need flatbed UV recommendation

[Rmurray321]

I have an LEJ-640 currently and it got nailed by a brownout , so I'm in the market for a new one.

I am currently looking at a Ricoh TF6251 and it seems to fit the bill of high end production and quality. but it's expensive as hell....at least for what the insurance company will be getting me to do this.

Are there any units out there I should take a look at that are in the 20+ boards/hr and fairly readily available (within 30 days). Most of our work is yard signs, and general signage, and rarely any "fine art"

There seems to be a pretty wild divide from 2-10 boards an hour and then in the 30+ range.

Thanks all!

 

[greysquirrel]

Ricoh is a terrible company to do business with. So many other options out there.

 

[Smoke_Jaguar]

How large are your 'boards'? Have a budget in mind, what kind of RIP do you want to use? Just wanting to do CMYK, or want white/gloss. The LEJ's are decent, but insanely slow, so lots of upgrade potential from lots of models.

 

[greysquirrel]

Vanguard, OCE, Fuji, hp r1000 Epson

 

[Rmurray321]

How large are your 'boards'? Have a budget in mind, what kind of RIP do you want to use? Just wanting to do CMYK, or want white/gloss. The LEJ's are decent, but insanely slow, so lots of upgrade potential from lots of models.

I’d prefer to be around the 100k mark, and a board is usually just your standard 4x8 board stock. I do Mostly CMYK with the occasional gloss/white project. With the current Roland I tended to shy away from them because it takes a business week to do anything in white or gloss.

The Ricoh all in with rigging and startup is at 120k, so it’s close, but still a bit out there for me

 

[Smoke_Jaguar]

Got lots of familiarity with Mimaki's lineup, but everything I run is in the realm of the used (we mod/fix stuff to fit our needs). But seen some really good results from some of the CET printers. The Gen5/6 printheads are great for flinging UV ink and tend to be really reliable.