Help Please – I need advice on which machine.

[Dave & Rob Lowery]

You have use of the best machine (edge) with cutter for doing small labels. With a spot colour printed these should last 5 years outside.

Good luck and bob into the say hello forum and let us know a bit about you. Post a piccie at the same time, it’s nice to see who we are chatting to. 🙂

[Paul Sinnott]

Right, first things first.
Sorry I used a nickname, I just read the posts on the hello board about real names and piccys and stuff.
I will rectify as soon as……….

mod-edit see board rules

[Peter Normington]

the pc 60 will not be able to compete with the gerber which in turn cannot compete with modern inkjets, if you want to get into the industry and are serious, you must invest in the best equipment you can afford, if you try and do it on the cheap, you will not be able to compete. Both the pc60 and gerber are expensive in terms of consumables, an entry level print and cut inkjet is now about a third of the price I paid for my gerber, you can buy a plotter for less than the price of a washing machine, So my advice, if you cannot afford a few grand on equipment and set up then you should not give up your day job. sorry to rant but to many people think they can make signs without investment,

Peter

[Paul Sinnott]

It was going to be a bit of a hobby really, thats why I don’t want to spend 10 k on a machine.
Small stuff and on a small scale.
I think that you are not ranting but quite rude.
I was asking for specific advice, not a lecture on the business world as you see it.
Others on this forum seem to have had no problems with advice.
How do I differ ?

[Peter Normington]

My comments were not meant to be rude, but I stand by them. You have seen and used the gerber, and probably know how much they cost, so rather than spend your hard earned on a machine for hobby use it may be better to buy the decals in, then go for your own machine once you have established a demand,. A second hand gerber mk1 + plotter will still set you back a few k,
I think

Peter

[Paul Sinnott]

I think perhaps I am on the wrong board.
I already knew that, I asked what machine ‘you guys’ would recommend as economic to do the work I described.

Thanks anyway

Paul

[Richard Urquhart]

i feel tension, come on this board is great and one person has given his views lets push things forward

remeber on a board like this we all have views on subjects and im sure peter didnt mean any harm

rich

[Brian Hays]

If you want thermal & cheap you only have 2 real choices. A 2nd hand PC60/600 or a Gerber Edge. The Gerber is undoubtedly superior but you will pay more for a decent one. Consumables will be cheaper though.

Possibly only you can decide on the "economics" of the machines though Paul if you have a specific task for the machines?

If you plan printing colours onto clear, depending on your application an inkjet machine is probably not going to be suitable anyway.

I don’t think Peter was being rude? just giving his opinion. You don’t have to agree. 😉

[Chris Wool]

quote :

they are approx 65 mm by 6 mm and are mostly clear with coloured writing on.A bit like a scaled down number plate.
I would prefer that the machine cut them out as well as print the letters.

right a pc 60 or 600 will do that very well and for small fine stuff the cut will be far more accurate than a edge and the print a little sharper the white on the pc60 is not as good as the edge white and solid fills are better on the edge. the pc 60 will cost around £55 sq mt to run the edge is at least half that.

i have a pc 60 as well as big inkjets but still want to keep it for the detailed small work if you can charge pc 60 work out at around £15 per a 4 size all is well.

other worries are you will have a bill now and again for repairs to these machines and they are not normally cheep the heads are considered to be consumables.

Chris

[David Rowland]

yep… its a reality of sign making…

your better off subbing work out as buying the equipment isn’t really cheap….

You should see the big boys inkjets, they can cost anywhere in the region of a house! Makes our £20K investment feel cheap… They however have bonus to undercut a lot of us due to cheap consumables.

[Chris Wool]

quote :

they can cost anywhere in the region of a house!

THATS A POINT the cheque for my soljet was £500 more than i paid for my house. i did buy it a long time ago thou.

chris

[Paul Sinnott]

Thanks to ALL .
Its easy for me to know what I want to do and how I want to proceed, but I know nothing of the machinery involved. If I invest in the wrong gear it will such a nightmare.
I have already put in a lot of effort and the ‘going it alone’ will be a big step for me even though it will be a very small, in your terms, outlay.
It may or may not bring an income in, but I will have learnt a lot in the mean time.
I don’t see your work as easy as I have a good friend with the Edge that has opened my eyes to the pitfalls etc but this is not his area of expertise.
He is really into metalwork and could not advise me of an alternative.
Again thanks so far and i apologise for being a little short as Im sure that he thought he was giving good advice, its just the ‘only’ advice I have managed to get thus far from various areas and thought this would be a forum full of the advice I needed.