HP Scitex FB700

[10sacer]

You should have looked at the CET FK512.

I have a 6x10 bed and 6 colors + 4 heads of dedicated white or you can switch to 2 heads of white and 2 heads of varnish if you so desire. Uses same heads as Oce/Fuji (Konica 512s) and has a 14 picoliter droplet and quality is outstanding. I print to acrylic almost every day and you do need to use the Optix digital grade acrylic for better ink adhesion, but I also use standard acrylic for static displays that no one is going to touch and it works fine, too. If acrylic is the issue - switch to polycarbonate.

To each his own, but there are always alternatives to whats out there.

 

[kkamauu]

I didnt get a chance to see their booth, i was only there for 2 days, but I did ask them to send me sample a couple months ago and the samples they sent werent great at all. I only got two pieces - one on Coroplast and one on Plexiglass. The plexiglass was of a small picture of a river or something and it didnt look great at all. maybe i might need to see more samples -

BTW -
Wide Format Imaging’s 2011 Top Products Awards
Flatbed Printer.... Scitex FB700
UV Printer.... Scitex FB700

http://o.wide-formatimaging.com/print/Wide-Format-Imaging/Wide-Format-Imagings-2011-Top-Product-Awards/2$7243

 

[10sacer]

Yeah... samples don't always turn out fantastic as the demo guys are just trying to crank them out.

I do some gorgeous stuff on acrylic/polycarb.

Take the Top Product stuff with a grain of salt. If you look in this month's issue of Wide Format Imaging under Top Shops - I am number 41.

We do some pretty cool things with UV prints here, but we are nowhere near as big as Thomas Repro or Ferrari Color or Crush Creative....

 

[signswi]

Why wouldn't you just offset print the folder designs, diecut them and fold/paste POST print like normal...? Customers.

This topic is dead on what we're researching now, FB500 vs CET FK512. Any of you with either of these machines print on aluminum?

 

[Mspec]

printing on Aluminum with a UV engine works fine, but you have to be mindful of what your aluminum is coated with. Look for polyester type coatings,( DiBond and Graphic-AL ) and stay away from PVDF ( MaxMetal uses this, and it is like Teflon to UV ink )

Getting into UV printing turns you in to a virtual chemist, but once you learn what to look out for, it's all good..

 

[animenick65]

We were using cast acrylic and white for that job. We weighed the white issue and the changeover. Our thoughts were, white is probably 10% of our business. One benefit of switching over is the heads don't need to constantly be cleaned as much, so you don't waste as much ink by flushing the white all the time. Not sure how vutek heads are cleaned or how often, but our reseller also sells agfas and recommended the 700 hands down for ease of use + how little ink is wasted using white. He mentioend white heads on agfas tend to clog more often and need replacing. Of course, you do waste some switching over so maybe it's a wash not sure.

Also, if you are printing white on best quality print setting that puppy slows way down. I think like 40sf an hour?

Regarding the pocket question, again...we haven't really run it full on production mode yet but the belt seems to have a fairly strong vacuum. I would think it'd stay down. Like Diesel said, Worst case you could cover part of the belt or perhaps even tape em down.

One thing I'll throw out there. If anyone is really interested in buying a 700 I don't think they are very readily available right now and may be a ways out, so might wanna check on delivery times.

The jets on a VUTEk can be set to clean after a certain interval of time. The new GS series has multiple channels of white, allowing you to print faster with white as well as layer with white.