need some help here

[red91_sc]

I am trying to find a printer so I can expand into more then just cut vinyl decals,banners, and signs
I know that I can use either a thermal printer and the solvent type of printers. what other types of ink will work for printing on vinyl and banner material?
I keep finding alot of dye based and pigment water based printers ,will these work?
and also what other companys should I be looking at besides Roland,Mutoh,and Gerber?

Thanks.

 

[Pro Signs & Graphix]

All of the printers have different intended uses. What are you were wanting to expand into and what kind of budget have you slated?

 

[red91_sc]

Most of my customers have asked about printed banners(outdoor) and some have asked for small decals and some wraps to put onto their vehicles ( car club and motorcyle club logos mostley).
As far as a budget goes ,for right now I dont want to go much over $4000. I dont know how much more than that I can go because I also need a new cutter before I throw my Pcut out the window along with the artcut 2000 that was sent with it.(thats a whole new topic there lol)
I have been leaning more towards a roland pc 60 or pc 600 but I havent seen up close what their prints are like. I have a few samples from signwarehouse that they did on a prismjet extra and like the way they look.

Thanks

 

[Gino]

The PC-60 or 600 will only print directly to vinyl. You can print to the vinyl and apply those cut-out decals to banners, vehicles and whatever…. but the machine is slow. We have one and won’t part with it, but it is only used for a limited amount of a certain type of work. Metallic Silver & Gold or white printing onto any color vinyls and direct printing to foils. Other than that, it sounds like you might want to entertain the idea of subbing out until you have more funds at your disposal.

Summa has some good thermal printers which I believe might print to banners [not sure]. Other than that, the Roland’s seem to be the most economical all-around printer/cutter combos right now. Their 30” can be found by people upgrading to larger machines for $7,000 or $8,000.

Good Luck….

 

[Pro Signs & Graphix]

Gino's advice is on the money. He, like a few others, is one of the stone-agers and he knows.

A 30 inch printer would set you back between 8 to 10k. Then you have to consider whether or not you will want a laminator, which start at 4k for a good one. For vehicles, lamination film is strongly recommended. We have not even touched on calibration.

You could still sub the prints until you build that portion of the business. Wholesale print work is cheap enough that it is almost not worth buying a printer, especially the wittle guy. Some of the advantages would be: no payments, no maintenance, no learning curve. The advantages would allow you spend more time designing and getting grasp of the software and its abilities.

The money is not in owning the machine. It comes from selling hot and cool design work. The machine is convenience, and convenience comes at a price.

 

[Jackpine]

There are usually printers on eBay. Last week there were 2 Mutoh Falcons. One with an ultam cutter for $6k. Just make sure they work and have been maintained.

 

[Cadmn]

Make sure they exist also so many times on sleasebay the item doesn't even exist but is a total scam

 

[red91_sc]

Yeah I also thought about subbing out any print jobs that come up and then save the money I make and then buy a printer.

Thanks everyone

 

[Urban Image]

I would advise against any 30" printer. VersaCamm is a good machine but 30" significantly cuts down your versatility and gets you into somewhat inefficient media costs. I would suggest subbing out until you can get something along the lines of 48". I know a lady with a 30" VersaCamm and she curses it daily as being practically useless. On the other hand, I've never known anyone with a larger VersaCamm to be unhappy.

 

[weaselboogie]

don't do the 60 or 600. their cost per sq ft is outrageous. I'm thinking 5 to 8 your cost. Plus the ribbons break constantly. Great for small color decals. thats it. maybe we had a lemon, but a ribbon was breaking about 10% of the prints.