[GULLIVER]

Hello all,

I want to by a multipurpose DTG printer with the following specifications and functions.

Please help me here out, to select a one, and if possible advise on pricing

1. I need to print on T-shirts (monthly up to 1000 shirts)
2. It needs to print on Black T-shirts also
3. It should be "all inclusive" - no separate heat press. Print on T-shirt and various other materials (Cups and Pens are mandatory)
4. Which brand should I choose
5. I was contacted by Chinese dealers offering some printers for very low prices... Does somebody here have experience with them
6. Do I need to buy additional accessories for each additional garment to print on?
7. Any additional info I need to know before buying any printer?

Thanks in advance, and really looking forward for your assistance here.

Regards

 

[DAGuide]

The ink used for garment (waterbased pigment) and hard substrates (solvent or eco-solvent) are not the same. Also, the last thing you want to do is try to cure a garment on the printer. The heat press will dry out the print head and you will get clogging. What you are asking for (1 printer with curing built-in to print garments and hard substrates) does not exist at the current time. Might need to rethink your business plan.

Best wishes,

Mark

 

[IYFGraphics]

3. It should be "all inclusive" - no separate heat press. Print on T-shirt and various other materials (Cups and Pens are mandatory)

As Mark stated different processes, cups/mugs are normally dye sublimated, pens are normally pad printed, a pad printer can also do mugs, and 100% polyester shirts can be dye-sublimated but 100% cotton can not....confused yet?

5. I was contacted by Chinese dealers offering some printers for very low prices... Does somebody here have experience with them

Pass on it, there is no swiss army knife of printers, each process has a specific printer, all other then pad printing will require a separate heat press to cure/set the ink.

Hope this helps.

 

[GULLIVER]

Thanks guys for replies. I clearly understand what you mean, and will pass on chinese.

The bad thing (some of you will laugh) is that I only have 4000$ to buy a printer and want it do everything possible

Can you please advise a printer of up to 4k$ that I can buy to print on T-shirts up to 3k pieces/month with as much as possible higher quality.

Thanks again for support.

 

[IYFGraphics]

Can you please advise a printer of up to 4k$ that I can buy to print on T-shirts up to 3k pieces/month with as much as possible higher quality.

Not going to happen, well you can get setup to do dye-sub for a lot less than 4k but you limit yourself to 100% polyester garments....a entry level DTG is going to cost you 8-10k, a top of the line single platen machine is in the 17k range, dual platen machines are in the 17-50k range. You can always buy a used machine but it's not recommended, cheapest way to get into DTG is probably a refurbished printer but like I said that'll be 8-10k, you'll also need training, and of course a good quality heat press to cure the ink.

Hope this helps.

 

[GULLIVER]

IYFGraphics,

Thanks. It helps, clears all out. Thanks again.

 

[HPS]

Not going to happen, well you can get setup to do dye-sub for a lot less than 4k but you limit yourself to 100% polyester garments....a entry level DTG is going to cost you 8-10k, a top of the line single platen machine is in the 17k range, dual platen machines are in the 17-50k range. You can always buy a used machine but it's not recommended, cheapest way to get into DTG is probably a refurbished printer but like I said that'll be 8-10k, you'll also need training, and of course a good quality heat press to cure the ink.

Hope this helps.

Question. More along the lines of the dye sub/ink jet stuff.

I have a gt-541. I am buying a unit in the next week that will allow me to do white ink and light garments( a dtg) and a speed treater.

Now my question is this. I want to do some transfers. I have a roland and can contour cut eco solvent. I have a cannon wide format and can do ink jet printing and then contour cut on my roland.

i may want to buy the epson 1400 inkjet printer but not sure , maybe keep as inkjet or do the dye sub conversion kit, mainly for mouse pads, HATS and maybe mugs. Mugs not a big deal to me but want to do mouse pads, hats and koozies.

What is the best way for the mouse pads and koozies in terms of life and looks, inkjet transfer? eco solvent roland transfers or dye sub transfers?

I also want to do some hat transfers, so is inkjet or ecosolvent transfers the best for mousepads and hats? My fear with dye sub is not being able to do cotton.

