Krikon

What iv'e been thinking of was getting a 1 color press complete package and maybe do a few details in other colors by mixing techniques like stenciling.

I would of course only do screenprinting for my own line of tees iv'e been designing and will try to sell but if one get a little bit creative i think there's ways to work around paying billions for a multicolor system.

But then again, if you will do tees for others when u get the orders for them this might not work, dunno.....

 

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Solmu

Quote: Originally Posted by Krikon What iv'e been thinking of was getting a 1 color press complete package and maybe do a few details in other colors by mixing techniques like stenciling.

This is certainly possible. It will make it more labour intensive, each product will be different (a good thing for some markets, bad for some), and there'll be some things you just won't be able to do. But you don't need to be able to do everything at once from the beginning.

I'd say the majority of people start with smaller equipment and then upgrade - very few people would buy something straight up (a six colour six station for example) that meets their needs for some time to come.

Some people even start out with no press (not even a one arm) just printing on a table or on the floor.

Quote: Originally Posted by Krikon i think there's ways to work around paying billions for a multicolor system.

A multi-colour press isn't exactly a space station...

We're talking of (ballpark figures) of say $400-500 versus $2400 - it's not a lot of money for a piece of business equipment.

It's a matter of what you can afford though... if you're trying to start a screenprinting setup on $1000... then I'd say go ahead and do that and look at 1 or 2 colour setups. If your budget can stretch further you're better off getting bigger/better equipment from the start, but if you either can't afford it, or are not sure you want to commit to the risk (i.e. you've never printed before and you're not actually sure it's something you want to do) then by all means start smaller - upgrading later is definitely an option, and a lot of people make good money doing one colour shirts.

 

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MotoskinGraphix

So...his question was what is a good startup press??? This one, this one or this one....he heard some feedback from folks that new good statup presses out of his price range for sure. What should he look at in his price range?

 

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neato

Quote: Originally Posted by MotoskinGraphix What should he look at in his price range?

Frankly, nothing.

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MikeyFingaz

Quote: Originally Posted by neato Frankly, nothing.

So your saying none of the presses refered to in this thread are worthy???

Also, what do think is a good press... Im not talking about some high dollar automated 8 station press... I dont need that... I am looking for an entry level press that can be used for a small business... I will NOT be doing orders where customers ask for me to make them a certain type design... i will be selling my own designs... And frankly, none of them will be that complex of a design.

 

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Rodney

Quote: Originally Posted by MikeyFingaz So your saying none of the presses refered to in this thread are worthy??? Also, what do think is a good press... Im not talking about some high dollar automated 8 station press... I dont need that... I am looking for an entry level press that can be used for a small business.

I think phillip pointed out a couple of good presses in page one of this topic:
http://www.t-shirtforums.com/showpos...9&postcount=13

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neato

Yeah, I'm really not trying to sound like a jerk. I just don't like to see people throw their money away. I started out with a cheap press and was about ready to quit printing altogether. But fortunately, I found a 4 color, 4 station Hopkins press very cheap. Glad I did. It made a world of difference.

Please, either look for a used name-brand press, or save a little longer and buy new.

Unless you're doing only one color work, then just make your own press out of plywood and a couple of jiffy hinges.

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MikeyFingaz

Thanks Rodney & Phillip... I checked those two links out the other day when you posted them & both of those presses actually look pretty nice... I couldnt find an actual price for the workhorse model, I suppose I will call them & get a price, plus I will need to ask them if they sell a kit with that particular press... I would like to get a kit to start since Im a noob... I figurre it will give me all the materials so I can start the learning process right away, plus I will know exactly what chemicals & other tools & such I will need when Its time to re-supply on certain things like ink & squeegies & such... That was one of the reasons I liked the SilkScreeningSupplies kit...

I really really like the one by CAPS International ( start up kit)... It looks like a very stout press & has micro-registration... It also looks like a press that would be able to do more complex art & different colors once I start getting better at my craft... Eventually, I will do shirts like the ones LUCKY THIRTEEN Clothing do.. They are 2-3 sometimes 4 color prints, with white actually being one of the colors showing in the art work (please correct me if Im wrong, but if white is a color to be used in the actual final print, then you dont really have to give up one color because of doing black shirts right? I mean, you only have to give up a color to black shirts if the white is strictly used to brighten the other colors, as opposed to it being a part of the design right?)

