From my experience, as Aaron mentioned, matte white foil is the
most difficult to stamp for solid areas. Second is black foil. It
can be pretty finicky.
As Aaron also mentioned it could be that that particular foil does
not work on your leather surface.
When doing set ups I work with a reject or scrap of the leather on
the same board or card thickness I plan to stamp on. I adjust the
temp or bed of the press as needed (for pressure), or do make-ready
in areas that need it (building up areas on a set up board or piece
of plexi that I can remove to add stops for registration), and I
experiment with dwell time.
If the foil of choice does not work well by itself, I will try
using another foil close in color or texture to make my first
impression as a base or barrier. Actually this is a second
impression, I blind stamp first to even out the leather surface for
smooth stamping. If I get a good impression with the base foil,
then I stamp over it with the colored foil I wish to use.
Generally I find that black foil works best with lower temps.
Perhaps lower temp and more dwell time. However, when a foil does
not release at all as you have mentioned, it usually means it is
not hot enough, that or simply not suitable for the surface you are
stamping.
Lastly, I have been told over the years that some black foils have
a shelf life. Have others found this to be true?
Good luck, Julie,
Priscilla Spitler
On Jul 31, 2008, at 8:43 AM, Julie Sullivan wrote:
Hello All -
I'm having trouble getting a good impression using black foil
purchased from Talas. Aaron, please chime in if you have
suggestions.:-)
I'm using a custom copper die obtained from Owosso. Previously I
had a magnesium die with the same image and I thought it might be
the die and so ordered the copper version. The die image does have
some intricate detailing, but I still have problems even where the
image is not intricate.
I'm stamping on Harmatan leather, which under all other
circumstances is a beauty to stamp on, using a Kwikprint model 86.
Consistently, the black foil simply doesn't stick to the leather.
I've even tried applying glare on the image area, which is not
needed with gold or silver foil. Testing with gold foil yields
expected results, so I've narrowed the issue to be the foil. I've
tried temps of 250 to 300 to no avail. Also, played with dwell
times and pressure.
Thoughts, suggestions?
Julie Sullivan
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