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Best Flatbed Printer Option for Aluminum Blanks

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ProntoSigns

New Member
We are trying to decide on the best flatbed printer for our needs. We are specifically looking to print .063 & .040 aluminum blanks. Most of these are 12"x18" but we also need to print smaller sizes like 10"x14" along with a variety of others. We plan to use a UV coater to finish the signs as some could be placed outdoors.

We are familiar with the HP Latex R1000 and it seems like a potential option as you can hot load each row of blanks but it seems for smaller sizes we would need to make a jig. We also have looked into the EPSON SureColor V7000 which doesn't seem as productive but since it uses a gantry as opposed to the HP belt driven design it seems a lot less problematic to align the job and to avoid headstrikes.

Does anyone print aluminum blanks with their flatbed?

Any advice or opinions is welcomed.
 
petepaz

petepaz

New Member
look at EFI but i would say you want to stay with a true flatbed not a belt driven/friction fed printer. rigid sheets/blanks can get skewed real easy
 
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FormingTeddy

New Member
We have a HP R2000 for about a year now, replaced an old FB750. We run aluminum blanks on it and it has an option for pins that come down to help with the alignment during the setup and feed through. No issues so far. Blanks we use are laser cut first so no oil from routing or other pre-cleanup required on it other than a quick wipe to remove dust/splatter from the laser. Typically our blanks are on 0.063" or 0.080", haven't ran 0.040" blanks yet
 
Gino

Gino

Premium Subscriber
visiongraphics said:
Is that just due to the weight of the blank?
Click to expand...

.032, .040 and sometimes .050 are just to flimsy and might jut up and cause a head strike............. ask me how I know. They flex and the vacuum on a hybrid isn't strong enough according to the size.
 
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CanuckSigns

Active Member
visiongraphics said:
few 100 signs per day
Click to expand...
I would look at a true flatbed, not a belt fed machine like the R2000, with a true flatbed you can use jigs to print multiples. While it is possible on a belt fed machine it gets old quick.

I know someone with a R2000, and he hates it, his boss was won over by HP's samples and their demos, but the real world is much different and the printer is fighting him every step of the way.
 
JBurton

JBurton

Signtologist
FormingTeddy said:
Blanks we use are laser cut first so no oil from routing or other pre-cleanup required on it other than a quick wipe to remove dust/splatter from the laser. Typically our blanks are on 0.063" or 0.080", haven't ran 0.040" blanks yet
Click to expand...
This is super smart, but it's got to be a pretty expensive way to go about it vs stamped blanks, right?
OP, are you talking stamped blanks, routed, lasered, waterjet or what?
 
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parrott

New Member
Would definitely stay away from a hybrid. The second you get something in that isn’t perfectly flat it will create a ton of headache. Been there and done it. Ran two HP FB’s for years and they were slow and absolutely zero vacuum. Don’t know a ton about the HP latex but have definitely looked at them. My opinion…they are slow, over priced and come with the “HP” headache.

Definitely look at a true flatbed. Much faster, better quality and better control over your media. Look at EFI, Vangaurd and Digitech. Don’t know how much you are wanting to bite off but buy more than you currently need. Lots of great options out there besides HP.
 
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ProntoSigns

New Member
CanuckSigns said:
I would look at a true flatbed, not a belt fed machine like the R2000, with a true flatbed you can use jigs to print multiples. While it is possible on a belt fed machine it gets old quick.

I know someone with a R2000, and he hates it, his boss was won over by HP's samples and their demos, but the real world is much different and the printer is fighting him every step of the way.
Click to expand...
Appreciate your feedback
 
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ProntoSigns

New Member
parrott said:
Would definitely stay away from a hybrid. The second you get something in that isn’t perfectly flat it will create a ton of headache. Been there and done it. Ran two HP FB’s for years and they were slow and absolutely zero vacuum. Don’t know a ton about the HP latex but have definitely looked at them. My opinion…they are slow, over priced and come with the “HP” headache.

Definitely look at a true flatbed. Much faster, better quality and better control over your media. Look at EFI, Vangaurd and Digitech. Don’t know how much you are wanting to bite off but buy more than you currently need. Lots of great options out there besides HP.
Click to expand...
Thank you for your response. You’re the second comment that mentioned EFI. I will definitely check them out along with the other two you have recommended. thank you
 
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FormingTeddy

New Member
JBurton said:
This is super smart, but it's got to be a pretty expensive way to go about it vs stamped blanks, right?
OP, are you talking stamped blanks, routed, lasered, waterjet or what?
Click to expand...
We run a 6kw fiber so it is clean through the cut and runs at about 1800in/min during cutting. Stamping would be the way to go if you are talking thousands, the laser gives us the flexibility for various sizes without setup time, just change in the vector/nest. If we were solely panel signs, stamp all the way is the solution.
 
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signheremd

New Member
We use a FluidColor UV ink flatbed and print aluminum all the time. Use a true flated but remember it can only print one thickness of material at a time (so all 063 or all 040, but no mixing of thicknesses in a single run as it sets one head height per run). We print a jig onto the bed and load all the aluminum to match the jig and then print a bed full at a time. Most of ours get laminated after printing - we use a cold laminator (CutWorkTable CWT1640). Mimaki makes a nice Flatbed UV printer too.
 
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bdw99

New Member
We print on many different guages I'd say most of our blanks are 080 though. As far as jigs what I do if I have a big order of blanks I'll go into illustrator and create a file with as many outlined blanks I can fit on 4x8. Print that directly on the bed. The use that as a template and line up your metal blanks within the outlines. Hard to type that out to explain thoroughly.. Am I making sense?
 
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