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Printer/cutter
Hi Guys,
I have been running a cutter since 2008 and now want to expand a little and am looking at getting into wrapping. Not cars or vans but motorbike panels.
I have read up on here about training courses etc so will follow the advise on those.
My problem is trying to find an entry level affordable printer that is not going to break the bank.
Any suggestions?
Are there any 610mm wide ones or are they all large format?cheers
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9 Replies
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You could try phoning some of the suppliers as I know some do recondition and sell on machines that have been traded in. I believe one of the roland machines is 760mm wide which is probably as close to 610 as you will get but just make sure you don’t end up regretting buying a narrower printer as the difference in price is not huge when your spending that sort of money to start with.
You might be better off finding a trade printer to do the printing for you until the demand has reached a level where the printer would pay for itself, if there were such a thing as a cheap entry level machine then everyone would have one. I don’t get asked for digital print very often so couldn’t justify buying a machine and even if I did the heads would probably clog up with lack of use. I just buy prints in as and when I need them from a local company. -
Seem to remember roland had a desk top versacamm at the show… Not sure on width though
Cheers
Gary
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Thanks guys. I have been thinking of farming it out. But it is a sideline for me not full time and work tends to get in the way of dropping stuff of and fetching it. As I work long hours.
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James the thing you need to watch most with solvent printers is the amount of work they are doing. If they are used on an occasional basis then you run the risk of the heads clogging due to the ink drying out in the head. Not the same as a desktop printer that you can leave idle for weeks at a time and it’s ok when you want it. That is the main reason I don’t have one myself, I don’t have the volume of work required to run one and if this is only something you do as a way of earning some extra money then you may well find the same.
It’s not ideal using someone else to do the printing but for me it’s the best option at the moment.
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thanks Martin. Point taken
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gary, the roland was either a 20" or 24" printer mate.
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Martin is right, trade printers are keen for your work and getting good prices is very do-able without the problems of owning your own machine. You not only have the expense of buying the machine, learning how to use it and finding space for it but if it is not working very regularly any profit will go to the engineers keeping it going. Providing you provide good files, ready to go, a trade house or other sign firms for that matter will welcome you, there are plenty out there.
Alan D -
quote Matt Boyd:gary, the roland was either a 20″ or 24″ printer mate.
Yeah I didn’t think I’d dreamed about it 😀 … Just passed with a fleeting glance 😉
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We got a used versacamm from a dealer – its 760 wide and its called a versacamm vp300.
We were sceptical for all the reasons mentioned here but the thing is, once people found out we had one and what it could do, the work started to come in.
To be honest it has changed our business almost beyond recognition and paid for itself almost straight away.
To give you an idea of scale, we are a 2 person business.
It runs at least once a day and its supposed to be always plugged in (presumably to prevent clogging by automatic, periodic self cleaning)
Other people may have had a different experience, but we are very happy with it.
😀
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