Mini 3D Vacum or sublideck type machine from China.

[marinot]

Hi All

I'm just new to this forum so hello to you all, I have read some threads and found them very useful, I'm in Melbourne Australia and currently run a DTG business and want to add Phone covers to our product list, I have been researching vacuum machines now for about 2 months. As I read through the threads everyone seems to have the same questions "do you go with cheaper paper transfers and cheaper machines, or go with the film version and buy the Sublideck type machine".

I have found two suppliers in China, one that sells the mini subs which price wise is exactly the same as one of you guys posted here. The other is a 1 case at time film version same as sublideck, price wise we are looking at $488 US for the mini sub
and $2600US for the film version. The reason I'm swaying to the film version is that I'm really only interested in printing phone covers, and the time to prepare the cover and print it is substantially less than with the mini sub, I will be selling these through an ecommerce site, and targeting the custom personalized market. Saying that I have seen film printed with the mini sub at a show here a couple of weeks ago, all they did was put the mould in the sub and then just placed the film on top, the heat from the top and bottom of the plate melted the film slowly into place and then he lowered the the silicon sheet and pressed it for 8 mins. The result was fantastic. So can someone give me their opinion on this, I really want to stick to film, and if the mini sub can produce good quality with a minimum of fuss then I would look at that, otherwise I would go for the film draw version machine that you don't have to worry about placement, and it only takes 2 mins to cook. Hope someone can throw some more light on the matter.

Also the film, seems to be hard to find, there is the gold back type and also there is a transparent type which they tell me comes from Korea, can someone point me in the right direction on where to get these films

Thanks
www.printlocker.com.au

[bms]

The smaller machines will print with film and paper - the main difference is the speed of transfer but they work well with both materials. As for the film - you won't be able to use the transparent film in a Ricoh printer as it needs to detect the film edge and can't do that when it's clear. The gold film works best in the Ricohs. If you've an Epson printer then you can use either gold or transparent film.

[pisquee]

Just thinking for wide format printing - for the Epson's at least they have some kind of camera/light sensor to detect the paper - having too much sun on the printer makes it unable to detect the paper properly when doing the initial line up, so may also be an issue on the Stylus Pros too. Just guessing, but it would seem likely.

[marinot]

The smaller machines will print with film and paper - the main difference is the speed of transfer but they work well with both materials. As for the film - you won't be able to use the transparent film in a Ricoh printer as it needs to detect the film edge and can't do that when it's clear. The gold film works best in the Ricohs. If you've an Epson printer then you can use either gold or transparent film.

I have seen transparent used with a piece of tape at one edge, but as far as suooliers do you know where to get the films?

[bms]

I have seen transparent used with a piece of tape at one edge, but as far as suooliers do you know where to get the films?

I do, but have to refrain from saying where as I get accused of blatant advertising

[socialgiraffe]

You can get the film from BMS (obviously!) as well as probably other suppliers and as you are in Australia you may want to find someone a bit closer

However from my very limited knowledge of these machines I am hoping that Martin will be able to confirm that if you use one of the cheaper smaller machines and the gold "easy position" gold films you need different jigs.

I am thinking of dabbling in 3d but have so far been put off by the time it takes to put the paper on the blank. I too really like the idea of putting the blank in the machine, placing a film on top and away you go. Also, I assume the smaller machines can only do one at a time, is this correct?

[marinot]

With the Mini Sub, your able to do 4 at a time, its the Sublideck kind of machine that only allows one at atime, although theydo have different versions that do 4 & 8, but they are pretty expensive

[marinot]

Hey BMS can you email me or messege directly? I need to find a good supplier of the film, I think Im going to go with sublideck version machine, have sourced a supplier in China cost of $2600US it far cheaper than sublideck, but they don't supply film, can you help

[bms]

Hey BMS can you email me or messege directly? I need to find a good supplier of the film, I think Im going to go with sublideck version machine, have sourced a supplier in China cost of $2600US it far cheaper than sublideck, but they don't supply film, can you help

Have sent you a pm...

[smo]

Why is film so expensive?? Is it due to drop in price any time soon?