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As of September 15th The BrickEngraver will offer a service that will further
add to the customization market for AFOL's. From the guy who brought you
engraved bricks for badges and all kinds of things y'all come up with, comes
BRICK PRINTING. I will be launching a website named BrickPrinter.com in future,
but if interested can always get in touch with me through BrickEngraver.com.
If you can photograph it, you can get it printed directly onto a LEGO piece in 4
color 2400 dpi printing. Minifig torsos, bricks, printing across multiple bricks
and tiles, panels, tiles, even theoretically on slightly curved pieces. Logos,
photographs, whatever.
Text easily readable down to 4 points or even less. Greyscales and tonal
scales. This is brand new technology. (and expensive--for me anyway) but opens
up a whole array of things that can be done. I am sure y'all will come up with
many more ideas than I can. You always do. lol
If going to BrickFair, stop by my table and see a sample.
I have gone to the factory with parts and tested out this new printing
technology and it passed my qc tests--which I try to keep as high as I can. It
also passed my wife's qc which is higher than mine. After all pleasing LEGO
AFOL's is not an easy task--mighty particular bunch of customers--lol
I think y'all will all be pleased at the quality AND the price. Well there will
probably be some out there that are not pleased, but almost all of you will be.
lol
I am not quitting the engraving business of course as it is still the most
permanent method--and it has a look and feel all its own. And it was afterall my
idea and it has been fun. But, for those things not applicable for engraving
this is the solution. Instead of applying decals, simply have it printed
directly onto the part,
There are limitations to this method in that it has to be printed onto a white
part. But for exmaple I can print the whole brick red and just have the white
showing through. This technology will enable my idea of supplanting business
cards with BusinessBricks(tm) or BusinessFigs. It can open up to all the great
builders out there with say the opportunity of creating kits for very localized
markets--such as the local museum gift shop.
The thinness of the printing makes it possible to still have all the building
dimensions of the brick or part essentially unchanged.For example you can stack
them behind one another.
Custom give a ways for events are now much cheaper than custom engraving for
many uses. But of couse engraving is still very kewl and will last forever.
The printed surface, since it is so thin, is actually very durable to rubbing
but of course can be scratched. I am exploring a clear coating for more
protection for those projects that would require more durability. And really
cannot see why it will not work as well as impart UV protection.
Since with printing there really is a bit of economy of scale, I will hopefully
be able to do them at a somewhat reasonable price. With engraving, it involves
not only set up time , machine time, painting time , painting time, cleaning
time, and polishing time there really is not economy of scale except for set up
costs.
With this process when an item comes off the printer you have a finished
product.
Main cost is cost of part, cost of ink, and COST of MACHINE. I of course have to
be able to pay the bank note on it. Big gamble on my part.
Comments welcome.
What do y'all think--will this be a service that yall will be interested in?
Tommy Armstrong
tfa@brickengraver.com
www.brickengraver.com
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In lugnet.market.buy-sell-trade, Tommy Armstrong wrote:
> If you can photograph it, you can get it printed directly onto a LEGO piece in 4
> color 2400 dpi printing.
> There are limitations to this method in that it has to be printed onto a white
> part. But for exmaple I can print the whole brick red and just have the white
> showing through.
> Comments welcome.
Thanks, Tommy. So, it is a 4c process but needs to be printed on white elements
only? Is that correct?
If so, is there a 5c process available where the 5th color could be white and
the 4c printing would print over it?
Another question: Why couldn't the 4c printing be done on another color brick?
Is it just a matter of the reproduction being wonky due to show-thru of the
brick color?
I look forward to your reply.
Best,
Jonathan
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In lugnet.market.buy-sell-trade, Jonathan Lopes wrote:
> In lugnet.market.buy-sell-trade, Tommy Armstrong wrote:
>
> > If you can photograph it, you can get it printed directly onto a LEGO piece in 4
> > color 2400 dpi printing.
>
> > There are limitations to this method in that it has to be printed onto a white
> > part. But for exmaple I can print the whole brick red and just have the white
> > showing through.
>
>
> > Comments welcome.
