Hi,
I am getting ready to buy the kiosk hm1, it wont be available till mid july and I wanted to see if there is anything particular that I should do to prepare for the machine. I have already made a space for it, but is there anything you wish you would have done before you got a dtg printer but did not think about at the time?
also what extra items would you have purchased that you needed once you had the machine, I am already planning on buying extra platens of each size. I am new to dtg printing, in fact I have not printed with it yet I have been using heat transfers and am switching over. I have gone to dtg's distributor in anahiem and they were really great at showing me the differences of the kiosk and the kiosk hm1, they also had the eclipse but I did not see that print and it was out of my price range, but they were all very nice and helpful to me expecially Amy, which helped me make my decission on that machine. I was going to wait till the printwear show in august but could not wait that long. I am in the los angeles area so the anahiem distributor is very conveinent too. well any ideas of what to do to get ready for this adventure would be greatly appreciated. I have read alot of the threads here and it has been very helpful to me, I look forward to posting more often and hopefully learn to print some really cool stuff once I get my new dtg. I just want to say thanks for any advice in advance and it is nice to meet you all
A wise old man once told me "son, don't buy the first ten serial numbers of anything"
A wise young man once told me "old man, don't buy any Microsoft operating system until service pack 1 is released"
A wise prospective DTG buyer would do well to let any new model of printer get out in the real world for a few months before investing in it. If you jump in early do so knowing you will be the second round of beta testing for this new machine.
Hi bobbie,
We also went down to the so cal location to have a tech fix our standard Kiosk. All I have to say is good things about the people there. The techs are top notch and the sales reps are great! Amy showed us the Eclipse and the HM1 when we were there, both machines are very good quality and look like they lay down enough ink to do a single pass of white instead of 2.
The only thing strange about the HM1 is the waste ink needs to be taken out with the syringe.
It might be best to wait for the eclipse also, I heard they are making several upgrades to it such as recycling the white ink which goes into the waste ink area since the entire print head is running white, also on the second print head you would have CMYK and then some 'true' colors such as Red, Blue, Green and I forgot what the last color was going to be.
Thanks for the replies, I watched the Kiosk and the Kiosk hm1 print and the difference was amazing the amount of ink the hm1 layed down. also the colors went on much more vibrant with the kiosk hm1, they printed the same designs with the same settings on both machines but the you could see a major difference in the print qaulity. I have some samples they printed for me from both machines and with only one pass of white and color on the hm1 the quality was great. With the original kiosk, she did several passes of each color and could not get the look of the hm1. I also had her print two white and two dark off of both printers so I could take them home and wash one copy of each to see what the fade out would be, and the ones off of the hm1 you could not see any difference after washing. That was what really made the decision for me was the quality of the print. The one thing I was a little concerned with was that on the hm1 the print heads move over the shirt to print instead of the tray moving below. do you think this would create a problem from so much movement of the printing mechanism? I was wondering if after a time that it could cause alignment problems and such. any input is greatly appreciated as I am still in the deciding process.
I think moving the printer over the shirt makes sense. The printer is a known weight and resistance. Loading a shirt and shirt board down into a feed tray such as the Kiosk/T-Jet2 places some undue stress on the feed and leveling system. With the Kiosk you can print a light object like a shirt or you can print on a brick. The stress and resistance on the feed mechanism can vary widely.
I agree with much of what you said about the moving head. We have used both and really find that the heavy weight of the head unit, while controlled and known, can put more stress on the drive mechanics than a platen and printable item as their weight is much less. I think the one thing i do not like about the moving head is the issue of machine movement. The HM-1 does not do much but the flexi moves quite a bit when printing. I know it hurt us at times when printing but all machines have some of this type of thing that makes it less than perfect.
I also agree with the new machine thoughts unless there has been a period of beta testing and comes from engineering and manufacturing with experience in this industry if possible. I think the newer, second and third generation machines coming now and soon are much better engineered and from what I have seen of things coming this summer and manufactured to a higher level in many ways.
I totally agree about buying a machine that has been in the market, but then I also think someone has to be the one to start haha. I guess I am adventurous that way , I like to try things even if no one has done it yet. I guess what I am looking at is that while the original kiosk has been proven to be a stable machine, the print was not as nice as the hm1 due to the different print head. so I look at do I want to buy the machine that is proven and stable, or do I look more at the quality of the print. Also I think that in the next few years, there will be better machines on the market. So my thinking is that I should go with the quality that should not be outdated so soon because of a better print head. If the print heads could be upgraded, I might have chosen the original kiosk, but since that is something that cant be done, I am thinking I should go with the machine with the updated print head. Does this make sense?
I certainly am not advocating getting a Kiosk, I would in fact advise against it. The HM1 is surely a much better machine. I am merely pointing out that you will be the second round of beta testing.
I agree with Tom these companies have surely learned a lot from the first round of machines and hopefully the next round will be much better.
Much of the last year (plus) that I have been using a digital printer I have felt like a guinea pig and a beta tester.
I really appreciate your opinion Greg, as it is such new technology and not much history other than talking to others that have used it. Can I ask what printer you have and how you like it now that you have used it for awhile? Was it difficult getting used to it? Is there anything you wish you would have done to prepare for your machine that you think of now that you did not consider than? Sorry if it sounds like I am interogating you lol, I am just trying to get as much feedback as I can. Where are you from? I am in southern california, Redondo beach area. I see there are quite a few people on here from california. Well anyways have a great night and thanks in advance for your input.
I am in the Kansas City area. I owned a small screen printing business for a few years. I have been watching the digital garment printing industry since US Screen introduced the original T-Jet. I sat back and watched them introduce the white ink up grade for the original T-jet. I bought in when the T-Jet 2 was introduced.
The T-Jet and the DTG Kiosk are almost the same machine. US Screen and DTG distributed this machine and made their own modifications to hardware and software. Both machines are capable of great prints (depending on the operator) and from what I have seen the distributors are not the best operators.
Both machines can print with white ink. As I have said in other threads on this forum neither one of them have figured out how to print white ink in a way that is acceptable and or affordable. If you buy into this technology you need to understand that the printing with white ink is corporate hype. Yes you can do it but IMHO not at a level that is acceptable and or profitable (unless you are the one selling white ink and pretreatment). I am assuming that you want to make money and are not looking for just a hobby.
As far as difficulty, printing white and light shirts is a piece of cake (and profitable). Printing on dark shirts with white ink is an art form that must be learned. Plan on spending hundreds of dollars in ink and scraped shirts learning it. A good piece of advice is don't take any orders that require white ink until you are sure you have mastered this art form.
Getting ready to buy the kiosk hm1 
I have been using heat transfers and am switching over. I have gone to dtg's distributor in anahiem and they were really great at showing me the differences of the kiosk and the kiosk hm1, they also had the eclipse but I did not see that print and it was out of my price range, but they were all very nice and helpful to me expecially Amy, which helped me make my decission on that machine. I was going to wait till the printwear show in august but could not wait that long. I am in the los angeles area so the anahiem distributor is very conveinent too. well any ideas of what to do to get ready for this adventure would be greatly appreciated. I have read alot of the threads here and it has been very helpful to me, I look forward to posting more often and hopefully learn to print some really cool stuff once I get my new dtg. I just want to say thanks for any advice in advance and it is nice to meet you all 
Re: Getting ready to buy the kiosk hm1 
