[BikerBill]

Hi everyone, hope the new year is going well for you all. 🙂 Mine is not but that's another story. I am an old hand at heat press transfers, as in buying stock heat press transfers from companies. However I now wish to branch out into making my own heat press transfer designs at home.

I know NOTHING at all about that. I hear a lot of different terms and words thrown around so I am confused. I basically want to have my own printer I can use to make custom transfers I heat press onto shirts. Could someone point me to a link, youtube video or just offer basic information about what it is I should be looking for?

I THINK what I want is to buy a wide format Epson printer and then convert it to use special inks and special transfer paper, correct? Again any info is much appreciated. I now know how to use illustrator and buy vector designs with the legal licenses to use them to print. So that opens up much more for me now. Thank you!

Bill

 

[TABOB]

I THINK what I want is to buy a wide format Epson printer and then convert it to use special inks and special transfer paper, correct?

That will be DTF, and it's not as easy as some people portray it to be
Swapping the inks and removing the exit wheels on a desktop printer, works well enough for testing, but it's not good enough for production work.
Also DTF printers, large or small, require maintenance similar to DTG.

DTF... Easy money?

This DTF video came up in my YouTube feed, and the setup is reminding me my "old shop". Basically my living room looked like this for a couple of years :eek:. Looks like they are having a bad day, which does happen with white ink. I did print white ink (DTG) for one year, and I did experience...

www.t-shirtforums.com

 

[BikerBill]

That will be DTF, and it's not as easy as some people portray it to be
Swapping the inks and removing the exit wheels on a desktop printer, works well enough for testing, but it's not good enough for production work.
Also DTF printers, large or small, require maintenance similar to DTG.

DTF... Easy money?

This DTF video came up in my YouTube feed, and the setup is reminding me my "old shop". Basically my living room looked like this for a couple of years :eek:. Looks like they are having a bad day, which does happen with white ink. I did print white ink (DTG) for one year, and I did experience...

www.t-shirtforums.com

Thank you for the reply and link. Hmmm, maybe I need to step back and think about it for awhile more. I hate having to fix stuff all the time. Maybe I'll stick with what I have for a while. Thanks again. 🙂

 

[DrivingZiggy]

Many ways to go, though. If you're printing on white polyester tshirts then sublimation is the way to go. But I seem to remember you doing lots of stuff on jackets/vests. So that wouldn't be the right way to go.

For light colored cottons you could try pigment inks and JPSS. For darks, the name of the transfer paper is eluding my old *** at the moment.

 

[BikerBill]

Many ways to go, though. If you're printing on white polyester tshirts then sublimation is the way to go. But I seem to remember you doing lots of stuff on jackets/vests. So that wouldn't be the right way to go.

For light colored cottons you could try pigment inks and JPSS. For darks, the name of the transfer paper is eluding my old *** at the moment.

Hi there. Yeah I do mostly black shirts. I have a new project that is not shirts, but the items are still black. Tell me, does DTF work like normal heat transfers where you are just putting the ink on the shirt after peeling, or does it work like an iron on and you put the whole transfer sheet onto the item?

 

[TABOB]

I hate having to fix stuff all the time.

Different people like different things I guess.
Fixing things is what I do all the time, and I don't mind it at all.

Tell me, does DTF work like normal heat transfers where you are just putting the ink on the shirt after peeling, or does it work like an iron on and you put the whole transfer sheet onto the item?

DTF is similar to the transfers you are already using.
The difference is how the white backing is printed, making it possible to print single sheets (no minimums).

 

[BikerBill]

Different people like different things I guess.
Fixing things is what I do all the time, and I don't mind it at all.


DTF is similar to the transfers you are already using.
The difference is how the white backing is printed, making it possible to print single sheets (no minimums).

Okay thanks for the info. I will study up more on this. I am always pressed for time, so I hate having to stop and fix stuff. Of course often I do anyways. Thanks again.

 

[into the T]

hey bill, check this vid out for info on dtf via re-purposed epson desktop
there are people on this forum that have the larger industrial machines that sell transfers too if you want to try (zwik is one)

 

[BikerBill]

Thank you, I will watch it when I have time. 🙂

 

[TABOB]

hey bill, check this vid out for info on dtf via re-purposed epson desktop

I quickly skipped through it... and brother Ernest is right for the most part.

With a well made conversion and a bit of technical skill, desktop DTF is possible.
As a general rule of thumb, people able to do the annual service for a car, should be able to maintain a DTF/DTG printer as well.
Obviously people with experience maintaining DTG printers will have no problem maintaining a good DTF conversion.

White ink is very problematic, and simply filling a regular desktop printer with it is not going to last, and printhead maintenance is the biggest problem.
A decent DTF conversion should have white ink recirculation, and the necessary modifications for easier printhead and cleaning station maintenance.
The reason DTG printers are a bit easier to maintain, is because access to the printhead is possible without disassembly.