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AdamB
13-08-2010, 12:24 PM
So, I thought that my pals in the Forum could give me their opinions on something?

I have been looking at various ways to ‘expand’ my hobby/business from mugs and printable items to a whole new range of sublimation gifts (you may have seen my previous post(s) on DTG printers.

Having the set up to do mugs, I am already half way there to producing ceramic stuff and I just need a press that I will be getting with my new set up – this being the subject.

I have been busy reading and watching many posts and videos on (to be honest) nearly everything and really like the Chromablast system to be able to print my t-shirts. It looks vibrant and reduces the ‘normal film’ that is given with normal methods.
I am also going to purchase a decent vinyl cutter to allow me to do some designs in vinyl that will also go onto dark material.

The problem is that by buying the chromablast system I am limiting myself (as far as I believe) to what I do. The ‘special’ set up is designed to be used on 100% cotton so no problems there. It will also work on 50/50 (cotton/polyester) products although probably not as vibrant. But, there are certain subliminal items (such as bags etc) that I probably couldn’t do with a chromablast system.

Although, I could do ‘all of them’ with the sublimation inks.

So, is this a small price to pay? I can offer vibrant t-shirts (white) with the chromablast sytem but cannot probably offer ‘everything’ else – or should I go with the generic ‘sublimation’ package and be able to provide everything (but t-shirts and other items that work well with the chromablast system won’t look as good).

All opinions valued please

P.S – I just wanted to thank personally thank Justin for the work he does on the forum. I run a forum myself and know the pain it takes to manage it in the background with hosts, scripts etc).

Justin, thank you.

Justin
13-08-2010, 12:35 PM
Hi Adam, first and foremost thank you for your kind words and appreciation. I'm sat here yawning, was up until 2am and then up and down until 5am checking updates etc. so....yawn.....many thanks!

The T-Shirts printed using sublimation are very vibrant and detailed. The polyester coated shirts aren't wonderful although I've just started working with the Vapor range which seem a whole lot better than others I've tried. I havn't tried Chromablast and need to gem up a little more on this. Maybe this could be run alongside sublimation for you? I guess it kinda depends on your target market and what quality they'll need/price/longevity of item etc.

Vinyl is fab, you can do some great things with it. Some of the new materials are very useful, check out Target & Xpres for camoflauge/snake skin and so on! You can multi layer with some materials to get good effect. You could also use ultragraphics through Xpres to make badges/logos/designs. This just needs the sublimation printer/cutter/heat press.

I may have mis-read your post....I may still be asleep....Please feel free to shake me!

John G
13-08-2010, 12:39 PM
If you already have the set up to do mugs then you'll have a printer running sub inks so all you need is a flat bed heat press and you can do white sub t'shirts and other sub items. If you want to do cottons then either the chromablast or a laser printer can be used with various papers on the market.

Cheers John

AdamB
13-08-2010, 12:59 PM
Ouch!

it seems as though I have missed an obvious flaw you pointed out to me John!

I don't know why, but I always thought (and have done for the last couple of years) that there was 3 main different types of ink;

Standard ink: that goes in a printer to print out pictures for the kids on paper
Mug/Ceramic Ink: Can only be used on cermaic products
Dye Sub Ink: Can only be used on textiles

I think this must go from when I was ripped off a couple of years ago by some geezer on e-bay (I purchased a package for mugs and t-shirts that didn't work and he said I should have chosen two types of ink - one for mugs, one for t-shirts!).

So, using that train of thought - I presumed that I would need to by a new printer and inks to start doing t-shirts ............. (I'm embaressed!).

Still, I think I need a new printer anyway as the one I currently use is only A4 and some of the designs I want to do are larger than that.

Justin/John - sorry if I confused you and I sounded 'DUMB' ............... my only excuse was I that I was 'confused' myself!

John G
13-08-2010, 01:11 PM
Don't worry - your not the 1st.

To print mugs properly, that last in dishwashers, you need sublimation ink - BMS sell a range of epson printers, with CIS and ink, that will fit your needs. There is also the Ricoh which uses carts instead of CIS. Once these printers are set up right, and with the right press, you can print onto any coated sublimation item (wide range available) or anything that is, or has a very high content of, polyester.

The chromablast ink is made by the same people that make sub ink but with this ink you can print onto cottons - not sublimation items.

Hope this helps - Cheers John

Justin
13-08-2010, 01:12 PM
Looks like you'll be doing more than you thought then! ;) See how you get on with the Sublimation shirts first. Chromablast certainly looks good but it's another investment you could probably do without.

I'd be interested to see a sample printed garment. Paper and ink both look expensive and from what I've just read the garment needs an initial wash to get rid of 'overprint' texture. That said, you'd be using far cheaper cotton garments which is a big plus.