[oleon311]

I have a big problem....I want to put a design on my t shirts that cover almost the entire front of the t shirt, But the heat presses out there are not big enough. The biggest Hotronix and Phoenix machines I've seen are 16x20 and clearly the shirts are much bigger than that. What can I do? The image is large PLEASE I need some help!

 

[charles95405]

there are larger heat presses....you just have to google for them..they are not in every vendors inventory.. best blanks have 20x25 units ..see HEAT PRESS - Oversized (Large Format) Heat Presses for High Production. another site is AIT/Astex Heat Transfer Machines These are just a couple I found in a quick google search And dont forget some of the large prints are printed before the shirt is made..

 

[oleon311]

Charles, Thanks a lot! You were extremely helpful.

 

[Inyourfaceprint]

Hey Charles would you happen to know how much the Astex 1112 heat press would cost?

 

[Susie]

There's the Geo Maxi Press 30 x 40. That's the one I'm looking at. They run around $7500.

 

[InspiredImp]

The other thing to look at before buying the large press is, what print method are you using? How does my art work with that style?
e.g. I use vinyl for my shirts. And as long as any individual piece is small enough for my press, I can keep adding more pieces on any location of the shirt I want, one piece at a time until the entire design is built.
This method won't work if you are using a print method that produces the art as one large piece.

 

[charles95405]

I don't know the price of any of the larger heat presses..just that they are usually pretty expensive

 

[COEDS]

I would look into breaking the design into workable sections to press. I know the time added is a cost to production, but it would take a long time to justify the cost of a larger press. I also would wonder if the cost of larger designs compared to breaking them a part would be cost saving. .... JB

 

[oleon311]

I have a design (one large piece) that is just a little larger than 16x20. Do any of you think it would be alright to press the image twice? First a large portion of the design, than whats left of the design. Example, I'm heat pressing the design of a large giraffe, but my 16x20 heat press machine leaves out the head of the giraffe....could I just simply heat press the body and neck..and than heat press the head right after Im done without cutting the giraffes head and making it a 2 piece design? I would love to buy a large heat press but they are quite heavy and highly priced. Thanks in advance for any of your comments!

 

[mrdavid]

I have done two press with vinyl and with cold peel Plastisol but have never tried hot peel yet.

 

[COEDS]

I think it can be done with the eco film or multicut with no issue. As for plastisol,Think a hot peel would work too. You would need to press and peel, then cover with teflon and press and peel again. I know the labor and time are extra, but the ost of the larger equipment is just not worth the expenditure . IMHO. .... JB

 

[oleon311]

Thanks JB, I was thinking the same thing about how expensive it would be to buy an extra large heat press, not to mention how much more space it would take. I guess I will just heat press half of the design and than the other half after I hot peel it. I just hope I dont mess up the t shirts or designs when trying to double press. Thanks again JB.

 

[COEDS]

Leon the rule for heat pressing is slow and easy. I never get in a real hurry, as this leads to mistakes and loss of profit. Good luck. ..... JB

 

[Inyourfaceprint]

Ok everybody, some information about the heat press I was asking about. I had shot an e-mail to the webmaster of the site and he gave me the price.......

6545 US DOORRRUUUU!!!!!!

With a $250 charge for shipping. Jeez, and I thought trying to get programs like photoshop and illustrator was bad. I only need a heat press thats simple, digital, and doesn't cost over 3G. Another thing, I'm guessing the point of cold and hot peel is that hot peel is for bright colors and cold peel is for dark. Is there a better significant difference. Props to charles and susie for the insight, and the advice was also helpful jb.