Solvent Printers

[Rodney Gold]

The Roland soljet or Versacam or its true solvent derivatives like the Cadet etc are what you should be considering.

On average you use about 1-1.5ml of inks per sq ft or 15ml per sq meter. Inks cost about GBP 50 (well here in South africa they do) for a 200ml cart , IE 25 pence a ml , so you are looking at about GBP3.50 a sq meter or at worst GB5 (full coverage , high quality720 x 1440 or artistic 1440×1440 mode)
Media depends on what you use , but premium stuff is most likley about the same at GBP5 per sq meter (top quality conformable 7-10 yr vinyl)
We charge around gbp 35 to 40 per sq meter for top quality high res stuff and for lesser lesser qualitys or banner etc in the GBP 20-25 bracket. For smaller die cut stuff , we can easily command gbp80+ per sq meter and one job we did , albeit it involved doming and was a small run , worked back to about GBP3200 per sq meter !!
Artwork , colour proofing , samples , lamination , mounting , trimming etc cost extra.
There are a lot of threads here about the type of machines you are enquiring about

[fluidedge]

Hi Mark,

We’d estimate the Cadet to be running at about £5 per sq metre plus material.

Favourite material runs out at £120 for 50m at 760mm.

We were paying a trade price of £25 per sq m for 180dpi prints uncut and never colour-matched that well.

Selling price around the same as Rodney, approx £50 per square metre to the end-user.

We’ve considerably upped the quality, and even more considerably upped the profit margins.

But the good lady is not happy, she was after a new kitchen…

Chris

[signworkshop]

Thanks for the help guys.

Whats best the solvent prints for B&P Lightbrigade or a Roland printer?

Whats the difference?

From Mark

[Rodney Gold]

True solvent printers will lay a slightly more durable print down , but will lose resolution over the semi or eco solvent printers , both use a carrier that “attacks” or “softens” the vinyl to enable ink penetration and adhereability.
Both will print more or less on the same media , but you will most likely lose some colour gamut with a solvent printer as well as having some toxic fumes around. You will also get a major “thinning” of printed vinyl with true solvents as well as having to do far more maintenance on the printer as the solvents tend to dry up and require regular flushes of the heads etc.
They are both Roland printers , but there are some modifications on the solvent printer like different ink dampers , tubing , pumps , docking stations , seals and some other stuff that the more agressive solvent attacks. You might find true solvent inks a llittle cheaper and there are more aftermarket ink suppliers (beware using aftermarkets – very variable quality and a bad batch can cost you an arm and a leg.)
I use the unmodified machine and would be very hesitant to use a modded machine due to warrantee issues , longevity of components and the fact that the profiles for media might not be as good as tried and tested ones.
With either machine , the UV fastness of the inks is about the same , the abraision resistance is different.
Thing is , whichever you use , if the graphic is being used where it can get damaged , it needs lamination , no matter who tells you what.
Up to you which way you go , personally , I dont think the advantages of true solvent outweigh the eco-solvent but others in the traditional signmaking industry place a lot more emphasis or worry more about scratch resistance (IMHO not the issue it’s made out to be) and thus go the other way.
I have never had a comeback on anything I have done , take that whichever way you want , and would rather have the resolution.