Question New and looking for advice

[RatherDashing]

I'm a high school teacher that is looking to expand while I have a budget to do so. What I'd like to be able to do is small run full color shirts, full color banners every now and then, stickers/ widow clings/ magnets, canvas prints and posters. Basically a little of every thing. I currently have a Roland GX-24 and have used it a ton, but want to add color printing.

The problem: it's school, and I won't be using the machine daily (maybe not even every week) and then not at all during 2 weeks of winter break, or two months over the summer. I know this will be a problem with most printers. What can I do to mitigate that problem?

Machine recommendations? I was looking at getting an HP 115 latex printer, as I have a colleague with one. I was also looking at a Roland versaprint bn-20 for smaller jobs. The hp is huge, and won't be in my room while not in use.

I would like all the advice and recommendations you can throw at me. Tell me I'm crazy and it won't work, and send me on the right path.

 

[papabud]

well your first concern is letting the machine sit idle.
you would be surprised how many little jobs you find to run once you have the machine.
if you bought your own material would they let you run personal jobs. making goofy stickers for friends is a fun little thing to do.
ok but with that out of the way. most of the machines are designed to keep ink flowing through the head and into a waste container when the machine is idle.
this can consume a lot of ink if left just sitting. if you unplug it you will destroy your machine.
the other option is you can flush ink out of the machine for summer break and then pump fresh new ink in when you need the machine.
deciding on a machine will be a very hard decision.

 

[RatherDashing]

A flush sounds doable. How easy and costly are those? I assume Roland sells a kit? Yes, I can do personal things, and students will be using them.

Another question, where do you buy your banner material and other media from?

 

[AKwrapguy]

I'm a high school teacher that is looking to expand while I have a budget to do so. What I'd like to be able to do is small run full color shirts, full color banners every now and then, stickers/ widow clings/ magnets, canvas prints and posters. Basically a little of every thing. I currently have a Roland GX-24 and have used it a ton, but want to add color printing.

The problem: it's school, and I won't be using the machine daily (maybe not even every week) and then not at all during 2 weeks of winter break, or two months over the summer. I know this will be a problem with most printers. What can I do to mitigate that problem?

Machine recommendations? I was looking at getting an HP 115 latex printer, as I have a colleague with one. I was also looking at a Roland versaprint bn-20 for smaller jobs. The hp is huge, and won't be in my room while not in use.

I would like all the advice and recommendations you can throw at me. Tell me I'm crazy and it won't work, and send me on the right path.

So you should look at latex. You can let it sit there for a a while, it will print onto almost anything, no fumes or waste ink to deal with. Ready to go as soon as it prints.

If you plan on printing in school you I would stay away from eco-solvent or solvent as it doesn't do well with being down for long periods of time, you will have to come in to switch out or drain the waste ink. You will also have to worry about properly disposing of the waste ink, have to vented to deal with solvent fumes, and deal with the out gassing time.

What about a laminator. This is also something you might want to consider.

Maybe even look at getting a demo machine which can save you some money. You could reach out to BigFishDM he's doing deals all the time.

 

[AKwrapguy]

A flush sounds doable. How easy and costly are those? I assume Roland sells a kit? Yes, I can do personal things, and students will be using them.

Another question, where do you buy your banner material and other media from?

There are many many suppliers everywhere. Try to go local if you can. Your in Oregon, so you should be fine with lots of options. I know one supplier in Oregon is Sun Supply.

 

[equippaint]

The problem with latex and what it sounds like is that you will need a separate cutter and it was already stated that the 115 is huge. Sounds like your best bet is a print cut combo, I'm partial to Mimaki after reading the trials and tribulations of the new(er) Rolands. A 30" Mimaki CJV150 is a far better choice than a BN20. You can probably find a deal on a factory refurb too. Get a small hand crank laminator and that aspect is covered if you need it. As far as it sitting, just make sure it has power and clean the captop good beforehand. A week or so is not a big deal provided you cleaned it. For the summer 2 months, just run a print every week or 2, do a mild clean and manual clean and it will be fine. They aren't as temperamental as everyone makes them out to be. You can also dig around for a used Roland SP300V.

 

[RatherDashing]

For the first (and probably only) time in my career, I've got a hefty chunk of change to spend, and new isn't a problem. I have to spend it by the end of the year, however, or I lose it (yeah government! ). There is a print and cut combo on the HP 115 latex right now, and that is sounding good. But, how well does it do prints for shirts? I don't know anything about mimak so I'll have to do some research on that.

 

[fresh]

We can go 4-5 days (sometimes even more) without printing on our Mimaki CJV30-130 using eco solvent ink. When the waste bucket fills up, we just dump it in a box of kitty litter. I'm pretty sure we are still using the same box of litter that we started with 5 years ago. The only time we've ever had a problem was when we used crap material and had a head strike.

