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Mission accomplished "license to thrill"

[DIY DTG]
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#1,981 ·
DTFuqua said:
I have a "Green Screen" setup that I intend to do something similar with. Do you have some kind of propriatary software you use or just get your "templates' set on your own to be ready for isolating the sublect and the insertion process for putting the photos of the people in the "big city backgrounds" ?
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I design my own templates they have Alpha Channels. I use Photoshop with scripts and actions. with the pictures from the camera on the screen I just hit an action and it re sizes the pictures, opens the template and inserts the picture into the selection (Alpha Channel}
I also have a green screen plug in but can not use it on the street because I am not allowed to use a backdrop but sometimes I extract people manually when I use a Magazine cover.
 
Discussion starter · #1,982 ·
quickflicks said:
Will see if I can get a few shirts printed at ISS in Columbus next week.
Our customers a fumy folks and might just go for it.
We will see.
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I was seriously considering attending this show aswell, however when i looked at the exibitors list on the home site all i seen was anajet?

im wondering if alot of the dtg printers are skipping this show?:confused:
 
#1,984 ·
german13 said:
yes!!! i here you... the airbrushed shirts are all solvent!!! additionally take a look at screen printing ink...same!!! so i guess it would be similar to those risks!!:confused:
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Sorry to resurrect this... I'm sure you are all beyond this now... I'm reading the whole thread to get caught up. Perhaps the industry has changed but I used to Airbrush Tees on Panama City Beach, FL... We just took regular water based textile ink... Measure 1 TBS to 4 Ounces of water, strain it through a pantyhose and that was it. White is a challenge for Airbrush as well BTW....

Bob ?;O)
 
Discussion starter · #1,985 ·
colorfinger said:
Sorry to resurrect this... I'm sure you are all beyond this now... I'm reading the whole thread to get caught up. Perhaps the industry has changed but I used to Airbrush Tees on Panama City Beach, FL... We just took regular water based textile ink... Measure 1 TBS to 4 Ounces of water, strain it through a pantyhose and that was it. White is a challenge for Airbrush as well BTW....

Bob ?;O)
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I tested some of these inks/paint:)..

there are different offerings from different suppliers.. the biggest problem is viscosity and dispersion qauility etc..

I went as far as going to ink companies whom supply and or make custom dispersions etc..

I was fortunate enough to get a look at wholesale ink pricing from various companies (cause i manufacturer my own dtg) and at this point deceided to stick to purchasing available inksets from manufactures which are specifically made for the epson head..

I felt it best to leave this to the professionals in the trade and stick to what i know best! its a tiresome job researching not to mention the cost involved with the r&d;) without significant enough return on investment.. we felt we have all but eliminated the equiptment cost overhead and decieded to move ahead with our good fortune counting our lucky stars..

Im certain other folmulations will come to light as this trade grows..supply and demand will call:) I have had good luck using a damper and bag system with any of the most current inksets.. i do have a favorite however..
 
#1,992 ·
german13 said:
:D Ill get something up sooner or later;)

been busy...KIDS..baseball/softball started keeps the weekends stretched
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What! The days are getting longer and there should be plenty of time. :D J K. I think I'm waiting too. if my origonal printer doesn't start working after I get new chips, I'm gonna wait till I get enough for the EK Rip and a 1900. :rolleyes:
 
#1,993 ·
drdeath19134 said:
Had T-Dozer build working up to green light, couldn't print keep trying now getting fatel error apg motor drive error checked wit a service utility. and red light no longer comes on. Any ideas
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First just use the epson driver for test. Then when all is well. Remove the epson driver and install EK and most important the EK DRIVER.
But for your problem. Green light is on.
When does the error occur?
The platen should be in a very small window of alignment with the chrome bar that the carriage runs on. front of platen align with leading edge of the chrome bar.
this is in Roll mode.
 
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#1,994 ·
spiderx1 said:
First just use the epson driver for test. Then when all is well. Remove the epson driver and install EK and most important the EK DRIVER.
But for your problem. Green light is on.
When does the error occur?
The platen should be in a very small window of alignment with the chrome bar that the carriage runs on. front of platen align with leading edge of the chrome bar.
this is in Roll mode.
Click to expand...
It now happens at startup no longer gets to the green light.
 
Discussion starter · #1,995 · (Edited)
DTFuqua said:
What! The days are getting longer and there should be plenty of time. :D J K. I think I'm waiting too. if my origonal printer doesn't start working after I get new chips, I'm gonna wait till I get enough for the EK Rip and a 1900. :rolleyes:
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Lol:D..

dont jump the gun;) might aswell break the news now!! we are using the 1400 as our primary format on the V3..

we decided to sacrifice some speed for the economy of the printer.. ie 230 bucks for the printer.. and printheads cheaper.. there are other benefits aswell (only 2 channels of white ink to deal with, less waste ink when doing maint with the white channels when your not printing white:)

we think its the ultimate sleeper printer coupled with ek rip we get great coverage and decent speed keep in mind we are talking 90 nozzles per channel at 2 channels of white.. we made the decision to run multiple 1400 printers for production/speed in comparrison to the more expensive 1900...:p this way no matter we will always have a printer or two available and running!! If you have ran a 1900 you will realize the benefit right away!! as far as cost to operate and maintain...

