Hello im about to purchase the gx24 cutter and im looking for a good printer to combine with it.My work will consist mainly of tshirts and vinyl graphics for autos,but i want a printer that can handle many different materials.My price range is 1500 to 2000 for the printer,can anyone give me any suggestions on printers that have a good of a rep as the gx24 has.Thanks
Good printer to go with gx24
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Allot of people swear by Epson Workforce printers for printing inkjet transfers...
I know of 2 companys.
Inkjetcarts and
cobra ink systems
I beleive most people here like Cobra the best.
Awesome,
I just did some research and stumbled across Cobra, I was pretty impressed with what I saw. I think I am leaning towards an Epson WF 1100 with C.I.S. complete system. Any thoughts?
-J.D.
That is what I use. Except I purchased my printer on Amazon and then got the Cobra Ink System.
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Do you intend to use the printer exclusively for garment decoration?
No as a matter of fact right out of the gate im not sure I would be doing garment printing. I will get there shortly but at first I plan on using the 1100 to print vinyl for sticker, magnets, etc. and then contour cut them on a GX-24. Ideas?
-J.D.
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I just did a GOOGLE search on the Epson WF1100 https://www.google.com/search?aq=f&sugexp=chrome,mod=8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=epson+wf1100 It is an aqueous printer that can be retrofitted for sublimation printing. Out of the box, it will NOT allow you to print on "uncoated" adhesive back vinyl (aka ABV) to produce "...sticker(s), magnets, etc...." for outdoor applications. When you try to print on these uncoated substrates, the ink will simply puddle and roll off...
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Since the WF1100 is a sheetfed printer, you can look at the Epson site for the vinyl and the laminate. Please beware, the outdoor durability of the image is up to six months with out lamination and up to two years with lamination. Your durability will be affected by the substances used to wash the vehicles, as well as the road grit. EPSON WorkForce 1100 Inkjet Printer - Product Information - Epson America, Inc.
First off i want to say thank You for all this great information, Does the fact that I'm switching to a Cobra C.I.S. pigment ink change any of this and if not what would your recommendation be? is there something that will suit my needs without going as pricey as to say versaCAMM?
-J.D.
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Sadly, no. To my knowledge, there is no desktop printer (aqueous ink) "...that will suit (your) needs without going as pricey..." This being said, you could always SELL the jobs and SUB the production. Yeah it seems I may have to explore that idea a little more, unfortunately for me I am a real hands on kinda guy and prefer to to do anything I can possible can myself. I do realize though that i will have to learn to let go a little bit if I plan to be sucessful, one step at a time, lol. Anyways it looks like it is back to research for me, I think I will still get my 1100, just seems a lot of possibilities open up with one. Well thanks again, you have been a big help I look forward to it down the road as well.
-J.D.
-J.D.
Sihl 3988 is printable with Epson pigment inks (both OEM and aftermarket... i.e. Cobra) outdoor weatherproof vinyl. It is best to overlaminate it with Oraguard 210 or similar cold laminate which can be done by hand or with a cold roller laminator.
I'm not even going to get into whether other people think that this is unprofessional or not. I have decals on lawn trucks and now on front license plates that are holding up fine. Yes, aqueous vinyl is a bit more expensive than solvent/uncoated vinyl, and you can't do fancy things like print on metallics or cast vinyls (for uneven surfaces and rivets). $200 or less Workforce + $300 in vinyl and overlaminate is a huge price difference than buying a $8000-20,000 solvent printer if you're only doing small runs. You can search this website as well as more sign shop specific forums and find plenty of people using this combination. Also no printed sign is going to hold up in terrible conditions like areas with acid rain and people pressure cleaning their vehicles with powerful detergents or going through a car wash all the time.
I don't plan on doing any big runs myself, anything over a few dozen pieces would be outsourced. But if a customer wants one bumper sticker or magnetic sign for their car advertising their business it's nice to be able to do it in-house.
I'm not even going to get into whether other people think that this is unprofessional or not. I have decals on lawn trucks and now on front license plates that are holding up fine. Yes, aqueous vinyl is a bit more expensive than solvent/uncoated vinyl, and you can't do fancy things like print on metallics or cast vinyls (for uneven surfaces and rivets). $200 or less Workforce + $300 in vinyl and overlaminate is a huge price difference than buying a $8000-20,000 solvent printer if you're only doing small runs. You can search this website as well as more sign shop specific forums and find plenty of people using this combination. Also no printed sign is going to hold up in terrible conditions like areas with acid rain and people pressure cleaning their vehicles with powerful detergents or going through a car wash all the time.
I don't plan on doing any big runs myself, anything over a few dozen pieces would be outsourced. But if a customer wants one bumper sticker or magnetic sign for their car advertising their business it's nice to be able to do it in-house.
I do the exact same thing as Fenrir mentioned above with great success. I will also do larger projects as well. I currently have a run of 1,000 3" triangle full color stickers to do. I have a 24" Epson for this. I wouldnt think of doing it on my WF-1100.
Can you point me in the direction of the printer you do this with? Any help would be much appreciated.
-J.D.
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