New to the Forums :)

[DavidHamp 1]

Hello all my name is David. I have recently purchased the Large 15 3/4" x 19 5/ 8" clam shell press from UScutter. I have been doing vehicle decals for almost 6 months now and have started doing tshirts.

I'm going to surf through the forums and hopefully pick up some tips and tricks i have been struggling a little with pressing the material. My first shirt was made with Metallic Gold and had an issue with it peeling after just a day. Also have complications every now and then with my acient cutter lol it was a cutter given to me on laon from a friend story that goes with it that it was bought used back in the early 2000's and alls I know about it is that is comes from sighware house . Anyways i hope to make a career out of this my long term goal is to run a small novelty tshirt shop in my small little home town. My goals are to someday have a digital printer cutter and a better heat press or at least learn to use the one i have now way better. Any advice or tips or tricks would be greatly appricaited

 

Thank you,

 

David Lee Hamp

 

[mabscotthandyman 1,410]

Hello and welcome . As long as it cuts is all that matters is that the vinyl express plus (servo motors ) or the express stepper motor . Any good luck .

Dan

[DavidHamp 1]

I have no idea to be 100% honest with you alls I know is I make images in Illustartor save them as an EPS load them into the cutting program which is VE LXi Apprentice V7.5 Works good for the most part. It does have some quarks but i have managed so far til i can save up for roland GX24 or one of the new graphtec series cutters. My biggest issue with it is sometimes it doesnt cut a smooth line possibly a problem on my end like blade depth or maybe not having proper pressure settings. Part of the reason i joined up on here hoping to maybe figure some of these issues out.

[MadHatterGraphix 1,258]

Who's gold heat transfer vinyl are you using? Are you pressing with the right pressure, usually medium to lheavy and are you following the directions perfectly? Are you layering the gold on top of another color? I ask because some vinyls aren't able to be layers. And last question even if I sound stupid asking it, is it heat transfer vinyl. I have read on another form I belong to they thought there was only one kind of vinyl such as sign vinyl.

[DavidHamp 1]

Siser heat transfer Gold metallic with a medium-hardish pressure i have to put some ass into it to close my press at 305 degrees fareinhiet at 15 seconds and doing cold peel as directions state. I did read in another thread that it could be from buying blank shirts from Kmart and not pre-washing. Was said that many box stores add a large amount of starch to there clothes to not wrinkle. I have to make another shirt with the gold tomorrow i'm gonna try to bump the heat up just a lil bit and up time to 20 seconds. The pressure is hard to tell cause its all adjust with a manual turn knob. Also gold is not layered. Letters that peeled are at the RUN IT ALL spot. Now i'm also wondering if its cause i put a piece of cardboard inside the shirt so that i could have an even surface to press against. The shirt i had first done didnt press very good cause the colar from the front of the shirt made the back of the shirt un-even.

 

 

[DavidHamp 1]

thinkin my next purchase will be the heat printing pillow to go inside of the clothing to insure even surfaces.

[hockeygirl 30]

Did you also pre-press the shirt for a few seconds to get the moisture out? I've used shirts from Michaels or JoAnn in a pinch, and those never gave me any problem.

 

I work with Siser Videoflex Glitter a lot (the local high school drama club wants silver!)... I usually press them at 315F for 20 seconds and cool peel. Never had a single complaint in the last 5 years...

[DavidHamp 1]

yes i forgot to add that part pre pressed for about 5 seconds. I honestly think that a lil more heat and time will help do wonders. I think before becuase i am just getting started with heat pressing i might have been a little over cautouis with the pressing thinking that i would mess up the material or shirt if i left it on to long. After reading through the forums looks like Siser is pretty forgiving and that many people are running a lil hotter and longer than recomended so i think i will do you the same. I kinda had prepared myself for a learning curve and that the first couple of shirts would be for personal use so that i wasnt learning on a customers shirt.

[xpaperman 719]

When I started doing shirts I had a few shirts that a small area here or there came lose after the first wash.  I just repressed it and was fine.  I was following the manufactures recommendations for temp and time but had come across a thread discussing temp.  They were talking about just how hot and how long you had to go to ruin the vinyl, and it appears you can go a ways over before causing problems.  So, that coupled with the fact I have a low end press, probably not heating evenly and not accurate,  I decided to bump up the time and temp and have not had a problem yet.  Here is what I do

 

First, pre press shirt for about 5 seconds.   Second, I lay a piece of parchment paper over the design and press for 15 seconds.  Peel off the plastic from the design, replace the parchment paper back over the design and press again for 15 seconds....  No problems

[DavidHamp 1]

Thank you very much I kinda figured I will try that i was worried that the had to leave the plastic carrier on there i do have the teflon sheet that i cover my prints with so i will try your steps tomorrow and post the results. I will say that the thinner regular easy weed i have no issues with just this gold seems to be a lot thicker. I had a heck of a time cutting it out wasted about 4' of gold before i got the pressure right on my cutter to cut it smooth to be able to weed out. Its all a learning process I'm trying to build a business on a budget some bumps are expected but the less the better lol

[MadHatterGraphix 1,258]

Stahls recommends recommends repressing after the film is off. I don't use all of siser only due to cad-cut is across the lake from me. Usually get it within a day. I would think about adding more padding under the shirt I have issues with gold to just had a shirt loose its gold from st Patrick's day. My pad looks a little worn out, so that's next on my agenda.

[DavidHamp 1]

hey thanks for the tip actually I'm from Michigan so i might try them out see how long it takes to get an order in.

[MadHatterGraphix 1,258]

You should check them out great product, lots of styles to choose from, and very nice customer service. Also check out their how to videos on their website, and on YouTube.

[DavidHamp 1]

i will thank you for the advice.

[Dakotagrafx 7,297]

just get the shirts from jiffyshirt, sanmar - nothing added in the shirts and good every time,  kinda like conde and sublimation products !

[Dakotagrafx 7,297]

Also take an infra red theremometer and check the temp across your platen - a lot of cheaper heat presses have issues with cold spots.

[MadHatterGraphix 1,258]

That is true Dakota mine so far hasn't and its been two yrs maybe I'm just lucky.