[Steve Underhill]

what are their prices like?

[Steve Underhill]

How much in weight is there?
as I use mine to give to local schools and stuff for art projects, if you were chucking it out and it wont cost a fortune to send Id take it off yor hands

[Steve Underhill]

I havent mate no, cant see the tutorial section as only a standard member but will google it thank you

[Steve Underhill]

I have a GX7000 and have printed 1000s of sheets with no problem, only ever head cleans and one leaking cartridge but that was down to a faulty batch, have you took the waste ink tank out? if its not quite full you can put a white piece of plastic under the sensor and t will recognise it as not full as the sensor detects when the pads are totally black, if its full you can unscrew the top take the pads out wash them and then refit, it saves on a new £40 component and works fine. other than that I’m not sure mines performed faultlessly for 3 years, but after only 131 sheets I would agree with the above, not fit for purpose.

[Steve Underhill]

Ok.
If you are going to be transfer printing you will need to be using a good quality transfer paper and pigment ink, NOT dye ink, as it will come out after the first wash and you will have a white sheet of blank paper on the shirt.
The transfer press do an excellent quality paper its about £100 plus vat for 100 A4 sheets not sure on A4 but its generally almost double
With a plotter you will also be able to cut T shirt vinyl and for simpler designs this is a far more efficient way than using transfers.

Also depending on what type of transfers you are doing and how intricate the designs are you will need a plotter with opos magic eye to cut round any intricate designs.

If you want to Use dye sublimation you will also need a dye sub printer and of course a heat press.

Screen printing is only a viable option if you will be doing large runs or making your own single colour or two colour transfers, any more than 2 colours the paper will warp as you flash cure the plastisol

hope that helps

[Steve Underhill]

Xpres sell them at £12 plus £6 postage. and if you use any 3-5 year vinyl they sell tecmark vinyl at £1.20 a metre its very good actually i use a fair bit of it for wall graphics cuts and weeds lovely, also they do app tape etc so can always warrant the £6 postage of a cutting strip by buying extras
they do a fair bit of decent sign making stuff now, not quite Robert Horne or Grafityp but still good if you need basics

[Steve Underhill]

And from the toolbar, Fabricut is now a fabric cutting service lol

[Steve Underhill]

This works, just tried it

[Steve Underhill]

Thats not even ripped off, thats beyond ripped off. Id have charged about £20 for that even if it was a rush job. its about ten minutes work and £20 for ten minutes isnt a bad rate. was it gold leaf you had it made from? lol

[Steve Underhill]

Hi.
Taping down is a must, unless you can confidently swing the press away, and grab the paper and silicon sheets fast. if its a clam shell just tape it every time.
As for suppliers, what printer are you using?

[Steve Underhill]

Hi Viz I always do at 190 degrees for 50 seconds, you can get away with 30 if its lighter colours going on but to get the black nice and dark 50 secs. also cover the reflective with silicon as it can melt depending on quality.
and ALWAYS tape the paper on as it only has to shift a little and you ghost the image and that never looks good.

[Steve Underhill]

Cheers Rob.
Just have to hope its in there now, but have no way of findnig out before paying. Ill have to email him
Thanks for the help

[Steve Underhill]

Ahh I see lol should have guessed all print supplies. seen them but never used them
Cheers Martin,

[Steve Underhill]

Cant find a website for APS anyone know of it?

[Steve Underhill]

LOL, completely right John, they are roof gardens on top of houses.
The bulbs are indeed changed form inside the room.
Thanks for the suggestion ill call APS

[Steve Underhill]

If it is ever sublimation ink, get a bit of polyester and keep pressing it til it takes the ink off the platen, cotton works too but is not so fast.
I have had T shirt vinyl and platic clothing tags etc stuck on there too before and a plastic scraper gets it off cold, otherwise a lot of rubbing with a microfibre cloth is also good but nothing abrasive obviously.

[Steve Underhill]

Thats also the thought I had, the etched surface takes the window vinyl fine, not sure how tacky the floor graphic laminate is mind.

[Steve Underhill]

possibly could do that, it just depends on cost really do you know the name or code of the laminate just on the hexis website now

[Steve Underhill]

cheers John it needs to be as opaque as a decent window etch or more. when you say slightly opaque do you think it would be enough to keep the frame showing through as even when dry it is still visible

[Steve Underhill]

Thanks everyone, food for thought
will let you know

[Steve Underhill]

any other opinions?

