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A big Thank You to all at Roland DG UK
I would just like to publicly say thank you to Roland and in particular Brett, Matt and also Nick Wintle who although he does not directly work for Roland is heavily involved in their marketing, for arranging such superb hospitality for us.
A group of us visited Roland headquarters in Bristol on Tuesday 7th October to see and give out impressions on two new machines prior to their release to the public.
The Versa Art 640 and the new Vera Lec-300 roll to roll UV machine. Both are extremely impressive pieces of kit……….in particular the RS 640 seems to be a fantastic machine for the money……….Chris took away some test prints of his own files ( un profiled) to compare with the new Mimaki CJV33 today………would be really interested to hear your thoughts on this Chris
Again thanks to all at Roland and Robert for arranging such a good event.
John
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45 Replies
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Why is everyone calling me Chris, its Kev.
Second John’s sentiments of how Roland treated us whilst viewing & discussing the machines. I’ll post some details re the Mimaki when i have more timeKev
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so that was the big Bristol secret :lol1: :lol1:
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yep… didn’t know u was going John… oh well sorry i didn’t come.. a lot on
And Chris,, post a pic and u wont get this problem!
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Rob took plenty of pics of Kev, just for you Dave!! :lol1:
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State of Rob do you actually think they will be in focus
Kev
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haha kevin done 4
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Depends if Rob took them before or after the spider frightened him off!! 😀
My thanks also to Rob and all at Roland for a great day and superb hospitality.
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Yeah it was great to see the machines and now I am very depressed as I want one (hot)
A big thanks you to Roland for a great day and night and for the added extra entertainment of a small little spider 🙄
oh, and invisible walls 😮
great day, great guys, and beautiful machinery.
cheers
Warren
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😳
Sorry Kev…that will teach me to type a post in a hurry 😀John
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I will second the thanks to Roland’s staff. It was a a very informative day.
We weren’t given any sales pitch, just an opportunity to see the machines in action. The RS 640 looks like it will be a winner. well worth considering if you are looking at buying your first printer, (or even your second)especially at the pricePeter
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I have never heard of the Versa Art before today. I’m looking forward to hearing more about these new machines. What are their running costs? What kind of inks do they use? Do they cut as well as print? How much do they cost to buy? What makes them better than the machines they are replacing. 😀
My Cadet is now three years old – should I be thinking about replacing it?
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Phil,
there is a ad on the home page (top right hand corner)Peter,
come back past you early evening, as i was at Hybrid until late so didn’t want to disturb your evening. As i’m sure you didn’t get to bed too early
with Rob & his night tripKev
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There is a link on the boards, the main banner advert top right………64 inch printer only, £10999 + vat, take up reel is £1400, CMYK but software runs a filler pass to eliminate banding………very fast and excellent, easily sell able prints even at highest speed setting, modified capping station with mechanical set up and not motors…….very impressive machine.
john
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yes rolands hospitality was first class and i believe a very refreshing way that the forward thinking manufacture is listening to the end users.
i learned a lot not just from roland but from other members present as we played with the machines.
now how can i get that drum kit with my new printer ?.
Brett now about my versa works 😉
chris
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On the Versaart from the pics it looks like the heating systems are the same as the versacamm series. When doing roll to roll printing does the extra speed cause any issues over ink drying times? I’m assuming the inks are still the same eco sol max and we had issues with our older versacamm on some substrates when we had heavy ink coverage.
On our XJ we basically have additional heaters all the way to the take up unit which eliminates this and we have an additional blower unit.
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quote Jason Xuereb:On the Versaart from the pics it looks like the heating systems are the same as the versacamm series. When doing roll to roll printing does the extra speed cause any issues over ink drying times? I’m assuming the inks are still the same eco sol max and we had issues with our older versacamm on some substrates when we had heavy ink coverage.
On our XJ we basically have additional heaters all the way to the take up unit which eliminates this and we have an additional blower unit.
To be honest and from what I saw you might have a point, I don’t own a printer and have very little knowledge on them but something we saw when printing seemed to indicate that could be a problem, I only thought of it because of your comments but don’t know if the setting were wrong or what the set up was exactly so can’t be 100% sure.
Even though if I had the money I think I would have signed a cheque right there and then even though they don’t sell them from there 🙄 :lol1:
cheers
Warren
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Hoping to get back in to see the RS to print files as a direct comparison to the Mimaki that i viewed today. Printed 15+ meters today at Hybrid Of test files some that was not tried at Bristol. Which tested Reds, Burgundies etc & although some banding was evident this could be resolved with speed & quality settings. I went with high expectations of the Mimaki & although i recognize that the printer is good i was slightly disappointed with it. Once i have compared file for file from each printer i’ll post mpre details
Kev
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jason the versa art will knock spots of the old versa cam in speed and quality, probably about similar speed to xj but with a extra pass just about eliminating any banding. running versaworks 3
some body put me right if i am wrong
the materials warren saw were difficult to dry types there are two heaters bed and post individually set.they have simplified the capping station and some natty new media clamps.
it is defiantly aimed at the wrap market and could integrate well with a existing print and cut roland should you want.
chris
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Hey Chris and Warren,
On Avery 1005 EZ and other wrap materials we never had an issue with take up. But on things like PVC and polyprop and especially paper we always have issues with the versacamm. On our XJ we don’t have an issue with it. I was just asking about it because it might be a nice addition to our setup including a cutter. But I thought the increased speed with less drying abilities might cause us some problems with the other materials.
