Roland - VS Print & Cut (CMYK + White + Metallic)

[Trend Signs]

Hi all,

I am about to lay down a slab of cash on a new Roland VS-640 + take up system.

Anybody know have one? and or can give me a heads up on a possible better machine?

I would like to know your thoughts on this machine.

Thanks,
Craig.

 

[iSign]

well, there is so much to say about printers, and there are quite a few people who stand a good chance of knowing many things you would like to know...
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...but you have given us so little information, one would have to take a shot in the dark & invest in the time to tell you everything he knows, in order to have half a chance of telling you something useful..
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so there's a paragraph back-atcha... now how about you write a few more paragraphs & let us all know what you already know, what you do, what you want to be doing & why. What research have you done, what other printers have you considered and why... Have you thought about long term service considerations? What are your options there?


Why do you mention white & metallics? Seems cool right? I think it seems cool... and thought I might want white for my mimaki... until I learned that I would sacrifice half my print speed for every full color print I did every day for the last 5 years, because i have a dual CMYK option, and would lose that for white ink... SO, white (or metallics) may be cool... but unless you have a contract for a huge amount of on-going, consistent & reliable work, requiring white or metallic inks... well, you might find out if your situation has similar drawbacks as mine did 5 years ago...

 

[TCBinaflash]

I have one. I may have some advice depending on the work you do

 

[bayshorecreations]

I recently purchased a Roland RS 640 and I love it but the printer you buy will really depend on what work you do.
I personally don't see the point in the print/cut machines. I prefer a separate printer and cutter because it gives you the ability to do 2 jobs at the same time besides the fact that after you print you need to take the print out of the printer, let it dry, laminate and then find an opening in your print schedule to put it back in the printer to cut it. Makes no sense.

 

[TCBinaflash]

I recently purchased a Roland RS 640 and I love it but the printer you buy will really depend on what work you do.
I personally don't see the point in the print/cut machines. I prefer a separate printer and cutter because it gives you the ability to do 2 jobs at the same time besides the fact that after you print you need to take the print out of the printer, let it dry, laminate and then find an opening in your print schedule to put it back in the printer to cut it. Makes no sense.

Depends on your workflow/business. I have 2 Roland printers and can print on on and cut on the other or print with both if I get crazy busy. Which happens a lot.

 

[Trend Signs]

Hi guys,

OK... Currently I have Roland SP-540V and SP-300V.

Type of work I do:

1. Coperate signage
2. Glazing prints
3. Car wraps
4. Stickers etc
5. Anything that may come along

The reason why I need the VS-640 is for a 4 story builind requiring a lot of transparent printing that reqiures white in the very fine swirling design. Text elemts are also need to be printed in white.

Also a lot of the glaszing is wider than 1300mm that I am currently restricted to, unless we join them of course.

I guess I was asking if anyone has this machine and has had any problems with it. Doesn't matter what type of work you are doing..... any issues with the machine?

Is it a good reliable machine?

My concerns are the white and metallic ink heads etc, that may cause me issues when not using those colours on a continious basis.

I have serched on line and next to no useful information is available.

I have only worked with and owned Roland printers.
Saying that I would most certainly consider Mimaki or similar for the new printer.

Thanks for your help.

Regards,
Craig

 

[artbot]

can't you just fill a refillable cart' with cleaning solution when not printing white or silver, and chip the cart with a silver or white chip ? that's what i do (with custom permanent white chips). not sure how the roland is set up.

 

[anotherdog]

It would make more sense to sub out this single job, even if it is huge rather than hobble the printer with white and silver. I'm sure you will be able to sell to other customers, but this white and silver is by necessity a premium cost item. Are you in a place that you can sell at a premium?

I have the same dilemma, a VP540 I'm sitting next to at 9pm. because it simply prints too slow. I may well go for the 640, but would go cmyk. I know that 99% of my $ printing will always be cmyk.

I have heard other things about the silver that give me pause, print speeds, durability and print life are a few. I am quite sure that these will become more popular as the market further divides between premuim and discount print, but is your market there right now and can you afford to be the one who pushes a premium product in the douldrums of this "recovery".

 

[messmedia]

... well, my opinion is this: If that one job can earn U enough to buy that machine, and if You can see Yourself DEVELOPING - expanding your market to people that have those special, metallic or white needs - GO FOR IT!

