do i buy the gerber edge?

[Andy Gorman]

The first thing you need to know is that it only prints at a maximum of 299mm wide. Print quality is nowhere near as good as modern inkjet printers, but for 2 grand it’s a good bit of kit for label printing, albeit dearer to run than inkjet. Also, replacement print heads are probably about a grand to replace, so check its history if you do buy.

[bodkin]

I need it to be uv proof though as it’s to go outside. Inkjet printers would not give me this would they?

As i only cut graphics atm, heading into full colour is a big learning curve for me. What i would really like is to find a printer which prints for outdoor use and then cut will my CX 24, but this limits me to only 610mm.

Thanks again.

[Nick Cliffe]

Hi,

If it’s the machine I think it is, it’s quite old, hence the low price. It’s been on sale at an increasingly reduced price by a machinery trader for a while so could be a very well used one which is reaching the end of it’s reliable life.

Although they are great machines and were very expensive when new, you may have more peace of mind and less hassle looking for a refurbished one or at least one which you can see working and can know the full history of.

But if it’s not the one I’m thinking of, and you can get proof of what volume it has done and who has maintained it, you could be getting a bargain!

Good luck,

Nick

[Nick Cliffe]

"I need it to be uv proof though as it’s to go outside. Inkjet printers would not give me this would they? "

Solvent ones would, for a reasonable lifespan.

Nick

[bodkin]

This machine is coming from Glasgow. He has has it for 4 yrs and can’t give me proof of print runs.. MMmm,

he has give me samples and the print quality assures me is fine. Like i say the one colour red no smoking signs is perfect. The full colour prints are very pixy, lots of dots.

He said this is because the no smoking sign is printed with solid spot colours, (red and black) the pictures are the 4 colours, R Y C and B.

He also said…
The gerber prints spot colours very well it also prints gold, silver and white, most printers can’t do this but if you want the highest quality 4 colour pics then the gerber is the wrong machine for you. It is ment for printing vans which are viewed from a foot or two.

Is this right?

Also is there a printer which would print without me having to laminate so then i can cut with my CX24 using registation marks, or am i just better off going for the gerber?

I really apprciate you help.

[Nick Cliffe]

Ah, it’s not the one I was thinking of then; that is in London.

Yes, it has a coarser screen so will never come close to the quality of a solvent inkjet. Gerber solid colours are laid down in solid blocks, as they have no halftones in, which of course are achieved with a dot screen as you have observed.

However, you’ll not find a solvent printer that prints gold and silver, although that effect can be achieved with a Mimaki, for example, by printing onto foils.

I’m on the verge of buying a JV3 myself, and you can get these bundled with a plotter that recognizes registration marks so your cut will be accurate despite being done on a separate machine.

They’re a bit more than 2 grand tho :lol1:

Cheers,

Nick

[Martin Armitage]

I think it depends on what you want to do. The edge prints solid colours better than an inkjet and I have also heard of people doing wraps with it – I dont think I would like to. I think the solvent, eco solvent inks are comparable to thermal edge prints when it comes to uv stability and exterior life. The edge prints are only supposed to last for three years.
Our edge 1 we had for five years until it went wrong with no probs and our edge 2 weve had for 2 1/2, and we have put a great deal of work through these machines.
If you want spot colours, metallics, white and don’t need to print too big then go for an edge. If you want good quality prints and need to print big then go for an inkjet.
Incidentely we wrapped the side of our van with an unlaminated versacamm print well over a year ago, and there has been no noticeable degradation in the colour or quality.
I would look into the history of this edge if you can. I was offered a refurbished edge 2 with a brand new envision 375 plotter for about £5000 about 4 months ago, so these machines have come down in price greatly.
Just my opinion!
Mart.

[David Glen]

The Edge can be interrogated from the control panel to check the total output/use.
Also, test prints should be done with solid colours (especially black) to check for dropout or banding.
This is only info I’ve picked up over the years so make sure you get some solid advice on how to check this machine out.
If it looks a bargain then it may have problems.

