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What Size To Buy?
- Thread starter Katie
- Start date
reQ
New Member
54" is way better investment compare to 30". For brand - whatever you prefer. Most of us are sticking with a brand that works for us from day one. For me, its Roland machines, for some one else - Mutoh or HP.
P.S. Sorry, but had a laugh when i seen:
1) Name: Katie
2) Topic name: What size to buy?
P.S.S. Ima no pervert )))))
P.S. Sorry, but had a laugh when i seen:
1) Name: Katie
2) Topic name: What size to buy?
P.S.S. Ima no pervert )))))
Russell J. Bean
New Member
Depends what you plan on using it for. I used a 15" Roland Stika. For over 10 years. I even did a milk truck with that machine. A 30"x72" decal. Now I use a Summa DC4 50" Thermal printer and Summa 50" Dura Sign plotter. As well as a Gerber Edge2 and Envision plotter. Both 15" and easier and faster to use in my opinion. And I'd rather spend $40 on a 50yd roll and just piece them together. If you are doing bigger jobs go for the bigger size. But just know the cost before getting into it. Good Luck with whatever you choose.
equippaint
Active Member
I guess it depends on what youre doing? We had a 30" roland and bought a 54" mimaki but are still running 30" media through it. Havent yet ran 52 and dont know if we ever will for what we do.
qmr55
New Member
Tip: don't buy a print/cut. Go buy an HP Latex printer from Grimco and get a nice cutter to match.
bob
It's better to have two hands than one glove.
Words to live by. A machine that both prints and plots usually doesn't do either well. [Cue the howls of righteous indignation and outrage from those who wrangle such tackle].
When you have a printer that prints and a plotter that plots it's a safe assumption that no compromises were made in the design of each to accommodate the other. This cannot be said of a printer/plotter combo machine.
Another tip: Buy a 54" printer and a 54" cutter. Or a 54" printer and a 30" cutter. 99% of what's cut around these parts is <30" and the larger printer means you can do up to 4'+ x whatever banners. Wrangling vinyl much over 30" is not a whole hell of a lot of fun. [Once more with the outraged protests].
WrapYourCar
New Member
I have a 64 inch roland vs640 print/cutter.. I love it. I have an old cutter that's gathering dust now.. the roland is far better as a cutter than my old rabbit cutter.
bannertime
Active Member
If you ever think you'll do a wrap or banners of any sort, then go with the 54in. If you think you'll only be doing decals, go with the 54in. If you only have room for a 30in printer, make a hole in the wall and get the 54in.
NamPhantasm
New Member
Where are you located at? I would suggest you go to a sign show and look at a few equipments to get an idea. This is a great place to start at (THE NBM SHOW | Expand Your Cross Market Opportunities)
You have to decide on what's your realistic budget would be ($10k, $20k, $30k investments). Sure you want the best of the best, but you got to decide on what you want to get into, or what your customer needs are. Do you want to make small decals or do a whole vehicle wrap? A bigger machine will also take up more space.
I do mostly small decals so I dont need to spend too much on a machine that would take a long time to pay off. Since I bought a Roland BN20 Print/Cut, I never turn on my old 24 inch Cutter anymore ... I can print anything up to 20 Inch Wide, Decals, Banners, Etc ... I paid cash for my machine out right, so I dont have to make payments to a financial banker each month. That means I can make money when we are busy, and I dont have to stress when the season is slow or when you are just starting out with no customers to pay the bills yet.
Buying any equipment is like buying a car. Do you sleep better at night know that you spent $10k? $20k? $30k? and you owe money, and how much can you afford the monthly payments?
You have to decide on what's your realistic budget would be ($10k, $20k, $30k investments). Sure you want the best of the best, but you got to decide on what you want to get into, or what your customer needs are. Do you want to make small decals or do a whole vehicle wrap? A bigger machine will also take up more space.
I do mostly small decals so I dont need to spend too much on a machine that would take a long time to pay off. Since I bought a Roland BN20 Print/Cut, I never turn on my old 24 inch Cutter anymore ... I can print anything up to 20 Inch Wide, Decals, Banners, Etc ... I paid cash for my machine out right, so I dont have to make payments to a financial banker each month. That means I can make money when we are busy, and I dont have to stress when the season is slow or when you are just starting out with no customers to pay the bills yet.