Yeah, metalics print slow. Yeah, U need to shake cartridges. Yeah, it does have shorter life span, the color. But, U can easily work with those limitations, simply because your prints will look good, and will be for people that need their prints to look good.
And yeah, recently I found out it uses latest epson print heads, that produces 2 picoliters dots (for reference, Your SP's have 5 picoliters smallest dot size) - which should make those prints much smoother than Valuejets (3.5 pcl), at 1440 dpi. (not verified information, though)

One more thing: People, DEVELOPMENT! NEW THINGS, NEW TECHNOLOGIES! How do U think this all is developed, the sign industry? Someone made a printer one day and said: yeah, i am sellin' a printer that makes prints that last zilion years, have high resolution prints, photorealistic, and maintenance of machine is a breeze? It started slow and ugly, but "market" needed it. Is there strong market for metallic colored prints and whites? I'd say, HELL YEAH! (Unless U R living in miniature european country with 600k population, and even then, I'd buy it if I had the money to spare :{))

 

[TCBinaflash]

Well the whole "slow white/MT" printing may hinder your production speed. It doesn't mean you shouldn't charge for the time.

That is bad business 101.

We have had the unit since May. Not a single issue. Even after long spells of no white or silver usage.

Prints fantastic.

 

[TCBinaflash]

can't you just fill a refillable cart' with cleaning solution when not printing white or silver, and chip the cart with a silver or white chip ? that's what i do (with custom permanent white chips). not sure how the roland is set up.

There is a recirculating system in the new units. No need for flushing.

 

[artbot]

i'm aware of the circulation system. i just can't imagine a print head and head adapter exposed to those more troublesome inks 24/7 not being problematic. maybe the new inks are much better?

 

[TCBinaflash]

I don't know either. Installed since May and not one clog yet. And I've gone through 3 220ml cartridges of white and 2 220ml of Mt.

 

[SE SignSupply]

i'm aware of the circulation system. i just can't imagine a print head and head adapter exposed to those more troublesome inks 24/7 not being problematic. maybe the new inks are much better?

The head, adaptor, and dampers are all new.

The head now has an anti-clog coating as well as being gold plated, IIRC.

Also, I personally think standard color CMYKLcLm graphics seem to have a more matte finish than the old DX4 heads. I think it's because the drops are so small and fix so fast, they break up the reflecting light similar to UV prints. Pretty unique look on high gloss media.

 

[encadtech]

We just got a VS-640 6 weeks ago - Some things you should know going in. The metallic and white inks are 3 times the cost of the typical CMYK LcLm cartridges. You must run them at least once a week - either a test print or a job. The metallic is must be laminated to be color fast. When printing metallics - the printer must run full width scan - uni directional - 1440 dpi 16 pass. This equates to extremely slow print throughput. This printer has only 1 print head. So if there is a purging problem with the metallic - like I had - you have to recirculate ink from the entire inkset to unclog a single color. I like the printer. It prints nice and produces good blacks. With that being said - there are no profiles for 3rd party vendors yet. This is still a very new machine to Roland. I am having to agitate both the white, metallic, and now cyan cartridge due to settlement issues that roland is seeing. If I had to set one up again - I would skip the metallics/white option and go for the dual CMYK for the increased output.

 

[Trend Signs]

OK, I am still looking into this machine..

What I have found is that if I get it as a metallic + white I can have Roland change it by flushing the lines etc and change the set up to a dual CMYK for faster printing for around $500 ish.

The main thing I dont like is that all 8 heads are in one unit....
After the warranty period I really don't like the sound of throwing a $2500 (AUD) print head in the bin just because one nossle is blocked.

Roland only provides a measly 3 Year warranty on this machine where my previous machines had a 5 year warranty.

 

[TCBinaflash]

OK, I am still looking into this machine..

What I have found is that if I get it as a metallic + white I can have Roland change it by flushing the lines etc and change the set up to a dual CMYK for faster printing for around $500 ish.

The main thing I dont like is that all 8 heads are in one unit....
After the warranty period I really don't like the sound of throwing a $2500 (AUD) print head in the bin just because one nossle is blocked.

Roland only provides a measly 3 Year warranty on this machine where my previous machines had a 5 year warranty.

I have had less firing issues with this single printhead than I have had with the 6 in my Roland Pro III. Granted, I have only had the machine for 6 months but I am not concerned.

 

[encadtech]

I was told by the service tech that this was a one time deal - You either decide to run metallic or run the CMYK. Once the metallic/white is loaded in the heads - there is no turning back.

 

[Trend Signs]

A tech from a well know reliable Roland supplier informed me today that you can in fact change the set up.
It will cost around $2000 (AUD) but can be done.
Most of this cost is in labour @ $150 per hour, approx 8 hours + carts + parts.

I am still going to buy the machine as I do need a wider printer and it's gotta be faster than the good old SP-540V.:Sleeping: .....Slow!

One of my current contracts will keep both printers tapped out for a month or so.... So thats good.

I am looking forward to a new toy with shiny inks!

 

[anotherdog]

I would be likely running the 640 along side the existing vp540...do the prints look different?
I can see many cases when I would split a production run.