UV printers from Aliexpress??

[RickWJ324]

Hi,

Is anyone here familiar with the UV printers sold from sites such as Aliexpress?  Are they total garbage?  I really want to get a uv printer for lego minifigs but I'm guessing the price on these models are too good to be true.

I'd welcome any recommendations you guys could offer.

Thanks, Rick

[JopieK]

Well UV printers are not that easy I would say. I have a laser engraver from Aliexpress, has some pro's and con's, the tube is fine, the housing and (Ruida) controllers are fine, but it is keeping me very busy as the mirrors are crap and replacing the mirrors is not that easy, they need to be aligned perfectly. Printers are even more tricky, at least my Roland solvent machine is much trickier than that laser machine I would say, but... you could always try of course and share your findings!

[Iminifig Tube]

Buying expensive items like UV Printer from Aliexpress is really depends on luck. Even the quality is good, you cannot get as much support as printers from vendors like Roland. To me, I would not buy printers without good support.

[RickWJ324]

Thanks for the comments guys!!  Much appreciated.

[fastlindyrick]

On 4/30/2018 at 4:47 PM, JopieK said:

...at least my Roland solvent machine is much trickier than that laser machine...

 

On 5/1/2018 at 1:47 AM, Iminifig Tube said:

...you cannot get as much support as printers from vendors like Roland....

Those Roland machines are crazy expensive.  Do you two have them?  Just for lego?  If so, do you take on custom print jobs?  I’m always looking for more print shops to try for customs, as there are very few out there.

[Iminifig Tube]

16 hours ago, fastlindyrick said:

 

Those Roland machines are crazy expensive.  Do you two have them?  Just for lego?  If so, do you take on custom print jobs?  I’m always looking for more print shops to try for customs, as there are very few out there.

The current price for the smaller model is around 17K USD. It dropped once to around 15K last Christmas. I think they will have a good price drop again. I don't offer printing service for now, but probably later this year or sometime next year. 

[JopieK]

20 hours ago, fastlindyrick said:

 

Those Roland machines are crazy expensive.  Do you two have them?  Just for lego?  If so, do you take on custom print jobs?  I’m always looking for more print shops to try for customs, as there are very few out there.

We have a Versacamm (Solvent ink), nice for stickers but not for printing on objects including ABS / LEGO. The UV printers by Roland are indeed more than twice the price of a solvent printer (about 40.000€).