flatbed jv33

[artbot]

i've been mulling around looking flatbed printer options for the last two weeks.

my shop is 100% rigid substrate at this point and the old diy flatbed jv3 is just too limited.

check out this one option. a flatbed jv33 conversion manufactured in china. runs on ergosoft textprint. imagine a flatbed printer that isn't rocket science to keep runnning that you know will have available parts for over the next 15 years.

i'm still considering buying a an old jv3 and diy'ing one myself. but it would never be as comprehensive as this machine. they cost $53,000 and use a brand new jv33.

 

[National Sign Co. - Print]

Just curious.

You seem to have a good grasp on your business direction and based on your many post a very intelligent from the tech side of things.

Why not invest in the proper machine intended to do this kind of work so you can hit the ground running and make that money...

My 2 cents buy is a used Vutek pV200/600 for about $30 - $35K. Your high end work will pay for it 5 times over in a very short time and probably not grow out of the machine for a couple of years...

Once you have established a Flatbed market for your shop it is only going to keep growing.

 

[jayhawksigns]

Would be an interesting project for our old JV3, but I don't have the time or the space to try it.

 

[Gino]

Just curious.

You seem to have a good grasp on your business direction and based on your many post a very intelligent from the tech side of things.

Why not invest in the proper machine intended to do this kind of work so you can hit the ground running and make that money...

My 2 cents buy is a used Vutek pV200/600 for about $30 - $35K. Your high end work will pay for it 5 times over in a very short time and probably not grow out of the machine for a couple of years...

Once you have established a Flatbed market for your shop it is only going to keep growing.

So true............

 

[Redz Signs Inc.]

well..... its deff doable its a sick machine and way cheaper than a new flatbed. mabe you can use a jv3 and just have the x axis move the printer on a carrage from front to rear of the substrate. then you dont have to worry about what printer u use it would work as if it was rolling media instead it moving the maching on rails . all you would need is a table made with linear rails with screw drive and your in...! as far as the height id make the printer portion like a laminator adjustment so you can except all typs of thicknesses.. just my thought on it .. is go for it .

 

[National Sign Co. - Print]

http://www.globalgarage.net/products-details?technology|25125-01

http://www.globalgarage.net/products-details?technology|25094-03

 

[artbot]

as far as the options, a used vutek or fuju acuity or arizona 250gt is very very high on the list. i even considered a very cheap oce t220. i am freaked out about service. maybe these industrial machines easy to work on? maybe they will cost $3000 a year for techs? i bastardize every machine i get so i need to be able to "unbreak" if i mess it up. so, that is something to be figured out. as far as process a strictly dedicated (no belt, or pinch roller) flatbed is what i want.

@redz signs
yes changing the platen to a gear driven motion is definitely an option. i could probably accomplish that for about $5k in mods. i'd wonder how i could get such a bed to also have vacuum. but definitely a sliding table is doable (a 20' long machine?) also there is the idea of a putting a worm drive down the center and pulling the printer across the table on gear track. that is a heavy printer to move across a platen. it looks like the jv33 flatbed has stepper motors on the gear track that have been calibrated to interact with the firmware (over my head).

in my dreams, i'm wanting to get away from cmyk all together and build a 5x10 3d panel printer. and make wall sculptures with it. ... my buyers at this point think i am a sign maker and need to be drug back to my original career of the previous 30 years as an artist.

 

[SightLine]

What I think is interesting on this is that it is a solvent flatbed, not UV. Pretty trippy to see an entire JV33 turned into a carriage!

 

[artbot]

i think one of it's purposes is to print dye sub ink across an assembled garment. so the image goes from the sleeves to the body etc.

 

[Redz Signs Inc.]

as far as the table goes you can construct that out of alluminum tubing box it in with a box sign cabnet support the middle and caulk it air tight drill hole in side of cabnet get a industial vac and then put a sheet of peg board on top caulk all edges and bang vac table affix rails and screw drinves accordingly.. now as far as stepper motors go on ebay type in cnc router and bang!! tons of steppers with the boards to go with it to get it to work and there cheap!! you would take all the wires from x axis motor put it in the board and it should tell the stepper motor i guess in " cross refrence" what to do as it was the original x axis motor... it could work.. mabe

 

[artbot]

as for the stepper part, i'd be just bringing in a guy to do that. houston area has so many cnc guys. the platen could also be done with a vacuum track. ...use a plate of aluminum and router grooves. i've done this before with other vacuum platens and it allows for a thin part.

looking around for the last two days, the vutek and arizona look temping. spending $30k is more than $5-6k in mods is more money but i end up with a machine with resell value and a user base.

i'll know what to do in the next few months. til then will be working on the shop to make more efficiencies there.