printer & laminating machine suggestions

[J. Hulme]

http://www.bplightbrigade.com/html/unif … adier.html

Maintenance issue on the solvents is well over-hyped and plain laughable, these machines need a tickle with a swab every few days, but I do mine everyday, after printing, it takes less than 1 minute.

[Rodney Gold]

Unless you are doing a lot of paper , a simple pressure oriented cold lam machine is all thats really required. however you are going to have to get a fairly large one to cope with the 48″ and these can be pricey
If you really want hot rollers , do not go for a combo machine , IE one that uses the pressure rollers as heat rollaers as well , it takes a long time to heat up and even longer to cool to where you can use pressure again. the bigger laminators (or print finishers) are fairly complex to use and you need to get serious training in its use – the more bells and whistles etc , generally the better and faster the machine. LOTS of stuff can go wrong laminating and can ruin a greeat print.
Thing is , you REALLY got to decide is if you want to spend GBP25+ on a digital print and cut machine – if its actually going to open substantial new markets to you , all good and well , if it’s only going to broaden a market you already have etc .. It might be an idea to look at something else.
This new flatbed printer of mine , IMHO , has more profit potential than lets say, a versacam. ALSO – IMHO a Laser engraver/cutter is also a more profitable route to take and allows a LOT more creativity etc and is really simple to use.
I would also wait awhile till at least the new year to get into this , as the xmas period (in my experience at least) is very slow and thus getting something now is gonna make you almost “miss” a month in terms of orders , production etc.
Apart from the machine itself , you also need a fair stock of consumables , exibition systems etc and a decent marketing plan. This adds a lot of extra cash to the whole thing.
There is a new 54″ versacam available as well , the smaller one doesnt do 48″.
If you do get a 48″ + all the bits and pieces , you are most likely looking at a total spend of 30k , you need to amortize the machine over 2 years and its gonna cost about 1600 quid a month whether you print or not , ie 80 quid a day.
Projected volumes and selling prices are often very innacurate , 50 quid per sq meter is almost impossible to achieve for medium type production and is often only achieved on small runs with difficulty. We cant get more than 25 quid and we are competing agianst some of the big boys who do printing at 15 quid per sq meter.