Mlink in the building.

[GraphicDisorder]

wouldn't the key to understanding the ink cost be something like:

I've printed X 'square inches' of prints on the M&R until the 'ink ran out'
-and-
I've printed Y 'square inches' of prints on the Brother until the 'ink ran out' 

this would be easier on the brother since it'll tell you when the cartridge is empty... on the M&R you'd likely have to figure out how many CC's are left in the bulk containers but still totally do-able.

this would tell you some average 'cost per square inch' numbers for each machine.

Would be awhile on this since we are just printing a shirt here and there on each no production thus far it would be a long time before we could have data like that.  Without a counter on the M&R it also makes it hard to say we've printed X prints on M&R and Y on the Brother.  We feel they are similar at this point though. I don't know that there would be a way to easily calculate "square inches" of prints either.  Even when you are printing a 13x15 image your not printing a full 13x15 parts of it wouldn't be printed/etc.  I dont know that either machine would tell me anything like how many square inches have been printed.

if you wanted to take it one step further, measure the amount of waste in the waste tanks as well, as then you could find out the waste cost per square inch as well...

We can measure the waste for sure, but keep in mind the Brother has Cleaning solution also in that waste tank. So no exact way to determine what parts are what. All I can say there is the Brother is climbing fast and the M&R is basically same as it has been.

Something else that I'm trying to understand... if the ink chemistry is truly similar... why is brandt having such issues on monday morning with the ink drying?  I can understand that the M&R machine keeps the ink moving in the tubes, but is it really keeping the ink running into the print head as well?  or does it just do a quick 'cleaning-cycle' every X hours to make sure that there's absolutely no chance of it drying?  -- if this is the case, wouldn't the M&R waste tank be filling more as well? 

M&R Machine is on always, it cycles ink through the lines every so often.  The heads are capped when not in use (machine does this for you).  So they are always submerged in ink.  The Brother doesn't cycle ink.

We're still a decent time from needing/wanting a DTG machine, but issues like this will be something that I'll be curious to watch as time goes on...

I'm also interested in wash-tests... how are these garments holding up.. if you print one side on the brother and one side on the M&R and then throw it in your weekly wash, how do they look.

Wash tests we have washed a lot of the garments all are holding up. We had first few prints with some fiber issues but that's long gone as a issue. Over all the prints feel great.  One design on both machines the LSX shirt (tons of ink/coverage) was a bit of a hand still after wash.  Not crazy bad though. 

[bulldog]

Brandt, when you are heat pressing the garments are you getting a shine or are you knocking it down with parchment paper or something?

[bulldog]

I stumbled upon this:

http://www.lawsonsp.com/screen-printing-equipment/digital-equipment/express-jet-printers/diamond-jet-dtg

And couldn't help but notice the similarities.

Is the M&R and Lawson made by the same people and rebranded?

[GraphicDisorder]

Brandt, when you are heat pressing the garments are you getting a shine or are you knocking it down with parchment paper or something?

We heat press them prior to printing with Teflon. Which is was Brother tech directed us to do as well as M&R. 

I stumbled upon this:

http://www.lawsonsp.com/screen-printing-equipment/digital-equipment/express-jet-printers/diamond-jet-dtg

And couldn't help but notice the similarities.

Is the M&R and Lawson made by the same people and rebranded?

Wow!!! Looks exactly the same other than red??

[IntegrityShirts]

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.

[GraphicDisorder]

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.

Was that in the real long video?  I glossed over some of that missed that I guess. 

[GraphicDisorder]

Shelly is sick and thinks she will be going home early today, BUT before leaving I think she is going to run a test weighing each shirt prior to print and give us something to compare as far as that goes.  She will be posting results.

[bulldog]

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.

Oh yeah, the video I posted! LOL - that's probably what put the Lawson into my head. Didn't remember the rebranded part but I guess that makes sense. The RIP is very important.

[bulldog]

We heat press them prior to printing with Teflon. Which is was Brother tech directed us to do as well as M&R. 

I mean after you print, I'm assuming you are heat pressing them again to cure. I've noticed with the teflon when I press the print is shiny/glossy after pressing. Parchment paper seems to knock the shine down some, I'm trying to get it down more. Talking more about white. Colors don't seem too bad.

Just wondering if you have experienced the same.

[GraphicDisorder]

I would suspect the RIP's are where the largest difference will show up between machines. I think the fact that some prints look very similar off each machine illustrates that. People can't assume each rip will be the same, they may get to a similar result but it may not be accomplished the same way. So ink use from one to another will never match. If they do I doubt the prints match, only way cc's will ever match is if it was same print heads and same rips.

Another consideration is obviously the machines have to rip differently since the Brother is using RED ink instead of Magenta like the M&R. Somewhere someone has had to play with software on that. 

[GraphicDisorder]

We heat press them prior to printing with Teflon. Which is was Brother tech directed us to do as well as M&R. 

I mean after you print, I'm assuming you are heat pressing them again to cure. I've noticed with the teflon when I press the print is shiny/glossy after pressing. Parchment paper seems to knock the shine down some, I'm trying to get it down more. Talking more about white. Colors don't seem too bad.

Just wondering if you have experienced the same.

Correct after print we use a parchment style paper. Not sure exactly what its called.  I would not call them "shinny" after that really. But they do have a slight shine compared to screen print I would say.

[GraphicDisorder]

I stumbled upon this:

http://www.lawsonsp.com/screen-printing-equipment/digital-equipment/express-jet-printers/diamond-jet-dtg

And couldn't help but notice the similarities.

Is the M&R and Lawson made by the same people and rebranded?

M&R can chime in more if they want but I asked them about this just now. Reply was: "We use a different drive, different RIP, Firmware, actually only visually similar." He also mentioned he didn't think Lawson sells it anymore.

[bulldog]

Correct after print we use a parchment style paper. Not sure exactly what its called.  I would not call them "shinny" after that really. But they do have a slight shine compared to screen print I would say.

Yeah, slight shine I guess you could call it. I'm trying to get to an almost flat. During my demos they achieved a darn near flat finish.

[GraphicDisorder]

Correct after print we use a parchment style paper. Not sure exactly what its called.  I would not call them "shinny" after that really. But they do have a slight shine compared to screen print I would say.

Yeah, slight shine I guess you could call it. I'm trying to get to an almost flat. During my demos they achieved a darn near flat finish.

Ive only noticed it on super high ink coverage prints.

[bulldog]

I stumbled upon this:

http://www.lawsonsp.com/screen-printing-equipment/digital-equipment/express-jet-printers/diamond-jet-dtg

And couldn't help but notice the similarities.

Is the M&R and Lawson made by the same people and rebranded?

M&R can chime in more if they want but I asked them about this just now. Reply was: "We use a different drive, different RIP, Firmware, actually only visually similar." He also mentioned he didn't think Lawson sells it anymore.

Fair enough, thought it was worth mentioning. I'm sure if other people saw that they would have a similar reaction.