>
> Thanks, Tommy. So, it is a 4c process but needs to be printed on white elements
> only? Is that correct?
>
> If so, is there a 5c process available where the 5th color could be white and
> the 4c printing would print over it?
>
> Another question: Why couldn't the 4c printing be done on another color brick?
> Is it just a matter of the reproduction being wonky due to show-thru of the
> brick color?
>
> I look forward to your reply.
>
> Best,
> Jonathan
They do indeed have a 5 color process that prints white also, but it uses UV
light to cure the white "basecoat" and then prints to the white and uses a uv
cure for that also. With that process they can achieve higher film builds since
UV will cure film from top to bottom instantly. Regular ink dries by evaporation
of solvent. I saw one at the factory and it was pretty kewl, but was over
$100,000.
A bit out of my range--lol. This machine was at the limit of my credit at the
bank. It can print on items up to 5" high and on slightly curved surfaces.
Resolution is outstanding so for example could print a logo, email address,
name, and phone number on a 1x6 brick.Minifig cards could now be possible,
although of course way more than a printed card one--but bricks could be almost
reasonable to hand out as a calling card for special customers/contacts. How
many people would throw away a printed brick? And do away with the roladex--just
stack them on top of each other--lol
The ink simply does not have the hiding capacity to cover in one coat at the
thickness of the film printed to achieve coverage. Much like painting a wall in
your house. If you are going to paint with any clear color such as yellow--you
need to paint the wall with white first.
Color reproduction can be tweaked, but of course takes some time. Many times
though acceptable right from the .eps file or .jpg file. For a photograph pretty
much need to do the same thing as if manually printing in darkroom and do a
test, make modifications, another test,etc. Once settings done, you are good to
go.
So at least for me, printing on colored bricks will have to be done by engraving
and filling with paint. It is my intention, and I did not test this out, to
match colors of bricks for background so would blend with bricks and you would
print the entire brick except for the text, logo, picture with the matching
color. Of course the sides and back and top would still be white.
But I think there are plenty of possibilities to keep me busy even being limited
to white only. And I am confident that you AFOL's will come up with a plethora
of things that I have never thought about. This is really new tech and really
does, I believe open up wide possibilities for all kinds of things. The machine
of course was not designed with LEGO in mind, but things like golfballs, pens,
lighters, tin cans, boxes--one step 4 color is new concept for these items.
Tommy
www.brickengraver.com
now also in future
www.brickprinter.com
For example could do a plate with a little white border around it, background
green, and graphics or letters whatever color.
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In lugnet.market.buy-sell-trade, Tommy Armstrong wrote:
>
> Comments welcome.
>
> What do y'all think--will this be a service that yall will be interested in?
I'd be more interested if I thought that would ever ship the items I ordered and
asked for. What's it been now, 3 years? 4 years? and I'm still waiting. Does
everyone have to wait this long, or do you dislike only me for some reason?
Paul Sinasohn
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> But I think there are plenty of possibilities to keep me busy even being limited
> to white only. And I am confident that you AFOL's will come up with a plethora
> of things that I have never thought about. This is really new tech and really
> does, I believe open up wide possibilities for all kinds of things. The machine
> of course was not designed with LEGO in mind, but things like golfballs, pens,
> lighters, tin cans, boxes--one step 4 color is new concept for these items.
>
> Tommy
> www.brickengraver.com
>
> now also in future
> www.brickprinter.com
>
> For example could do a plate with a little white border around it, background
> green, and graphics or letters whatever color.
Tommy,
Out of curiosity, what about printing on clear window panes? would that work?
I would think that you might be able to print on both sides of a window pane,
giving 2x capacity. (not to mention all the fun LEGO scenes you could "draw" on
a window pane...town or otherwise!) let your imagination run on that
possibility.
Have you tried using a non-white brick to see what it does? I know from some of
my limited art education classes, when we had to paint a gallery wall from dark
to light, it was required that you put a sealer on the existing paint, which
prevented the dark color from bleeding through the light color.
Granted, I'm applying paint logic to printing, but it's something to experiment
with.
