• I want to thank all the members that have upgraded your accounts. I truly appreciate your support of the site monetarily. Supporting the site keeps this site up and running as a lot of work daily goes on behind the scenes. Click to Support Signs101 ...

Car Wrap Equipment

N

nick168

New Member
Hi I am trying to gather some info on some equipment.

I am interested in Roland SP540 for producing vinyl for car wrapping.. I am on a budget.

-Would you recommend this machine for this type of work.. quality/reliability?
- and what alternative machines would you recommend.

Also I am looking for a good 54" Laminator .. I am on a tight budget what would you recommend 4k and under or cheapest to get the job done but still reliable..
 
eahicks

eahicks

Magna Cum Laude - School of Hard Knocks
Seems the smart thing to do would be outsource your first several jobs, get the money saved up, and invest in GOOD equipment. Used HP Latex machines are a great buy now, and you'll be happier with the prints, especially for wraps.
 
Mosh

Mosh

New Member
One of my printers is an sp540, slower but a good workhorse.
+Outsource! Let me guess...someone charged you too much for your race car wrap and you are just going to do it yourself.

Ever run a printer? Ever do maintenance on one? It is a daily process? Ever run a laminator? If no buy 2-3 extra rolls cause
it is that much of a learning curve, especially on a cheaper machine....
 
W

worthy1

New Member
+1 to outsource

On a budget and building your business don't go well together. If your looking to do things on the cheap then its easy to use cheap material, do a quick install to save time. All of which will quickly kill your business.

If you are certain enough the business is there to justify it then why not save an extra 6months and get something that will be there for when the business does grow....
 
P

player

New Member
SP 540 $8-$10,000
Laminator $2-$4,000
Software- $1-$5,000
Tools- $1-$5,000
Inventory $5,000
Insurance, Ink, Repairs etc.
 
Mosh

Mosh

New Member
SP 540 $8-$10,000
Laminator $2-$4,000
Software- $1-$5,000
Click to expand...

Used equipment prices.... "You got one of those WRAP MACHINES?" Do you know how many times a week I hear this?
 
Last edited:
A

AF

New Member
watchdaride said:
who is good company to out source wrap printing for ? I am in florida ?
Click to expand...

If you design the wrap, you can use any reputable company to produce the graphics. Since the suggestion above is to save up for good equipment, I would recommend outsourcing to a company that has good equipment so you don't start out with a low-grade product. I don't know if you have your venture established yet and have customers lined up, but when you get close to needing help this forum is full of good people that can fulfill your first orders to get you going.
 
heyskull

heyskull

New Member
+1 to all of the above comments/words of wisdom.

The only way I would be investing in a machine of my own is if I had enough work to run the machine at least 20 hours a week.
Any digital printer has more issues when not being used, but seems to be more reliable if you are busy.
My printer runs for about 5-6 hours 5.5 days a week and I still do not think I am using it enough.

Finally the wrap business thing is a low return business due to the amount of time, machinery and expensive materials that is used.
Like a lot of sign making these days wraps are under valued, even though they are a huge way to advertise.
I have a large sign/wrap company nearby that will wrap your vehicle for about 50% more than I can buy the materials for!! This is mainly due to the fact that they are part of the UKs largest haulage company and buy a vast amount of wrap material for use on their own fleet at such a discounted rate their supplier will not disclose how much they are selling it to them.

With this in mind please do not go out of your way to undercut another business or you may find they were already cutting profits very fine.

SC
 
R

Rockbreaker

New Member
Wraps

I'm just expanding into wraps, getting away from electric stuff (cabinets, letters, etc.)

Into it for about 20grand so far.

New Minaki cjv30-130 printer (54") an picked up a Enduralam laminator used (new) today for $2800.

Still have to buy supplies and some tools yet....

I expect to spend 25g's before I touch the first car...

I would never buy a used printer unless it as a bankrupt action...
 
W

worthy1

New Member
25k before the first car, that is a big outlay for a new area, hope you already have clients lined up! :thumb:

I got into vehicle wrapping for easily under a 1k. I only needed the tools to do it properly e.g squeegee's, blades, cleaning products and training etc.

Slowly added rolls of 'everyday request' vinyl, to have on hand and years later still outsource printing. All up I would say I was never 5k out of pocket (all paid back now).

The only reason I might look at a printer is I need a plotter for Paint Protection Films so not sure if it makes sense to buy a combo.Not sure I have the patience for the maintenance lol used to do sublimation printing and maintaining just an A3 printer $hit me to tears lol

That was just my way of starting my business, im sure yours and other ways are just as successful.
 