[Martin Pearson]

If you are going to shell out 2k for the machine I would think very carefully about what you want to do with it, also does it actually come with the plotter because the plotter the edge uses is not an integral part of the machine.
If you want to do small stickers then it will probably be OK but I wouldn’t be to happy using it for any kind of vehicle work, as Andy has already said it will only handle media up to 299mm wide so almost anything you put on a vehicle will need to be tiled, even just a picture that fits into a van panel will normally need to be tiled, as for using it to wrap then it would work out very expensive and time consuming. at 299mm wide you are going to have loads of sections to fit and as has been mentioned it is a lot more expensive to run than a solvent or eco-solvent printer. This is going to make both your material and labour costs a lot more expensive than someone else.
There is still a place for thermal transfer printers because of their ability to print certain colours but if I were looking to buy just one machine for my signmaking business I don’t think it would be one of these.

[philip Boyd]

i have a gerber edge 1 that i have had for about 8 years now.
its a great machine for labels and short run prints but it is much more cost effective to get the wide format tbh!
the only colour i have found to not fade is the spot black, it seams to last for a long time.
having to tile the print to make bigger pics is a pain, as the printable area from 380mm stock is about 299mm.
you dont need to over laminate with the edge but i belive there is gerberguard for the prints but i have never used it 😳
my van has graduated colour text and a full colour print on the back window done on the edge, its been on for about 3 years and no noticable fade.

yet 😛
it is a very good machine as i said, but you need to watch for file quality in the full colour prints, as low rez pics do not come out very good on the edge.
oh, and servicing is not cheep, but wide format is also expensive.

[Henry Barker]

I have a Gerber Edge, its a Edge 1 have just replaced the motherboard, otherwise I would have sold it, we recently bought a Roland Soljet Pro 3, the Edge has its uses, is much better on spot colours than inkjet, that said customers are happy with the output from the Soljet.

I guess if you want to do decals in spot colours and get into printing its a good start point, but for colour printing which we were getting asked for more and more, the inkjet seems the way to go.

I guess you have to see what market you will be getting into too, as Martin said you need a plotter for the Edge sprocket material, and the Gerber software, or Signlab’s thermal version, maybe that’s all included.

They are pretty reliable machines, the earlier trunnion or classic edges are no longer supported by Gerber and spares will be running out. I was quoted alot for a motherboard, and we fitted a used one instead. I think we had a build up of dust on it that fried some components.

[George Zerbino]

I have a 16 year old trunion Edge, and a 1 year old FX.
Both machines are in constant use all the time, so they do have a market.
Since getting a large format printer, I thought that the edges would not be used as much, but I was wrong (hence why I bought another Edge).

Both types of machine are their pros and cons, so it bottles down to what market you are trying to appeal to.

[bodkin]

lots of replies, just got back from france so sorry for not replying till now.

well, i’d like to print stickers, and then i’d also like to do larger prints. Not wanting much am i? lol

maybe i just need advice before handing over the cash.

something like the roland pc 60 would do me but i know to stay away from this machine?

i think the option of getting the gerber is out the window as the bloke can’t give me the print run spec.

I read in the other replies that someone used a versacamm unlaminated and it’s still going outside.

Hope you don’t mind me starting a new question.

If i was to buy a machine (not brand new) which machine would print me outdoor stickers and larger prints without having to laminate?

thanks

[Chris Wool]

quote :

I read in the other replies that someone used a versacamm unlaminated and it’s still going outside.

oh the shame of it.

the lamination on solvent type prints is manly to stop scuffing and cleaning abuse.
if you are fitting a £100 print why not laminate it.
if its a 50p bumper sticker why bother.

chris

[Martin Armitage]

quote Chris Wool:

quote :

I read in the other replies that someone used a versacamm unlaminated and it’s still going outside.

oh the shame of it.

the lamination on solvent type prints is manly to stop scuffing and cleaning abuse.
if you are fitting a £100 print why not laminate it.
if its a 50p bumper sticker why bother.

chris

That was me Chris,
The intention was not leave it unlaminate, we were going to spray frog juice on as a liquid laminate more of a trial than anything else, but due to being so busy we never got around to it . It was our own van and we were just keen to put into practice what we had learned on a vehicle wrapping course. Had it been a customers vehicle then it would definately had some form of lamination 😳
Mart.