TSB
Classified Ads => Wanted => Topic started by: Prosperi-Tees on October 30, 2017, 09:59:20 PM
-
Curious if anyone has a compact press/dryer all in one combo.
-
How about a 110v conveyor? BBC, Ranar etc?
-
I had the little buddy BBC dryer in my basement years ago. It worked, but the small belt was a PITA. Not sure if it was a 110v, but it didn't use much power. The Vastex D-1000 definitely runs on a standard outlet I believe.
-
The smaller belt on the BBC dryer does suck a bit, but it definitely does the trick for us. It's still our main production dryer for our manual operation. Runs on 110V, but needs a 20a circuit. We're upgrading soon but keeping the BBC around for events and live printing since it's so small.
-
I think that Gerry is specifically asking about the combo units, like from Lawson (http://www.lawsonsp.com/screen-printing-equipment/textile-equipment/manual-screen-printing-presses/twin-express), Ranar (http://www.ranar.com/screen_printing_equipment/all_in_one_printer_low_riding_dryer.html), and Hix (http://hixgraphics.com/little-pro)
-
That's what I figured, I was just responding to his followup question about smaller dryers. I don't have any experience with the combo units, but I imagine things can get pretty toasty working with the dryer right below you.
-
That's what I figured, I was just responding to his followup question about smaller dryers. I don't have any experience with the combo units, but I imagine things can get pretty toasty working with the dryer right below you.
For sure, but with any of these tiny versions, anyone going in must understand the compromises, and is also probably more than likely not cranking out thousands of shirts at a time.
These combo units, as well as dryers like the Ranar Scamp that I started with, have to be viewed as hobby or entry level, or light duty at best.
They have both their place and definite limitations.
One of those combo units could be pretty sweet in a small booth at a car show or similar venue.
-
All of you are correct. Beginning in March I will be downsizing and moving into half of my 2 car garage so space is for sure going to be scarce and since my laundry is indoors the garage has no plumbing or 220v so I am going to have to get creative as I cannot make any changes to the garage.
-
I ran an m&r economax for about 10 years and then a Fusion for about 5. All manual printing. plastisol, waterbased, some discharge.
Throughout this year I moved from a 3500 sq ft building to a 500 sq ft building with a 240 sq ft loft. The loft is where I put my t-shirt printing set up. After borrowing a Vastex D-100 from a friend I decided it was the easiest way to keep printing while watching the used market. As people have stated, it can do the job, but there are definitely limitations.
You can't go fast. period.
Waterbased ink is difficult but do-able if you're patient. I tend to flash cure water based even if it's just one color or wet on wet to help with initial evaporation. and run em through twice. I've found I have to keep the heating element pretty low on the dryer so you need to watch for scorching with light colored tee's or poly-blend shirts. I don't think I'd mess with hoody's. You might have some trouble if you're in a cold climate and if your garage is not climate controlled. I have climate control but if I open a window near the dryer on a cool morning it affects the cure. I'm guessing humidity could be problematic as well.
My biggest complaint is that this unit does not have a vent. There is a lot of off-gassing/smoke due to running the heating element so close to the garments and when I come in the morning after running a few hundred shirts, there is a layer of lint on EVERYTHING.
On the D-100 The element and belt are very small at 18". Aside from limitations on image size. You have to be tidy with how you fold the shirt onto the belt and make sure you're careful to place it to run centered under the element. The "tear-away" type tags will get ruined by the heat if you don't tuck them under the collar.
I agree that the combo units seem like you would get super toasty while printing.
I'm definitely looking forward to upgrading to something a bit bigger. I might keep the little guy for offsite workshops but not sure yet.
Good luck with squeezing into a small space. It's been problematic for me sometimes but I've been enjoying the challenges.
-
How about a 110v conveyor? BBC, Ranar etc?
Is it possible you could wire a legit, industrial strength extension cord to your laundry 220, with the right gauge of SJ cable? Even though it meant plugging & unplugging the dryer every time we used it, that's what enabled me to start printing.
We ran an original Little Buddy for several years. It was 220v, but only 20a. When I first had it, I wired a long cable that would allow me to plug into the 30a clothes dryer outlet in another room, due to not being able to install a dedicated outlet at that place. (Not sure how good of an idea the amperage mismatch was from an electrical safety standpoint, but I never had a problem.)
