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Hi Jeffery, I have one but don't use it a whole lot. It's a little outdates and it's fairly high maintenance in that everything has to be just right or it will quit and lights will blink. Then you have to figure out what is wrong by the way the lights are blinking. It's pretty good for small decals and if you have the correct software you can print and contour cut the stickers with your vinyl cutter. I think the last time I figured cost per page it was about $4 for a tabloid size using the 3 color resin ribbon. You can go to this site to get your drivers and manual
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I've got a 310S here. It's paid for itself easily. Now I just kind of consider it a printer around here. I use it for personal photos prints on scrap mags to give away to family.
It can be a versitile machine. I had 4 and 6 tiled jobs that worked out fine. It has it's learning curve and it is $ 4 a print. I usually charge between $ 25 and $ 30 per printed page. If it's 50 decals on one sheet, I'll charge a buck each.
I have had different problems than Tony. The vinyl that I use tends to curl up a bit on the feed ends; when I load new vinyl, I have to roll the sheet back against the curl. I only put 8-10 sheets in at a time, but I've found that if you leave them in the tray for a few days, they tend to flatten out.
I only print on intermediate vinyl because I dont' think that the print will last that long. I always try to give it a shot of spray Frog Juice if I have some around - it protects it and adds a nice gloss.
You can print on the Fargo and the cut it on the plotter. Call me some day as it's too much to type out here.
I haven't printed foils or die-sub on it - never got around to learning how - guess I should. I haven't had any call for it in the past. Hopefully, someone else will know how to do this and let us know below this post.
I paid $ 1500 for mine, used. It was well worth it.
-------------------- Pat Neve, Jr. 321-537-8675 Capt. Sign
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THANK YOU TONY THANK YOU PAT TONY I WENT TO THAT SITE AND WOW THEY STILL A REBUILT 310S FOR $4995. THATS MAKES ME FEEL GOOD WHAT I PAID FOR MINE. PAT I GLAD TO KNOW YOU CAN MAKE MONEY WITH THE 310S. HAVE TO GIVE YOU A CALL NEXT WEEK. MY SIGNLAB DIDN'T AHVE THE CALIBRATION FILES FOR IT ? WHAT SOFTWARE DO YOU USE?
-------------------- Jeffery Haberman Slewfoot Signs Jefferson, WI Posts: 42 | From: Jefferson, Wi. USA | Registered: May 2001
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Jeffery, I use a version of Flexi-sign that has both "cut" and "rip & print" or "rip & cut" as an output option. When you use the rip & print option you first need to put a contour around your image. On my machine it's a gray outline. You can do this easily with a vector file but with a bitmap image you have to manually outline the object with the pen tool, then put a contour around the pen outline and delete the pen outline to leave the contour. Then when you rip & print, the software prints registration marks which you line up in the cutter for it to cut the contour. It works pretty slick. I also use the intermediate vinyl. I think the size is Super BA3 which prints 12.4 x 17. They seem to last about a year depending on the colors used and how much sun hits it. I'm sure if you used cast vinyl and a little Frog Juice they would longer.
When I've had the most trouble is changing ribbon cartridges. I've had a couple times when the panels were off a bit and it would print about a half page the wrong colors. Keep your machine completely clean. The book tells you what to clean with alcohol and this will help from getting spots in your prints. It's not a very fast printer so you may want to have something to do for a few minutes while it prints.
P.S. Like Pat said, at a cost $4 a page (plus your time) that's not too bad, and if it's small decals. if you put 30 on a page and charge a buck a piece, you've made a decent dollar.
Good luck
-------------------- Ace Graphics & Printing Camdenton, MO. USA
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I'll sell ya mine for $1500.00 plus shipping and I got a bunch of supplies. It's got the Vinyl Express Logo on er' but its the same machine. Need some money to feed my PC-600. Robin
-------------------- Robin Sharrard Sharrard Graphics & Sign Fallon, Nevada rds@phonewave.net "Proud $$$ Supporter" Posts: 282 | From: Fallon, Nevda, USA | Registered: Feb 1999
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I can print from SignLab - never had any problems. You should just be able to choose it as your printer, then click on Printer Setup in the Print dialog box. I usually print from Corel 9 though.
Give me a call.
-------------------- Pat Neve, Jr. 321-537-8675 Capt. Sign
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Jeffery, I bought a Fargo 310s new in 1997. It started slow, but has really taken off in the past two years. Yes they are finicky. I print from Corel Draw 7,9 and signlab. Printing with one color ribbons are great, but you must have a clean machine. Printing with a 3 colored panel resin is OK as long as it registers properly. I sometimes find that the heat inside is not consistent as sometimes the same file stacked on a page, appears as differnet shades thoughout the sheet. You can add simple little accents, and small text to signs where the text might be too small to computer cut. Here, in Canada the cost to print one cull color sheet is $10.00 and 1 sheet retails for $50.ish. Good luck and enjoy! Patience, patience, patience.
-------------------- Susan Banasky Source Signs Nanaimo, British Columbia sourcesigns@shaw.ca
When in need....go directly to the "Source"!
Proud Supporter of this "Knowledge Network"! Posts: 1323 | From: Nanaimo, B.C. Canada | Registered: Oct 1999
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