Does anyone have this printer and if so, what do you like and dislike about it? I'm looking into adding another printer because the Roland doesn't seem to handle larger orders that well and the blades wear out pretty quickly, especially when we're cutting orders with any type of Flake in the laminate.
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Mimaki UCJV 54" Printer
- Thread starter texas33
- Start date
White Haus
Not a Newbie
I agree. We haven't used the cutter on our UCJV since we first got it 2+ years ago. We'll print only on UCJV then send to cut on either roll or flatbed Summa through Onyx.
I've left reviews on this printer before, but here is what comes to mind:
Pros:
Print speed is ok
White ink is nice and opaque
Don't need to laminate prints that won't be handled or are for temporary use
Can laminate right off the printer
Color gamut is ok with custom profiles
Good for wall wraps - can print a full roll in a few hours, go straight to laminator then cutter.
Generally pretty good print quality as long as well maintained
Cons:
Ink is so thick that you will get lots of silvering when laminating
Sometimes hard to use up both white ink bottles before they expire (Nice design Mimaki......needing 2 white bottles in the printer.....)
Dialing in cut weight can be a challenge if you're kiss-cutting decals that have unprinted/printed areas on the cut lines (due to thick ink)
Interface is pretty sketchy / painfully slow to operate if you're doing lots of little runs or test prints
There is a tendency for some media to buckle/not lay flat and when this happens you'll see it on the prints due to ink being laid down and curing differently
Overall, we're pretty happy with it but you need to be aware of the limitations. For the price point it's a decent machine but personally I'm looking to eventually upgrade to a Canon Colorado as I feel it is a better built version of the UCJV.
I guess given the useless cutter part, there is a print only version of the UCJV that might cost less. Might be worth looking into.
I agree with everything White Haus said. When I initially replied, I wanted to write something longer but didn't have the time and was going to come back and write a longer post. It would have pretty much been identical to his reply.
As he stated, Mimaki now has the UJV100 series which is similar to the UCJV300. Uses same UV ink but without the cutter. I believe there are some things it can't do that the bigger brother can do. If I remember correctly, it was maybe 4 or 5 layer printing. I'm not 100% but look into it. If you don't plan on doing those type of things they it may not matter. I also believe it uses a different print head than the UCJV300. I'm not sure how that changes the quality of print and speed.
They are always running promotions on the UJV100. I believe it's $15k right now with full set of ink and comes with a small separate cutter. So if you want to get into a UV roll to roll that might be your best bet and you would still have money left over to get you a standalone cutter like the Summa or Graphtec for the same cost of the UCJV300. Just a thought...
As he stated, Mimaki now has the UJV100 series which is similar to the UCJV300. Uses same UV ink but without the cutter. I believe there are some things it can't do that the bigger brother can do. If I remember correctly, it was maybe 4 or 5 layer printing. I'm not 100% but look into it. If you don't plan on doing those type of things they it may not matter. I also believe it uses a different print head than the UCJV300. I'm not sure how that changes the quality of print and speed.
They are always running promotions on the UJV100. I believe it's $15k right now with full set of ink and comes with a small separate cutter. So if you want to get into a UV roll to roll that might be your best bet and you would still have money left over to get you a standalone cutter like the Summa or Graphtec for the same cost of the UCJV300. Just a thought...
Kemik
I sell stickers and sticker accessories.
The specs say 1mm material max.
Agreed, that's why I have a separate Cutter and just purchased a Mimaki Cutter.
That's good to know, thank you for the insight. That leads me to another question then... We print alot of sports helmet decals, bumper stickers, die cut stickers, etc as well as wall signs, store fronts, trailers, vehicle signage. Would this printer be suitable for those type of jobs or is there another Mimaki model or printer that's a better fit?
I need to be able to print chromes, bright Neon colors, holographic jobs mainly. Anything else I can print would be a plus.
White Haus
Not a Newbie
I wouldn't count on it. I guess if you raised the heads it might be physically possible but I can't see tracking being great.
We were hoping we could print onto .010 lexan rolls with it and it didn't work well. Has no problem actually printing on just about any material, but if you run into buckling it can be a nightmare.
White Haus
Not a Newbie
It's a great printer for decals, signs etc. I personally don't use it for vehicle graphics (we use our Roland eco-solvent for that) but that's just preference for me. Theoretically the ink should last almost as long as solvent ink outside if it's laminated, but I've yet to test that out.
Are you talking about printing ON chrome/neon/holographic films? If so, then yes this printer (or the UJV100) would be great for that. It will literally print on any film you can load on it, and covers fingerprints and contaminants very well due to the super thick ink.