Need advice for printer for Silk Screen Business

By keithjgct on Jun 13, 2006

Hello all, I am starting a business of embroidery along with silk screening. I purchased a decent set up for the silk screening but the one thing I need is a printer to use for the business. What would you recomend, ink jet, laser etc.? I would like to be able to print larger than 8 1/2x11 and would love for it to be multi function for office use as well. I am looking at an Epson R1800 Ink Jet. From what I have learned, printing a high quality black is what is most important for creating the screens but I would love some advise. I would like to keep it around $500 is possible.
Any help anyone can offer I would greatly appreciate it.
Thanks and take care, Keith

JuBilee's picture
By JuBilee on Oct 19, 2010 - 12:52 PM EDT

**UPDATE**

Since this thread is still alive, I thought I would add to it.

My AW 1200 finally died. It was 8 years old and has been discontinued by Xante so parts weren't available to fix her up. The "replacement" by Xante is 3X the price of the original so I went looking for something else.

I finally settled on a Ricoh Aficio AP610N. It prints in large format (tabloid) and is network enabled. It only comes with one tray but additional trays are offered for a price. We just use the manual feed tray if we are gonna use something other than the 11x17 paper or we use a different printer.

I prefer to use a Laser for my seps. We've been using them for 15 years and haven't had any quality issues at all printing seps to Casey's Page Mill.

Matt McNeill

JuBilee Screen Printing
& Embroidery
910-673-4240

Celebrating 20+ years in business!!!!!

If you have any questions, feel free to pm, email, or call me.:D

By brocksleezy on Oct 6, 2010 - 2:11 PM EDT

same question, my epson does the job for large prints, im just a dyi guy , but i cant do any fine prints cause the emulsion does not seperate correctly due to the little tiny lines the ink jet makes, giveing me millions of little threads around the seperation lines, so i need a laser printer, a real good one, 17 " prints, so i dont have to buy a printer for a while, around $2,000 or so ....what should i buy? any suggestions?

By pspsales on Oct 6, 2010 - 11:48 PM EDT

brocksleezy wrote:
same question, my epson does the job for large prints, im just a dyi guy , but i cant do any fine prints cause the emulsion does not seperate correctly due to the little tiny lines the ink jet makes, giveing me millions of little threads around the seperation lines, so i need a laser printer, a real good one, 17 " prints, so i dont have to buy a printer for a while, around $2,000 or so ....what should i buy? any suggestions?

I'm not sure I understand when you say your epson is leaving little tiny lines ( little threads ). Sounds to me that your using your epson without some kind of Rip software or your using the wrong image configuration. This may be happening due to that you are putting too much ink on the media causing the ink to run, if your budget is $2000.00 I would not suggest a laser just get a RIP and this might fix everything. It sounds to me that you already have an Epson 3000 or 4000/4800/4880 ? I am assuming this because you put on there that you would need it to do 17". I'm not sure but I think the widest laser printer is 13". Well hope this helps.

parmelesupply.com

By Anonymous (not verified) on Jul 16, 2006 - 11:37 AM EDT

I recommend dedicating a printer for screen printing and one for general office use. Yes high quality black is very important. I use Epson Stylus 3000 and FastRIP for my film positives and I don't have any problems with my prints not being black enough. I also use Hewlett Packard LaserJet 1300 for 1 colour / spot colour prints that do not have tight registration. If they're not black enough I use Laser Buddy. I think Epson Stylus 2200 prints larger than 8 1/2" x 11" so you might want to check that out.

JuBilee's picture
By JuBilee on Feb 5, 2007 - 5:14 PM EST

I have a Xante AW1200 Laser Printer. I will print up to tabloid (11x17) and is a wonderful printer. A draw back to the printer is that toner cartridges are EXPENSIVE!!!! However, I have had mine for about 4 years now and am on my 3rd toner cartridge. They last forever!!! We print out hundreds of pages a weeks and have had no problems with it.

I would recommend a laser over an ink jet definitely. I would also echo the use of 2 printers in your office. My Xante is soley used for printing out seps and I have a Lexmark Optra E 312 (old sep printer) and an Epson Stylus CX6400 for everything else.

Matt McNeill

JuBilee Screen Printing
& Embroidery
910-673-4240

Celebrating 20+ years in business!!!!!

If you have any questions, feel free to pm, email, or call me.:D

By smith02 on Apr 29, 2007 - 8:34 PM EDT

My friend when considering this type of process for meeting specific needs, making a few determinations before hiring a service can be helpful. Business needs will need to be defined. What product is the silk screen printing being used for? How many items will need to be printed? How many colors should be used and how dramatic an effect is desired? These are good questions that can help choose the best printer and price ranges.

full color postcard printing

By dgsp7 on Apr 14, 2013 - 8:58 PM EDT

I agree with the last post about an OYO unit. The smaller techstyler unit is all most screen printers will ever need. The upfront cost of these machines is high compared to others but the long term cost are next to nothing. These are thermal units and only require film. Registration is perfect every time and there is no ink or chemicals to change.