Hix and Frusion vs PowerPress and BetterSub

[losse 1]

Hi there!

New to heat presses and wondering why the big price gap between machines like HIX you can find online for $1000+ versus those machines you can find on Amazon like PowerPress for $300 or less? This is for a shirt business but low volume. I'll be surprised if I do 500 shirts per year.

Thank you!

[Dakotagrafx 7,297]

Nix and hotronix have more heating coils in the platen and more even temperature.  Hotronix support is incredible. Cheaper presses tend to have uneven heat and have more problems with having not adhering properly but most of us started with Chinese presses until we could move up . 

[cardudenc 151]

Ive been using a cheap Chinese heat press for 2 yrs now. plans are to upgrade to a fusion when the business pays for it.  I paid for the starter equipment out of pocket , then let the business justify upgrading. Like Dakota said the main difference is the uneven and fluctuating heating, and with mine im basically guessing on pressure.  I also use an infrared gun to double check the heat. so must of the time I will do a 2nd press.  so as with everything else , you get what you pay for. a friend of mine started with a fusion. he doesn't have any of those issues. you set both pressure and temp and don't have to worry about any changes.

[Wildgoose 4,200]

I like to charge at least $1 and sometimes up to $3 per shirt for the press part of the process. It can pay off your press pretty quickly if you actually put it towards it that way. I started out with a cheaper swing press and it got me started and running for about 2.5yrs. If you get rolling and then happen to snag a big job you might be able to about pay for a lot or all of a higher end press in one project. The name brands you mentioned are solid workhorses. Just do some research and find the one that fits your situation. I found that I didn't know what I didn't know until I had some experience under my belt and the budget press did a good job getting me there. I would NOT want to go back after getting my Fusion but they are also very expensive and hard to justify without an in-place revenue stream. And freakishly heavy did I mention that? I think the GeoKnight swing press is heavy like that too. Most of the clams are a little lighter weight and you can set them on a caddy and get a little threadable action going on. I just don't like the platen over my hands and often am leaning over my work to align multiple layers. 

[cardudenc 151]

Agree with Goose. Swing arm is the way to go, even tho I never used a clamshell press    But it’s kinda easy to tell it’s a quick to get burned. I push my swing arm way... way out of the way.   I’ve stayed with your tip of charging at least $3 a press.