Question about heat presses

[bob]

...Yes, that is true about idling it will be hotter. However, I don't agree with your 10% drop. In sublimation that would translate to a 40°f drop. I have seen drops range anywhere from 6 to 9°f, but not very very long before it starts to go back up and "recover". 40 is just too much. The transfer won't work.

That's my biggest thing with what you are saying. Is that range that you are giving. Way too much. If you are really seeing that much of a drop, then that has got to be indicative of what you are using to press.

Let's do one of the lower temp ones that I use. I do about 325°F for cut vinyl on nylon or other heat sensitive materials. You are looking at about a 32°F drop using your equipment. Easily, according to you...

I generally run about 320 degrees. By actual eyeball observation this temperature routinely varies between ~290 to ~350 degrees. That would be pushing +-10%. With no ill effect whatsoever.

I don't do much of anything at temperatures higher than this. If someone is doing just routine t shirts and the like then they wouldn't be doing higher temperatures either.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

I don't do much of anything at temperatures higher than this. If someone is doing just routine t shirts and the like then they wouldn't be doing higher temperatures either.

Nope. Sublimation on T-shirts ranges from 385°F to 400°F. Most sublimation is done at that range. The lowest that I've seen for sublimation has been at 375°F that I have dealt with anyway.

 

[TyrantDesigner]

Are you talking about rhinestone/stud designs or is this something else?

rhinestones -shudder- ... had a customer I designed a logo for their girly clothing store ask about custom designs in rhinestones for their thongs, tanks and tees they might want to do on occasion. i told them might not be something I could/want to do on huge runs but could be possible with a heat press for a 'special edition' short run of shirts (damned if I didn't have a few girlfriends in the past that didn't make me buy them something at a concert that was heat press rhinestoned)

Saw it mentioned in the post but can't find it for the quote ... shirts with collars ... do you have to raise the area up around the shirt so you dont get uneven heating from a mass of material or buttons?

and teflon covers ... have yet to find one reference online to what they do for the machine or area that a teflon sheet doesn't do.

oh one other thing, I'm a banana. http://youtu.be/LH5ay10RTGY

 

[HaroldDesign]

I use this one. Works great! I don't use use it daily, though.

http://sunie.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=43

 

[WildWestDesigns]

rhinestones -shudder- ... had a customer I designed a logo for their girly clothing store ask about custom designs in rhinestones for their thongs, tanks and tees they might want to do on occasion. i told them might not be something I could/want to do on huge runs but could be possible with a heat press for a 'special edition' short run of shirts (damned if I didn't have a few girlfriends in the past that didn't make me buy them something at a concert that was heat press rhinestoned)

Yep, the girls do love them. Bonus about that is that you can usually get double the premium for the short runs, because of that.

You can do it with a heat press and design within either Corel or Ai as long as you have a plotter (like that's a problem with this group). If it's one color no big deal. Just need to create a cut file for stones in one color. Size and shape are your biggest things here. If you are dealing with different colors and different sizes, you'll have to create different cut files for the different colors/sizes. You'll also want to over cut a little to help with weeding, because you are dealing with small stones here. Also allow for a little offset, don't cut for the exact stone size, but a little bigger. The template won't work right if it's to exact size. Text can also be an issue. Want to stick with the outlines of text unless they are big.

The program that I use for embroidery digitizing deals with rhinestones/studs as well (it's for multi decoration on apparel), so file creating is really easy with it, but it isn't going to be worth it if all you are doing is short runs and only if the price is right. Stick with just doing it in Ai and/or Corel.

shirts with collars ... do you have to raise the area up around the shirt so you dont get uneven heating from a mass of material or buttons?

Just depends. Sometimes you can work around it, sometimes not.

and teflon covers ... have yet to find one reference online to what they do for the machine or area that a teflon sheet doesn't do.

It really depends. I've used both. I doubt for your application that you'll need a cover.

 

[AwardImage]

2 cents.
When I was a kid, in the 70's my parents burned up ~5-6 machines applying transfers to T's and putting names on people's Gator Jerseys. In those days, they used an ADC machine and 8 very expensive die sets to cut names... one letter at a time.

(We had a lemon colored press that lasted for decades, don't remember the brand, I just called it Old Yeller)
Anyway, we started using Stahls Hotronix machines in the 90s. They are beasts. Before we sold out in 2009, we would do 250-400 sets (11+ pieces... sometimes 30 or more when the grandmas an step dads got into the action) of baseball uniforms between Feb and May + 10% of that work during allstars in June + another 200 sets of football and basketball practice uniforms and volleyball soccer... et al. over the rest of the year.

I can't knock any of the other brands, but I was satisfied to buy one of my old hotronix swingers back at auction for $600+.

Space: The Htronix swinger needs ~40" of counter space, the draws and clams need less.

Problem: (It's a turn of the century model, the problem may have been fixed) Sometimes it spazzes out after 11+hrs of continuous use, turn it off, go to Sonic or somewhere, stretch your legs for 20 minutes and then turn it on again and get back to work.

Hotronix is a workhorse that you can hammer all day with.
$0.02

 

[ICeMAnAbk]

Lot of guys are mentioning GeoKnight, I have to agree, if you've got the cash for one, they're worth it. They're built tough and seem to heat up quicker then the cheap ones.

I'm running a heat press now from Heat Press Nation. So far, this thing takes a while to heat up, but I've checked the iron with a few different thermometers, seems pretty on point. I'm just doing this as a hobby and have only used it a handful of times, but so far the plate seems to heat evenly. Cheaper, but if I had the money to blow on a hobby, I would of bought the GeoKnight.

 

[jfiscus]

we had an el-cheapo one at the last shop. worked fine for what it was in a circumstance like you're describing. I think they bought it from sign warehouse... it worked for the two years I was there, but if you're concerned that buying a cheapo one is going to turn into a nightmare when it dies in the middle of a rush job - just buy two. Then, when one dies switch to the other and order a new one to replace the first dead one.

At this shop we have a nice model (unknown to me at the moment), it's old and works great. but, again seldom gets used.

Kinda like buying your heats guns at Harbor Freight; you buy 3 at once (actually more like 10 when they're on sale) and it's still less than buying the expensive model. Then, when one gets dropped and dies replace it.

 

[binki]

We have both a stahls hotronix and a dk, both are 20 inch swingers. The stahls wins hands down. Really though, any of the $800 or so presses will be good. Consider one with an auto-release. It will save you burning a few shirts.

 

[john1]

I have a used hix press I bought about 7 years ago, works like a charm and is a brand name.