Brief Visit To Indy Show

[Mike Null]

My visit to the Indy show was shortened due to some late orders but I did visit with a few vendors.

I continue to be impressed with the MagicTouch papers for color laser printer and their transfer process. While I've been using them for more than 10 years they seem to be continually improving and upgrading.

Their ORD paper provides a perfect opportunity to get into acrylic awards and other acrylic items than can be enhanced with full color images.

I was struck by the beauty and quality of the Acryliprint marble look that I saw in the Johnson Plastics booth. It was stunning. If that can be duplicated with the MagicTouch ORD paper it would really be amazing.

MagicTouch has improved their WOW process taking out two steps. That is the process that lets you make transfers of very high quality for dark shirts. It's still a bit pricy at $5per sheet but it is a diy solution if you make t-shirts.

This is a biggy........the MagicTouch people told me that Okidata will soon have a printer on the market that will offer white and clear as color options. And at about $600. IF the white is truly opaque it will be a huge seller.

I saw the Trotec demo of their I-cut device and was very impressed. This could be in the engraving forum but because it's a system that provides contour cutting using preprinted registration marks I include it here. It can be added to certain Trotec machines and with all the new ones. At around $4,000 it could be very worthwhile to many owners.

Rowmark was showing a wide array of new translucent acrylic colors. Some are just beautiful and imagining all the things you can do with them can occupy you for a while.

My primary purpose for going to Indy was to look at vinyl cutters with the contour feature and to look at people supplying t-shirt transfers. I did get that done but didn't really have more time to shop the show.

On the whole, I was more pleased with this Indy show than those I've attended in the past due to what seemed to be a larger number of vendors and more importantly, the vendors I wanted to see.

[Martin Boekers]

Mike, I imagine that the white layer would go down first and the the clear go down last?

Will this effectively be a 6 color printer or will you have to take out toner cartridges and
replace with white or clear?

I imagine it will be set up as a spot color or will it flood the full sheet?

It would be nice if they could add a metallic silver then it opens the door for all sorts of fun stuff!

Wish I could have went, but it was the base picnic Friday and had tp work. :-(

Marty

Marty

[Mike Null]

Marty

They weren't showing it and no info was available. I mentioned it to Coastal this morning when I picked up my Graphtec and they knew about it but said it was still in development.

[Larry Bratton]

The T-shirt market will go nuts over a laser printer that will lay down white. That will be VERY interesting to see. No way to do that now unless screen printing or DTG printers. If you can use it to print a shirt that comes out with a soft hand, that will be a real winner.
That Trotec registration system sounds interesting also. I long for a good way to do that now.

[Mike Null]

I saw an Oki printer on line today at $7500 which printed white--a far sight from $600.

I bought a Graphtec C5000-60 which features contour cutting which is essentially what the Trotec does with the laser. I'm looking to expand my t-shirt business with that machine.

[Keith Outten]

Mike,

Is the Indy show the same one that will be in Maryland this August?
I have been considering making the trip to Baltimore.
.

[Mike Null]

Keith

I believe they are the same. This year's Indy show was the best in some time. It should be a breeze for you to go. My trip was 300 mi. each way.

[Martin Boekers]

Mike, I imagine that the white layer would go down first and the the clear go down last?

Will this effectively be a 6 color printer or will you have to take out toner cartridges and
replace with white or clear?

I imagine it will be set up as a spot color or will it flood the full sheet?

It would be nice if they could add a metallic silver then it opens the door for all sorts of fun stuff!

Wish I could have went, but it was the base picnic Friday and had tp work. :-(

Marty

Marty

How about that I can reply to my on quote!

What was I thinking?

Clear would go down first and white last!

[Martin Boekers]

I saw an Oki printer on line today at $7500 which printed white--a far sight from $600.

I bought a Graphtec C5000-60 which features contour cutting which is essentially what the Trotec does with the laser. I'm looking to expand my t-shirt business with that machine.


Here is a PDF on the OKI printer it looks like a it is 4 color CYM & White don't see anything here to justify the cost.
I can only imagine what the consumables on this are if the printer is that expensive.

www.okidata.com/mkt/downloads/OKI-Pro920WHT.pdf (http://www.okidata.com/mkt/downloads/OKI-Pro920WHT.pdf)

A little research brought these guys up as the distributors.

www.graphicsone.com/products/printers/oki-printers.html (http://www.graphicsone.com/products/printers/oki-printers.html)

It is tabloid size, but...........

[Larry Bratton]

I saw an Oki printer on line today at $7500 which printed white--a far sight from $600.

I bought a Graphtec C5000-60 which features contour cutting which is essentially what the Trotec does with the laser. I'm looking to expand my t-shirt business with that machine.
Mike:
If your looking to expand your shirt business, take a look at this product. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCiKo4TlRew I have some of this material and when it is pressed on a shirt it feels like screen printing. Soft matte finish and the price is the best in the industry. You can also cut it on the laser. I have a plotter but I can do it quicker on my Epilog.

[Mike Null]

Larry

I've seen that but I'm looking to do full color transfers as well. I haven't tested the paper yet but I saw a sample at Coastal Business Supplies that was pretty impressive and cheap--under a dollar a page. I can contour cut it with my new cutter.

[Larry Bratton]

Are you talking about doing laser transfers or inkjet?

[Mike Null]

Larry

The paper I bought was for the laser. I have felt that inkjet was just too expensive. They do have the same type of paper for inkjets though.

[Larry Bratton]

Larry

The paper I bought was for the laser. I have felt that inkjet was just too expensive. They do have the same type of paper for inkjets though.
I have some laser paper called ExactPrint from Stahls that doesn't have to be trimmed. One step. Costs .75 a sheet. Using it with my old Okidata c3400 and it works good.

[Scott Challoner]

I have some laser paper called ExactPrint from Stahls that doesn't have to be trimmed. One step. Costs .75 a sheet. Using it with my old Okidata c3400 and it works good.
I've had pretty good luck with Awesome Knock Out paper from tshirttransfers.org. It's a weed free too. It works well on wood and acrylic too. I just tried the Stahls Cad Cut Premium yesterday and it looks promising too. I too am just getting into t-shirts so my experience is limited.

[Larry Bratton]

I've had pretty good luck with Awesome Knock Out paper from tshirttransfers.org. It's a weed free too. It works well on wood and acrylic too. I just tried the Stahls Cad Cut Premium yesterday and it looks promising too. I too am just getting into t-shirts so my experience is limited.

Yes, mine too Scott. There are so many people either in the business or dabbling around in it, it's hard for me to figure out how they make money. I have been looking at anything that presented itself to try and develop some more products to sell. It's just another one of the things I am interested in. The technology is kind of amazing for all the methodology to make a lowly t-shirt though. Digital transfers have really come a long way since the time you went down and bought some paper at the office supply, printed it on your printer and pressed in on with an iron. Very sophisticated now compared to that.

[Mike Null]

Larry

The paper I'm talking about is for dark shirts. That's why it needs to be contour cut.