newbie questions

[rickmar1905]

im looking at starting a hobby in sublimation that can hopefully pay for itself if not make a bit. i like the thought of doing vinyl print t-shirts, transfered t-shirts, printed mugs, plates, clocks, jigsaws, phone cases, glass photos, coasters etc
i want good quality in everything i do.
a few questions i have are:-
1) is it worth bothering with second hand equipment?
2) i like the look of the cameo silhouette cutter, is there better for similar price bearing in mind i feel i need a3 for t-shirts.
3) are the 5,6,7 in 1 heat presses any good or should i look at individual plate, mug and t-shirt presses?
4) whats a good printer, paper, inks for t-shirt, glass and ceramic transfers, again a3?
5) any good uk companies for blanks?

[James990]

All your questions have been answered within the forum, some of them more than once! So suggest you get a cup of tea/coffee or what ever you drink and read the forum postings!

[rickmar1905]

i struggle to read the threads on my phone (all i have at moment) so i was hoping someone experienced could quickly comment.
oh well, here comes the bad eyes

[Justin]

I'll try and answer quickly, save your eyes a little

1. Yes if you can find decent equipment that works well. Not much point in buying cheap equipment second hand unless you're on a really tight budget. You might get a much better press for your money, i.e. Adkins etc. second hand but might have to hunt for one.

2. Silhouette is a fantastic little cutter and until you use one you won't realise just how good. Software is also fantastic and very easy. bear in mind the 12" max width limitation, otherwise hard to beat at this price. You could get Chinese cutter for same price but if the width is ok don't bother.

3. If you can afford good named brand separates all good and well personally (and this is imo) I have never rated the 5 in 1's etc. but I know plenty of folk that do. Again, this may be a compromise but personally I don't feel the need for it.

4. All subli printers will produce the transfers you need for those items. If you're dye subb'ing A3 obviously you'd need an A3 printer. Ricoh is by far the best way to go for someone new to the business. A4 Ricoh are very reasonably priced, A3 are considerably more. Ask yourself if you really need A3 or will most work be vinyl?
You could look at Epson with CIS (bulk system) but these are prone to issues. Save yourself a lot of time and frustration and put your money into a Ricoh. You'll see folk using non authorised inks (Sawgrass hold a patent on subli ink in small format) and whilst many get great results you'll not be able to get support from this forum (the best place) and may have issues longer term, consistency and so on.

5. We have a sticky list in the general section, take a look here. Plenty of decent (and a fe not so) companies in the UK, no need to look any further.

6. Aha there was no 6 I hear you say??? If there was it would be, what's the best single item i can buy for my new venture? That would be a £10 annual subscription to this forum. OK, I am of course biased but on a serious note, if you were to buy a press/printer etc. from one of our supporting suppliers, Xpres or Listawood for example, you'd immediately get 10% off which could be a substantial amount.

OK, get to a PC and as we always say, grab several cups of tea and spend the rest of today and tonight reading the forum, you'll come away with all the answers you need and so much more

[pisquee]

You say that you'v only got a phone for reading the forum - you're going to need to computer (windows or OSX) to be able to print for this new venture, unless you get someone else who has the printer and computer set up and you pay them to print the transfers for you.

[rickmar1905]

im working away wich is why i only have my phone.
my laptop is old but has cs6 on. think its running vista.
i saw the uk suppliiers shortly after posting this so yeah that was a silly question
ive not seen much bad about the cameo silhouettr and like the price so im happy with that.

still bees to look further into if i require a3 or a4 printer and then the presses.
cheers

[pisquee]

If wanting to do t-shirts, then hold an A4 piece of paper and an A3 piece of paper up to a t-shirt and decide which you think is going to be the better sized print.

[rickmar1905]

the ricoh a4 seem reasonably priced. am i right in saying that gel ink is not the same as sublimation ink as some say gel ink and some say sublimation although i think if im buying new i will be better taking up the £10 membership and buying all from one of the discounted companies.
my thoughts are that if i get a4 and decide i want a3 then i nees to buy again. is there any downside to owning an a3 but only printing a4 on for mugs?
cheers

[Scotty@BMS]

The downside of owning the A3 printer is the initial outlay which is a great deal more than the A4. Over time it should even out as you'll save cash in the long term using the high capacity cartridges. It really depends as to what you intend to print on your t-shirts as to whether you should take the plunge with the more costly A3 model.

Also, +1 for the Cameo. Sheets can be pre cut to 300mm x 500mm, and I don't see the need for bigger. But that's obviously just my opinion.

[rickmar1905]

scotty, how do you mean "can be pre cut to 300mm x 500mm" ??
i dont like to see the a4 straight edged prints, once im home ill have to find some a3 and a4 and see what i think. i dont think a4 is going to be big enough and id rather do a single print with everything lined up nicely than 2 prints and something be of centre to the other.