I honestly dont think I would ever try to do shirts any more complicated than the ones like LUCKY THIRTEEN... Thats about as far as I would ever try to go I think... Both of the presses Phillip listed originally look like they could definately hande it...

I like the fact that the CAPS press comes in a kit ( the 4color, 1station press, start up kit) that gives you everything to start, the exposure unit, flash cure, ect... Plus it has the ability to add another station later if desired. It cost about twice as much as I wanted to spend, but I figure that after talking with you guys that the SilkScreenSupplies kit wouldnt be able to handle images like the LUCKY THIRTEEN designs because of no micro-registration...

I suppose I will just keep on saving my pennies & wait a little longer to buy one of the ones Phillip posted links to... I just want to hurry up & get started... Not only for the money, but because I know I will like making stuff & being able to tell people I made it myself...


EDITED TO ADD: MAn, I feel like I have been asking so many stupid questions the last few days... but I got to ask this one too... Once I but the press (probably the CAPS one) how many shirts would you guys say I could make in an 8 hour day, if I already had my frames with art work ready to go & I had to do a defferent design for each & every shirt???

I mean, say I have 15 different designs that my customers could choose from & everybody ordered different ones... With all my frames ready to go & organized, about how many could I expect to do if I had to set up for each different shirt, but I had a helper doing the other stuff like washing ink off screens once Im done with that image & so on...

I know this is absolutely the most time consuming way to do it, but I have no idea what to expect... I mean for an 8 hour day could you do 10, 50, 100, 200, more??? I have no idea what I could produce in a day... Im almost scared that I wouldnt be able to keep up with orders (of course that being optimistic that my shirts sell lol)

 

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EngBulldog

I haven't posted in a awhile but I still follow this board, so I thought I'd add some info to this thread. In the past year I have spent about $3500 on equipment.........all the equipment is used but in great shape and from quality manufacturers. Personally, I wouldn't buy a 1 color press because you will outgrow it shortly and want to do multi-colored stuff. Between ebay, the screenprinters.net classifieds, your local classifieds, craigs list, etc. there is a bunch of stuff out there. Granted I have had to take some road trips as well as pay some freight but I believe it was worth it. Here is a break-down of my stuff............

Roger Jennings stand-up 4 color 4 station press with micros ($750 from local shop here in South Carolina)

Hix exposure unit ($350 from same shop)

National conveyor dryer 3 ft by 6 ft ($1100 with freight from California)

National Heat Press 15 x15 ($350 on ebay with shipping)

Flash Cure 16x16 ($300 from ebay with shipping.......I put in bid instead of buying it now and saved a hundred bucks).

Ricoh 7000 laser printer 12x18 format ($900, this was probably the best deal that I got because this printer is perfect. I drove to Kentucky to pick this up but originally found it from a google search. It prints both screen positives as well as transfers via laser dye sublimation................mainly for multi-color short runs).

Vacuum platen to greatly assist in pressing multi-color plastisol transfers ($150 from screenprinters.net)

Okay so this a little over $3500 and still does not count graphics software, washout booth, chemicals, inks, etc. etc. etc. But at the same time it is not an enormous amount to invest in starting a business. My wife and I started this about 2 years ago. We had 5 different designs printed and sold out of them pretty quickly. Since then I have been getting contracts and learning the industry inside and out. We now have over 1200 designs on paper waiting to be outputted. We are currently refinancing our house to cash some money out and I am resigning from my federal government job in two months. I COULDN'T BE HAPPIER....................a little nervous yes.................but you cannot succeed without risk. Take care, and again look diligently for used equipment

 

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Solmu

Quote: Originally Posted by EngBulldog Ricoh 7000 laser printer 12x18 format ($900, this was probably the best deal that I got because this printer is perfect. I drove to Kentucky to pick this up but originally found it from a google search. It prints both screen positives as well as transfers via laser dye sublimation................mainly for multi-color short runs).

I take it you'd recommend this printer then?

