Inktec subli ink for Epson 1500w CIS. Newbie questions

[Joelmb]

Hi guys. I'm just about to get into sublimation using the above printer setup and looking at where I'll be buying my ink from. From what I can see Inktec Sublinova is the way to go. Price wise it's pretty pricey at £55 for 600ml (I have 6 colour printer) so guess it therefore makes sense to bulk buy 6x 1litre bottles at £319 from inkexpress who ive used in the past and get on well with.

But my question is, for photoprinting I currently use a cis with 100ml bottles which is manageable, but how do you practically get the ink into the cis without it spilling it everywhere? Seems like it's going to be a right fuss decanting, using funnels etc.
Anyone got experience/advice?

I have two 1500w's one of which I intend to swap from pigment ink cis to sub dye cis by buying a new clean cis. Will that work, or will I have to flush the print-head though somehow first?

Press wise I'm looking at the HP8305 from bms as it's within budget and seems to get decent reviews on here at least and able to press most thicknesses of substrates. Anyone using this printer/press/ink setup?

What heat transfer paper would you recommend? I'll be doing photo slates, garments, plaques and clocks to start with. Also I read yesterday with interest someone saying they were managing to saving and getting even better colour depth by simply using inkjet photopaper??

Lastly where's best for buying my blanks (slates, clocks etc)? Or do you guys use a range of suppliers depending on what youre buying? I know of listawood, dyesubsupplies, xpres, bms; assume theyre the main ones?

Cheers, any expert advice greatly appreciated!

[pw66]

Check the shelf life of the ink before you buy large bottles. It doesn't last forever, and you risk throwing a lot away.
£55 for 600ml is cheap when compared with Sore-arses prices of about £1200 per litre.

[Justin]

Unless you're printing a huge amount which I'm assuming you won't be on a 1500W then just buy 100ml of each as and when you need it. As mentioned above, it's likely it will go out of date before you get to use it.

I have a 1500W setup here with CIS and use the Inktec ink, remember to factor in a new profile. Don't scrimp on paper, Trupix is the preferred option for many.

[Joelmb]

Ok thanks guys. Trupix, ok so better not to scrimp, I was looking at https://www.inkexpress.co.uk/catalogue/ ... Paper.html which is cheaper - not worth that risk? Also for garments can you use Trupix or should I get that subclassic instead?

Where do I get a new profile please Justin?
Btw why was the one supplier edited out? Not bothered, just curious! best avoided?

[Justin]

I removed that particular supplier as they threatened legal action last year so basically we no longer mention them to avoid any further potential issues.

Always worth trying different papers but personally I would stick to Trupix.

Paul on here might be able to help with a new profile but he does get very busy so it may take some time.

[GoonerGary]

I removed that particular supplier as they threatened legal action last year so basically we no longer mention them to avoid any further potential issues.
.

Ink Express? I'm curious.

[Joelmb]

Check the shelf life of the ink before you buy large bottles. It doesn't last forever, and you risk throwing a lot away.
£55 for 600ml is cheap when compared with Sore-arses prices of about £1200 per litre.

Sore-arses? Lol who they be?

[Justin]

No, it wasn't Ink Express, they're a very good company

[Joelmb]

Is this supplier on FleaBay likely to be terrible quality stuff? Or at half the price worth a try?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Multipack-10 ... 0005.m1851

[Justin]

I'd stick with Inktec, tried and tested and very cheap.