Mosh

Mosh

New Member
WTF...It is just a sticker...you people are CRAZY!!!! As I watch my multiple printers run at nigh! I have these things going 12-14 hours a day and almost feel like a slave to the machine. The biggest part of having a printer is the FIXING THEM part. They all break down sooner rather than later and you go from "designer" to "printer tech". You need that type of skill set to own printers IMO. Or you are going to pay through the nose, they always wipe out about 2 days after warranty is up.
 
T

TimToad

Active Member
I guess I can see why probably a lot of us with decades of experience AND in house equipment constantly scratch our heads when we hear we lost yet another wrap job to somebody that blew our reasonable bid out of the water by some ungodly amount. They are undoubtedly learning the craft as they go and charging far less to do so while we are all paying the price with them driving the prices down and the average customer can't tell the difference.

With every bit of exposure wraps get on TV, in the trade publications, etc. more and more inexperienced people think its just another way to expand their "other" business and after all how hard could it be? Plenty hard!

Doing quality vehicle wraps isn't some flavor of the month venture one gets into on a lark. Its not some $60 piece of MDO or DiBond people are entrusting you to install graphics on. It might be a $90,000 box truck or more.

To do it right, to design it effectively, to install it properly, to have the right facilities to do it out of the elements, to be there a couple of years later to fix something that failed ( and EVERYBODY gets a failure from time to time ), etc. etc. etc. is no picnic.
 
M

monsterwalley

New Member
I have been in the sign business for 30 years and our shop has been around since 1941. I can say that being a newbie in the digital stuff is a massive learning curve. We still hand lettered up until about 10 years ago.
Then the skill of the craft changed from talent with a brush, to talent with a computer. We outsourced all our digital needs up until 3 years ago. We finally pulled the trigger on our own print set up. What everyone
says is true on the learning curve. I bought a used roland printer and a used pos laminator and went it alone with no support. I went through tons of media trying to figure things out. After about a year and a half
I ended up buying all new equipment with support which I should have done to begin with. I am pretty well up to speed now. If I wasn't an established signshop with a large customer base and 400+ billboards
carrying us I would have probably eaten my lunch. I am glad we outsourced in the beginning. If I had to learn how to install AND learn software AND equipment, I don't think we would have made it.
My suggestion is to outsource until you have your feet good and wet.
 
heyskull

heyskull

New Member
Mosh said:
WTF...It is just a sticker...you people are CRAZY!!!! As I watch my multiple printers run at nigh! I have these things going 12-14 hours a day and almost feel like a slave to the machine. The biggest part of having a printer is the FIXING THEM part. They all break down sooner rather than later and you go from "designer" to "printer tech". You need that type of skill set to own printers IMO. Or you are going to pay through the nose, they always wipe out about 2 days after warranty is up.
Click to expand...

OMG this is so true Mosh.
We outsourced for a few years but who we were getting it from were getting unreliable and the print quality had deteriorated.
So we purchased our first solvent machine.
When the installer comes to install the new machine he will give you so little info it will cover the machine till he leaves the premises.
For the next 3 years its a learning curve on printer maintenance or paying techs a lot of money for basically what the installer should have shown you!
I pity the tech/installer who comes to install our next machine, as the new machine will be in pieces before the first job goes through it.

Good luck as just throwing money at a business to see if it works is a sure way to disaster.

SC
 
dlndesign

dlndesign

New Member
monsterwalley said:
I have been in the sign business for 30 years and our shop has been around since 1941. I can say that being a newbie in the digital stuff is a massive learning curve. We still hand lettered up until about 10 years ago.
Then the skill of the craft changed from talent with a brush, to talent with a computer. We outsourced all our digital needs up until 3 years ago. We finally pulled the trigger on our own print set up. What everyone
says is true on the learning curve. I bought a used roland printer and a used pos laminator and went it alone with no support. I went through tons of media trying to figure things out. After about a year and a half
I ended up buying all new equipment with support which I should have done to begin with. I am pretty well up to speed now. If I wasn't an established signshop with a large customer base and 400+ billboards
carrying us I would have probably eaten my lunch. I am glad we outsourced in the beginning. If I had to learn how to install AND learn software AND equipment, I don't think we would have made it.
My suggestion is to outsource until you have your feet good and wet.
Click to expand...

I couldn't agree with you more. Take the time to learn a new craft and when you are up to speed, then get the good equipment. That makes you profit and keep your clients!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top