Equipment list from a newbie

[Jaminist]

Hello All,

I'm looking into doing dye sublimation and vinyl printing following a break from work and a bit of cash coming my way. I have a background in design/ ad layout and tech support so I'm all good on that side.

I have been looking for a while at different equipment and have come up with the following list. I'd appreciate peoples thoughts/guidance if possible.

Printer - Epson 14000. Have also looked at the Sawgrass A3 but seems massively overpriced. (Twice the price of the Epson, inks 4 times the price)

Vinyl cutter - Silhouette Cameo 4

Mug press - Cheapo Freesub dual unit from china as I don't intend to do many mugs.

Heat press - This is where I'm coming unstuck. I don't really want to spend 1.5k on a really high end unit for what initially is going to be a part time business or hobby.

I have looked at this one https://www.printerowners.co.uk/shop/ha ... eat-press/ but I hear a lot of bad things about these Chinese made presses. Should I invest in a 2nd hand Atkins instead or are these likely to have been used as workhorses and seen better days with the heating elements?


Any advice or assistance would be greatly appreciated.

[pw66]

Printer is a very good choice, although for an extra £100 Ink Experts are selling the L1800, which is a 6 colour version of the ET 14000. Both are based on the 1500w, with added ecotanks, which was an 'industry standard' until it was discontinued. Ink costs are about 5% that of the Sawgrass unit.

Cameos have proved to be very good starter cutters and there is no reason why the new Cameo 4 will not be he same.

The heating elements on mug presses are seen as 'consumable' so get one that allows for replacement parts to be fitted.

If you get a good one then second hand heatpresses can be a big saving. One benefit is that yo will get all or most of your money back if you decide to give up. But if you get a bad one you are screwed.
If you want new then you can get a top quality press made by Pressmech ( search the forum to see how highly many of us rate it! ) for about £1000 from Nova Chrome. It is as good as anything out there.