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stokedgraphics

Dye-sublimation vs. pigment

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I've been doing heat press vinyl for about a year now.  Purchased the US Cutter combo press and have been fairly pleased with its' performance.  Haven't done any cups or plates yet, so I'm wondering about getting a new printer for just that purpose.  I'm strongly considering an Epson Workforce 1100 with a Cobra Ink CIS.  The question is, will the hi-temp dye sublimation ink work for t-shirts as well as hard surfaces?  The printer comes fully print-ready, but it's not easy to change inks.  So far, I've found a ton of great reviews on this printer, and the price is right for me.  Should I get the hi-temp ink in the CIS or should I consider two printers with different inks?

Thanks,

Paul

Stoked On Graphics

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To answer your question ,  yes it will do shirts (high Temp) however you have to use special shirts.  I know Conde sells them and I think they are 7-8 dollars.

You maybe better off keeping the one with the pigment ink for tee shirts and buy another with the high temp ink for all your mugs, license plates mouse pads and any other sublimation stuff you want to do.  They don't advise trying to switch inks back and forth it wouldn't work.....

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Hi Paul,

You may also want to consider Sawgrass Technologies sublimation and Chromablast solution.

Sawgrass

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I am a solid believer in the sawgrass Ricoh printers and their support - my printer went out and the replacement was unavailable and they sent out a loaner covering all expenses including lost ink until the new printer arrived.  superior service.  the only thing they couldn't provide when asked was a printed sample of the chroma blast product - answer was see your dealer.  during the time the printer was down if you needed anything larger printed they would print it for your and send it overnight to you. - but appears they can't print chromablast in house

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I've been very happy with my Cobra Ink WF1100. I got it with the pigment inks and have printed decals, JPSS for white shirts, 3G Jet Opaque for dark shirts, mouse pads and coasters. I love it. I'm sure the Ricoh printers are great, but on a budget I believe the Cobra Ink WF1100 has a few advantages. On the Ricoh mentioned in Sean's post, the maximum printing size is 8.5x14. On the WF1100 it's 13x44. Not a big deal for transfers, but for printed decals, the more you can fit on a sheet the less sheets overall and less work (changing the sheets for contour cutting and weeding). For some transfers the bigger size of the WF1100 is a plus; for instance contour cut 3G jet opaque.

Another issue may be ink costs. A set f 4 120ml inks from Cobra Ink cost $62.50. A single 29ml cartridge for the 3300 on coastal is $60, though I'm not sure if it's the right ink for cotton or cotton/poly blends. Also, the ink system from Cobra for the WF1100 is anything but "cumbersome". It's an internally installed system; the only thing that is external is the ink tanks and the waste tank (another plus for the WF1100). Richard's customer service is excellent as well.

I'm definitely not bashing the Ricoh printers. I'm just setting the facts a bit straighter. If my WF1100 ever broke down I'd buy another one in a heartbeat.

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I've been very happy with my Cobra Ink WF1100. I got it with the pigment inks and have printed decals, JPSS for white shirts, 3G Jet Opaque for dark shirts, mouse pads and coasters. I love it. I'm sure the Ricoh printers are great, but on a budget I believe the Cobra Ink WF1100 has a few advantages. On the Ricoh mentioned in Sean's post, the maximum printing size is 8.5x14. On the WF1100 it's 13x44. Not a big deal for transfers, but for printed decals, the more you can fit on a sheet the less sheets overall and less work (changing the sheets for contour cutting and weeding). For some transfers the bigger size of the WF1100 is a plus; for instance contour cut 3G jet opaque.

Another issue may be ink costs. A set f 4 120ml inks from Cobra Ink cost $62.50. A single 29ml cartridge for the 3300 on coastal is $60, though I'm not sure if it's the right ink for cotton or cotton/poly blends. Also, the ink system from Cobra for the WF1100 is anything but "cumbersome". It's an internally installed system; the only thing that is external is the ink tanks and the waste tank (another plus for the WF1100). Richard's customer service is excellent as well.

I'm definitely not bashing the Ricoh printers. I'm just setting the facts a bit straighter. If my WF1100 ever broke down I'd buy another one in a heartbeat.

A set f 4 120ml inks from Cobra Ink cost $62.50. A single 29ml cartridge for the 3300 on coastal is $60

so to compare apples with apples the same amount of ink for the cobra would be 62.50 for 116ml that you pay 60.00 from coastal?

compare apples with apples here - the 4 29 ml carts compared to the single 120 ml  4 sets of of ink in your printer (to equal the same ink amount) is actually more costly!

though I'm not sure if it's the right ink for cotton or cotton/poly blends.  NO sublimation ink will work with untreated cotton and will only partially work with cotton blend - you are comparing a separate printer with pigment ink to the sublimation.  the only sublimation like printer that does cotton (almost no feel) is chromablast

leave the epson off for a month and a richoh off for a month while on vacation or off season and see which one prints when you turn it back on  Gel ink is far superior.

Richard sells a great product and I personally use his pigment inks, his service is great. see how many old time sublimation people have converted from the epson to the ricoh . . . . without the need for constant head cleanings

Offering personal experience to level the playing field 

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A set f 4 120ml inks from Cobra Ink cost $62.50. A single 29ml cartridge for the 3300 on coastal is $60

so to compare apples with apples the same amount of ink for the cobra would be 62.50 for 116ml that you pay 60.00 from coastal?

compare apples with apples here - the 4 29 ml carts compared to the single 120 ml   4 sets of of ink in your printer (to equal the same ink amount) is actually more costly!

though I'm not sure if it's the right ink for cotton or cotton/poly blends.  NO sublimation ink will work with untreated cotton and will only partially work with cotton blend - you are comparing a separate printer with pigment ink to the sublimation.  the only sublimation like printer that does cotton (almost no feel) is chromablast

leave the epson off for a month and a richoh off for a month while on vacation or off season and see which one prints when you turn it back on   Gel ink is far superior.

Richard sells a great product and I personally use his pigment inks, his service is great. see how many old time sublimation people have converted from the epson to the ricoh . . . . without the need for constant head cleanings

Offering personal experience to level the playing field  

I meant that each color of the Ricoh cartridges is $60. So a set of 4 would be $240. I just did a quick check and the chromablast inks are $52 each color, or $208 for a set of 4. I'm sure they're better than typical pigment inks, but are they really worth the price premium? I'm not all that familiar with gel inks though I do know they don't dry out like typical inks can.

Again, I'm not against Ricoh printers, but for myself and a lot of others, the WF1100 with Cobra CIS is probably a more economical solution in the long run.

What advantages besides the gel ink do the Ricoh printers have over the WF1100? Can you print normal, day to day documents with it?

Just curious.

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no straight sublimation just like the cobra inks but for the same amount of ink of cobra in you are looking at $250 and comparing it to slightly more ink from sawgrass for $240

You have to buy 4 sets of the cobra to equal 1 of the sawgrass

I also don't have anything against the cobra product and have seen amazing results - I just like the info to be presented in a fair comparison

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I have no real experience on this subject, however, a couple recurring themes come to mind for me....The Richoh printers use a lower volume of ink to get the job done and the Richoh printers produce a vibrant print.....Now I have not tested these themes and the quality issue is quite subjective.  Another comment, when I go to my local Wal-Mart I see multiple Epson Printers in their photo lab for producing sublimated products...Not sure I can draw any conclusions from this but thought it was interesting.....Does Wal-mart know something I do not know....

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