Mlink in the building.

[mimosatexas]

I've always been surprised how many people are willing to spend $25+ per piece on shirts.  Hell I have had people buy blanks at higher than that retail and bring them in and pay that on top of their already inflated shirt costs.

[bulldog]

In the beginning we seen specking on the Brother. We then started rolling the pre-treat flat after coating prior to heat press. Never saw much after that on either.  A lot of our artwork doesn't really have a large solid area of ink, so I haven't really tried to do that as I can't think of many scenarios where that would be "real world" for us.  Again anyone can send a sample artwork over and Ill print it off the Mlink and mail it back to you. Cost you  nothing but your garment/shipping back.

What are you using to roll it? Do you have a link?

When I was using that silicone parchment paper I would get specking, switched to brown kraft and that seemed to help.

Interested in the rolling thing though.

[GraphicDisorder]

In the beginning we seen specking on the Brother. We then started rolling the pre-treat flat after coating prior to heat press. Never saw much after that on either.  A lot of our artwork doesn't really have a large solid area of ink, so I haven't really tried to do that as I can't think of many scenarios where that would be "real world" for us.  Again anyone can send a sample artwork over and Ill print it off the Mlink and mail it back to you. Cost you  nothing but your garment/shipping back.

What are you using to roll it? Do you have a link?

When I was using that silicone parchment paper I would get specking, switched to brown kraft and that seemed to help.

Interested in the rolling thing though.

Just a 6 inch foam roller, home depot or lowes will have it.  Pretreat then roll the shirt fibers flat.  Then heat press.  We are using Teflon prior to print, then after print put down parchment paper with teflon over it.  Thats been our best results so far. Again we are infants so far in the DTG world but we are not seeing any specking since rolling garments.

[DGP ConsultCo]

I use a 3" wide Wooster bristle hair paint brush rather than a foam roller. I thought the roller breaks down too quickly and small specks end up on the shirt. Also, never been that fond of the Teflon sheet for dtg....leaves the finished print too shiny and can cause glazing on the pretreatment curing....I am a big fan of the Stahls brown Kraft paper. Used it for both PT and finished prints. i can keep one sheet going for about a month or so before have to grab a new one.

I do agree that some form of "work in" is needed after apply the PT or you are very prone to seeing "pin holing" in the finished dark shirt prints.

Brandt, those prints you are producing on the Mlink look outrageous! Nice work!

[GraphicDisorder]

Brandt, those prints you are producing on the Mlink look outrageous! Nice work!

Thanks!  I will keep your pointers on the Stahls stuff in mind as well.

[GraphicDisorder]

Just a quick update, nothing new really to say other than the machine hasn't had the first issue and we are doing around 20-30 shirts a day 40-60 prints (most are double sided). Its not huge volume but working pretty good for us and our operator is also running our i-Image ST, the Mlink, and the Roland Pro 4 each day.

Again anyone that wants to fire a shirt over for a sample print, my info is in this thread, just send a shirt/file and your return shipping label.

[alan802]

Just a quick update, nothing new really to say other than the machine hasn't had the first issue and we are doing around 20-30 shirts a day 40-60 prints (most are double sided). Its not huge volume but working pretty good for us and our operator is also running our i-Image ST, the Mlink, and the Roland Pro 4 each day.

Again anyone that wants to fire a shirt over for a sample print, my info is in this thread, just send a shirt/file and your return shipping label.

That's more than most who buy them will do in a week.  The numbers I ran A LONG TIME AGO (literally 8 or so years ago) we needed to do approximately 40 shirts per week but that was based off the incredibly under-inflated ink cost/usage that was being touted by the sales people of the particular unit we were looking at.  I didn't think we would have done 1/4 of that per week since none of the sales people were going to make much of an effort to sell it.  Then I stumbled onto a forum where users were more than happy to share their experiences and this isn't hyperbole, I don't recall reading a single positive review out of 20-25 different people so we pulled the plug on that.

[GraphicDisorder]

Had to share this one, no filter. Sucker is awesome.

[DGP ConsultCo]

very impressive.....
half-tone art work? or printing on heavy canvas?

[GraphicDisorder]

very impressive.....
half-tone art work? or printing on heavy canvas?

The background is a combination of effects, the print is on a 100% cotton t.

[willy35]

Yeah if you guys watch that youtube video posted somewhere in this thread where the guy filming asks a million questions about the Mlink, they mention it's rebranded technology with M&R spending time and money on the RIP side to optimize the results.

I asked a million questions just to make a usefull video for people that had not the chance to see it in action 



I am impress with what graphicdisorder output with it, this machine rock, but competition is coming...



My main concern is how is support in Europe, any M-Link user in EU ? Is there spare parts in Europe, or do I have to order in the US ?

[244]

Yeah if you guys watch that youtube video posted somewhere in this thread where the guy filming asks a million questions about the Mlink, they mention it's rebranded technology with M&R spending time and money on the RIP side to optimize the results.

I asked a million questions just to make a usefull video for people that had not the chance to see it in action 



I am impress with what graphicdisorder output with it, this machine rock, but competition is coming...



My main concern is how is support in Europe, any M-Link user in EU ? Is there spare parts in Europe, or do I have to order in the US ?

parts and service for Europe come from our plant in Poland or our distributors in Germany at the moment. Yes there are multiple users in Europe. We are fully aware competition is coming and will stay at the head of the pack!

[ABDada]

Just a quick update, nothing new really to say other than the machine hasn't had the first issue and we are doing around 20-30 shirts a day 40-60 prints (most are double sided). Its not huge volume but working pretty good for us and our operator is also running our i-Image ST, the Mlink, and the Roland Pro 4 each day.

7 year DTG owner here looking into new equipment as my older machines are starting to give us issues and parts are tough to replace -- have you had to swap any parts yet?  Capping station, etc?

Since you're still low volume, I'm assuming the base M Link has been fine for you, but have you had any crazy print weeks where you wish you had bought the faster "X" model?

[GraphicDisorder]

Just a quick update, nothing new really to say other than the machine hasn't had the first issue and we are doing around 20-30 shirts a day 40-60 prints (most are double sided). Its not huge volume but working pretty good for us and our operator is also running our i-Image ST, the Mlink, and the Roland Pro 4 each day.

7 year DTG owner here looking into new equipment as my older machines are starting to give us issues and parts are tough to replace -- have you had to swap any parts yet?  Capping station, etc?

Since you're still low volume, I'm assuming the base M Link has been fine for you, but have you had any crazy print weeks where you wish you had bought the faster "X" model?

We had a operator error and killed a print head by hitting a garment, but that's not really the machines fault. Other than that it's been great.

Our club stores have leveled off and we are doing anywhere from 10-60 prints a day roughly. Some days zero but not often. We have a high request rate for contract DTG but I haven't went down that path yet. At that point maybe the X would have been more logical but also keep in mind we are running the machine part time basically. Our operator is also doing all the stickers in our building as well as helping with artwork and manning our i-Image at times.

[GraphicDisorder]

Heres a few recent prints.