Scott
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In lugnet.market.buy-sell-trade, Paul Sinasohn wrote:
> In lugnet.market.buy-sell-trade, Tommy Armstrong wrote:
>
> >
> > Comments welcome.
> >
> > What do y'all think--will this be a service that yall will be interested in?
>
>
> I'd be more interested if I thought that would ever ship the items I ordered and
> asked for. What's it been now, 3 years? 4 years? and I'm still waiting. Does
> everyone have to wait this long, or do you dislike only me for some reason?
>
> Paul Sinasohn
Paul is absolutely correct. I owe him stuff for a long time. I come up with an
idea and he jumps on it and I have never followed through with him. Hopefully he
has never paid me for anything he has not received--but I will confess. It is
entirely my fault. And I will go back into the shop right this minute and start
to work on his orders. And if I owe you money for something you have not
received--email me immediately and will send you a refund + interest to you
immediately.
What can you really say when you screw up except that you screwed up.
Ashamed in North Carolina
Tommy Armstrong
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>
> Tommy,
>
> Out of curiosity, what about printing on clear window panes? would that work?
> I would think that you might be able to print on both sides of a window pane,
> giving 2x capacity. (not to mention all the fun LEGO scenes you could "draw" on
> a window pane...town or otherwise!) let your imagination run on that
> possibility.
>
> Have you tried using a non-white brick to see what it does? I know from some of
> my limited art education classes, when we had to paint a gallery wall from dark
> to light, it was required that you put a sealer on the existing paint, which
> prevented the dark color from bleeding through the light color.
>
> Granted, I'm applying paint logic to printing, but it's something to experiment
> with.
>
> Scott
I did not have time to actually test clear parts. They said it would not work,
But did say that would create a nice stain glass effect--which makes sense. And
could be actually used for some very nice effects. Clear panels very well might
print with black ink since it has the highest hiding power and I think that
printing with a color that is the exact opposite of the underlying brick color
might work. For example a little violet with the black to make it hide better
over yellow (yellow and violet are opposites). Black and yellow make green, but
with violet in it, it very well might kill the yellow that makes the green and
therefore achieve a true black. That kind of thing. Same with red over green
and vice versa. I will be fun trying to figure out what it can really do. I
think in the next 3 or 4 years you will see a lot of these things around and
prices will of course drop.
Another thing would be that if the pattern was printed over a brick one could
very well get what is akin in the decorating business as a faux finish. Where
one puts a glaze coat over a base coat with sponges or feathers or cheesecloth,
etc. I used to do that kind of thing for a living a long time ago. The glaze
coat would be analogous to the semi-transparent ink. That kind of thing.
But a stain glass creation with infinite variations in color could make for some
interesting artwork.A new media for artists--not necessarily for LEGO AFOL's.
And the transparency could be turned into a good thing instead of being a
limitation.
Just thinking and waiting for it to arrive.
Tommy
ashamed in NC
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In lugnet.market.buy-sell-trade, Tommy Armstrong wrote:
> What can you really say when you screw up except that you screwed up.
Actually, the ability to do that is rather rare. Actually, closer to
non-existent in my experience. So bravo for saying it (this is coming from
someone who *has* had custom orders go through just fine).
On the original subject, this actually sounds kind of cool, although I can't
immediately think of a whole lot of robotics applications... but I probably
will. Like moving true multi-hued grey-scaled parts under a light sensor for
fine position resolution... OK, there, I already thought of one :).
--
Brian Davis
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In lugnet.market.buy-sell-trade, Brian Davis wrote:
> In lugnet.market.buy-sell-trade, Tommy Armstrong wrote:
>
> > What can you really say when you screw up except that you screwed up.
>
> Actually, the ability to do that is rather rare. Actually, closer to
> non-existent in my experience. So bravo for saying it (this is coming from
> someone who *has* had custom orders go through just fine).
>
> On the original subject, this actually sounds kind of cool, although I can't
> immediately think of a whole lot of robotics applications... but I probably
> will. Like moving true multi-hued grey-scaled parts under a light sensor for
> fine position resolution... OK, there, I already thought of one :).