I want to mention that just like most printers, the big cost isn't necessarily the unit itself, but the ink, media, and maintenance required. I know we do weekly maintenance on our machine (maybe that's why it always works so well!)

 

[RatherDashing]

What about a laminator. This is also something you might want to consider.

That is a good idea. Any recommendations on laminators?

 

[Gino]

If this is going to go into a school room environment.... you better get any solvent or eco-solvent kind of printers outta your head. You cannot even install inkjet type prints in a school, hospital and many other places as it continues to emit fumes which have now been considered taboo to put into these places. So, I highly doubt my tax dollars are gonna put a machine into your classroom, where I cannot instal the same type of prints, let alone breath that stuff first-hand from a printer. You'd hafta look into ventilating properly according to government specs and that alone will cost you a fortune.

 

[BigfishDM]

There are many many suppliers everywhere. Try to go local if you can. Your in Oregon, so you should be fine with lots of options. I know one supplier in Oregon is Sun Supply.

I am also in Oregon, FYI we have a branch in Portland.

 

[JTBoh]

If this is going to go into a school room environment.... you better get any solvent or eco-solvent kind of printers outta your head. You cannot even install inkjet type prints in a school, hospital and many other places as it continues to emit fumes which have now been considered taboo to put into these places. So, I highly doubt my tax dollars are gonna put a machine into your classroom, where I cannot instal the same type of prints, let alone breath that stuff first-hand from a printer. You'd hafta look into ventilating properly according to government specs and that alone will cost you a fortune.

He might be... uncouth... but he is right. We can't even use certain types of adhesive in a gov. building, let alone emit noxious fumes.

 

[RatherDashing]

My reading on Roland's Eco Solvent said that it was good for places like that, but thank you for the warning. I will look into it more.

 

[Gino]

My reading on Roland's Eco Solvent said that it was good for places like that, but thank you for the warning. I will look into it more.

No frickin' way. You must be reading something slanted towards selling it where they'll say anything to sell it.

It's a well known fact, that any inks, other than green inks can be used in places where young tissue is at stake, such as a school or medical facility. Do people put signs and graphics in them with this stuff, yep, they sure do, but they're not supposed to, however if you're caught and you knew you weren't supposed to, your @ss will be grass.

 

[flyplainsdrifta]

yeah, agreed with gino and all about latex vs eco in this case. you'll also be able to demonstrate with the prints immediately in the classroom making it a bit easier to fit more in class. i think latex will be much less of a headache in your setting, both physically and mentally. and as said before, latex can sit for a bit without issue, and consumables and heads are relatively simple to drop in, making maintenance during the course of a school day easy. my votes with latex!!!! i have both ecosol and latex and if i was teaching a class, id go latex for sure.

 

[ikarasu]

My reading on Roland's Eco Solvent said that it was good for places like that, but thank you for the warning. I will look into it more.

Can you link it? Roland has its own site that bashes Latex. It's like they're afraid of competition, so they have a lot of inaccuracies on the website. It wouldn't surprise me if they said that, but it'd be interesting to see.

This is from Rolands MSDS sheet on Their Eco solv max 2 inks. -

"In case ventilation is insufficient, employee must use NIOSH approved air purifying respiratory protection equipment. Use a half facepiece respirator (with goggles) or full face-piece respirator (without goggles) filtered with organic vapor cartridge.For emergency and other conditions where the exposure guideline may be exceeded,use an approved positive-pressure self-contained breathing apparatus or positivepressure airline with auxiliary self contained air supply. WARNING: Air-purifying respirators do not protect workers in oxygen-deficient atmospheres."


Latex isn't like that. I have nothing against eco-solvent, but I'd never let my kid around it... Latex he's out front of it watching all his stickers print without a worry.

 

[RatherDashing]

ECO-SOL MAX 3 offers the peace of mind of GREENGUARD Gold Certification, providing assurance that the ink meets some of the world’s most rigorous and comprehensive standards for low emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into indoor air.

Safe-to-use without special ventilation or environmental equipment, the ink’s GREENGUARD Gold Certification also includes safety factors that ensure a product is acceptable for use in environments like schools and hospitals.

That is straight from their website. ECO-SOL MAX 3 | Roland DG

I think I'm sold on just the latex printer now, though.

 

[ikarasu]

Interesting. I'll have to look into it more! But either way... If you leave it unplugged for a day or two the heads will clog. So it won't work for you. Now that I think of it.. this probably rules out dye sub also. I think latex is one of the only techs out where you can leave the printer unplugged for awhile.

 

[Gino]

I didn't know about this. Gonna hafta check into it. Maybe on to something.

 

[The Big Squeegee]

2 from OK.