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Noob expanding from vinyl to print help / advice...

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GaryAJ

New Member
HI there, new to the forum and looking for advice please....i've been making t shirts with vinyl for the past year as a side line and its all been going quite well but with covid hitting my main work very hard i've lost all work and business... so now looking in to expanding in to the print side of things but very inexperienced in the field, done a lot of research in to machinery and its all very over whelming with what's available on the market and finding myself going round n round in circles, I just don't what to jump in head first and buy the wrong equipment.

My budget is 5k and i'm looking at making signs, stickers, labels, transfers, car graphics/vinyls, buisness cards maybe even canvas at a later date.

Equipment i'm looking at is the Graphtec CE7000 - 60 24" cutter and the HP Designjet Z6 24" printer which both are in my price range.
I was looking at the all in 1 machines - BN20 and the versacamm sp300i to save on space but from what ive read its not a good route to take.

Any help and advice is very much appreciated.
 
Boudica

Boudica

I'm here for Educational Purposes
For a a good all-in-one: we have a Roland XR-640 - it's a work horse. Great print quality and it does contour cutting as well. You can print, then take the material out and laminate it. Then put it back in to cut... or you can do a straight up print/cut.
 
Solventinkjet

Solventinkjet

DIY Printer Fixing Guide
HP Designjet Z6

I'm pretty sure this model uses ink that does not have good outdoor durability. I'd stick with Solvent, Latex or UV based printers if you want to do outdoor stuff.
 
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iPrintStuff

Prints stuff
You’re not going to be able to do all that for 5k. Especially business cards.

Your best bet for the money would also be a printer/cutter. That way you’re not buying two machines. Stand-alone cutters new will eat your entire budget easily. If all the other business tanked it might just be a sign of the market in your area. Not just the specific thing you do.

I would get yourself set up with a wholesale vendor and send them this type of work but advertise it yourself. That way you’re not spending 5k branching into a market that you don’t have any work for yet.

Then once you have established customers and a guaranteed (ish) revenue stream that warrants buying the machine. Look at investing in equipment.
 
Gino

Gino

Premium Subscriber
Good advice so far...... and don't forget, you'll need a laminator or this print world ain't sh!t.

Welcome aboard.​
 
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unclebun

Active Member
The Designjet is a photo and poster printer. Even their brochures say the use is for indoor signage and tradeshow graphics. If you're selling signs, your customers will want outdoor durable. In addition, as soon as you say you sell signs, someone will want a 4x8. Can't do that in one piece with a 44" printer.

You're going to have to more than double your budget.
 
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iPrintStuff

Prints stuff
I would not recommend any printer under 54” but the industry standard nowadays seems to be 64”.

There’s generally not much of an extra cost when going from 54 to 64 but you’ll never regret getting the extra width.

Gino also made an excellent point, a laminator is an absolute necessity for anything you want to put outside.
 
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GaryAJ

New Member
Some sound responses and most appreciated all have very good points...would love to start off at 54" but the budget just isn't there for that...in consideration and looking at the all in 1 for me to start at i can stretch to the Roland TriVis SG2 300 and build from there if anything comes in bigger then as iPrintStuff said i can sub out.

Thank you all for replying
 
BigfishDM

BigfishDM

Merchant Member
GaryAJ said:
HI there, new to the forum and looking for advice please....i've been making t shirts with vinyl for the past year as a side line and its all been going quite well but with covid hitting my main work very hard i've lost all work and business... so now looking in to expanding in to the print side of things but very inexperienced in the field, done a lot of research in to machinery and its all very over whelming with what's available on the market and finding myself going round n round in circles, I just don't what to jump in head first and buy the wrong equipment.

My budget is 5k and i'm looking at making signs, stickers, labels, transfers, car graphics/vinyls, buisness cards maybe even canvas at a later date.

Equipment i'm looking at is the Graphtec CE7000 - 60 24" cutter and the HP Designjet Z6 24" printer which both are in my price range.
I was looking at the all in 1 machines - BN20 and the versacamm sp300i to save on space but from what ive read its not a good route to take.

Any help and advice is very much appreciated.
Click to expand...

Call me if you want to hear all the bad stuff you are about to encounter. DONT BUY if you only have $5k, there is a smarter way to use your money. 714-787-7989
 
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signheremd

New Member
I second that for $5k your budget is too small to get into print yet. If you are trying to build up the business, I would start with a vinyl plotter - 30" minimum, 60" preferred. You can almost get a new Graphtec FC900-160 (60") plotter for that, so $5k may get you a used one that is only a few years old - like a FC8600. Good reliable machines. A good printer and plotter combo would be a Mutoh or a Roland, but you will at the least need a lamination table or a laminator or your work will have no lifespan. A new Roland XR640 is in the neighborhood of $25k, maybe less on sale. Monthly payments would not be horrible. I would say the best investment in starting so you can print and cut would be a Roland and lamination CutWorkTable. Or you can use the plotter to earn the money for the printer...
 
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unclebun

Active Member
If you're going to outsource bigger prints, it's a better idea to outsource it all, big or small. Then as business increases you will have more money laid aside to buy the proper equipment. And then you will have enough business to support the new equipment when you get it. If it never gets there, you haven't put yourself behind from buying the equipment. It's worth virtually nothing used, so you can't think you will get your money back by selling the equipment.
 
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