April 10th, 2010, 02:38 AM
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#3 (permalink)
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Senior Member
- Join Date:
- Feb 2009
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Re: Automatic or Manual Press?
Start off with a GOOD manual (Workhorse, M&R, Older Hopkins) and learn how to print. You will find rather quickly that one and two color jobs will make you some decent money on a manual... Once you break three colors, your profits begin to sink rapidly. You may need to find a larger print house to contract large multi-color jobs with until you have enough recurring business to justify the leap into the world of automatics.
You will need at least an 8/10 auto when you make the jump. The 6/8 machines are simply too small since you need to account for flash stations, cool down stations and other production realities. Even though it has 6 printheads, you are really only able to print 3 or (maybe) 4 colors without sending the shirt on a second revolution... and without a Revolver-style program (M&R), that is alot of button pressing and a significant amount of extra time in production.
When buying automatic equipment, you would be better off researching ALOT before dropping money on a used press off craigslist or even digitsmith. Otherwise, you may want to use a (trustworthy) broker who knows what they are looking at and can offer some form of guarantee. That way, if it turns out to be a lemon, this broker who told you it was a good press will be on hook for the necessary repairs and/or retrofits. I am not a huge fan of brokers, but they do have their place in the world.
As for pricing, a decent automatic will run you at least $10K and upwards of $15K for anything newer that a 1998. Then you need to account for the air compressor or power supply required to run the press. You cannot buy a compressor that produces 30+ cfm @ 100 psi at Sears or Lowes. These industrial compressors will run you a minimum $1500 for a VERY used piston style (loud) compressor or $3000+ for a VERY used rotary screw compressor. These usually run on 220V power and can carry a significant amp draw (and possibly 3-phase power).
On top of that, a high volume conveyor dryer (300+ shirts per hour) will add extra cost and even more power (or gas) draw to keep the shirts moving... after all, whats the point of having an automatic if you are being held up by your dryer?
After all this equipment has been purchased, you will realize VERY quickly that it cannot feasibly be run in the garage environment. This means that you are needing a commercial space with appropriate utilities and are paying rent on top of the monthly payment for financing this equipment...
If you don't have a WHOLE LOT of business at this point, all this beautiful stuff will sit idle.... and that would be a crying shame.
Good luck... work hard... choose wisely.
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