direct print onto cups or dye sublimation

[Ian M]

Are we just talking spot colour screen prints or full colour. Direct rotary printers are common but never seen a full colour option. Did see an incredible auto screenprint machine from Scandinavia a while back. Only 60k.

Andrew, was it a Svecia? If it was I was lucky enough to work on them nearly 40 years ago. They were considered the Rolls-Royce of screen printing machine because of their quality & price. Before on was fitted a man from Svecia would come & survey where the machine was to be fitted. The floor had to be perfectly flat first long before the machine arrived. The full machine would arrive one day & you had to hire a very large crane to unload it. The next day their engineers would arrive & fit the machine & they wouldn't leave till it was working perfectly. It all was just pure quality all the way & well worth the prices they charged. I worked on a Svecia cylinder press at one company & that machine was just amazing how fast it could print. It not only printed it dried the prints through a row of driers & it would automatically stack the prints on a pallet at the end of the machine. I forgot to mention it also had auto feed too.

[Andrew]

I don't think that was it Ian but a nice bit of kit.

Is this what the op was on about http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjcWG...eature=related ?

[dan74uk]

I don't think that was it Ian but a nice bit of kit.

Is this what the op was on about http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjcWG...eature=related ?

yeh thats the one but as you see in the video the phone covers are already printed.having looked at it it doesnt look any quicker or the quality is defo not as good
these will be 500 quid in three years time

[socialgiraffe]

Hi Guys

I have investigated this and although the print is actually pretty good there are a couple of concerns and why I stayed well clear, firstly it takes about 3 minutes to print one cup so maximum number I could produce is 20 per hour instead of 80 per hour with a couple of five press at once. Secondly although you can print direct onto the mug, if you want it dishwasher safe you have to first coat the mug. When I evaluated prices of the machine, ink and coating it came out at about 5 cents cheaper than dye sub but takes four times as long.

My other concern would be that the ink is only available from that manufacturer. I have dealt with them and they are fairly decent, but what happens if you forget to order and then run out!

Digital printing on mugs is not going to change with regards to white mugs, dye sub simply offers the best quality at the best price. There are some other systems out there that mean you can print transfers on to uncoated mugs, but the chemicals used are illegal in this country. Where the industry is changing is transfers on to black/coloured mugs. None of this white panel on a black mug rubbish, but actual black mugs. I have actually tried and test a transfer onto a black uncoated mug and while photographers would say the colour is a mile out, it is getting close :-)