[bamzurc]

Hi I had a back ground in screen printing and heat transfer before. (7 years ago). Now I decided to do heat transfer again. I only used transfer paper before.

Im from Edmonton and im looking for a workshop or training for heat transfer or within Canada. I would also like to know how much will I spend for a starter heat press machine and materials., etc. And what’s latest on heat transefer nowadays. I’ve been researching on the net but way too many infos. Now I dont know where to start...

Hope someone can enlighten me on this. Thanks in advance.

 

[click here]

not much has changed, it's just more expensive

if you ever head over the continental-divide stop in for a beer/coffee

we do vinyl and jpss on tees (also trialing more obscure decoration methods)
i am also happy so far with the trials so far on the versatrans plasitisol transfers

what type/style of designs are you planning/hoping for?

decent starter heatpress would be about $1k, or you could take your chances on several cheaper models
not recommended, as this is literally the heart of your business,
without a decent press you will not be happy, and your customers definitely won't be happy

cheapest starter cutter is about $275
materials depend on direction chosen for business

joto has this press on clearence if you have a couple more bucks (this thing is a tank, made in the usa, great press)
venture has hix swingman15's for $1200 (i have this one) another american made tank
but for the extra $95 get the instapress as it is 15"x20"

ndgraphics in edmonton has the hix as well (more money),
and they also have a siser 15"x15" for about $750
might be worth it to take a drive and look at both

for cheaper, just keep checking kijiji daily and post here what you find before you buy

i volunteered at house of refuge mission on jasper and then 95th st for a decade (tough crowd),
and i worked for years at goldbar

 

[click here]

i did some searching for you

i would buy this in a heartbeat if it is in as good as condition as they say

yeah, it's in van
but these hix will last you as long as you want to keep using them
(lifetime platen warranty)

(990 posts to get my black shirt back!)

 

[bamzurc]

Thanks a lot. Im gonna take a look on what you’ve said.

Btw im thinking of starting with vinyl 1 to 2 colors. I haven’t tried using and cutting vinyl. All I did before is used a sublimation printer and a transfer paper.

 

[click here]

get as many free samples of vinyl as you can and do a test tee with all of them on it,
and see what you like and how they hold up after multiple wash/dry cycles

joto paper is in van, they have vinyl made by poli-tape in germany (aka thermoflex)
i have a tee with thier 'normal' vinyl with over 50+ cycles on it and it is still like new
email them for free samples
poli-tape's new turbo is applied at 265F for 5-7 secs (i also do a 5 sec re-press)
so far i've got about 15 wash/dry cycles in and have had no issues

here is my review

i know there is at least one regular poster here that really likes chemica vinyl (made in france)
if you head to cowtown stop in to victory vinyls, they are good people and carry chemica

express sign products in pincher creek carries sef vinyl (also made in france), also a very good vinyl
it is also processed with water and not solvents

ndgraphics carries siser vinyl made in italy, you can probably get a sample from them
good to compare to others

 

[bamzurc]

get as many free samples of vinyl as you can and do a test tee with all of them on it,
and see what you like and how they hold up after multiple wash/dry cycles

joto paper is in van, they have vinyl made by poli-tape in germany (aka thermoflex)
i have a tee with thier 'normal' vinyl with over 50+ cycles on it and it is still like new
email them for free samples
poli-tape's new turbo is applied at 265F for 5-7 secs (i also do a 5 sec re-press)
so far i've got about 15 wash/dry cycles in and have had no issues

here is my review

i know there is at least one regular poster here that really likes chemica vinyl (made in france)
if you head to cowtown stop in to victory vinyls, they are good people and carry chemica

express sign products in pincher creek carries sef vinyl (also made in france), also a very good vinyl
it is also processed with water and not solvents

ndgraphics carries siser vinyl made in italy, you can probably get a sample from them
good to compare to others

Wow you’re truly an angel. Lots of info. Thanks. I’ll gather all of them and do some researching this weekend. Btw what software do you use for your artworks? AI or corel? And for the printer cutter does it comes with editing software too? Are you from Edmonton?

 

[click here]

i use serif's drawplus x8 mainly
(and silhouette studio for the cameo,
ai i begrudgingly use when i need to open ai files and save them as svg's for editing elsewhere)

the drawplus is a really feature-rich program for $25,
but after a decade of work on it they switched over to affinity (~$50), which is more of a hybrid vector/raster design program
drawplus is still for sale, but unsupported (you can still download the trial version for free to test it out)
it is very easy for a beginner to get going, and enough perks to keep you going

coreldraw is about ~$500, and may be hugely beneficial if you do silk-screening (half-tones)
i think they still have a 'student' edition for less, but i'm not sure what is left out or if you can use it commercially

usually your cut program will be lacking in design capabilities (or be un-intuitive),
silhouette cameo is the exception with their studio program (which is free)

i also have make-the-cut (~$50) for a used zing cutter i picked up,
that is a good mix of design/cutting program (but very limited in the machines it is compatible with)

i lived in edmonton for about a decade, then bought an abandoned farm house and 5 acres by vegreville
we lived completely off-the-grid for about 12 years there, then got sick of the 7 month winters and headed west

 

[click here]

i forgot to mention scal (sure-cuts-alot) as a program for you,
there are a few posters here that use and like it
it is ~$60 for the regular version

it is another hybrid design/cutter program
the nice thing about this one is it is still actively developed and has many tutorials online

 

[bwdesigns]

Stahls is right in Edmonton, and RB Digital, also in Edmonton, sells Politape products

 

[click here]

i forgot about rbdigital being in edmonton
that will save on shipping costs for thermoflex
they also have hix presses and maxx/hotronix

i remember talking to them at the calgary imprint show a couple of years ago,
good people (they have really decent prices on the hix swingman and the thermoflex)

i've tried many stahls vinyls, meh

 

[bamzurc]

Thanks guys. I’ll definitely consider them.