[Steve Underhill]

My mugs are Xpres super white, heat tape from grafityp, paper from xpres and the ricoh gel sublimation ink

[Steve Underhill]

Well, after working at sixteen festivals this year in all kinds of conditions, gales, wet, sunny etc my gala tent has not blown away or damaged anything, and that is putting it up alone and breaking down, also with a gazebo you put the leg weights on before the canvas, as wind does not blow metal frames away but simply blows through the frame……
But all of this is quite invalid as why would you want to be fitting vinyl in a gale of wind?

My point was shelter,
if its not raining you don’t need the tent anyway.
If its blowing a gale, dust, dirt, and all other manner of crap will be blowing under your vinyl, not to mention everything flapping anywhere, so unless theres 2 of you fitting it theres not a lot of point anyway, but if there was erecting a marquee would be simple task.
as for time to put up and take down fifteen mins each way I can do it in so half hour as opposed to a wasted day seems like a good choice
but each to their own.

🙄

[Steve Underhill]

Can I have yours then seeing as you dont like it?

And Ive been about mate just not been doing much sign work, but seeing as I am not forking out for it It might be not such a bad option eh?

[Steve Underhill]

OH, and Stuart.
Just buy some leg weights for your gazebo. plenty of places sell them abotu 25 quid a set, they are water filled plastic weights that clip round the legs and hold it down

[Steve Underhill]

Get a Gala tent, you will pay about 500 quid for a 6x4m one which will do small vans etc or if you do a lot of hi tops you could get a modular market stall obviously it would have to be a bit bigger height wise but can be adapted.
If you fit off site and have plenty of cash you can get pop up marquees which although will not cover the vehicle entirely it will keep the rain off it but these generally only come with about a 6 and half foot clearance but again can be placed on blocks etc to get the extra height. I have a market stall and a gala tent I have used at festivals and will use those if I ever need to, if the vehicle fits inside you can get a hot air blower to make fitting easier due to temperature.
Or borrow a friends unit, like i do 😉

[Steve Underhill]

Hey John, I got my sublimation mugs down to 2 mins now with no loss of colour or fidelity. Using the A3 ricoh. I found that if left longer the heat tape from Grafityp left brown stains you cant remove so had to reduce the time

[Steve Underhill]

I just scrolled up and completely agree
Kustom Kit KK400 cant beat those on quality and price.
BTC do them not sure who else, printed one for a DJ yesterday he was over the moon with it.

[Steve Underhill]

EXACTLY the same as injet dark mate.
John Wilson gave me some dye sub transfers ages back and they were some of the best I had used. not sure where to get them now but a google search should do it, if you do get some dont worry about how dark they appear to start with the heat really brings out the colour and brightens it all up

[Steve Underhill]

Hi Rob.
Yea I have been a bit quiet eh, not been doing much sign work as have been working away at festivals all summer selling hoodies and T shirts.
but should be back a bit more now

[Steve Underhill]

Or
Sublimation transfers

[Steve Underhill]

I use a DF10 mug press from BMS
It has pressed well over 1000 mugs on its first heat blanket and was about £200, My printer is a GX7000 Ricoh A3/A4 dye sub printer no CIS system just cartridges, easy to replace last ages and never leak or get bubbles in it and that was about £950 you can get an A4 version including ink for about £550 frpm Xpres,
Paper from Xpres is a tenner and is very good.

So long as your profiles are set up correctly you cant go wrong with this printer, there are better mug presses out there but this one has performed faultlessly for years

so buy cheap buy twice isnt always true but it is when ink and printer are concerned

[Steve Underhill]

If the wall is flat use Aluminium, if its heavily pebble dashed etc or has that really lumpy council house style lumps on it or a very uneven surface I use steel angle, as when fixing ali can pull it out of shape. mind you I live in Cornwall where everything is never straightforward.

[Steve Underhill]

Its ok got metamark CF series textured now managed to convince him it wont collect dust. lol.
Just need someone to fit it for me now as Im stacked out.

[Steve Underhill]

its k dorotape have it at 1500 wide.
panic over.

[Steve Underhill]

Thanks guys, didnt think of amari, just getting a price now

[Steve Underhill]

I tried calling KPMF themselves and they say they have been having trouble with the phones there, and they could try and sort my order out for me, the only problem is I agreed with Elizabeth there that because of my van job they lost for me I was to get 25m of white poliflex each time I ordered for free. now I dont want to go ordering 25m off anyone else when Im owed it by them I just would like to know why they are unreachable for such a big firm. I know KPMF direct is a subsidiary but still.

[Steve Underhill]

I didnt use any Xpres carts, I have been using a bulk feed and an epson stylus photo 1290. which is working fine, I just bought the Ricoh for ease of use and faster output. so far the results are outstanding.

