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View Full Version : WHICH HEAT PRESS



Calypso Bay
02-01-2010, 10:44 PM
Hi Guys,

Ive seen an all in one press which does mugs, t-shirts and the rest, going for a good price. Should I go for it?

Its CE approved and brand new.

Cheers.

Justin
02-01-2010, 10:57 PM
I've heard mixed reviews on these 5 in 1 presses. Personally I'm not keen but some folk swear by them. I know some of our members have them so they're in a better position to comment on them.

Justin :-)

Calypso Bay
02-01-2010, 11:25 PM
I thought as much,

I too feel it would be better to have each thing individually. Its on at £175.00 all in and I am tempted.

Justin
02-01-2010, 11:28 PM
I can see that it would be tempting at that price. I do prefer seperate machines, if your mug press fails you can still do everything else and so on.

Stitch Up
02-01-2010, 11:34 PM
I bought one of these just before Christmas - build quality is good and thus far, it's worked faultlessly.

I'm unsure if the CE marking is genuine however! My gut feeling is it's not as obtaining CE certification is very costly.

Check HERE (http://www.sublimagic.co.uk/epages/es120902.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/es120902_shop/Products/smallcombomagic)

Go for it.

John

JSR
03-01-2010, 12:33 AM
I bought one of these just before Christmas - build quality is good and thus far, it's worked faultlessly.

I'm unsure if the CE marking is genuine however! My gut feeling is it's not as obtaining CE certification is very costly.

Check HERE (http://www.sublimagic.co.uk/epages/es120902.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/es120902_shop/Products/smallcombomagic)

Go for it.

John
What makes you think CE certification is very costly? Back at the factory I used to work at, CE was self-declared. You identified the directives that apply to your product and, if you comply, you issue a "Declaration of Conformity". It only became costly if you lied and someone challenged you and you couldn't prove your declaration.

I did read an amusing article which claimed that some companies put a slightly modified "CE" mark on their product which they state stands for "China Export" rather than the real "CE". You may wish to check on that (there is no legal marking for "China Export" with this near-CE symbol).

Incidentally, if you have any concern whether the press is really CE then you can ask for a copy of their Declaration of Conformity. This is a legal document and if you later find out the product doesn't conform then whoever signed the declaration could literally be locked up.

Calypso Bay
03-01-2010, 12:38 AM
cheers, thanks for your responses guys

Stitch Up
03-01-2010, 11:14 AM
I thought CE 'self' Certification was only for the product produced in the EU - perhaps I'm wrong.

JSR
03-01-2010, 12:28 PM
I thought CE 'self' Certification was only for the product produced in the EU - perhaps I'm wrong.
Perhaps you're right. It seems a bit bizarre to charge and regulate products from outside the EU and then allow self-declaration within the EU. What makes EU manufacturers any more trustworthy than non-EU manufacturers? Being unfair towards non-EU manufacturers would simply encourage fake marks anyway. They may as well just have an agent in the EU who signs the declaration for them.

Stitch Up
03-01-2010, 01:02 PM
There are so many bizarre rules and regulations.

Somewhile ago I used to supply PCs to small businesses. I used to build the PCs myself. I'd been doing this for years then one customer refused to pay for a network I installed.

To cut a long story short, I received a list of reasons for his refusal to pay from his solicitor, one item on the list was that the PCs I'd supplied didn't have the CE mark! It was then I contacted the relevant department and I'm quite sure they informed me I could download the 'mark' and print out myself providing the product was assembled in the EU. All parts were made in China :) - What isn't these days?

Incidentally, I won in court :)

John

Karen.
03-01-2010, 02:07 PM
I would b e very warey myself. We had a bad experience with a cheap mug press,. It also had the CE mark, yet caught fire - not just smouldering, but totaly up in flames. The seller didn't want to know.

valentine rhodes
04-01-2010, 06:54 PM
valentine rhodes.
what are your veiws on the Magic Touch htp 616 ts,heat press. It does toner and sublimation, is this an advantage or not. I see that most mugs are done in sublimation, where would toner fit in. There does not seem to be anybody doing plates or saucers. Why not.

jennywren
04-01-2010, 07:33 PM
I trade 6 days a week and am I am asked for these 4 times a year. we did have a chap that trader in only sublimation in plates but did't last as there was very little requirement for those items, not many people put plates on a wall, so maybe thats why.

purpledragon
04-01-2010, 08:11 PM
Buy cheap buy twice as they say and thats exactly what we did to begin with . Bought a 5 in 1 jobby it blew up.... no really i mean it blew up with a huge bang. I did get a replacement the press worked well for vynil but terrable on subli and the mug press was so hit and miss it wasnt worth the lost mugs . then the bearings in the swing of the press crushed. id say steer well clear
Brett

Karen.
04-01-2010, 11:17 PM
I wouldn't mind betting you got that from the same place as I got my mug press that caught fire, as I have heard of others that have had the same problem with this sellers items.

JSR
04-01-2010, 11:59 PM
There does not seem to be anybody doing plates or saucers. Why not.
I offer plates but I have very few customers.

The main problem with plates is availability. Very few suppliers sell them in the UK and when you ask for them, they say "there's no call for them". No, there's no call for them because suppliers don't sell them! It's catch-22.

Added to that you need a good plate press (not like mine, then) because the plates we get in the UK are not particularly flat - but the plate press heat platen is flat - so you tend to end up with inconsistent heating. They're also not very high quality and you end up putting many aside because of poor coating or imperfections in the gold colour edges, meaning that you can't sell them at an attractive price.

A cheap press, like mine, won't heat to anywhere near the edge of the platen so you end up putting a tiny image (well under 4") in the middle of the plate and it looks silly. The only time a plate looks even remotely good is if you do a cut-out image. However an expensive press would just take too long to pay for given the lack of availability of good quality plates.

So the reason very few people do plates is because there's no supplier willing to support us with (i) good presses at a reasonable price and (ii) a decent range of quality plates. If you're in the US, there are many different types of plates you can use - not just the not-very-desirable chunky ceramic plate offered in the UK but bright white porcelain/china plates and plates with pre-printed outer edge.

But, in the UK, they don't supply, we don't sell, they say there's no call for them, we can't get any call for them because they don't supply them. Catch-22.

purpledragon
05-01-2010, 12:33 AM
It was joys karen , basically cheap Chinese imports its so difficult at the moment because i know a fair few people who have bought Chinese and had no problems the problem is how can you tell the good from the bad btw i sent you a pm today re bits n bobs did you get it ive sent a couple of pms today whch i dont think have got there
brett

Karen.
05-01-2010, 12:48 AM
Ah yes, I have never used them personally, although been tempted as they are very close to me. I have ha=eard not so good on them though.

I am just replying to PMs now

Stitch Up
05-01-2010, 09:05 AM
valentine rhodes.
what are your veiws on the Magic Touch htp 616 ts,heat press. It does toner and sublimation, is this an advantage or not. I see that most mugs are done in sublimation, where would toner fit in. There does not seem to be anybody doing plates or saucers. Why not.

We have the HTP 616 from TMT. It's a great machine and excellent if you're into laser sublimation. You can produce a mug a lot cheaper than using DyeSub. The other great advantage of this machine is that the 2 heads are independent of each other - in other words, you can start one mug 'cooking' prepare the next and start that when you're ready. However, I don't think you can use it for DyeSub - perhaps I'll try it out.

John