of surfaces - we’ve done slate, wood, metal, MDF, cardboard, acrylic, leather, canvas (general fabric and stretched), glass, tile, etc. I’ll let you know in a few months if it starts to wear off. I didn’t put a clear coat on it because these were freebies, but a clear coat would have helped seal it. Also, the inks are translucent, so I went back and forth about putting a layer of white to help the colors pop. In the end, I liked the way they looked as they are.

@cynd11 Thanks. This was a makerspace purchase - WAY out of my budget. :wink: But I’m really enjoying playing with it. I’ve got a couple of sheets of ply that are printed on both sides and waiting for me to cut into something fun.

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I love those color tones…and the extra little baubles attached.

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Those turned out awesome! I’d love to have a printer too…but too pricey!

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Holy smokes! $18 grand just for a small desk model!

Now I am even more jealous!

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We purchsed this at my makerspace. I could not afford one myself. :slight_smile:

@bill.m.davis This one was close to $30K and purchased with grant funding. And it’s not very big in the greater scheme. The max print area is about an A3 sheet of paper.

This is actually a funny thing. I’m managing a grant and we had some extra $ that had to be used on something to help small businesses with marketing and branding. So I proposed this to the rest of the executive committee, assuming that they would all roll their eyes at me. I like to joke that it’s like asking your parents for a pony, knowing full well that they will say no. And then they say yes and suddenly you’re panicking about how you’re going to feed the pony and where you’re going to put it. But it’s a really amazing tool to have access to in a maker space that’s just $49/month!

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This the printer we purchased: https://www.mimakiusa.com/products/uv-led-flatbeds/ujf-3042-mkii-series/

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I was looking at some on AliExpress. Not sure if anyone here has explored that market. Shipping here is rough.

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These look really nice! The colors are beautiful, and the added stones are a very nice touch.

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I would have some concerns about installation/maintenance without a dealer. Of all the tools we have in our space, the UV printer is one of, if not the, most finicky and sensitive.

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I’d love to know what printer your makerspace has. To purchase for my library’s makespace. Thanks!

There is a link to the printer 4 posts up from yours.

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The link is above, but I have to warn you that this is not a trivial purchase. In addition to being quite expensive, it requires a lot of maintenance and users need to really understand what they are doing to avoid destroying the $$ printheads. I’d be happy to chat if you decide to move forward with UV printing, but it’s not a decision I’d enter into lightly.

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