[dmer714]

Hey Everybody,

My name is Dan and I am stationed in Las Vegas, NV. I just recently started thinking about starting up my own little side hobby making t-shirts. I look forward to reading all of the threads here to learn how to begin. Any tips or advice would be appreciated. I'm looking at purchasing equipment that won't "break the bank" and that fits my need to feed my curiosity of how to make a t-shirt or 2 whenever I feel like it. I think I need a heat press, vinyl cutter, printer and the transfer sheets, but I haven't read enough to fully understand it all yet. Trying to stay under $800 for everything, if at all possible.

 

[rickusnret]

Welcome to the forum! I just joined about a week ago. Lots of a great and valuable information on here and people willing to give you advice.

 

[BrianHahn]

Are you going to need to do contour cutting?

 

[outbreak]

Dan, welcome to the forum. I retired from the Air Force just over a year ago. If I were you, I'd start by making vinyl decals for your military friends. The cash can add up quick. Then you can use that cash to upgrade/increase your equipment.

 

[dmer714]

How much would that cost to get into? I'm currently at Nellis AFB and there are a lot of units on this base, so I'm sure it would be profitable! I just put a little over a grand into my heat press, printer and supplies and don't want to spend too much more. Where could I go to get info on vinyl decals and such? Is it fairly simple and cheap to get started?

 

[outbreak]

It would take a few hundred dollars, depending on which cutter you got. In addition to vinyl, you could get some sisser easy weed for garments and make shirts that way too.

 

[FIREBIRDnick]

Good Morning Dan,
Welcome to T-Shirtforums!

My name is Nick from Firebird Ink. I wanted to leave a little note because I too started making shirts as a hobby with a small budget about 4 years ago. I started with a heat press and ordered cheap transfers of my designs through another company. A year or two later I started to play around with screen pressing. It was a great hobby that brought in a little extra money on the side!

I now work with Firebird Ink a company that makes ink for DTG printers. (Direct-To-Garment Printer) A pricy machine for just a hobby, but an awesome technology!