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JV3 or 2nd user UV machine for printing white?
We do a lot of packaging design work for flexo and gravure printing and I’m on the verge of buying a JV3 160 so I can print white plus colours onto clear film and metal foils. I also plan to use it for mounting images produced as above onto clear acrylic; again the strength of the white is quite important.
I know that I really really want a UV flatbed machine and saw a second user Zund was just sold for 15 grand in the Signboards Shop. It would be wonderful to print straight onto the acrylic but we simply can’t afford 50 grand for a new one.
So my question is several-fold. Is the JV3 white good enough if I use a two pass setting then overprint with the colours? And also how lightfast is it in interior situations?
Next question. Do any of you plan on upgrading a your UV machine? (mod-edit)
I run a Shiraz RIP which I know will be fine for the JV3, but do any of you use this for UV flatbeds?
Thanks!
Nick
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8 Replies
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I have used white on our JV3 a bit and with a couple of passes it seems fairly good however I have heard(this is only heresay) that shiraz doesn’t run the white option properly though that’s only something I have heard.
Lee
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Thanks Lee 😀
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i havent seen the white option from the zund but id say the mimaki white is not worth bothering with, ive seen some good samples from ait but that using a insanley priced clear vinyl that seems to like white ink.
we originally had our machine as a c m y k lc lm w w, but after a few months of wasting white ink through cleaning i took it out, the finished results were always very milky and not very good.
just my opinion though
dean
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Hi Dean,
Interesting. I wonder what RIP you were using? We’ve got it installed now and using the Mimaki RIP there’s an ‘SS’ setting that doubles the white. This is pretty good and it only pales when used as backlit graphics. It’ll never achieve the density that UV machines can, but not bad for solvents I reckon.
I am using optically clear HY-UCF polyester window film from Hybrid and it takes the white very well.
Moneywise the JV3 is about the only realistic white printer I can afford at the mo, but if I can build up business with this I’ll get a Mimaki UV machine next!
Cheers,
Nick -
were using shiraz and were printing onto metamarks md5 clear vinyl.
i was really disappointed with the results.
To be honest i didnt get time to do as much testing as i would have liked, but we didnt have a huge need to print white just would have been nice.glad its working for you though.
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Thanks Dean.
I’ve also got Shiraz which I used on Epson 10000CF printers and from time to time had terrible trouble with ICC profiles delivering the wrong colour balance. Going back to the JV3 whites, I’ve run stuff out on the same Metamark MD5 and it’s good too.
The guy training us said that you have to pull the white cartridges out every day, ideally before printing, and gently agitate the contents so the pigment is better distributed for even delivery. If you don’t do that then it can be too thin at first then get too thick as it empties, causing clogging problems. I was recently told that Zund stopped making machines with white due to clogging problems and wonder if it’s just because many users forgot to give the cartridges a twizzle.
Sorry you had problems with it – I keep my fingers crossed I don’t too :lol1:
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Hi Nick,
What profile in shiraz do you use for the window cling film. Just bought some for testing.
Cheers
Adam -
Hi Adam,
I used a profile specifically for the Epson 10000CF, for 720 adhesive vinyl. I don’t know how to attach it for posting here but if it would be of use to you just let me know where to email it to, or you should be able to download it from AIT if you have bought and registered Shiraz with them.
Cheers,
Nick
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