Direct to Garment Printing - I've gone and done it!

[Stitch Up]

Morning guys

As some here will already know, I've been interested in DTG (Direct To Garment) printing for quite a while. I visited many demos in the early days but thus far, have resisted the temptation.

HOWEVER, following many conversations with the developer, I've now 'bitten the bullet' and jumped right in, I've placed my order for one of the latest printers to hit the streets.

Over the past month or so, I've been reading up on the various offerings, learning the ups & downs of the various brands - I very nearly got myself an eBay bargain a couple of weeks back!

This is what I've ordered: [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwPd4UxlC6g]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwPd4UxlC6g[/url]

More exciting developments very soon

John

[bms]

Looks great!

Presumably you still need to pre-treat the garment with this machine? Is it a spray or a roll on? Would be interested to head how the white ink goes - does it need stirring/ aggitating every so often to prevent settling?

[John G]

Now that looks head and shoulders above the machine you nearly got from ebay - signage too!

It really does look fantastic, please let us know how you get on.

[Stitch Up]

I did compose a lengthy reply to Martin's post but it appears to have gone astray! Grrrrrrr

I'm 57 now and if I wait any longer for white ink technology to be entirely problem free my kids will inherit it before I get delivery!!!

To answer Martin's question. Yes, one still has to pre-prep the garment prior to printing the white underbase, this is common to all white ink printers. The prep method is the traditional spray method although, I have seen some people use both spray and then roller to ensure a good even coverage. No prep is required for printing on white shirts though, except the normal heat pressing to remove moisture prior to printing and of course it helps if the shirt lays flat .

White ink still needs to be treated in the same way as before but the sealed cartridge system is not so labour intensive. I hope to elaborate further on this soon.

I, like many entering the DTG printing arena have to make the decision whether to print dark shirts or just whites. From what I can gather, 30% of the T-shirt industry is whites and the remainder is dark. Even if it was 50/50, would I wnat to turn away 50% of the business? Would you?

Prior to seeing the NeoFlex I was drawn to the Brother GT-541. The Brother printer will only print white or light coloured shirts but it's one of the very few DTG printers designed soley for the purpose. Consequently it doesn't suffer the common issue of ink clogging that's been such a problem in the past.

Neoflex have improved the situation by using a sealed ink system, a programmable cleaning routine and the use of the teflon coated Epson 4880 printhead. As with all these DTG printers, cleaning and maintenance procedures are key to avoiding downtime. Anyone involved in DyeSub will already know the problems of printhead clogging.

The NeoFlex appealed to me for various reasons:
1. The designer has created a system where the issue of white ink clogging has been addressed.
2. The printing area surpasses that of most of it's competitors. See the video.
3. The platen remains stationary as it's the printhead that moves along the substrate. This allows me to remove printed items and locate items to be printed while the printer continues to print.
4. I can convert the printer between solvent and textile in about 3 minutes.
5. The variety of substrates I can print to is vast, again, see the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwPd4UxlC6g.

There are many other features I've considered but at the moment, my brain is frazzled and I can't remember them all

I've had quite a few conversations with the designer of the printer and asked lots of questions. The main issue for me was that there are no NeoFlexes in the UK so I can't go and see one working. fortunately, we've overcome this issue.

Hopefully soon and when I've got up to speed with the printer, anyone who wants to see it in operation will be welcome here. I can also produce some videos on any aspect of use and post here.

Like a kid with a new toy, I'm quite excited about it's arrival, okay, I'm bloody excited

To me it looks fantastic but the proof of the 'pudding will be in the eating' and I'll keep you all informed. I'm confident.

Cheers

John

[Andrew]

Wow I am jealous. Looks great and always wanted to go down that route...... just was never prepared to spend the pound notes. I have an old Epson 4000 which is what seems to be an older version of the printing unit so I am looking at it now and visualizing t-shirts going through it.

Keep us updated as I would be interested to know how you get on and what else you can print at a decent cost.

Good luck,

Andrew

[bms]

I did compose a lengthy reply to Martin's post but it appears to have gone astray! Grrrrrrr

What the post above a cut down version of the lengthy post?

[Stitch Up]

How do you spell précis? Coz that's it

[Justin]

Now that is a very useful looking machine John! I'm sure we'll all think of many things you can do for us! LOL

Keep us informed, I'm sure you will. I'll sit through the video later.

Justin

[theemmanewman]

I'm sure we'll all think of many things you can do for us! I'll sit through the video later.

The list is growing - also pencilled video in for later, can't quite face it on a Saturday night!

[chongsta]

Oh dear Lord !

Watta piece of kit...can you seem my green envious eyes!!!???

You must let us know how this works for you. $18,000xx about £11k yes? whats the shipping etc, ink cart prices...can you tell us all the rest of it.

I WAAAANT ONEEEE ]

Dave (green?!")

p.s. im only in swansea....expect a visit, your only 5 mins up the M4