Back in the late 60's or early 70's a guy name Steve Brand (this if from memory)
came out with The Whole Earth Catalog--An Access to Tools. Big rage in the
hippie/design/commune/techno geeky subcultures. He essentially provided a source
for tool and from there applications resulted.
Creative people always find applications for new tools that the tool maker never
envisioned. I am just providing a tool for another one in the tool box. It will
be interesting to see where it goes. (and how long before I have
competition--lol)
Tommy Armstrong
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In lugnet.robotics, Tommy Armstrong wrote:
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Back in the late 60’s or early 70’s a guy name Steve Brand (this if from
memory) came out with The Whole Earth Catalog--An Access to Tools. Big rage in
the hippie/design/commune/techno geeky subcultures. He essentially provided a
source for tool and from there applications resulted.
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Whole Earth Catalog by
Stewart Brand
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In lugnet.robotics, Bob Parker wrote:
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In lugnet.robotics, Tommy Armstrong wrote:
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Back in the late 60’s or early 70’s a guy name Steve Brand (this if from
memory) came out with The Whole Earth Catalog--An Access to Tools. Big rage
in the hippie/design/commune/techno geeky subcultures. He essentially
provided a source for tool and from there applications resulted.
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Whole Earth Catalog by
Stewart Brand
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Steve/Stewart not bad for 40 years of being in a muddled brain of millions of
pathways. Even got “access to tools” right. As you can tell, that was a really
important book in my youth. And memories from youth are the ones that stick the
best in old age.
Incredibly interesting reading and would make a good resource for anyone wanting
to learn about the years when technology really bloomed. Low tech and high tech.
Tommy
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<Snippage>
> Steve/Stewart not bad for 40 years of being in a muddled brain of
> millions of
> pathways. Even got "access to tools" right. As you can tell, that was a
> really
> important book in my youth. And memories from youth are the ones that
> stick the
> best in old age.
>
> Incredibly interesting reading and would make a good resource for anyone
> wanting
> to learn about the years when technology really bloomed. Low tech and high
> tech.
>
> Tommy
</Snippage>
60's, huh? Although I wasn't there myself, my uncle always said if you
remember the 60's, you weren't there. You remembered part of it. Does that
mean you were partially there? ;)
-Rob
www.lifelites.com
FUT - O-T.fun
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In lugnet.robotics, Rob Hendrix wrote:
> <Snippage>
>
> > Steve/Stewart not bad for 40 years of being in a muddled brain of
> > millions of
> > pathways. Even got "access to tools" right. As you can tell, that was a
> > really
> > important book in my youth. And memories from youth are the ones that
> > stick the
> > best in old age.
> >
> > Incredibly interesting reading and would make a good resource for anyone
> > wanting
> > to learn about the years when technology really bloomed. Low tech and high
> > tech.
> >
> > Tommy
>
> </Snippage>
>
> 60's, huh? Although I wasn't there myself, my uncle always said if you
> remember the 60's, you weren't there. You remembered part of it. Does that
> mean you were partially there? ;)
>
> -Rob
> www.lifelites.com
>
> FUT - O-T.fun
Well that is a fairly accurate statement. Although I was still pretty grounded
in the 60's--it was the 70's that were really where semi-presence occurred in
me. Amd from Paul's post I guess semi-presence is still hanging around me. lol
You must remember we were forging new frontiers back then. Today just kind of
tweaking them..
btw--here is a pic Rob of example of printer
http://flickr.com/photos/7944318@N05/2798547252/
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http://flickr.com/photos/7944318@N05/2798547252/
> Comments welcome.
>
> What do y'all think--will this be a service that yall will be interested in?
>
> Tommy Armstrong
> tfa@brickengraver.com
> www.brickengraver.com
Here is a link to a pretty bad picture of what my new machine is capable of. The
minifigs and tiles are actually of excellent quality. The graphic over bricks
was done by them with a less than perfect picture file so not as good.
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In lugnet.market.buy-sell-trade, Tommy Armstrong wrote:
> http://flickr.com/photos/7944318@N05/2798547252/
> > Comments welcome.
> >
> > What do y'all think--will this be a service that yall will be interested in?
