battle of the rips

[Mark Candlin]

John do a search on this board for info on the rip, I seem to remember lots of threads on this one. Its a good rip and yes you can tweak it to your hearts content.

[Robert Lambie]

ive heard the same mate, its a decent rip…
im using troop so cant really help/advise you mate… sorry

[johnlewis]

cheers mark i’ll take a look
do you have a versacamm yourself

[johnlewis]

cheers anyway robert

[Mark Candlin]

I do John….

[johnlewis]

mark
what i was intending to do was t-shirts and sublimation stuff in the summer and small signs for bars in the spring before the season starts in summer here in mallorca. i was talking to the guy at the shop where i got the machine asking him about changing to sublimation inks he said that it was possible, but on reading an article on the net ive got my doubts,
“IMPORTANT: Please make sure you have a new unit that was never loaded with EcoSOL Inks, since the sublimation inks have similar composition of pigment inks and will cause problems when mixed. ”
and aslo
Additionally, once you have chosen the sublimation mode, you cannot go back to EcoSOL mode.”
do you know anything about this ?
thanks john

[Gordon Forbes]

Surprised Rodney hasn’t replied to this he seems to be very knowledgable when it comes to rips etc.

Goop

[johnlewis]

yes forbie i guess i did drift a little as my question & has nothing to do with rips. sorry for side tracking by a mile, but it is important for me to find this answer to my question as he’s got a versacamm thought he’d might know
thanks for the comment
all the best john

[Robert Lambie]

quote Forbie:

Surprised Rodney hasn’t replied to this he seems to be very knowledgeable when it comes to rips etc.

Goop

i think Rodney is having some login/post problems since the server change mate. hopefully we will have it all back 100% very shortly.

john, if changing the inks was possible, wouldn’t changing the inks limit you to t-shirts/clothing when swapped?
i would imagine a higher volume of work printing and cutting signs from your machine being in a holiday resort.
when i was in minorca a couple of years ago i couldn’t help but think of the business i could have selling signs. “well made” signs. i was in Portugal just before that and thought the exact same…
it seems law allows badly made signs on every level. from your standard shop sign to highway & road signs. road signs in particular seem low standard. they are pressed/punch formed galvanized plates with painted red borders and vinyl symbols. nothing is reflective.
( :lol1: ill stop i just realized I’m going right off track here, sorry)
i think you know what i mean, i just think there is a much bigger market for signs over there rather than t-shirts as i think everyone and their auntie will be screen printing clothing, instantly dragging your profit margin down. were as with a machine like the versacamm you can offer a higher standard of prints, offer better signs & competition on that level will be low.
if it were me, ide keep the inks as they are and tackle a much bigger market, rather than changing the ink and be limited to clothing.

just my thoughts mate, you obviously may have thought all this through already, just thought ide mention. 😀

[Mark Candlin]

Sorry I couldnt answer your post Ive been away.

I cant help you with the ink question but I know that Roland have introduced a T shirt print and cut vinyl which is supposed to be quite good.
Might be worth checking out rolands web site for more info. You can use the eco-sol inks on the t shirt vinyl so no need to change inks.

Iam looking ay this product in the new year so I’ll get back to you if its any good.

[johnlewis]

thanks robert
as you suggested i have gave it some thought but i am open to ideas,
the thing is, i have a good business selling photo products, photos, photo keyrings etc and i wouldnt have time to do signs over the 6 months of the summer here, but there r 2 or 3 months of good sign trade here as bars and hotels usually close for the winter they all change there menus and prices before they start there season machine, hoping to hit this market.

i bought my versa cam by chance really. i use a wide laminator in the summer it broke down and i needed one the same day, i bought one from roland dealer and he sold me the versacamm too, never heard of the machine before, my first plans to use the machine was to print photos onto canvas, print onto t-shirts and to print posters also personal signs for my business and anyone else that wanted one of course.

the cavas material looks really flat when printed i tried painting it varnish just to see if i could get it to pop out a bit, but didnt really help (may of been the varnish though) i even got some canvas from an art shop to try it seemed a bit better but what worried me as this was full of dust and bits of cotton strands here and there. thought it may not be good for the machine, i’ve also tried upping the ink level tried today at 600 % but the black still didnt look black dusty grey really, this material came from the rolland dealer dont think its made by roland though, ive tryed only printing from colorip

as for t-shirts the media that he sold me, was i found out later intended for pc60 he said it worked on my machine, but i cant get it to work, i have heard of the media that roland produce for this machine and eco ink but on asking about it i was told it is not for sale in europe and too expensive to import by the roll from the usa. Ive tried stuff from duro tape but wont print for me either, duro tape said there customers for this use print cut 7 i think he said, and they have no problems and put it down to colorip not printing as well hence my poor results. i know know that there is media cutting and ironing on like vinyl and i am happy with this product

and as for posters i havent been able get a good paper thats 30″ inch wide he is supplying me with a paper call LFOT from grafitype it prints well but he has to cut the roll in half to soot the versacamm its got a horrible edge down one side and i have to cut dowm each print with a steel ruler and cutter, also no profile desprate to find a good paper i bought two rolls from kodac 24″ wide great price but its made for dye and pigment plotters (ignorance cost’s money)

i printed signs for my own summer other work on vinyl and very good happy with the results 100% impressed. but up to now thats the only thing i have been with it !
i am planning to do signs for bars from the new year, im sure i’ll get some work from the vinyl type, and maybe banners too, window etc….

by discovering from the web that versa could be loaded with sublimation ink “heatwave” i thought that cups mouse mats etc would be great in the summer for my photo type work even though it is not using the machine to its full potential, but as i aint got time in the summer to do sign work, better than the machine stood still then swap back to eco for the winter months for signs again. but i dont think it is possible after i read a pdf from roland saying that after you load heatwave sublimation ink you cant go back to eco, so that idea goes out the window.

im not gonna give up on this machine yet, but must admit it has got me frustrated a bit. my cash flow is also a bit low at the moment, so i have to be so careful what media i buy for this machine

all help much appreciated
thanks john

[johnlewis]

cheers mark hope you had a good christmas mate

i have tryed to get it HTH from roland but they say not available in europe, but if youve been told its available i’d be interested from where ? also have you had any results with roland gloss photo paper for the versa cant get it either, they said that “versa does it all” im sure it does but what the hell on 😀 if they dont sell it here

cheers again john

also merry christmas to robert if he’s reading

[Kevin.Beck]

for sublimation onto mugs/ tees ect.

I would have thought buying a samll epson 980/1290 and keeping that for sub ink, would be the better way to go.

Just think of the ink and flussing agent you`d have to go through each time you changed over inks on the roland.

[johnlewis]

yes becky
I Think thats what im gonna do, looks to be the best thing, after the new year im going to get in touch with i-sub.co.uk to find out more info, and wait for the rolland media to be sold in europe, HTH, SOLVENT GLOSS PAPER etc
just trying to find out all my options to set up my stall really

cheers mate
Happy New Year

[johnlewis]

just done a bit of tweeking on the canvas material im quite impressed downloaded mac7 profile from dga lowered the ink 270 then pumped up the black alittle through the curves best i see, going to do some more tests, but i think i can see the light ! (hot)