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New printer help

R

Ross504

New Member
Hello, my wife and I are in the process of getting funds together to buy a printer and cutter. My wife is an artist who right now paints her designs and then we send pictures to a local company who the uv prints and cuts them for her on a pvc type board for door hangers, she also has them make stickers and coroplast yard signs, she does a lot of wholesale business with other local businesses. Currently our printer is overwhelmed with other items and is also raising our price per sheet of pvc beyond what is feasible for wholesale, so we are throwing around the idea of getting a printer and cutter.
I am looking for suggestions on printers and cutters that have ability to run 4x8 sheets of .25" pvc board and coroplast.
Thanks in advance!
 
K

kerwinchua

Production Manager
Ross504 said:
Hello, my wife and I are in the process of getting funds together to buy a printer and cutter. My wife is an artist who right now paints her designs and then we send pictures to a local company who the uv prints and cuts them for her on a pvc type board for door hangers, she also has them make stickers and coroplast yard signs, she does a lot of wholesale business with other local businesses. Currently our printer is overwhelmed with other items and is also raising our price per sheet of pvc beyond what is feasible for wholesale, so we are throwing around the idea of getting a printer and cutter.
I am looking for suggestions on printers and cutters that have ability to run 4x8 sheets of .25" pvc board and coroplast.
Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Try CET color & Vanguard digital.
 
Gino

Gino

Premium Subscriber
From what you wrote, to do it correctly..... you need a printer, cutter, laminator and a CNC. You're looking at quite a chunk of change, plus the real estate you'd need to set all of that up. You could skip the printer & cutter part and go straight to a flatbed. Eliminate monkey time of applying vinyl to a substrate.
 
Geneva Olson

Geneva Olson

Expert Storyteller
You're opening a whole can of worms by purchasing a lot of equipment for her to continue her business as an artist. It might possibly be something that turns you into a different type of business altogether in order to recoup the initial cost of a printer, plotter, laminator, cnc machine. Those are time consuming projects. Perhaps you can visit with the people who she subs out to now and see how time consuming the tasks are. You might find that time of production of the work will eat into the artistic flow of what she's doing. From design, to print to laminate to cutting the design and cutting the substrate and then applying the design to the substrate. Take a good look at where you want to spend the bulk of your time.

From my perspective, I'm not artistic at all. So someone can give me their designs and I will print, laminate, cut and install all day long. I am not sure I would have time to "create" designs as well. At some point you will begin to cut corners on your artwork or you will have to hire someone to do the print/laminate/cut/install, etc.

just my 2 cents.
 
Stacey K

Stacey K

I like making signs
18x24 Coroplast signs are cheap to buy from Firesprint or Signs365 with likely faster turnaround than a local printer. If I upload now, I will have them Wednesday from Signs365. They also both print on pvc. You order per the 4x8 sheet and have the ability to contour cut or just cut down to your needs. FireSprint.com is on here, it might be worth messaging him your exact needs to see if he can do it, at least for a back up to your local guy until you get some equipment.
 
Pauly

Pauly

Printrade.com.au
Gino said:
From what you wrote, to do it correctly..... you need a printer, cutter, laminator and a CNC. You're looking at quite a chunk of change, plus the real estate you'd need to set all of that up. You could skip the printer & cutter part and go straight to a flatbed. Eliminate monkey time of applying vinyl to a substrate.
Click to expand...
OP Could just get away with a Flatbed with a R2R like an Arizona, or a hybrid. and get a more budget friendly cnc cutter like a summa. But OP never mentioned the budget.
He could fall over backwards on some of the equipment pricing.
 
Gino

Gino

Premium Subscriber
Judging by his non-participation....... I think he's fallen over and can't get up. Probably re-grouping.
 
R

Ross504

New Member
I apologize for taking so long to get back on here and reply. Thanks for all the replys so far. I don't think we have a budget set yet, just want to know what machines are good for someone just starting out, I am not opposed to used machines, just trying to get a ballpark idea. My wife would continue to do her art and I would handle the other side of Printing and cutting. Originally when my wife started out I would go buy a sheet of plywood and she would draw a design I would cut it out on a bandsaw and then she would paint the details, very time consuming! When we started printing on pvc, we toured the printing facility and watched them working on one of our orders, it seemed like they printed on a flatbed then moved straight over to the cnc.
 
Pauly

Pauly

Printrade.com.au
Ross504 said:
I apologize for taking so long to get back on here and reply. Thanks for all the replys so far. I don't think we have a budget set yet, just want to know what machines are good for someone just starting out, I am not opposed to used machines, just trying to get a ballpark idea. My wife would continue to do her art and I would handle the other side of Printing and cutting. Originally when my wife started out I would go buy a sheet of plywood and she would draw a design I would cut it out on a bandsaw and then she would paint the details, very time consuming! When we started printing on pvc, we toured the printing facility and watched them working on one of our orders, it seemed like they printed on a flatbed then moved straight over to the cnc.
Click to expand...

What you're asking is a can of worms for a ballpark for someone starting out.

But to try help you out....
Budget true flatbed - Mimaki JFX200-2513. Probably cost you $80k
With that you still can roll sheets of vinyl to print stickers on it, but depending on quantities, you may want a roll2roll with it... something like a Canon Arizona which cost more, but are a better printer.

For cnc cutters.
Summa F1612. They're about 80k also or there abouts. They'll do your board cutting and vinyl cutting.

There's your ball park figure of $160k to get started with new budget equipment.
 
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