[dan213]

I've been doing heat press inkjet transfers the past few months and have had good success but am pretty limited with only being able to do light shirts. I'm looking to expand into darker shirts now.

I looked into vinyl cutters but that looks like a giant waste of time/materials.

A lot of stuff I would be doing would be similar to "Tebowing" shirts and stuff like that. Fairly simple designs with a few colors.

I know that is a 4 color setup but I figured it would be worth the extra $100 to get the 4 color over the 2 to keep my future options open.

Has anyone gone this route?
Econo 4 Color Screen Printing Press & Package

Opinions? Would I be ready to go from day 1? I looked on craigslist and have a guy around me selling a ton of screens for cheap so I would be able to pick up some of those.
I already have a heat press so I would be using that to cure the ink instead of the gun.

Any advice/feedback would be greatly appreciated.

 

[lben]

Don't get that one. On the right side of the screen (from your link) look at the first product listed. It's called the semi-pro kit for $999.99. I know it's a few hundred more, but trust me, it has things in it that the other kit does not. For upgrades you want to get the 20x24 UV light exposure unit. I got the semipro kit and I love it. I upgraded the exposure unit and was glad I did. You will not want a heat gun, you want the econo-flash dryer.

 

[smudge guy]

If growing your business is in mind & some extra space is not a problem, a 4/4 or 4/6 manual press is the way to go, you will work more comfy & the performance will be way more better compare with the 4/1 model, you could built your own exposure unit for $200. Think about spending $1000 today & buy later on a manual press 4/4 w flash for around $2200, you are not really saving money. We just got a 4/6 manual press & we are happy, before that, our screen printing equipment was not over $500 & we printed over 200 orders of 24 pcs, 1 color, 2 sides. Now it's the time to start w multicolor.

Let us know

 

[firesurfer75]

I've gotta agree with the others here in that if possible try to get more platens than the 4/1, and get a flash for sure. The flash makes life much simpler. I have the 4/1 and every time I'm printing I wish I had at minimum the 4/2 just because of time.

 

[lben]

I've gotta agree with the others here in that if possible try to get more platens than the 4/1, and get a flash for sure. The flash makes life much simpler. I have the 4/1 and every time I'm printing I wish I had at minimum the 4/2 just because of time.

Same here, but I didn't have enough room for the 2 station to fit.

 

[geniussuineg]

Think about it guys. You should be profiting about $125 - $200 for every 24 shirts you print. After about 5 - 8 jobs you equipment pays for itself. Don't forget the focus is to get good at what you are doing. It seems time consuming but after a year or two you may be able to get a commercial spot with a big press. The 2 platen press is not efficient for flashing. It means you will always have a platen under the flash. You would be buying new platens easily after a 100 or 200 shirt print job. And also burn shirts if you are not fast enough. I just warped my first platen after a 100 shirt job last week. I have a 4/1 silver press. I am thinking about buying the alumibond platen and putting a rubber topper on it and buying a set of the new micros. Being in business means constantly spending money.