[Titchimp]

I just saw a video on Youtube from Anajet, claims to be the fastest on the market with a start to finish print on a dark t shirt in under two mindutes. Is this a genuine claim to fame or can any others beat it?

Have i been tricked by the video? lol.

 

[IYFGraphics]

Hey Nick,

Post up the link to the video if you can, I'd like to see it as I'm sure others will also.

 

[Titchimp]

Hey Nick,

Post up the link to the video if you can, I'd like to see it as I'm sure others will also.

No problem:

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltqgLsWHR0s[/media]

 

[Justin Walker]

I'd be most interested in seeing how good that shirt looks, next to others that have been printed on other machines. "Fast" and "High Quality" do not always overlap. Its cool to see videos like this, showing the entire shirt printing process, but it would be nicer if we could see the shirt in hi-res, after.

 

[TPrintDesigner]

Does not look any quicker than a GT782. Loading would be slower and cure times would be much longer.

 

[TahoeTomahawk]

When I saw this at the show they were running everything at a higher resolution which was took longer to complete, about as long as most other newer machines on the market.

The reps said they chose to run it at a higher resolution to get a 'better print'.

Without seeing an upclose I guess we will never know.

Anajets did seem really stable, but the thing I didn't like about it was the lack of tuc-loc platens and the platen being bolted to the bed.

For a few shirts here and there throughout the day sure it's great, but when you have 50+ to be run in production mode you need multiple platens to allow them to be staged and ready to go to eliminate printer idle time.

Out of all the machines we looked at the MOD1 seemed to be the overall fastest besides the Kornit and maybe the brother although it was hard to tell since they both had dual print beds.

 

[TahoeTomahawk]

Just another thing to mention, this is what I mean when companies show theoretical print times.

You need to watch more than 1 shirt to be printed to get an idea. If it were 10 in a row, mix in some smalls and some 2XL's to simulate a real production run. See how long it takes to line up a large shirt and a small shirt where the seams do not quite fit on the platen and you have to fight with it to be level.
That is where you see the Tuc Loc system and the ability to have multiple platens for staging ready to go.

If you're interested in doing batch jobs like we were, scratch off any printers that have the platen bolted to the bed. It's a bad design and will eat away at your production time making any print speed savings moot.

 

[Titchimp]

Thanks for the replies people, i too thought that something like a removable platen would be what makes a lot of the difference. I had never really considered the Anajet but we do not have the option for the Mod1 which i think would be the most suitable for our needs.

 

[TahoeTomahawk]

That would be nice if they did have Belquette support over seas.

The MOD2 will put overall print times closer to the Brother and the Kornit in my opinion when you factor in the loading, printing and production run features.


Who is this guy in the Anajet video? He claims Anajet is the -only- American made printer, there are several American made printers that I know of and probably several more that I don't know of.

 

[Don-ColDesi]

I've seen the machines print, the MOD is faster than the ANAJet as I feel that Mark has done a better job of last raster return than the Anajet does. Also, being able to load a shirt onta a board ahead of time cuts the "in between" time as well. That being said, all Epson 2400, 1800, 1900 based machines are going to perform at similar print speeds, the return speeds will vary, but not by more than maybe 10-15 seconds or so per machine. Second problem is, if you are printing as "short fat" logo in a bright color on dark, you may actually need to slow down your print time to allow the white to dry a bit before printing color over it.

 

[102557]

I've seen the machines print, the MOD is faster than the ANAJet as I feel that Mark has done a better job of last raster return than the Anajet does. Also, being able to load a shirt onta a board ahead of time cuts the "in between" time as well. That being said, all Epson 2400, 1800, 1900 based machines are going to perform at similar print speeds, the return speeds will vary, but not by more than maybe 10-15 seconds or so per machine. Second problem is, if you are printing as "short fat" logo in a bright color on dark, you may actually need to slow down your print time to allow the white to dry a bit before printing color over it.

what is your take on printing all your white underbase on (dark shirts) first, say run about 6-10 shirts then rerun them for the color over?

using a removable platen system?

 

[equipmentzone1]

what is your take on printing all your white underbase on (dark shirts) first, say run about 6-10 shirts then rerun them for the color over?

using a removable platen system?

Hi,

I don't think that printing a white underbase on a set of dark shirts first, then rerunning them for the color pass is necessary. Virtually all of your shirts will print just fine without having to add extra time in between print passes.

-Alex

 

[102557]

thanks..for the info...

i just keep hearing about the drying time for the white under base.. thats what prompted my question..

thanks again..

 

[DAGuide]

I can only state what I have seen. As the print speeds increase, it is possible that the white ink does not have enough time to gel or coagulate enough to prevent the CMYK / color layer from mixing with the white ink. This typically is not an issue for an average print. But when the design is short, it can be an issue. I believe one of the first times this became an issue was with the Eclipse printer that used two different printers and the white ink was printed using 8 channels of ink. The white underbase was applied very quickly and from what I was told at a trade show the platen needed to be delayed before the color layer was printed in order to get the best looking designs. I believe this is what Don was trying to communicate about. Again, for normal designs this is typically not an issue.

Mark

 

[102557]

Thanks mark,

appreciate the info, your a blessing for the forums..

i am concerned with dry times with my printer, i am going to do the underbase at 720.. it lays down plenty o ink with the 4 channels at this res and it does it fast usually around 30 seconds depending on the graphic..

i will experiment a little with different approches

thanks again..

 

[102557]

Additionally it seems there will come a point when the printer speed becomes insurpassable without doing multiple white underbase and a color rerun?

according to this eclipse printer you mention it looks like it has reached its max speed point for SINGLE shirt double pass to darks?

So the only way to over come this seems to be multiple white underbase prints and rerun for color? or incorporate some kind of dryer on the printer itself as its printing the white ink, however im not sure that it is feasable?

very interesting concept for the industry..

 

[Mabuzi]

The Anajet is excellent for small runs! For larger runs, any thing over 50, the Kornits or Brother are the way to go(if screen printing is unavailbe). The anajet advantages are the closed loop ink system, the epson print heads and the not having to use an agitator for the inks.
Anajet now prints onto Polyester too and the results are great.

 

[DAGuide]

Anajet now prints onto Polyester too and the results are great.

I think it is important to understand that any Epson-based dtg printer can use this same exact ink, which is a completely different ink than used to print on cotton, and print on the same exact substrates. This is not something unique to the way the Anajet printer is built.

Additionally, it requires you to completely clear out the ink delivery system and there are some questions as to whether you need to replace the dampers as you almost never can completely remove all the ink out of the dampers. So unless you are going to run two different printers, the amount of cleaning costs and time is probably prohibited for most owners to use this different ink to print on these other substrates.

Just some things to think about when you want to consider printing on these other substrates.

Mark

 

[Don-ColDesi]

The following product:

DTG Textile Pre-Treatment for Poly Blends AVAILABLE: Colman and Company - Discount Commercial Embroidery Supplies - Machine Embroidery Supplies Catalog

works with most major barnds of direct to garment inks to give excellent results on polys and poly blends without changing over ink sets.

 

[IYFGraphics]

So the only way to over come this seems to be multiple white underbase prints and rerun for color? or incorporate some kind of dryer on the printer itself as its printing the white ink, however im not sure that it is feasable?

I believe Peter (Neo-Flex) has been touting a add-on heater for his printer, I believe it was a infrared heater to help cure the ink, here's the link.

http://www.t-shirtforums.com/neoflex/t118641.html

Hope this helps.