[Steve Underhill]

Hey.
Just called Xpres and asked where my original Gel carts worth £120 are, they are shipping them out to me today.
I will put them on ebay to recoup some of the cost of the printer.
I said I have paid the full price of the printer PLUS the cost of the swagrass inks so I want them sent out.
No problem.

[Steve Underhill]

No guys no kidding, couldnt believe it when I tried it, the worst that happens is you have to juust wipe a bit of adhesive off the mug occasionally.
no more expensive heat tape, now Ill try it on some T shirts, only a 10 second press with less heat, that should be fine too eh.

[Steve Underhill]

I just ordered from KPMF and I was sent a roll of white KPMF and a roll of black avery so assume they supply it.

[Steve Underhill]

I use a 1290 and before that used a 1290 for dye sub and it lasted until I had way way overfilled the waste pad, nozzles blocked sometimes but always cleared as do this one but the ssc utility always sorted it.
I have had no bad experiences with any epson printers using dye sub or pigment inks. I have a 1290, a 1400 and a R800 just bought an sx215 from asda for 40 quid too just to do T shirt transfers as it uses the durabrite pigment ink

[Steve Underhill]

In a word
Yes.
give John at continuousink a call not sure if they do pigment ink or not but they do the bulk systems for the R1400 as I have bought one for dye sub work.

[Steve Underhill]

Parents are cruel.
You only have to ask the American kid called Drew Peacock.
Not made up.

[Steve Underhill]

Thanks mate

[Steve Underhill]

Whats it called?

[Steve Underhill]

I use the paper from Xpres, its the best I have used, I use Lyson ink
and have consistent top quality from that and a 1290. havent even used my 1400 yet havent needed to I use that for transfers
Ink costs are negligible, 2 extra prints on a sheet of A4 uses very little ink, Id rather use the ink than waste the paper as it costs less or at least mine does.

[Steve Underhill]

Do you mean a normal painted/plastered wall?
If you do, stick the vinyl straight to it with medium or low tack tape and roll back gently, not peel like you would a sign, it sticks really well. I have a floral design in my shop with strands less than 1mm thick i fitted with no problem, where you see the birds there up top the strands measure 0.5mm
this is painted plaster on brick, painted by myself so know its ok.if your’e unsure paint the wall with a mix of PVA and water, this will help adhesion of the paint. (dont put the PVA mix on if its already painted lol)

This is the design in my shop, its cut from grafityp matt exhibition vinyl.

[Steve Underhill]

Hi sorry not replied been busy again trying to get work in and run the other shop, kind of got it sorted now…………. in the sense it wont work with corel.
lol have to look at buying other options, I downloaded a demo of flexi that wont allow cutting and seems to be ok just cant get it to cut, so have brought my Roland up here
as well till I can sort something.

[Steve Underhill]

Hi mate, no not given up.
I have had to get back into the computer repair game as the guy who worked for me had been ripping me off for years and obviously he had to go, I am now finally earning money. the signs are quiet as s the t shirts etc but got a new website going up soon and just moved house and took another office, thats whats been taking all my time up.
so no, you havent gt rid of me that easy.

[Steve Underhill]

No problem mate, theres no real hurry
thanks
Steve

[Steve Underhill]

BTC is where I get all my Steadman stuff from too.
cant beat them.

[Steve Underhill]

Right click disable will be able to stop "save image as" but you cant prevent anyone pressing print screen on their keyboard, so that function is basically useless, all you can do is put a big watermark through the image and hope they cant use photoshop.
I have done it with watermarked images before just to prove it could be done so whatever method you use you cannot fully prevent people stealing your pics, just make it as difficult as possible.

[Steve Underhill]

Excellent
cheers

[Steve Underhill]

Yes Peter it had some weird background on it once i removed that it was perfect.
many thanks
Steve

[Steve Underhill]

Thank you Peter once again you are are a star, the jpeg preview looks a lot different to the ai one wonder why that was unless the eps one is different.
I dont know anyway thank you .

Edit,
its ok I know why now, its perfect. thanks again
Steve

[Steve Underhill]

Thanks for that mate but I had a really good one in fact it was free from adobe but I cant open it as an eps in corel it just crashes the program,
actually if anyone has illustrator would they mind opening and saving it or opening the ai one for me and uploading it?
i tried downloading the ai one but says its compressed and I cant use it as I dont have illustrator.
Thanks in advance

http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/exchange/i … id=1700048

[Steve Underhill]

Actually 2 of them are great, Ill just redraw parts of them
thanks a bunch
steve

[Steve Underhill]

I just looked and now £549 give or take a few euros.
seems ridiculous for the spec. (which isn’t very good by today’s standards)
just fancying it up with a nice monitor.

