Which flatbed printer?

[MikeyG]

Hi there!
I have been asked by the UK exhibition company I work for to come up with proposals and prices for a large format flatbed printer to print onto, amongst other things, Foamex and plastics.
It needs to be of a size such that 8ft x 4ft sheets could be printed in one.
And prints need to be highly scratch-resistant (one of the conditions the Directors stipulated!).

Although I run the large-format print department, it's currently only inkjet and solvent roll printers, and I know absolutely nothing about flatbed printers!

I was wondering if any of you chaps or ladies could give me some pointers or advice as to makes and models that I should look into and which I should avoid!
The company budget is around £50,000 (GBP), but could be higher if the right machine is found!

I'm really just after an idea of where to start looking!

Very many thanks!

 

[Gino]

Scratch-resistant, is basically an oxymoron with flatbeds in the price range you have..... at least on the plastics and such. Foam products, you'll be alright.

Just create a few files you want to see produced and take them to the dealer of your choice.

We have a Dilli 1606 and love it. You'll get a nice selection from the members here, but it's just gonna be what they all have and like.

I understand the new Flora is good..... and the CTE is outstanding.

Good luck !!
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[rubo]

anything can be scratched - I mean, anything. Reverse print on clear using the printers you already have, mount the prints on whatever you need and you're done.

 

[bttweb]

for top quality prints

I'll go with Oce arizona's or even the SwissQ if its available in the UK

for 100% scratch proof.. either laminate or liquid coats

 

[cmykpro]

Extremely happy with our CET....

 

[growler]

The print samples I have with the new Océ 258 inks are pretty impressive for scratch resistance, yes they still mark but they do not come off the substrate, colour and gamut is much better than I expected as well.

Quality wise, it's probably the best also, but I don't think it will fit in your budget.

As gino mentions, the quality of the dilli is very good (I run one now and am about to de-comission it) but I would avoid their inks and look into 3rd party as their adhesion onto plastics is pretty average. It uses AGFA inks just rebadged, series G1 & G2.

We have just been through the process of purchasing and it really came down to 2 or 3 machines for our purposes which were quality quality & quality, Océ, CET & mimaki. Had the CET had local support and supplies it would have been a fight between that and the Océ, but in the end local support won out and we purchased a 460GT. The new mimakis are looking good but they have not had such a good rapport with previous machines.

If you have local support for the CET (also known as handtop in other parts of the world) then that would be a wise starting point.