NukleoN 34 Posted October 18, 2009 I have a customer who wants t-shirts after I did 250 decals for him. I was thinking now would be a good time to get a heat press. Can anyone recommend the best 'bang for the buck' heat-press, and do I really need the auto-opening kind? How much of a hassle is it to have to babysit the press since it's only what, like 10-15 seconds to press a shirt? How solid are the graphics once applied and how do the heat-pressed vinyls compare to say, silkscreening? More durable? Less? I've seen that some presses are 220v. Far as I know I don't have a 220v outlet in my garage coz I live in SoCal and I have 110v. My washing machine and dryer aren't in a location where I can put a heatpress, and I think those are 220v outlets. Anyhoot....should I stick with a 110v only? It'd be much less hassle for me. I take it I would use heat press vinyl with the heat press, and that would be something I could cut with my LP24 right? How do you do multi-color designs on a shirt with a heat press? Are there full-color vinyls which work with heat-presses? I own my place and would be willing to get the proper electrical circuits handled if needed...I don't wanna burn my place down. Is there a minimum size I should get? I got a 24" cutter from recommendations and am very glad I did. Should I get a 15x15 heat press and no smaller? I figure I need to cover big shirts with decent-sized art, so I am inclined to go with this size unless I need bigger. I plan to do mostly t-shirts but who knows what people will ask for. Recommendations are appreciated! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest sciondrgn Posted October 18, 2009 I have had a SUnie or over a year and a half now and love it.. http://www.sunie.com Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest crshirts Posted October 18, 2009 15 x 15 is as small as I would go,110 unit is fine, heat press vinyl holds up well (I use only thermoflex) as far as screen printing campared to vinyl, I like the vinyl better(just me tho). Just remember to mirror images before you cut them. Multi colors are done similar to decals. Carl Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NukleoN 34 Posted October 18, 2009 Ok this is a Chinese heat-press made by Seiki, a Chinese-brand apparently. Love the price, since I don't want to spend a lot of money but I don't want to turn away t-shirt jobs!! If I get serious about shirts later or if I get a lot of work I'll upgrade to a brand name (if I need to) but man I am impressed with my Chinese-made cutter...can't say I am too worried about a Chinese-made heat-press. The price difference is less-than half of competing brands it looks like for a 16x20 (I'd like to have some size-flexibility). For experienced t-shirt pressers...do you really need anything bigger than 15x15 for most shirts, or do you wish you had a larger press? Any other input is welcome, especially on the Sunie brand or other brands competitively-priced with this one. Can anyone recommend a good place to buy a Sunie which isn't in CA? I wanna save the sales tax. Thanks. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dakotagrafx 7,297 Posted October 19, 2009 There is a difference in Chinese presses. I picked the sunie I think on Cyber sultans suggestion and because it has the over the center pressure adjustment like the more expensive units the cheaper units have the pressure on the back of the unit. several of us on here have the sunie and just do a search for sunie on here and another search on Chinese presses. I think the choice will be clear Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NukleoN 34 Posted October 20, 2009 The Sunie is Chinese-made! It just happens to be one of the better ones, apparently. Here's some info about the Sunie heat presses from fuzing.com: Manufacturer Contact : Jane Sun Address : 2211 Mouton Dr. Unit F Carson City, Nevada, 89706 United States Telephone : [01] (775) 636-7621 Fax : [1] (775) 546-1766 Web Site : www.sunie.com Name(s) of Principals : SUNIE Commenced Business : 2000 At This Address Since : 2003 Annual Revenues : USD 500,000 Annual Imports : USD 5,000,000 Number Of Employees : 100 Plant Size : 10000 Plant Locations : China Company Certifications : ISO9000 That said, now I need to figure out if I want 15x15 or 16x20! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