Buying any equipment is like buying a car. Do you sleep better at night know that you spent $10k? $20k? $30k? and you owe money, and how much can you afford the monthly payments?
Johnny Best
Active Member
Size does matter, Go large.
SignMeUpGraphics
Super Active Member
Go as big as you can afford. As soon as you buy a 30" machine, someone will walk thru the door with a 40" job you can't do.
ddarlak
Go Bills!
If you have to ask, then you really shouldn't buy one. Sounds like you really don't have a clue what your getting into. You buy a printer or cutter to fit a need. Buying a printer and or cutter to get into the business is foolish. In business you spend money to make money, so you should know what you need to make money before you spend it...
First get two separate machines. If you get a two in one, you still have to laminate, and if your cutting you can't print and vise versa. While all printers have their quarks if your new to this game not sure what your nitch is going to be, go with an entry level latex machine and entry level plotter, many time places will have trade-in programs that you can take advantage of if you get to the point of needing to upgrade.
Unless your looking to do something with white or metallic inks stick with Latex, it's less maintenance, no fumes, no out gassing, quicker turn around time.
What RIP software have you used in the past?
What about a laminator?
To be totally honest what I would do first is to outsource everything and take a chunk off the top. Little to no investment on your part and you can test the waters to see if it's a viable business in your area. There are many merchant members on here that would be able to help you out.
Unless your looking to do something with white or metallic inks stick with Latex, it's less maintenance, no fumes, no out gassing, quicker turn around time.
What RIP software have you used in the past?
What about a laminator?
To be totally honest what I would do first is to outsource everything and take a chunk off the top. Little to no investment on your part and you can test the waters to see if it's a viable business in your area. There are many merchant members on here that would be able to help you out.
I see this all the time, not trying to start anything, so far everyone here has been awesome and you are right about your comments but everyone needs to start somewhere and they shouldn't be put down for asking questions that what we are here for. I had these questions 14 years ago when i started and ended up getting an Epson 9800 and as soon as i purchased it, i got jobs that this machine just wasn't made for (both for time and ink consumption costs). You will always get into this issue regardless of what you buy and as you get more experienced you can account for this and make smarter purchases. I have been using a Roland vp-540 print/cut and after what i think 8 years it is still a work horse and my go to machine. I always want bigger to make life easier but if you are considering either 30" or 54" and you have the money I would hands down do the 54", for me at the start i was getting banners 4' x whatever and floor decals that were 50"
As for the comment about not getting a print/cut machine and use separate machines, I can see your point but for me I have NEVER had an issue or diminished quality with cutting on my Roland. having them together is more of a time saving issue and plus my workers are morons (sorry to say) so they would mess up my job if they took it out and put it on another machine lol
Last, I have had the best luck with Roland and I have stuck with them for my roll to roll and even flatbed purchases. I even have a 24" Roland versacamm plotter for cutting thermoflex. Roland is just my preference not shooting down any other manufacturer as I have heard HP and mutoh are a go to for a lot of other shops.
SignMeUpGraphics
Super Active Member
Yeah, I thought our Roland was a good cutter until I tried a Graphtec. I imagine I'd have that same feeling again if I could afford a Summa, but for now the Graphtec does everything the Roland could do, except more accurate and faster.
Familiarity these days is not a great reason to stick with what you know. Go out and test other machines before "settling" into something. We tested for months before moving away from our Roland setup of 7 years.
I completely agree that they used to produce fantastic machines, but boy something isn't right with a few of the latest releases if you read some of the stories on here.
Familiarity these days is not a great reason to stick with what you know. Go out and test other machines before "settling" into something. We tested for months before moving away from our Roland setup of 7 years.
I completely agree that they used to produce fantastic machines, but boy something isn't right with a few of the latest releases if you read some of the stories on here.
ams
New Member
For me, I only use Roland and I recommend the 54" because you don't want to end up limited on what you can do. But make sure you get a print and cut and not just a printer. Also figure out what ink setup you want. If you go with CMYK you can't print white so you can't use clear vinyl. If you need metallic effects, get one with silver metallic ink. If you want to print photo quality, get one with Light Magenta and Light Cyan.