I'm not happy with what I'm currently using to output film, so I'm looking to upgrade. I need something that can do opaque film output for screenprinting (duh ), and good colour on paper for something unrelated - it sounds like if you're using this for dye sub it also has good colour output.

Quote: Originally Posted by EngBulldog We are currently refinancing our house to cash some money out and I am resigning from my federal government job in two months. I COULDN'T BE HAPPIER....................a little nervous yes.................but you cannot succeed without risk.

Congratulations on your success.

 

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EngBulldog

I researched printers for a long time before I bought the Ricoh. I have been advised over and over to go with laser over inkjet. The only problem is it is very hard to find a laser that prints 12 by 18 at a reasonable price. Most screen-printers may not need to get that large but we have an entire "golf theme" line that is 12 inches on the back and I did not want to take any short cuts. I almost bought a Xante which is also a great laser printer but that deal went south. If you go to http://boards.screenprinters.net/ and click on the digital transfers tab, you will find several posts about dyesub transfers (check the ones comparing laser and inkjet). There is a supplier on there named Al Acosta who has been a great help to me on this subjet. His username is sublial and the company website is http://www.atttransfer.com. The company mainly supplies laser dye-sub toners and release papers that work well on 50/50 shirts as well as 100% cotton. This has been a problem with dyesub in the past and one reason I wouldn't go that route before..........because the special shirts for that process were so expensive. Now that it works on your basic gildan t-shirt that costs $1.50 I am more of a fan. Though I am still getting set up and not fully running yet, still I have seen the samples and they are great quality and comparable to screen printing as far a longevity goes. The only limitation is that you cannot transfer on darks yet but they are working on a solution that will be available soon.

My main obstacle was this...........I have several designs and obviously cannot screen-print multi-color jobs on demand for 1 or 2 shirts at a time, I also cannot stock that many designs with all the different sizes, I currently cannot print 4 color process but am learning as fast as I can. I also want quality items and am not a real fan of standard heat press transfers, because of the quality as well as the increased cost when you are dealing with large volume.

Solutions, I learned how to screen-print plastisol transfers and can store them and print on demand. I will use this process on all dark shirts as well as all spot color prints. For true 4 color process, we will use the Ricoh printer and do laser dye sublimation transfers. For any jobs that are high volume right up front then we will do standard screen-printing on the actual garments. Our only limitation is we cannot print 4 color process currently on dark shirts.........but this will be remedied soon when the toner for darks is released.

Sorry for the rambling everybody. For the initial question, yes I like the printer and highly recommend it. Ricoh now makes the 7200 instead of the 7000, I guess they update them every year or so. But I believe the company I mentioned earlier only makes toners that work in the Ricoh 7000 as well as the Okidata. If you do not need large format media and want to get into laser dyesub then I would go with the Oki. They were on sale at Staples for a great price. Not sure what the exact model was but if you look at those boards you will find out. Thanks for the congrats, again I am not really there yet but getting closer everyday. Learning
Illustrator, Photoshop, and Corel has been a real challenge but it's getting smoother on a daily basis. I also need to learn quite a bit about ecommerce, web design, shopping carts, etc......but I need to take it one step at a time. Take care

 

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Solmu

Quote: Originally Posted by EngBulldog Sorry for the rambling everybody.

No worries - it was a bunch of information, so I'm sure it'll help people who come to this thread at some point (including myself).

Quote: Originally Posted by EngBulldog For the initial question, yes I like the printer and highly recommend it.

I'm not sure if I want to get into dye sub or not. The results I've seen were interesting, so I'd be stupid to just rule it out, but it doesn't attract me right now. Still, having it as an option is useful. It's more that I need a printer that is capable of colour output, so I figured it should also be up to that task.

My digital camera is a Ricoh as it happens, so my limited exposure to the brand has been very positive.

That gives me some good information to get started anyway (I'd stalled on buying a new printer, but I really should get back to it).

Quote: Originally Posted by EngBulldog Thanks for the congrats, again I am not really there yet but getting closer everyday.

We have to start somewhere, and to me taking that first step on what could be the path to your success is an important one. No matter what happens you can say you tried, and that's true of painfully few people. It also sounds like you're well setup, so it's more of a confident stride

 

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MikeyFingaz

Nice post EngBullDog... Lots of good info in that one

 

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