Combined printer cutter < 2m in physical width

[socialgiraffe]

That link is so loaded with errors and bias it's unreal.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[phoenixalpha]

I totally agree that from an ease of work point of view, running a print and cut is a lot easier (god knows... its how I do it) than running both machines simultaneously. I'm sure someone out there is running a printer and a cutter side by side and getting more work through than I would on a single print and cut machine (it makes logical sense that if I'm printing for an hour and cutting for an hour that two machines including loading and unloading could take less time than one machine doing it one step at a a time), but personally, from experience... I'd rather have slightly less throughput and more ease of mind that the machine knows what the it's doing (one thing at one time), than me running about loading and unloading media and running the very real risk that the separate printer and cutter aren't marrying up perfectly and its a waste of time, materials and money on a botched job.

Yes I've run materials which have to be laminated, yes it had to sit and dry overnight, yes it was a total pain in the behind getting it dismounted and then reregistered and then mounted and yes it caused me no end of stress and I could quite happily told the customer where to go before it all works... but it works but its a pain in the crack and then some. Its just so much easier - one print cut machine, one rip, one graphic file, one bit of software to do it all. Let the printer cutter take the strain and get on with doing other stuff while it does its stuff rather than print, dismount, remount, reregister, re rip and cut then dismount.

Anyhoo back to the original point of the thread. Get a Roland if you can afford it. If you want to do corex for signage, print onto clear vinyl and mount onto corex that way. If it needs lamination put it through a laminator and then mount on to corex (if using a roland and ecosol, no need to let it degas overnight, just leave it for a wee while to make sure its completely dry and then some.

[AlanD]

I buy in digital print for signage and van livery and standard practice if laminating would be to let it out gas for a few hours and preferably overnight. Stickers with colour bleeding off and especially with heavy ink coverage also benefit from out gassing before contour cutting, not doing so can lead to edges curling. If laminating you have no choice but to take it off the machine, either print and cut machine or separates. This is relevant for solvent machines as latex and UV are a different animal.
If you do intend to print and cut after laminating you do lose a fair bit of vinyl as the registration marks can be fairly large, Roland in particular, not so much an issue with wide machines but it does cut down your useable width on something like the BN20.
You can't beat the convenience of print and cut machines assuming laminating is not required but for production 2 machines would be my choice assuming you have the budget and space because even the smaller print machines are a fair old size, add to that a cutter and a laminating machine and you need plenty of space.
You can argue the toss about durability of the various ink types but for vehicle work I always have them laminated.

[socialgiraffe]

Hi AlanD, I can not comment on van vinyl as this is normally a maximum of 80 micron which I do not use. But the thousands of stickers I print, some with very heavy coverage and almost everyone with a bleed do not need gassing off and do not curl. But then it's 100 micron.

These are retail quality so need to be spot on and are sold worldwide without issue. I suspect the thickness of the material means it it does not curl.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[AlanD]

Yes sign vinyl is quite thin and this could well be the reason for requiring outgassing. I am on the uksignboards (sign makers forum) and the outgassing subject has been a regular topic and not many would consider laminating without a period of outgassing as good practice.

[ArferMo]

Is it a bad idea for me to buy an old Roland VersaCAMM SP-300 or would I be better off buying something else or even something smaller.

Like is there anything that the Roland VersaCAMM SP-300 can or can't do compared to a BN20 for example (not counting printing width)

[h=3][/h]

[phoenixalpha]

I think the only advantage the BN would have over the SP300 would be the fifth colour - either white or metallic.

[ArferMo]

White and metallic sound really great and useful but seems they are an expensive luxury that hardly anyone seems to use plus some people never even use them before they run out with maintenance cycles. I initially thought yea that will be great then decided to steer clear.

I've heard that the old 300's can be a pain to get going on W7/8 but not bothered about that aspect.

[socialgiraffe]

The biggest moan about the BN20 is the speed, it is much slower than the bigger brothers, even an old 300. To make a cheaper machine they had to cut corners, so things like servo motors on the cutting side are missing on the 20 to make it as cheap as possible.

As someone who has white and metallic I 100% agree with you regarding "expensive luxury". I have had the "purchase ink and throw it down the drain in cleaning cycles before using it" a few times. I have since got a workaround which means I no longer purchase white or metallic which saves £230.00 plus VAT!. Bear in mind I am in the music industry where bling is full on.... I have not done a metallic job in over a year!

Also, white and metallic ink can not be used on all medias, so you could not use it on garments and the metallic is really fussy on a lot of other medias.

Rolands are built very well, but like any printer, if it has been abused you are not going to get very far.

[AlanD]

One of my suppliers has a BN and it is slow, he has the metalic option which I think he uses once every other blue moon. I think the BN is similar in quality as the VS range of roland printers and I have to say the quality of print is very good. How that quality comapares to a 300i I don't know bu tit is certainly better than the early Versa Camms I've seen.