APA Open Community

I have a white toner printer that I bought to use for adding color to hard surface awards that cannot  be sublimated.  While it is a method that works, I find the trial and error and amount of cleaning up and redo time of poor outcomes is just tedious and costly.  I'm considering purchasing a UV printer to add color embellishment to glass, crystal & acrylic awards, in addition to other products.  Does anyone have any insights into the negatives of this idea?   What are the downsides to maintaining these machines?  Any favorites as far as brands go?

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Ken Rajman
Awards of Distinction LLC
Seaford NY
516.798.3447
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Ken

You will not regret doing this as long as you buy a good quality machine. Some of the systems out there are not very good. You can get a smaller machine that prints on all sorts of substrates. We run 7 UV printers and as long as they are maintained and taken care of they work well. I will private message you with the name of my supplier in NH.

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Daniel Ashworth
Ashworth Awards
N Attleboro MA
800.325.1917
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Ken - we also had a white toner printer for a time, and while they can do some cool things, you will never regret diving into the UV world.  You'll find that the Mimaki owners in the US tend to be a bit rabid in their devotion to their machines (and vendors - just look at the UV Anonymous page on Facebook!)  I myself have 3 now so you can count me as one of them!  I also have friends who are LogoJet owners that are very happy.  There is an ongoing debate about the Chinese UV Printers.  They are considerably cheaper to purchase, but in the long run probably have a higher maintenance cost...

The pros and cons of maintenance are pretty straightforward.   It's all about the printheads!  If you take care of them and keep them clean, the machines will last you for years and make you lots of $$$!  I have heard a lot of horror stories about the Chinese versions where you can't get an English speaker to assist you with your questions and the manuals are not translated properly.  You will also hear glowing reviews of the Mimaki reps (PDS is the best hands down!) as well as the LogoJet service.  

I know that both of those brands will be at the APA show in Vegas in February, so if your really interested, it's a great place to see them side by side.  Also, bring some samples of what you want to be printing on and a .pdf or .eps print file,  and they will gladly do a test print for you!

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Amelia Morgan
Recognitions Awards & More
Aviston IL
618.228.7600
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Ken,

We have a UV printer that we use all the time.  We have created jigs for disks for medallions and trophies, custom shaped tags, Christmas ornaments, and a number of other items.  Like the others said, maintenance is key.  One thing I would suggest, while making a decision, is check out the tech support system, long term.  What kind of tech support is provided when the machine is 5 years old, or 10 years old, and where is the tech support located.  

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Cheri Hammer
Lynchburg Specialty Engraving & Awards
Lynchburg, VA
Cheri@LSEAwards.com
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