At the moment, we run a Lawson Encore, which requires 220v & 30a, and which plugs into a standard 4-pin clothes dryer outlet. If I needed to, I see no reason why a properly-wired extension wouldn't work with that, too. (Though I would check with an electrician to be sure.) Maybe something like that could work in your situation?
-
Brown makes the poney..I had one mounted in a pull behind trailer and did events, printed live at bars holding funraisers. people loved it. they are not super setr-ups but get the job done. I would never run one every day as you will hate yourself ,your life and screenprinting
http://brownmfg.net/c/13/all-in-one-printers (http://brownmfg.net/c/13/all-in-one-printers)
-
I do not think an extension will work. The 220 is on the opposite end of the home. Maybe I can use my current manual and just get a Little Buddy dryer or the like and put wheels on everything to make it work.
-
Too bad nobody makes a small gas dryer that runs on the LP tanks used for bbq grills! You could print anywhere.
-
At a show ys ago there was a 4 color many with a teeny tiny baby Jesus electric dryer running underneath it. I think JC was involved on that one
-
JC?
What is everyone's opinion of the best 110 volt dryer on the market?
-
Joe Clarke
-
JC?
What is everyone's opinion of the best 110 volt dryer on the market?
If it were me, I'd go with the Vastex D-1000. As small as it is, at least is has a 26" wide belt so loading shirts on there won't be as big of a drag then on the D-100 (18" belt). And for a home operation it seems easy to move around and it won't take up much space. I guess the main downside is no exhaust, but if it's not bitter cold in your area, just pop open some windows or the garage door haha.
-
If you go to a small dryer you my want to use low temp cure inks.
-
As for 110 dryers, I don't even know what units are available. But if it was my only option, here are a couple things I'd investigate:
1. For the money, is it really much of an improvement on just curing shirts with a flash unit? At least a couple of companies make stands for flash units that allow multiple shirts to be cured via flash in a carousel manner. (Far from my preference, but I'd hate to spend a lot more money for the same performance in a mini-dryer.) But this is only relevant to the idea of using 1 tiny, slow dryer. So...
2. I'd look at the time it took to get a good cure on the 110 dryers out there. If it was abysmally slow, I would consider getting TWO of them, and use both. Either set up so that all shirts go through both; or, run them side by side; or, stack one on top of the other (if space was super tight.) (Run on different outlets/circuits.)
3. I've seen at least one standalone conveyor unit out there (no dryer attached) - may have been on eBay. I'd even consider getting one of these, getting 2 or 3 110 flash units, plugged into different circuits, and constructing some kind of tunnel around them. (Plenum board?)
The bottom line is there's just no way I'd want to reduce my printing output to something like 30 shirts an hour, if the dryer was the bottleneck. I'd be thinking as far outside of the box as I had to to be able to cure as fast I could print.
If you go to a small dryer you my want to use low temp cure inks.
^This too! Very good advice.
-
Saw a great dryer made for DTG.
Looks like a chest of drawers.
The draws had a metal screen base and it had hot air circulating through the draws.
You lay a shirt in a draw and let it cure, no moving belt.
This system can cure plastisol, water base and discharge.
Also compact, the draws need to be the size of a shirt.
-
Hmmm didn't think about low cure inks... who makes them?
-
I just got a gallon of One Strokes ELT-S series. Cures at 270. I'm more than impressed with it. Prints really well and stretches really well. It's pricy at close to $150 per gallon, but it's awesome ink for sure.
-
not knocking the One Stroke, but, of course, there are also low cure additives for standard inks available from International Coatings, and probably others.
-
What are the drawbacks to low cure additives besides probably not a great idea when it's 110 degrees in the shop I would imagine. Any issues with durability etc?.
-
thinking outside the box here, I wouldn't be bothered by any of this. I remember working in a small confined area and it was brutal. I would invest my money in 2 or 3 really nice heat presses, get set up with a decent transfer supplier and go that route. No press, no dryer, no inks, no chemicals. On top of that, find a quality contract shop and send out the large orders. Focus on selling, not printing.