I posted a video here at the bottom of one of our intial test prints on white shirts.. This will be a good video aswell to show it printing stock inks with no music so you can hear the sound of the printer (keep in mind the video amplifys the sound, its very quiet which i love..... this will clearly show the difference of dtg vs stock inks color pop!!!

we are still fine tuning some things with the rip and the automation change, which was originally setup for the 1900.. we are making tweaks on this for the 1400 now.. at least it will give you something to watch we are pushing the limits again..;)

this is friction drive baby!!!! no adjustments in the rip none zip zero and perfect everytime!!!

P.S Additionally there are some added features to the rip including the 1400 rip most notably there now is a print/rip to file manager, makes it nice for storing and pulling up past jobs that a customer wants more of without reripping or making adjustments!!!

YouTube - T-Dozer V3 Flaming Skull.mov
 
Discussion starter · #1,997 · (Edited)
colorfinger said:
Jeff, That's just plain awesome! I look forward to seeing the details. What was the driving factor for switching from the 1900 to the 1400? Is it ink savings? If so, what do you think that is in dollars? A guess would do...

Thanks,

Bob ?;O)
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Bob,

most of our decision was based on cost and operating cost!!

Its tough to put a direct number to this, keep in mind the 1400 has 90 nozzles per channel vs 180 per channel to the 1900.. the 1400 only uses two white channels at 90 nozzles.. so imagine how much white alone your flushing down the drain just doing maintenace prints head cleans etc on the white with a 1900 at 4 channels 180 nozzles ..we do lose speed on the white ink print time compared to the 1900 because of only two channels 90 per on the 1400... you dont lose as much on the cmyk print time.. we felt we were flushing way to much money down the drain and feel its worth the speed trade off and we simply just run additional printers.. the 1900 is just more of a printer than is needed for what we do really, when you dont print white everyday this adds up and really a waste IMHO.. Additionally one of the things i dislike the most regarding the 1900 is the highly regarded printhead because its used in the 48xx etc.. this makes them expensive when bought alone thru an authorized epson dealer or you buy the whole printer refurbed to overcome this issue.. You know i think it just comes down to i like things that other people dont..lol like the #13 and black cats..:D and after watching the pro series printers 38xx-48xx Im confident the 1400 will beat or match these print times on white and people buy these at 17,000-20,000k (that galvanized my decision)

we dont view the printer itself worth much we see them no more than merely a throwaway printer (same as epson).. use it up spend a few hundred on a new printer.. the base design is what we value most and we have made it simple to swap out these printers.. parts are readily available and cheap for this model and will be for some time.. they are quite durable printers we have used these for other needs aswell, they use the same motors sensors etc as the 1900..

you can run 2-1400's for the cost of 1- 1900 and sometimes three depending on the deals.. Its a bare bones sheetmode printer (thats all we need):) one of the components that make the printer is EKrip (they just have away of getting the most out of the printers) like the 720 (speed) white printing on the 1900...

I could prolly type on and on but im a bit tired so ill save some for later!!!:D
 
#1,998 ·
Now this change after I bought the R1900 repair manual spent hours reading it watched all the movies of how to tear it apart.
Lucky I did not buy the R1900 it would have been a pain in the butt.
Now it seems I must studying the 1400 or maybe better just buying a ready made one for what ever money it costs and start printing and making money.
 
#1,999 ·
quickflicks said:
Now this change after I bought the R1900 repair manual spent hours reading it watched all the movies of how to tear it apart.
Lucky I did not buy the R1900 it would have been a pain in the butt.
Now it seems I must studying the 1400 or maybe better just buying a ready made one for what ever money it costs and start printing and making money.
Click to expand...
The 1900 is still a good choise. But since the printers are very similar you should also be well prepared to do a 1400 conversion.
After building the printer the expences rise .. ekrip and the inks are much more expensive than the printer. (But it's worth it ) ..
 
#2,000 ·
Cyberpictures said:
The 1900 is still a good choise. But since the printers are very similar you should also be well prepared to do a 1400 conversion.
After building the printer the expences rise .. ekrip and the inks are much more expensive than the printer. (But it's worth it ) ..
Click to expand...
The uncertainty is the thing here. Why change a printer for one of a hundred dollars less when the quality of the print and speed are far less. It also most probably needs a modification of the RIP.
I will see if I wait 'till the final word or buy a printer now. I want to start printing when the weather breaks here in NYC (mid May).
 
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