Hey, I was wondering if anyone here has any UV flatbed printing experience? I want to get my own home unit but I’m not sure what model I should get or where I can get training on it. I want to combine UV printing and laser cutting for some projects I have in mind. Any suggestions?
Thanks in advanced!
Had to google it, as it’s not a technology that I’ve come across.
Impressive.
I want one !
It opens up a whole bunch of possibilities!
I didn’t realize they made “home” versions of uv flatbeds. i’ve seen and used them at my print vendor, but their equipment is waaaaay to big to use in a home situation.
I was looking online and it seems like there are some small units that print onto about 6.5" x 12" bed but I’m not sure if they actually work…
I’m thinking a 12" x 20" (or so) UV printer might be one of my next equipment purchase but it’s looking like it will be $20K to $40K so that puts it a couple years down the road.
No personal experiance with them, other than drooling over them at trade shows. I’ve looked at the Roland and Mimaki offerings. These are well-known printer brands in the sign business, but there are lots of other manufacturers.
12"x11"x3.94" Roland $15k
14"x18"x2" Mimaki $17k
11"x16"x6" Mimaki $20k
20"x13"3.94" Roland $26k
30"x13"x3.94" Roland $30k
24"x16"x"6 mimaki for $40k
when one of my favorite vendors picked one up a couple of years ago, he brought me in to show me that and their new massive CNC. they were printing on everything. they even pulled doors off the bathroom stalls and printed huge photos on them.
Do you men something like this?
I just google it interesting stuff.
That one looks to be affordable too. Honestly I’d like to find a place with one and try it out.
I saw a small one on Amazon for $1.5k but there weren’t really any reviews on it.
Thanks for creating this topic! I’ve bern looking for something that can print on aluminum. These look awesome!
A lot of big/pro printers use epson print heads… most of them?
Epson uses the lastest generation.
The big-name manufacturers get the previous generation print heads, and the small/house brands often use a head that is several generations old.
Well I did say I just googled it but I read the forum you pointed to they mention the Chinese printers, but don’t specifically mention the iehk as being bad. In fact the guy who started the thread said he went a completely different route and if anyone did take the risk to please let him know.
Mostly they say that the Chinese printers are risky. Sort of like the lasers you can get for 300 bucks. everything has risk i guess but some things less than others. Some reviews for the Glowforge are not all that positive either but I personally think they will get there.
I know this might be a stupid question… but why are they called UV Printers, is it that the ink is UV cured?
The Epson SureColor P800 (with standard inks) can handle media up to 1.3mm thick board, so could probably handle wood… and is reasonably priced.
Google turns up quite a number of threads of t-shirt printers who build their own, based on hacking epson printers.
Most of the alternative photo people are doing uv contact prints, so not applicable.
Don’t think I’ve got time.
UV Printer also on my hit list. Lots of potential with these things.
If one could find a local distributor & support (like with some of the Chinese lasers), one of these types of A2 units might be tempting:
For anyone who is considering buying one of the ~$1250 A4 UV printers off Amazon/eBay/otherplaceprolly, here’s a good video to give you an idea of what it apparently takes to get them running…
I’m guessing all the ones that look like the one in this video work about the same way. This one is apparently based on an Epson 1390.
Thanks for posting this. If I had the extra money to experiment I’d love to try this out.