> >
> > Tommy Armstrong
> > tfa@brickengraver.com
> > www.brickengraver.com
>
> Here is a link to a pretty bad picture of what my new machine is capable of. The
> minifigs and tiles are actually of excellent quality. The graphic over bricks
> was done by them with a less than perfect picture file so not as good.
Hi Tommy,
The result is very nice. I'm pretty sure we will find new ideas of goodies for
our LUG (and new challenges for you) ;)
Erik - FreeLUG member
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In lugnet.market.buy-sell-trade, Tommy Armstrong wrote:
> http://flickr.com/photos/7944318@N05/2798547252/
> > Comments welcome.
Hi Tommy,
Did the machine melt the second stud from the left or were you using deformed
bricks for testing?
I can think of lots of cool uses; this looks like it will be wonderful.
Rafe
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In lugnet.market.buy-sell-trade, Erik Amzallag wrote:
> In lugnet.market.buy-sell-trade, Tommy Armstrong wrote:
> > http://flickr.com/photos/7944318@N05/2798547252/
> > > Comments welcome.
> > >
> > > What do y'all think--will this be a service that yall will be interested in?
> > >
> > > Tommy Armstrong
> > > tfa@brickengraver.com
> > > www.brickengraver.com
> >
> > Here is a link to a pretty bad picture of what my new machine is capable of. The
> > minifigs and tiles are actually of excellent quality. The graphic over bricks
> > was done by them with a less than perfect picture file so not as good.
>
> Hi Tommy,
>
> The result is very nice. I'm pretty sure we will find new ideas of goodies for
> our LUG (and new challenges for you) ;)
>
> Erik - FreeLUG member
Your logo would look outstanding --I always liked that logo--a pain to
engrave--but would be easy to print. But you already have it on a minifig on
your website.
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In lugnet.market.buy-sell-trade, Tommy Armstrong wrote:
> There are limitations to this method in that it has to be printed onto a white
> part. But for example I can print the whole brick red and just have the white
> showing through.
Could you print dark colors on fairly light colored bricks? For example, could
you print black text on a yellow brick? If the yellow plastic behind the black
letters made the text look dark gray instead of true black, I don't think it
would matter much. The sharp resolution is what would really count. Color
photos might even look good on light gray or tan pieces.
David
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In lugnet.market.buy-sell-trade, David Gregory wrote:
> In lugnet.market.buy-sell-trade, Tommy Armstrong wrote:
> > There are limitations to this method in that it has to be printed onto a white
> > part. But for example I can print the whole brick red and just have the white
> > showing through.
>
> Could you print dark colors on fairly light colored bricks? For example, could
> you print black text on a yellow brick? If the yellow plastic behind the black
> letters made the text look dark gray instead of true black, I don't think it
> would matter much. The sharp resolution is what would really count. Color
> photos might even look good on light gray or tan pieces.
>
> David
Hopefully--I actually sent them some yellow parts but did not get chance for
samples. But it was not a deal killer. I would think, especially if printing
with black that that would work. Black always has the highest opacity of any
pigment and if tweaked with some purple also then like a color filter should
increase its hiding capacity. When mixing paint for example if something is too
yellow, a touch of violet will kill the yellow. If you have exactly the violet
that is the anti-yellow hue, it will turn it grey in pigment-and in transparent
gels will actually block it. This principle is used for chemical anyalysis in
color spectrophotometer machines. No reason I can see would not work on top of a
yellow brick. Just need to find anti-yellow. Used to be when shooting bw photos,
if wanted the sky to be darker, you would put an orange filter over lense to be
anti-blue.A red lense to make green darker. A yellow filter to block violet.
Now there is a thought for some of you mindstorms guys--gels of specific
transmittance over the photo sensor--so could absolutely discriminate the
anti-color of the gel color with simple measurement. When no light transmitted
then you have found the anti-color. The color sensor might work that way for
all I know. Exactly how those machines in paint stores that match colors work.
Tommy
Or theoretically could "print" a contiuous tone "color gel" that went from dark
to light yellow of the same hue and have it move over lines of various
intensities of violet and might be kewl effect. But that would be like artsy
stuff. lol
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