dye sub ? anyone do it?

[tintgirl2000]

What are your best selling products? Got a heat press, mus press, Ricoh 7000.
Want to concentrate on a few good sellers at first. What should I put my inventory in?
Thanks

 

[tcorn1965]

All our dye sub orders come from our online store. Biggest sellers are

1. Koozies
2. Luggage Spotters
3. Water Bottles
5. Wine shaped cutting boards
5. Coffee mugs

 

[artist4christ]

is there anyway to do small scale dye sub? like smaller printers that will do a good job of printing high quality images for dye sub?

 

[tcorn1965]

Yes, Epson Stylus 1400 photo, covert to bulk dye ink system, or my favorite Ricoh GX 7000, no conversion neccessary.

Terry

 

[artist4christ]

Yes, Epson Stylus 1400 photo, covert to bulk dye ink system, or my favorite Ricoh GX 7000, no conversion neccessary.

Terry

Do you know the length restrictions on each of these?

 

[tcorn1965]

Not sure what you mean on length restriction.

?Can handle paper 13" x 19"

? Connection to computer--usb2...16 ft

 

[artist4christ]

Not sure what you mean on length restriction.

?Can handle paper 13" x 19"

? Connection to computer--usb2...16 ft

paper length, id like to find something that isn't wide in particular, but can do larger lengths

 

[tintgirl2000]

what's your store?

 

[condesystems]

The GX7000 prints 11" x 17" or 13" x 51" if you have the optional bypass tray.

You have to load the printer with special sublimation inks. (Uses 4, each costs $110).

Then you need sublimation transfer paper, runs $25-$30 per 100 sheets.

You also need a heat transfer press that compliments the size of the transfer. A George Knight DK20, for instance, heats an area that is 16" x 20". Smaller presses, like the JetPress 12, only heat 9" x 12".

You print as high a resolution as you can, reversed, print onto the paper, then you have to have a substrate: sublimation only works with polyester or poly coated items.

Hope we have been helpful.

 

[spectracolor]

whatever you do, stay away from epson printers when it comes to sublimation.
Epson is great for photo printing but is not good at all for sublimation ink.
I went through about 5 epson c88 printers and they all clogged so i finally gave up and switched to ricoh.

 

[cajun312]

I've lost count of how many epsons I've lost to clogging from Sawgrass dye sub inks. I then switched to Texas Original Graphics dye sub ink four or five years ago, never had a clogging problem. Sawgrass used their questionable patents and put TOG out of business. I'll run out of my stock of TOG inks later this year and will quit sublimation before I buy any product made by Sawgrass.

I called their patent questionable because it was for non clogging ink.........

 

[tcorn1965]

We went through 2 Epson 1400 in as many years due to clogging, but at $130.00 a printer for a years worth of work made this acceptable.

We know only use the Ricoh GX700 with the sawgrass inks, have had it for a year maybe, not one issue. Highly reccomend the ricoh with the bypass try for use with larger media.

Terry

 

[jiarby]

+10 for the GX7000

We bought ours to make plaques/awards/medals. Sometimes a tile. We do not market any products specifically online so we so not do all the sublimated swag.

 

[skdave]

I do it big time.
54" printer , 40"x64" maxi press. Down to mugs, shirts, Flags, print cut and sew shirts. No min.

 

[digitalwoodshop]

Always be aware that the bottom layer of the ceramic mugs in the case can self destruct when you heat them due to shipping shock. The bottom cracks and falls out.

Also be sure to install a blank cup in the press just after you pull the one out that you are making. A cup press heating pad without a cup to wick away the heat will self destruct is a shorter time. If it is cool in your shop you may need to pre heat the bottom mass of the cup to prevent a light image near the bottom. Light images near the top, you may need to adjust the cup lower in the heat belt.

Always dry your prints on a heat press. Always dry or heat plaques on the press before printing. If the moisture steams out of the plaque it will cause fogging of the center of the image.

You can make stickers by printing on clear mates and applying it to white reflective vinyl. It won't be a long lasting option in the sun as it will fade over time but it works. I have some 3 year old stickers in the sun and they are faded but you can still read them.

Good Luck,

AL