Printer, Which One?

[Rover31]

Hi awesome site here with tons of great info! I also posted this in the Newby section figured I will get more conversation here though...

We are looking to purchase a flatbed printer but which one?
UV or Eco-solvent?
Chinese import or spendy supported US based one?

Lets back up for the needs and story...
We are re-starting a small niche business that was shuttered for a few years. Previous owners spit up. We manufacture a several products. Injection molded rigid plastics, injection molded soft plastics and custom cut lean and HDPE plastics for printing of custom logos and graphics. These items are 3mm to 2cm in thickness.

The previous owners had used pad printing logos on several of the products and then also had a Neoflex printer (using eco-solvents) for the graphics on the flat lean and HDPE pieces. Both of these had great results. However I live rural and do not have any access to a pad printer and the flat plastic pieces are "short run" only 100-250 pieces at a time.

My desire is to have a printer that "can do it all" Of course we all do right?
Needs.
as much durability as possible some of the products are used and will have wear on them. I would like the graphics to not chip and be scratch resistant.

Attached is a file of what was done in the past. I would like to do the same again.

I have looked at Neoflex long and hard. I have not gotten any response to several emails and phone calls. I do not think the support is there anymore. Much of what I read was positive in the past and not so much now. I have found a used one but the person wants a mint for it. Looking at the Chinese units I am a bit scared but should I be?
I have even looked at a few of diy versions, those look very interesting..

ready go!

 

[chuckh]

We use the Neoflex DTG printer, but there have been some major administrative changes at the company. Not nearly the same customer service and support as they use to offer. I would recommend a small format UV printer for what you need.

It just so happens that we have a Direct Color 1024UV printer. We purchased it new about 3-4 years ago. We have less than two hours of production on the machine. It was idle for almost the entire time we have owned it because our business model changed drastically once we purchased it. There are less than thre hours production time on it. We shipped it to Direct Color Systems in Connecticut and they are waiting for us to decide to sell it or get it up and running and bring it back to our shop.

PM me and I'll give you the contact info of the service manager at DCS. He can give you a first hand opinion of the machine and what it would cost to get it back up to speed...about $1300 in parts. It cost us over $30,000 brand new.

Even if you aren't interested in our machine, I still recommend a small format UV printer.

 

[Rover31]

Thank for the info and the offer.
I am sure that printer is waaay over my budget. I have to purchase a cnc router also!
Everything I have seen about the uv printers is very promising.
I have also been looking at doing dye sub as has been suggested by others here.

Thank you

 

[chuckh]

Thank for the info and the offer.
I am sure that printer is waaay over my budget. I have to purchase a cnc router also!
Everything I have seen about the uv printers is very promising.
I have also been looking at doing dye sub as has been suggested by others here.

Thank you

 

[chuckh]

Looking at 9K-10K

 

[BigfishDM]

You are asking for many nightmares with a budget of 9-10k, it might be best to just outsource until you can afford the right equipment.

 

[Rover31]

Part of my issue is my location. I am rural so lack of support for whatever I get and lack of the ability to outsource in a timely cost effective manner.
I am leaning heavily towards dye sub as it appears to have less issues than one of the sometimes temperamental flatbeds.
Probably why none of the graphics shops or T-shirt shops within an hour of me have a flatbed uv or otherwise.
That does then lend me to the "hmmm what if I got a good working one? What opportunities would that open up?"