-
OK, Tons of options. If you are going to be manually printing BBC INDUSTRIES has a few dryer options that will keep up and cure just fine without all these additives and ink mods. I'm assuming your going into a small space you need to keep it simple, clean and efficient. Just like Jason said small spaces can be miserable and that is the truth. If you have to start moving around modifying inks , keeping more inventory etc. its gonna suck week number 2.
-
What are the drawbacks to low cure additives besides probably not a great idea when it's 110 degrees in the shop I would imagine. Any issues with durability etc?.
These are just knocking down the cure by twenty or thirty degrees. 110 in the shop ain't gonna' do a thing except make you question your choice of location for this profession.
And no, I haven't seen or heard about any durability issues.
-
We have been using only the One Stroke ELT-S ink for 18 months.
Everybody likes them here. Also they are only 90 miles from us which helps.
Helps that we don't have to over heat all the poly stuff we have to print.
-
One thing you could do is flash dry shirts, stack them and then finish curing
with a hot press. This way you can get by with one 20A 110 outlet if you
only have the flash or hot press on one at a time.
-
thinking outside the box here, I wouldn't be bothered by any of this. I remember working in a small confined area and it was brutal. I would invest my money in 2 or 3 really nice heat presses, get set up with a decent transfer supplier and go that route. No press, no dryer, no inks, no chemicals. On top of that, find a quality contract shop and send out the large orders. Focus on selling, not printing.
I like this idea. I always told myself if I ever went back to a home operation, I'd probably ditch screen printing and just do a nice DTG setup and find a niche. Might be my retirement plan lol.
-
One thing you could do is flash dry shirts, stack them and then finish curing
with a hot press. This way you can get by with one 20A 110 outlet if you
only have the flash or hot press on one at a time.
Good point but that's totally inefficient it wont make money and he will get frustrated after running a real operation.
-
What are the drawbacks to low cure additives besides probably not a great idea when it's 110 degrees in the shop I would imagine. Any issues with durability etc?.
International Coatings has a low cure additive that will get you down to about 300 cure temp. We use it, works well. If there's another brand of this product, I'd like to know. This is the only one I've found.
ELT & ELT-S from One Stroke get you down to 280 degrees. We use a lot of ELT-S white, and it's great. No durability problems, great stretch, good hand. The only quibble I have is that it make our screens harder to reclaim. Still don't know why or what to do about. But obviously, we do reclaim them or we wouldn't still be using the ink.
thinking outside the box here, I wouldn't be bothered by any of this. I remember working in a small confined area and it was brutal. I would invest my money in 2 or 3 really nice heat presses, get set up with a decent transfer supplier and go that route. No press, no dryer, no inks, no chemicals. On top of that, find a quality contract shop and send out the large orders. Focus on selling, not printing.
I like this idea. I always told myself if I ever went back to a home operation, I'd probably ditch screen printing and just do a nice DTG setup and find a niche. Might be my retirement plan lol.
I don't know if I'd do this or not, but I have to agree it was the first idea I thought of when you described your situation!
-
Saw a great dryer made for DTG.
Looks like a chest of drawers.
The draws had a metal screen base and it had hot air circulating through the draws.
You lay a shirt in a draw and let it cure, no moving belt.
This system can cure plastisol, water base and discharge.
Also compact, the draws need to be the size of a shirt.
Maxie, do you have a link to this, or a name? I'm curious, would like to learn more about it.
-
Now Homer has my wheels turning. Anyone know of a good fast turn transfer company? I would think it would need to be on the left coast for 1-2 day shipping.
-
www.thewildside.com (http://www.thewildside.com)
Not sure how their turnaround time is, but they're in California.
-
I think it was made by a Italian company for Kornit to use with a digital printer. I'll check with them.
The idea is great, you don't need a conveyor printer if you are doing small amounts, you could put shirts into a kitchen oven if it was big enough.
When I first started I had access to a oven that was used for heating chrome plated metal, I used to hang the shirts on racks and drop them into the oven for 5 minutes.
You could make a heated box and put shirts in on hangers, all they need is to get to the right temperature and for DTG and water base also for the right amount of time.