[Steve Underhill]

there was an article in sign directions all about this a while back, i still have the issue I will let you know the number if you like, they did say 3 months lifespan though.

[Steve Underhill]

The way I look at it I pay between £1.20 and £3.50 per metre for vinyl, depending in cast calendered etc, considering how much its charged out at its not worth the effort, with the extra messing about I could have made my next cut and had it taped weeded and shipped out.
Saving a few pence at the expense of a few minutes when you’re busy doesnt add up to me.
Its not materials that are expensive its your time, I would rather waste material than my time especially how busy I am at the minute.

[Steve Underhill]

The explanation makes sense but not having one size of app tape doesn’t seem to.
If I am doing layered stickers, I use a 120mm clear, If Im doing 500 mm wide vinyl I will use a 610 log, If Im doing 1000mm I will use a 1220 log, just seems the simplest, fastest and most hassle free way to do stuff, I even have a 70mm roll of clear for small stuff, given the price for 100 metres of the stuff and the mark up on vinyl it seems daft messing about with it, just get the right tape for the job. its like a builder having only a lump hammer because although it is used for breaking stuff and cutting blocks etc, it will also knock plasterboard nails in.
😕

[Steve Underhill]

it would appear not John lol

[Steve Underhill]

This whole topic went over my head.
😮

I just cut what I need tape it sell it then repeat.

[Steve Underhill]

I am wrapping my whole van in carbon 5 year vinyl, not the expensive stuff but the stuff from grafityp, (well expensive enough at £7 odd a metre, Im lucky though as I have a citroen dispatch and its all flat panels, where there is any recess I will just use black cast with lettering over it, we have used some samples on it and it seems to stick well and looks really good wont be doing the roof though as theres no point just use black cast again. its a 5 year vinyl too so should be fine.

[Steve Underhill]

Chest sizes vary enormously between brands for instance a XL in Gildan will be a XXL in fruit of the loom, etc.
its worth bearing in mind.

[Steve Underhill]

Me and John who works with me use old cores to put over our arms and have long arm robot fights outside the shop.

apart from that I use the sticky backing from my T shirt vinyl for layering up stickers from cut vinyl, its great you can use it many times over and being clear its easy to line up, also its stiff so never any bubbles.

But the cores are much more fun especially in summer when tourists are watching in utter disbelief

[Steve Underhill]

Well, they seem to be cheaper, delivery and pricing, very reliable.
Have several depots so one nearby for everyone, no minimum order, and very quick to sort out problems.
I just prefer them over the rest, it is only a personal choice after all but its just my experience.

[Steve Underhill]

BTC

I have tried all the rest, Prestige, Pencarrie, Ralawise, UKL etc
BTC are the best by far.

If you only need a few shirts lots of city centre shops do 3 for a tenner Gildan 2000, its ok if you need a few in an emergency, if not Primark or Matalan can bail you out sometimes.

[Steve Underhill]

Hi Chris.
I did all the designs from scratch myself.
the greens are coming out as shades of blue, I just looked at the document properties and its mostly RGB but with 6 CMYK colours in it, I assume this is whats up?
I never really use corel for sublimation always photoshop, as its usually just photos etc and not logos. I have 34 RGB colour models and 3 CMYK
I guess this is confusing issues lol

[Steve Underhill]

Not so sure about applec any more, theyre extrusions are good but have cut the range of colours in the LED range by more than half.
I phoned for pink leds the other day and was told all they have is white, but can order some other colours in, red blue or orange i think.
I would look elsewhere to be honest unless you dont need much colour choice or can fit the led strips into the extrusions yourself.

[Steve Underhill]

I use xpres and never had one single problem just printed 75 fora firm and all came out good not one reject.
BMS are ok too, never tried listawood.

[Steve Underhill]

Thanks Neil.

[Steve Underhill]

Not sure where you find it but it comes on a sheet, its basically polyester on a backing sheet that you can sublimate onto, you press it on the shirt then sublimate onto it. seems a bit of a waste of time to me as to do it on dark shirts it would be white anwyay so you may as well use a transfer.

[Steve Underhill]

Hi
I mean would you split the tunnel drier from the carousel and spot curer, i have a carousel and spot curer already but may be interested depending on size etc

[Steve Underhill]

fair shout.
re you prepared to split the stuff at all?

