Flatbed Dilemma

[MelloImagingTechnologies]

Vangard is super fast....I was pretty impressed with the ones I saw at last year's show in Vegas. I am not sure how they are serviced, but I can tell you once out of warranty you will hate OCE.

I am servicing all the Vanguard printers I sell to customers in the Northeast and it's extremely affordable!

 

[MelloImagingTechnologies]

Hello Bruce,

What settings are you printing on in that video in terms of passes and curing?

How many rows of heads do you have installed on your Vanguard VK 300D?

Thanks!

That's my demo VK300D-HS which I sold to an old friend where I can do demos on Long Island.
It has 8 heads in 2 rows and the mailers I made were in 2 pass which is something you can do when each of the 2 rows has 2 sets of CMYK channels so there are 16 channels of CMYK within the 2 rows.
The other beauty of this model is the Electro Engineered carriage drive system so it takes off like the high end Tesla when printing in high speed carriage settings and there is no carriage belt to be concerned about.
If you would like me to run your file, you can come see it or I can run it and send it to you along with a video.
Happy Holidays!
Bruce
melloimaging.com

 

[johnnysigns]

I'd make a point if you're going to add white to a Vanguard to make sure you get the dual double white heads in both front and back configuration. I work with a machine that's got the single dual white head and in 4pass mode we're having to run the white at no less than 6 layers to get decent output with exquisite feathering. Occasionally we'll have to run 8 layers. Adhesion with their flexible inkset on coroplast and acrylic is excellent. That's with either fold score die cut finishing on coro or heat bending acrylic parts, it definitely sticks.

I'd definitely agree on maintenance being thorough if you plan to use white as well. I think that would apply to any UV flatbed on the market right now, although I don't have experience running any of the other brands. On this VK300D the white has to be burped to get any air out of the system before printing or you'll see the white drop out. The good thing is the longer or more you run the white, the happier the system is.

Service and support are excellent with Bruce Mello and the team in Atlanta. All the tech's we've met and worked with were also extremely knowledgeable and extremely professional.

I will try to answer this 1 by 1.

Did you purchase your unit new? Yes we did in December 2019
If so, would you purchase it again knowing everything about it up to now? Yes, we are contemplating getting their roll machine. So Yes!
If so, is there any options that you would have changed on it? There are a few things they are working on, but not really at this point.

How many heads and/or rows do you have on your printer? We have 6 heads currently CMWYK KYWMC config.
How many 4x8 or 5x10 sheets can you print per hour? In our preferred 600x1200 CMYK 4-Pass about 2.5 mins a board on average.
How is the white printing? Any issues with printing on clear acrylic in reverse and then having the white flood as the top layer? We want to make sure the printer we purchase is going to have a good white option for art prints and printing on clear vinyl. White is awesome but takes a lot of maintenance. 4-Layers of White is very opaque and fast. No issues on acrylic or vinyl. See images.

I've been reading good things on them. I've heard good reviews on here... We were looking at the LX3 Pro but it was sold and I'm thinking the VK300 series would be ideal if purchased new and there is also a used unit on the market now, but I think it has 6 heads. The Company, Team, and Machines are awesome. We love being a part of the Vanguard family. As for Used vs New, I would reach out to Dave Cich about that. He is totally honest and knowledgable.

How much is it to add more heads or is it rows? To help speed up the printer... Heads are about $15,000 + Install, do know if this is special pricing or not so don't hold me to it.
How are the ink cost per ink box and square footage in terms of usage? Ink is the wildcard and comes down to profile building.

I assume when printing on vinyl or banners you can only print the size of the flatbed as in 5x10, is that correct? You are correct.

Would you mind to share with me the price you paid for you printer? If so, my email is mark@ballparksigns.com. I've read they are under 200k and can print up to 50-60 boards per hour. They are under $200K and you would need 8 heads to hit the 50+ range. I will send you an email more about my purchase.

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