Banner printing with a SP300

[Martin Pearson]

I wouldn’t have thought a banner that had been hemmed and grommeted would fit in the machine to start with, don’t know what the maximum media thickness is on the machine but I would be surprised if it were that large. If you did manage to somehow get the banner in then I would think there is a good chance that the head will strike the raised areas where the grommets sit.

Not something I would even consider doing with an expensive bit of equipment.

What’s the problem with printing the banners and then finishing them once they have been printed??

[Stu Gardiner]

Thanks for the reply Martin, that was my main concern about the head strike, I dont have the equipment to finish off a banner that has no eyelets etc, plus I do not know where to buy the banner material, so I was just thinking of buying pre done banners from MDP.

[David Lowery]

Hi Stu, Get blank banner from Trounce Ltd without eyelets and hemming. Print! send back to Trounce and they will hem and eyelet for you.
Telephone 0161 740 2159 http://www.trounce.co.uk
Dave

[Steve McAdie]

Pretty sure it’s not suitable for the 300 as its heads are at a fixed height, the 540 can raise and lower heads and so can cope with it but i still wouldn’t put it through mine.

Steve

[Peter Dee]

Stu, I can’t believe you’ve got an expensive bit of kit in an SP300 then think it possible to run a hemmed banner through it. 😮 Have you ever watched it printing and noticed how close the head is?

I print banners on an SP300. Get a roll of digital banner vinyl from any vinyl supplier and print allowing 25mm all round for a folded hem. I print a hairline 25mm out from the image for cutting to size once printed.
Get an eyelet press and eyelets from Jag Signs or similar (about £90) and a reel of 25mm double sided banner tape. I use Hexis for vinyl and tape.
I also run a roller over the print with some liquid laminate to protect the inks.
Good mark up doing them this way.

I’ve attached one we did earlier! (The date etc was done in banner vinyl for updating)

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Attachments:

[Alan Drury]

Peter, when you remove the vinyl for a date change does it not leave some glue residue and if so how do you clean it off without washing the print off? Does you liquid lam resist glue and tar remover/solvent cleaner
Alan D

[Stafford Cox]

quote Stu Gardiner:

Is it possible to print directly onto a banner with a SP300v, what do I do if the banner has grommets already in will it cause problems with the printing?

Stu, do NOT put eyeletted banners through your SP300. The heads will not clear the eylets and will crash the heads. That will end up being a very expensive banner. Eyeletting tools really aren’t that expensive when compared to the price of the printheads on your printer. Maybe even look for a second hand one if things are really tight at the moment.

Good luck
Stafford

[Gary Birch]

quote Alan Drury:

Peter, when you remove the vinyl for a date change does it not leave some glue residue and if so how do you clean it off without washing the print off? Does you liquid lam resist glue and tar remover/solvent cleaner
Alan D

I wondered the same thing, we do the same with dates but always make sure it is on a white background to allow for cleaning if needed.

[Peter Dee]

quote Alan Drury:

Peter, when you remove the vinyl for a date change does it not leave some glue residue and if so how do you clean it off without washing the print off? Does you liquid lam resist glue and tar remover/solvent cleaner
Alan D

We only use banner vinyl and tell customers to remove the date straight after the event.
We’ve never had any residue to deal with up to now but as the liquid laminate is water based it may resist glue remover. We use satin finish Clearstar from Landor.

You wouldn’t believe how many non supplied banners we are asked to alter dates on which have been fully printed.

[David Hammond]

I like that idea Peter.

How much longer will the inks last with a liquid lam?

Back to the original question. I’ve got bags of hemmed banners, with grommets back from the days when we did all our banners with vinyl.

I wouldn’t even consider trying to load it into the machine. The RS can handle media up to 1mm thick.

We used to print all our banners and take them over to trounce for finishing. The only problem I had with that was, people wanted them the next day or even same day it would be a problem and rush. We can print it there and then almost. We’d probably spend an hour getting there and back, and then the same the next day if we needed to collect it again. (sometimes they’d do it whilst we waited)

I soon bought an eyelet press, and hemming tape, and everything is good. I’ve had no complaints, can usually print, hem and eyelet a banner in the time it would take to get to trounce.

I do still visit trounce to get banners welded when required, always very helpful.