[Steve Underhill]

seems there are a few of us interested in this, hope it doesnt turn into a bidding war.
Im mostly interested in the small tunnel dryer as i already have a 5 colour carousel.
If that helps with anyhting

[Steve Underhill]

Ah ok thought you man packs of 50 sheets.
in that case i dont know we dont do that kind of volume.

[Steve Underhill]

Xpres, £10 for 100 a4 sheets

[Steve Underhill]

I use photoshop, but you should be ok with corel draw photopaint, paint shop pro etc, in fact any bitmap editing program.

[Steve Underhill]

I charge 12 quid for one side 14 + for 2 sides depending on colour, this is using gildan ultra.
Polo shirts 14 up wards

[Steve Underhill]

3 options

Pink vapour sublimation Ts suppliers name eludes me but google it.
Subli flock, xpres sell it
or Subli transfers, RA Smart sell those but in boxes of 100.

[Steve Underhill]

ah thats ok then, would have felt pretty stupid asking else lol
thanks again

[Steve Underhill]

Brian, you are a star.
Thanks mate
Exactly what I needed, I hope youre not going to tell me its in the graphics library???
you know the one I bought off you and is down the shop that I havent looked in?
Lol 😳

[Steve Underhill]

quote Roy Roffey:

bet he went to soho….lol,

cant wait to see everyone wednesday…..i will be the hungover one !!..lol

roffs

You never get hangovers Roffs, you just stay P1ssed to avoid them,
I know this
stop pretending.

[Steve Underhill]

I have played electric and acoustic guitar for the past 24 years.
So another guitarist here
P.S I can send you a plectrum up if you need one. :lol1:

[Steve Underhill]

Thanks mate, much appreciated

[Steve Underhill]

Absolutely anything from Xpres is always spot on, never had a single damaged item in 3 years.
Home to gifts is fine, listawood (expensive but some unique stuff)
BMS are good and Martin is a board member.
anything by unisub is always tough and reliable.
you can also buy your own sublimation coating and coat your own items if you have a dust free drying room.

[Steve Underhill]

I have found some decent bengal tigers, some hookah pipes etc on stock sites, so gettting there Peter, thanks for the tips

[Steve Underhill]

good thinking Peter, see I knew someone would have better ideas than me lol
thanks

[Steve Underhill]

Vector magic desktop edition is amazing, better than corel, illustrator and any other tracing tool.

I use it all the time, it does have limits but you can even ainbt bits and fills in yourself

I wouldnt be without it.

[Steve Underhill]

If it could be modified to have sliding doors put in, that could work
cheers

[Steve Underhill]

I dye sub all mine, its way easier, but if I have to use superflex as mentioned above, or nylo flex both from xpres.

[Steve Underhill]

I only ever do them dry, hinge the big ones. do the small ones by eye.
you can pull the etch back off to reposition depending on how much grab the adhesive has. oracal stuff is pretty good.

[Steve Underhill]

Applelec do external grade extrusions and leds, the power supplies are also external grade.
I have one right here.

[Steve Underhill]

I was taking over a unit, & keeping the shop but decided against it now, we are staying in the shop.
£800 a month for a unit, plus the shop compared to £100 a week all in for just the shop.
no contest, Ill buy in bigger work rather than make it.

[Steve Underhill]

well It may be different for me as I live in a seaside village, but at £12 plus for a T shirt and print that costs £1.50 =- £2.00 to produce i would say its quite profitable.
in the summer we can do up to £200 a day on T shirts and that’s all custom orders. last year nowhere near it.
also the other thing is if you are selling off the shelf designs, screen printed transfers reduce your costs even more, plastisol is way cheaper than vinyl.

[Steve Underhill]

I would have charged more than that too.
the problem is people see a bit of board with their name on, not the designing, laying out, cutting, weeding, taping, fitting to the board, then fitting to their premises, I would say that was very reasonable.
I just lost some work to a guy with a cheap cheap chinese cutter, and some hideous stretched/squashed cooper black, with a fascia with a font I have never seen before all in caps in a script font. it even had the address on it which is pretty unnecessary for a chip shop, kerning was ridiculous, solicitors maybe but chip shop no.

so cheaper is not always good, your prices were fine if a little on the cheap side

[Steve Underhill]

quote Jillbeans:

Just please don’t settle for Comic Sans.
Love….Jill

LOL saw a large van entirely done in that font, nothing else, for a carpet
fitters.

white van dark blue comic sans, large.

I cringed,

sorry if anyone here did it (honest)

[Steve Underhill]

Mimaki JV33 :lol1: