Wanting to upgrade to something to do more volume

Hi guys,

We currently use two Epson - ET15000 and they just aren't fast enough for where we are at the moment

I am wanting to upgrade to something bigger in time for Christmas as this is when our volume will explode.

The Epsons we use are CMYK and we don't do much in the way of skin tones or anything like that so not sure if a 6 or 8 colour is worth it, I was after a 24inch tbh and something that is quick.

Googling brought up the

Epson SC F500

Then I was told that the Epson SureColor SC-T3100x is a better model, but can't find much out about them.

I notice a lot of you recommend Repro and spotted the Epson stylus pro 7890

Can anyone give me any advice or info on the above printers?

Many thanks
Jamie

There is a thread on the forum highlighting the shortcomings of the Epson F500. It is based on the SC-T3100x printer. Epson themselves only sell that model as a low volume 'workgroup' printer, so don't pin your hopes on it as a volume printer.
https://www.dyesubforum.co.uk/vbforu...ght=epson+f500

I’ve spoken to people that love the F100 and the F500, I’ve spoken to people that hate them.

It all really depends on your budget to be honest and what you’re printing with them.

If you want truly high capacity you could get an Epson SC-F6300 which is a £4.5k+vat printer.

If you’re only doing mugs, and smaller stuff, the Sawgrass printers are way faster than any Epson desktop printer. We switched from using Epson Ecotanks to SG500’s and while I’m not a huge fan of the colours, they work well and we regularly knock out 500 mugs a day on a single SG500.

I’m looking at upgrading to the F6300 soon but will need to also invest in a graphtec (or similar) cutter to appreciate the most from it.


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We were in your boat a few years ago and now run two Epson 7800 24" printers from Repro that handles flat press items from coasters to textiles. Then bank of SG400's for mugs and Epson P800 for fine detail on small items such as keyrings. Along with that you'll need big press to handle work load of course so we upscaled to adkins omega 750 for glassware but kept adkins beta maxi for everything else as extra pull down pressure is needed.

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Originally Posted by UK Printed Mugs

We were in your boat a few years ago and now run two Epson 7800 24" printers from Repro that handles flat press items from coasters to textiles. Then bank of SG400's for mugs and Epson P800 for fine detail on small items such as keyrings. Along with that you'll need big press to handle work load of course so we upscaled to adkins omega 750 for glassware but kept adkins beta maxi for everything else as extra pull down pressure is needed.

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Being nosey, how does the colours of your sg400’s compare to the 7800/p800? Are you using sawgrass inks? What inks are you using in the p800?

Sawgrass ink in SG400. Inktec Sublinova Smart inks in both Epsons (same ink from same bottle). All printers highly profiled up to ensure accuracy so all colours are the same. Once we made the jump to larger printer and larger press they soon paid for themselves in no time with speeding things up and could probably do with another 7800 soon just to keep up with demand which hopefully for everyone in the industry is also going well currently. As long as supplier stock keeps up hey. Longer you leave it the more expensive equipment will get no doubt so make an investment soon and perhaps give Repro repairs a call just for cost ideas.

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Originally Posted by UK Printed Mugs

Sawgrass ink in SG400. Inktec Sublinova Smart inks in both Epsons (same ink from same bottle). All printers highly profiled up to ensure accuracy so all colours are the same. Once we made the jump to larger printer and larger press they soon paid for themselves in no time with speeding things up and could probably do with another 7800 soon just to keep up with demand which hopefully for everyone in the industry is also going well currently. As long as supplier stock keeps up hey. Longer you leave it the more expensive equipment will get no doubt so make an investment soon and perhaps give Repro repairs a call just for cost ideas.

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Problem with the sg500’s that we use is you can’t use them with icc profiles. Ricoh have a new model out which they’ve not licensed to sawgrass so a friend has bought that with some refillable carts to try.

Been looking at something better quality for keyrings etc so may take a look at the likes of the p800 or a wide format as we do loads of keyrings.

That's why we returned the sg500 printers we initially purchased as sawgrass said you can print direct after firmware upgrade thus being able to profile. They lied. We stuck to sg400 and nothing else desktop wise touches it. We've tried every printer but nothing gets colours exact like sg400 after profiling. Good luck with new set up if you take plunge.

Would you be investing a Graphtec so that you can print registration marks and then perf cut? Am I on the right lines?

I am going to give Repro a call today and see what they have available and take it from there

Looking at the SC-F6300 I could definitely get good use out of it as we will be printing some pieces which are 50cm wide so could side by side to fill the space on prints

Thanks for the info

Thanks for the info

Do you just load up a load of coasters on the Omega 750 and press all at once?

I'm going to give repro a ring and see what they have in stock.

No doubt I will return with more questions

We sold our F6300 printer last year. Superb machine and incredibly cheap to run, paper and ink etc. If you get one make sure you go for the denser blank (HDK I think it was) If you source used you'll also need a licence for the Epson software which can run over £1k so just beware of that.

Print quality was never on par with the smaller photo printers but it's not designed to be. We got samples from local suppliers of sublimation prints before buying as we considered new, these were diabolical to say the least and gave no indication of the expected quality.

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Originally Posted by Justin

We sold our F6300 printer last year. Superb machine and incredibly cheap to run, paper and ink etc. If you get one make sure you go for the denser blank (HDK I think it was) If you source used you'll also need a licence for the Epson software which can run over £1k so just beware of that.

Print quality was never on par with the smaller photo printers but it's not designed to be. We got samples from local suppliers of sublimation prints before buying as we considered new, these were diabolical to say the least and gave no indication of the expected quality.

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If you sold your F6300, can I ask what you use instead?

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Originally Posted by jtd

Would you be investing a Graphtec so that you can print registration marks and then perf cut? Am I on the right lines?

I am going to give Repro a call today and see what they have available and take it from there

Looking at the SC-F6300 I could definitely get good use out of it as we will be printing some pieces which are 50cm wide so could side by side to fill the space on prints

Thanks for the info

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Yes. We largely print mugs so the idea would be to print the mugs with registration marks and have the graphtec perf cut them so we can automate as much of the process as possible.

We were using it with our rotary press which we also sold. We just use A4 & A3 Epsons now as we're just doing smaller items as it isn't our main business. We used the F6300 for cushions.

We had 2 Sawgrass VJ628 25" machines before this. I am certainly not a supporter of Sawgrass products and wouldn't usually recommend them but these printers were superb. Fast and excellent print quality. Inks weren't too bad value by normal SG standards but still not that cheap.

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Originally Posted by gazfocus

Yes. We largely print mugs so the idea would be to print the mugs with registration marks and have the graphtec perf cut them so we can automate as much of the process as possible.

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I know someone who has a very nice Graphtec cutter for sale lol.

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Originally Posted by Justin

I know someone who has a very nice Graphtec cutter for sale lol.

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Shoot me a pm hehe

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Originally Posted by gazfocus

Yes. We largely print mugs so the idea would be to print the mugs with registration marks and have the graphtec perf cut them so we can automate as much of the process as possible.

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What would the alternative option be to a graphtec? I noticed these UKCutters have optical eyes on and are cheap, will be stepper motors but for the price to get going and if just cutting basic shape over and over I thought could be an option. I am an avid believe in buy cheap buy twice though, and I can't find anything review wise about them on the world wide web

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Originally Posted by jtd

What would the alternative option be to a graphtec? I noticed these UKCutters have optical eyes on and are cheap, will be stepper motors but for the price to get going and if just cutting basic shape over and over I thought could be an option. I am an avid believe in buy cheap buy twice though, and I can't find anything review wise about them on the world wide web

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Depends which UKCutter model you go for.

My first ‘proper’ vinyl cutter was the UKCutter Smurf. I only ever used it for vinyl and not for anything print and cut but it was ok for the price. The main board died within a couple of days but Signzworld sent a replacement board no questions and that one worked for the two years I had it until I sold it.

The problem you might have is that the cheap vinyl cutters don’t tend to perf cut so whatever you look at, make sure it can perf cut.

Hi

Justin mentioned he had two VJ628 printers. I bought one of them but I'm now selling it myself, if you're interested. I've bought a F6300 and so this is surplus to requirements.

Regards
Gary

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Originally Posted by garysub

Hi

Justin mentioned he had two VJ628 printers. I bought one of them but I'm now selling it myself, if you're interested. I've bought a F6300 and so this is surplus to requirements.

Regards
Gary

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What do you think of the F6300? What do you print with it out if interest?

Might be interested in the VJ628 depending on price.

I'm really impressed with the F6300, as Justin said, so cheap to run and very reliable - I can leave it running overnight and come in to 120M of prints all waiting for me. We have been printing tea towels almost exclusively.

I've stuck the VJ628 on EBay starting at £1,250. It's in good condition, two careful forum member owners (I think)! :)