Lawson Focus CTS

[Shanarchy]

Anyone look at one of these yet? Thoughts?

I was looking at it at the ISS show in AC. I found it very interesting. It's about $15K, which makes it an actual option for small shops. Uses an HP print head. They said they didn't have any in the field yet, but were getting ready to ship out around 20 (or something like that). I'd love to see how they perform out there.

http://www.lawsonsp.com/screen-printing-equipment/digital-equipment/express-jet-printers/focus-cts

[Doug S]

I just talked to them out of curiosity at the Long Beach show and they told me that they were still working out issue with the rip but maybe they've taken care of that.  The one thing I didn't care for is that in their advertisement it says "up to 55lpi" but you can't beat the price point for a shop that doesn't try to achieve anything higher than that.

[BorisB]

Is it same unit as the one from Exile and Resolute DTG (UK)?
Or roughly the same...

[Shanarchy]

Lawson said they had a few in bigger shops doing Beta testing and they were now ready for the market.

What are the I-image's doing for max LPI?

I'm not seeing the Resolute one on line, but I'm looking at the Exile Freestyler. Both use a HP head, but I'm not sure if they are the same HP heads. The Frestlyer also says you can swap the head/cartridges out to use as a DTG.

[Doug S]

What are the I-image's doing for max LPI?

I have the epson based and I go as high as 65 lpi sometimes if the print is smaller to get more detail.  I've read on here that some are going much higher.  Don't get me wrong, 55 lpi covers probably 80 % of the process jobs we print. 

I'm just happy to know that some of the dts systems out there are a bit more affordable because as far as I'm concerned we will never be with out one.

[Alex M]

Yes, it is the same as all those companies. It is produced or designed for them by a company in Italy.



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[Rockers]

I like this  lot, at least from the video I`ve watched and the documents I`ve read. Gives smaller shops like mine the chances to use as well CTS without breaking the bank. Something other equipment manufacturers clearly have overlooked. Heads up to fringe players like Lawson for catering for the smaller shops too.

[244]

I like this  lot, at least from the video I`ve watched and the documents I`ve read. Gives smaller shops like mine the chances to use as well CTS without breaking the bank. Something other equipment manufacturers clearly have overlooked. Heads up to fringe players like Lawson for catering for the smaller shops too.

we have a Lawson trade in you can have for 10k.

[AAMike]

I like this  lot, at least from the video I`ve watched and the documents I`ve read. Gives smaller shops like mine the chances to use as well CTS without breaking the bank. Something other equipment manufacturers clearly have overlooked. Heads up to fringe players like Lawson for catering for the smaller shops too.

we have a Lawson trade in you can have for 10k.

That was a good one Rich, made me laugh!

[GraphicDisorder]

Ask Danny about his Lawson. 

Everyone gets real excited about price....I agree CTS has sticker shock. Knowing how important CTS has become for my shop the last thing you want to do is get a CTS and be all happy about saving money and it doesn't perform like it should. Not saying that is the case here... I am simply saying here we have a company who is basically the leader at nothing (no offense), releasing a CTS at a fraction of the cost of everyone else. So are we to believe they've struck gold and its going to change the game/price/etc. OR are they just releasing something else in just to increase sales without doing the homework on how to build a great machine?

My overall point is I would suggest some feedback from real world before jumping on that bandwagon.

[mk162]

Same thing happened with DTG machines too..."I can get one for $12k" and next thing you know they are sitting in the corner collecting dust.

[GraphicDisorder]

Same thing happened with DTG machines too..."I can get one for $12k" and next thing you know they are sitting in the corner collecting dust.

Exactly. Let's see if anyone learned anything from that. I mean there was someone giving away Tjets at one point.....haha.

[Shanarchy]

Ask Danny about his Lawson. 

Everyone gets real excited about price....I agree CTS has sticker shock. Knowing how important CTS has become for my shop the last thing you want to do is get a CTS and be all happy about saving money and it doesn't perform like it should. Not saying that is the case here... I am simply saying here we have a company who is basically the leader at nothing (no offense), releasing a CTS at a fraction of the cost of everyone else. So are we to believe they've struck gold and its going to change the game/price/etc. OR are they just releasing something else in just to increase sales without doing the homework on how to build a great machine?

My overall point is I would suggest some feedback from real world before jumping on that bandwagon.

I agree with some of these points. I wouldn't buy until I got real feed back of how they hold up in a true working environment.

I'm not naive enough to think that a $15k machine will be just as good as a $60K machine. So I am also curious of what the trade offs are.

But as a very small shop (I'm probably the smallest guy here), there is no way I could consider the cost of the nicer machines. At $15K though, it gives me something to think about. Hopefully somewhere down the line an i-image STE will be a viable option for my shop.

[IntegrityShirts]

I can't reiterate how old the printer heads are in that dts. We're talking HP 650C era printing technology. 1.5oz of ink in each cartridge you'll go through an unfathomable amount of them without a bulk solution.

[GraphicDisorder]

Ask Danny about his Lawson. 

Everyone gets real excited about price....I agree CTS has sticker shock. Knowing how important CTS has become for my shop the last thing you want to do is get a CTS and be all happy about saving money and it doesn't perform like it should. Not saying that is the case here... I am simply saying here we have a company who is basically the leader at nothing (no offense), releasing a CTS at a fraction of the cost of everyone else. So are we to believe they've struck gold and its going to change the game/price/etc. OR are they just releasing something else in just to increase sales without doing the homework on how to build a great machine?

My overall point is I would suggest some feedback from real world before jumping on that bandwagon.

I agree with some of these points. I wouldn't buy until I got real feed back of how they hold up in a true working environment.

I'm not naive enough to think that a $15k machine will be just as good as a $60K machine. So I am also curious of what the trade offs are.

But as a very small shop (I'm probably the smallest guy here), there is no way I could consider the cost of the nicer machines. At $15K though, it gives me something to think about. Hopefully somewhere down the line an i-image STE will be a viable option for my shop.

I suspect those trade offs will be serious trade offs. I think the industry will be watching and if they did build something super good at 15k they will not be able to make them fast enough.