Cheers
Jason -
quote :But on things like PVC and polyprop and especially paper we always have issues with the versacamm
to be fair you may still have a issue banner should be ok from experience if you are having problems with paper look at other products and your total ink settings. i had one paper that took 30 mins before touch dry, i rang the supplier every 10 mins with a progress report on drying. they soon took it back.
certainly the popup material was slow drying it did not appear to be overloaded so probably that make.
on your machines like mine if you print bi dir you can see a cut lawn stripey effect to the print when viewed at different angles, this does not show anymore.
chris
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Thats cool Kris. I don’t expect it to be at the level of the XJ. We turned down our speeds on the Versacamm to help with the drying process. We were pushing it to fast which caused extra problems. Hopefully I see the machine at the Sydney show.
Any comments on the UV printer?
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Jason,
I am sure that some commented how much hotter the heaters on the RS were compared to a Versacam.
We all oo and aah’d at the samples produced by the UV machine…..using several passes and the varnish there were some amazing effects including the ability to print braille……..the beginning of 3d printing……..however the machine is large and only prints 760mm wide, is not very fast……and costs £32,000.
Very much the first of a new breed of printer but to be first you will pay for the premium.
It can do some fantastic things…..John
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I will try and post some pictures of a sample I have from the uv machine
later Peter
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£32K for the machine… no way… the Mimaki 750 basically had such low sales that it was dropped, who’s going to spend that on the machine with a small width.
Are these Roland developed heads in both machines? XARR, Spectra, Toshiba Tech or Epson?
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Hey Dave,
The price is actually correct. About $65k in AUD.
Expensive machine but I guess its suited to specific niches. The price doesn’t really worry me its the lack of speed. I couldn’t use it for what we produce around here.
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Yup thanx to all at Roland for such a great day
and thanx to Rob for giving us all a good laugh at various points 😉
Rob and the Popup stand :lol1: :lol1: :lol1:
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that pull up looks straight at the moment 😀
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:rofl: That was funny, thanks Rob :lol1:
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Come on be fair a money spider did run across the floor in front of him 😀
Kev
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quote Kevin Flowers:Come on be fair a money spider did run across the floor in front of him 😀
Kev
actually it was a wee little spider and it knocked Rob right off his feed and he went crashing wildly in to that roll up banner 🙄
it’s true, I saw it happen 😉
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as promised, I just photographed this sample of the UV output, yes it is printed and I’m sure some entrepener will find a market for this type of print, . "feely wraps"?
Peter
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hey kev!!! gotcha!
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I loved the nice relaxed atmosphere 😀 …..so relaxed we were late 😳
3d braille printed onto normal paper on the UV LEC_300
john
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why wasnt i told about the fab day out?……looks like it was all blokes that got invited anyway :lol1: :lol1:
nik
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Nik,
You wouldn’t of wanted to be there anyways.
Can’t you see?
They were in a touchy feely mood.
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quote Jason Xuereb:They were in a touchy feely mood.
LMAO!
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Hey Peter
How did you manage to get away with a sample…… me and John practically got strip searched on the way out :lol1:
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quote John Wilson:Hey Peter
How did you manage to get away with a sample…… me and John practically got strip searched on the way out :lol1:
I had a couple of samples taken off me :D, what a rebel :lol1: …..the only sample that was allowed out of the building was the black sheet with varnish highlights and raised Roland logo in white.
John
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Hey, thats daft…. UKsignboards being a good advertising platform to them and you lot being potential customers too… are they not releasing this printer then?
I have hundreds of pounds worth of samples in the workshop at the moment from different machines suppliers all trying to get us to buy a machine.
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quote Dave Rowland:Hey, thats daft…. UKsignboards being a good advertising platform to them and you lot being potential customers too… are they not releasing this printer then?
I have hundreds of pounds worth of samples in the workshop at the moment from different machines suppliers all trying to get us to buy a machine.
Maybe cos the prints were so good that they just couldn’t part with them 😉
Now away back under that mimaki rock of yours :lol1:
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ha ha… John have you changed cartridges yet?
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quote Dave Rowland:ha ha… John have you changed cartridges yet?
Just off to pick them up right now….. this week has been a bit of a washout 😮
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quote John Wilson:Hey PeterHow did you manage to get away with a sample…… me and John practically got strip searched on the way out :lol1:
that’s probably because you were lifting everything that wasn’t nailed down john. 😉
there was samples Roland had printed up for us given out within goody bags at the end Dave. but some of the fancier sample stuff they had in the show room was limited so we couldn’t just take those.
i will post some pictures and thoughts a bit later…
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Your one to talk Mr Lambie 😉
I’ll keep an eye out next month for your thoughts :lol1:
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quote John Wilson:Your one to talk Mr Lambie 😉
I’ll keep an eye out next month for your thoughts :lol1:
:feedback: 😉
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