Ran D

Wow, are consistently decent t-shirts that hard for most people? I’m a newbie at t-shirt printing and the more I read, the more it seems to be a pipe dream . To start, I have the following equipment: Okidata 5500, Phoenix Phire 16 x 20 heat press, and ImageClip transfer paper.

After reading all the posts, here is my understandings and my questions.

Printing
- "print" 5 or 6 blank sheets to warm up fuser
- Print mirror image of the design through multi-purpose tray, heavy paper setting.

Q1 - Is the 28-32lb heavy paper setting the correct choice for the 5500?
Q2 - Another post suggests adjusting the Saturation to max. Is this necessary for text only or simple clipart type images?
Q3 - Any other (5500) printing tips?

ImageClip Sheet to Sheet Pressing
- Red sheet on top of the green sheet
- Press at 210º - 215º for 10 seconds at pressure setting 2-3 (out of 9)
- Immediately place silicone cookie sheet on top of sheets, fold corner of red sheet over cookie sheet and heat for an additional 5 seconds. (lnfortun’s tip)
- Peel red sheet off (with cookie sheet) off green sheet keep while on lower press platen (maintains heat - lnfortun’s tip).

Q1 - Anyone use gloves to protect hands for the heat?
Q2 - Someone suggested lower the heating plate to warm up the lower platen before pressing. Any thoughts?
Q3 - Any other pressing tips

Transfer to Shirt
- Press at 400º for 20 seconds
- Wait 5 seconds and peel.
- Place Teflon over shirt and press for anothre 5 seconds
- stretch shirt while still hot

Q1 - Someone suggested lower the heating plate to warm up the lower platen before pressing. Any thoughts?
Q2 - Any other pressing tips

Thanks in advance for all your input

 

Reply With Quote

Lnfortun

Quote: Originally Posted by Ran D Wow, are consistently decent t-shirts that hard for most people? I’m a newbie at t-shirt printing and the more I read, the more it seems to be a pipe dream . To start, I have the following equipment: Okidata 5500, Phoenix Phire 16 x 20 heat press, and ImageClip transfer paper. After reading all the posts, here is my understandings and my questions. Printing - "print" 5 or 6 blank sheets to warm up fuser I use this technique as an insurance that the fuser is warmed up from cold start. It does not waste toner and I reuse the same papers until they became dark. The file I use to print has a space character so there is no toner wasted. It does not a lot of time to print a blank page. If you do not have fusing problem then by all means skip this set. - Print mirror image of the design through multi-purpose tray, heavy paper setting. Q1 - Is the 28-32lb heavy paper setting the correct choice for the 5500? A1 - Sometimes the toner does not fuse for me so I set the media type to Card stock or Ultra Heavy paper setting Q2 - Another post suggests adjusting the Saturation to max. Is this necessary for text only or simple clipart type images? A2 - Others may be increasing the saturation. I never have to. I do however adjust lightness and contrast sometimes when the image is too dark. Q3 - Any other (5500) printing tips? ImageClip Sheet to Sheet Pressing - Red sheet on top of the green sheet - Press at 210º - 215º for 10 seconds at pressure setting 2-3 (out of 9) - Immediately place silicone cookie sheet on top of sheets, fold corner of red sheet over cookie sheet and heat for an additional 5 seconds. (lnfortun’s tip) - Peel red sheet off (with cookie sheet) off green sheet keep while on lower press platen (maintains heat - lnfortun’s tip). Peel hot immediately. Papers should peel like butter. The cookie sheet is required to keep the polymer hot, when peeling the two papers, to minimize polymer speckles or excessive polymer transferred in the unprinted area of the image on the red sheet. Q1 - Anyone use gloves to protect hands for the heat? A1 - I never have to use a glove in over 14 years of peeling transfers. May be because I have thicker hide than most people. Q2 - Someone suggested lower the heating plate to warm up the lower platen before pressing. Any thoughts? A2 - yes the lower platten has to be as hot as upper platten to get a good transfer of the image. Q3 - Any other pressing tips A3 - This is very important. The red paper is the one that is pressed on the shirt. You might laugh but some new users were pressing the green paper on the shirt and wonder why it does not work. Transfer to Shirt - Press at 400º for 20 seconds I have been using the dwell time according to manufacturer's instruction which is 10 seconds. If you are having problem peeling then you might increase the dwell time 5 seconds at a time till you get a good peel. Have to remember each press has different temp and pressure characteristics. - Wait 5 seconds and peel. Big no-no you will have a hard time peeling the transfer paper. The transfer paper needs to be peeled hot immediately. If you don't the fabric fibers will lift up and the image would look like it did not transfer properly. I think you are referring to pressing on a 100% polyester. That requires waiting 5 seconds or let the transfer paper cool down a bit so the polymer will set in the fabric then press it again for 5 seconds and hot peel immediately. - Place Teflon over shirt and press for another 5 seconds - stretch shirt while still hot Q1 - Someone suggested lower the heating plate to warm up the lower platen before pressing. Any thoughts? A1 - Again the lower platten needs to be as hot as the upper platten to get a good pressed image. Q2 - Any other pressing tips A2 - here's one that helps minimize cracking: http://www.t-shirtforums.com/p182217-post3.html Thanks in advance for all your input

Hope the answers help. Others may have different opinion than I have. BTW based on your questions I gather you have not pressed any shirt yet?

__________________
Luis CorelDRAW macro author
Macro Website

 

Reply With Quote

Ran D

Thanks Luis, you're a wealth of information . I'm going to order a silicone cookie sheet today from Bakertowne, only $21 shipped. After that, I'm ready to print, print, print.
Randy

 

Reply With Quote

Lnfortun

You are very welcome. Let me know if you need additional help.

Good luck and happy printing. You will be pleased you chose Imageclip.

__________________
Luis CorelDRAW macro author
Macro Website

 

Reply With Quote

rrc62

The key to a good first press is very even light pressure. If your upper platen is not perfectly flat, you'll have trouble getting light even pressure. See this post.

Modified ImageClip Procedure

__________________

 

Reply With Quote

TDE

hows everything goin man? Did you get started?

 

Reply With Quote

Lnfortun

Yeah! Would like to hear about your venture. No news is good news, yes?

__________________
Luis CorelDRAW macro author
Macro Website

 

Reply With Quote

Ran D

Quote: Originally Posted by TDE hows everything goin man? Did you get started?

TDE, Do I know you or are you asking someone else?

Quote: Originally Posted by lnfortun Yeah! Would like to hear about your venture. No news is good news, yes?

I'm waiting for the silicon cookie sheet to arrive, then I'll begin testing.

 

Reply With Quote