[TargetImprint]

Hello,

I have an established customer who I have been working with for years. I am essentially sourcing oversize mousepads for him (countermats) that are printed on one side - the final image is 14"x24". My source prints these dye-sub onto a transfer and applies them with a heat press.

I am looking to start producing these for my customer instead. I have been looking at a wide variety of equipment - from printers to heat presses. So far I have not found a great source for reviews or comments. I have found the following sites which offer the products for sale:

Graphics One - Your Imaging Partner
Heat Press, Transfer Paper, Sublimation Ink, Sign Making Supplies & More!
Apparel Machinery - J. J. Heap

and a few others.

Any help?

Thanks in advance,

Alan

 

[uncletee]

thats a big printer and big heat press! depends on how many your going to do. god luck uncletee

 

[Riderz Ready]

You need to be a bit careful with the term "wide format". Companies like Epson like to throw around the word "wide" with anything over 8.5 x 11".

In dye sub most people consider a wide format printer to be 42" and above. Overkill for where you are at today.

At 24 x 14" you would be set with a Epson 7700. The real question is the heat press and/or can you fudge the dimension of the final product. Some 24 x 14 heat presses are actually slightly smaller plus in most cases you do not want to press all the way to the very edge of the heat press. If you find a true 24 x 14 press and can talk the customer into shrinking the final product ever so slightly you should be good to go without spending a ton of money.

 

[TargetImprint]

I have noticed that about large format. My plan was to purchase a large format printer - an RJ-900 perhaps or something similar - and a large heat press, perhaps a 30"x40" press.

However, I am looking back at my finances because I just found out the heat press in the package I was going to buy is a Chinese press - which do not seem to get great reviews on the site here. Unfortunately, moving up to that size in a GeoKnight or something similar will add about 25%, or $5000 to my set up.

Any thoughts? Any idea where to buy good used equipment?

 

[Riderz Ready]

It is not easy to find a used MaxiPress. You can typically save a few hundred dollars by contacting GeoKnight and seeing if you can get a floor model next time they do a show.

I would never get a large format press from China or anywhere else unless they had support here in the states. If you are running wide format you are typically running at or close to capacity and when a pres goes down it is a near death experience. Aaron at GeoKnight provides awesome support and can get parts sent over night if needed. What would you do if your press from China went down and you had orders to fill?