Thanks for any thoughts/advice.

 

[IYFGraphics]

Now my question is this. I want to do some transfers. I have a roland and can contour cut eco solvent. I have a cannon wide format and can do ink jet printing and then contour cut on my roland.

i may want to buy the epson 1400 inkjet printer but not sure , maybe keep as inkjet or do the dye sub conversion kit, mainly for mouse pads, HATS and maybe mugs. Mugs not a big deal to me but want to do mouse pads, hats and koozies.

What is the best way for the mouse pads and koozies in terms of life and looks, inkjet transfer? eco solvent roland transfers or dye sub transfers?

Dye sub hands down in MHO, we have a VP540 never did any solvent transfers, but if you wind up trying this I would like to hear more about how it works out. We use our Roland for signage, vehicle graphics (lettering and wraps), decals, a very small amount of heat applied vinyl.

I also want to do some hat transfers, so is inkjet or ecosolvent transfers the best for mousepads and hats? My fear with dye sub is not being able to do cotton.

Dye-sub mouse pads, koozies, mugs etc all have a polymer coating applied to them to accept the sublimation ink, hats are another issue some are polyester and would sublimate fine others are cotton and can't be dye-sub'd, for those we do heat applied printed vinyl which looks fine but not our favorite thing to do. We normally try to sway hat customers over to our embroidery, which always looks great and high value if you follow me, it really just depend on the customer.

As far as the Epson 1400......if I had nothing and wanted to get into sublimation I'd probably buy a Rioch with the gel dye sub ink it eliminates a lot of issues with using a Epson printer for dye sub like clogging of the printhead, poorly made CIS, and the cost of dye sub ink. Sawgrass has a monopoly on dye sublimation ink here in the USA and controls the price that it's sold for...enough said on that topic.

Hope this helps.

 

[HPS]

Dye sub hands down in MHO, we have a VP540 never did any solvent transfers, but if you wind up trying this I would like to hear more about how it works out. We use our Roland for signage, vehicle graphics (lettering and wraps), decals, a very small amount of heat applied vinyl.



Dye-sub mouse pads, koozies, mugs etc all have a polymer coating applied to them to accept the sublimation ink, hats are another issue some are polyester and would sublimate fine others are cotton and can't be dye-sub'd, for those we do heat applied printed vinyl which looks fine but not our favorite thing to do. We normally try to sway hat customers over to our embroidery, which always looks great and high value if you follow me, it really just depend on the customer.

As far as the Epson 1400......if I had nothing and wanted to get into sublimation I'd probably buy a Rioch with the gel dye sub ink it eliminates a lot of issues with using a Epson printer for dye sub like clogging of the printhead, poorly made CIS, and the cost of dye sub ink. Sawgrass has a monopoly on dye sublimation ink here in the USA and controls the price that it's sold for...enough said on that topic.

Hope this helps.

It helps big time, just got a used 9 thread 1 head and am looking at another 12 thread, we have space issues and I broker and have been for years, best blanks has a roland dye sub for under 1k or maybe 1500. I can embroider hats and thought transfers would be the ticket for the people wanting to save money, the cap platens for the brother are too much for us right now and mouse pads and koozies seem like good money, especially short run so i can get into dye sub with ricoh but sheet size was limited that is why i looked at epson and yes it will not for now run a lot so i would worry about head clogging on epson .

Your information is super helpful and if i can get into dye sub cheap with best blanks then the mouse pads and mugs are doable and I can embroider hats or try a soft twill transfer with that 6 in 1 press, thanks for the feedback and advise. gives me a new alley to wander up and look at new equipment and processes

thanks again

take care

 

[IYFGraphics]

especially short run so i can get into dye sub with ricoh but sheet size was limited that is why i looked at epson and yes it will not for now run a lot so i would worry about head clogging on epson .

Actually Ricoh makes two different dye-sub printers that use the gel-ink, the gx3300 prints 8.5x14 and the gx7000 prints 11x17....the gx7000 is considerably more money though.

As I said above if you do try some transfers with the eco-solv ink I'd be interested in hearing how they work.

Hope this helps.