# Shark Tank tonight...Custom shoe platten?



## NSDdesign (Dec 13, 2011)

Anyone else happen to catch Shark Tank tonight? There was a kid on there that runs a DTG print shop in Venice Beach and was claiming that he invented the platen to print on shoes?? It was quite the talking point in his pitch but he had big dreams, ended up not getting any investors, but his claim cough me as odd. I have seen these shoe platens out for a while now.


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## taricp35 (Dec 10, 2008)

I missed his pitch, when I tuned in Mark Cuban was saying he was out. Something about him living off six figures that bothered him then the guy said he was going to open another shop...I was just lost I thought it was another tee brand he was launching. I guess I will have to watch it again in it's entirety online to see this shoe platen.


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## binki (Jul 16, 2006)

I watched a 2 min clip of the show. It is just a brother printer with a fab'd platen. I don't see anything there and his idea doesn't look like it will go anywhere right now.

The idea of customizing clothing right in front of your face and printing it out is great though. 

I love that show!


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## dptk (Aug 14, 2009)

I love the show, but his claim that he is going to have a patent on DTG Printing on shoes is total BS. Sure, he may have had a custom platen made and get a design patent on that platen, but that really means nothing. I googled 'DTG Shoe Platen' and got about a dozen other options.


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## NSDdesign (Dec 13, 2011)

dptk said:


> I love the show, but his claim that he is going to have a patent on DTG Printing on shoes is total BS. Sure, he may have had a custom platen made and get a design patent on that platen, but that really means nothing. I googled 'DTG Shoe Platen' and got about a dozen other options.


Yeah, same here. I was quite surprised when I heard some of his claims. I also think the Sharks were getting confused and though that he invented the printer in its entirety.


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## taricp35 (Dec 10, 2008)

I just watched it and thought the same thing. When Daymond told the guy that he should lease the machine for $100K, I got the impression he thought the guy was the maker of the machine as well as the platen. Then when the guy said he was the only one doing custom work like that I just laughed.


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## abmcdan (Sep 14, 2007)

Didn't Justin Walker print on shoes about 3 years ago?


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## binki (Jul 16, 2006)

Here is what Justin printed. Not sure if this was with his brother printer or one of the others he has had:


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

dptk said:


> I love the show, but his claim that he is going to have a patent on DTG Printing on shoes is total BS. Sure, he may have had a custom platen made and get a design patent on that platen, but that really means nothing. I googled 'DTG Shoe Platen' and got about a dozen other options.


I don't think the guy said he had a patent pending on DTG printing on shoes. Just his platen design.

ABC has the full episode on their site. I also found out that the guy is a member of T-Shirt Forums  I talked about it here: http://www.t-shirtforums.com/tf-lounge/t182790.html


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## taricp35 (Dec 10, 2008)

It didn't surprise me that he was a member, you'd be surprised how many people come in my shop as a newbie to screen printing and mention what they read on this site. It is a great resource - but his claim of being the only one doing this type of work was laughable. Lucky for the Sharks they didn't buy into it. Maybe he just said that for the cameras because he surely don't think he is the only one printing customer designs on demand. I will say that it is good to see a business thriving as he seems to have a lock on it in Venice. Maybe it's me but if you profited $150K in about a year, he should be able to make his dreams of opening up stores in other locations a reality without the Sharks. I certainly think it's doable with time.


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## HPS (May 13, 2010)

i want this platen, i have a guy who wants to go into a kiosk in the mall and do these, he is fronting $$ and i am fronting one of my 2 541, where can i get a shoe platen or can i use touchdown platen, really want to start doing more than just tee shirts


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

HPS said:


> i want this platen, i have a guy who wants to go into a kiosk in the mall and do these, he is fronting $$ and i am fronting one of my 2 541, where can i get a shoe platen or can i use touchdown platen, really want to start doing more than just tee shirts


You may want to contact Stitch City. I remember them printing on shoes with a brother DTG a few shows back: STICHCITY | Used Equipment


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## kevrokr (Feb 26, 2007)

HPS said:


> i want this platen, i have a guy who wants to go into a kiosk in the mall and do these, he is fronting $$ and i am fronting one of my 2 541, where can i get a shoe platen or can i use touchdown platen, really want to start doing more than just tee shirts


Reid,

If you are thinking of printing shoes with your Mod1, let me know. We can have any custom platen made-to-order for your machine.


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## HPS (May 13, 2010)

thanks will do,


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## ayostacey (May 15, 2012)

kevrokr said:


> Reid,
> 
> If you are thinking of printing shoes with your Mod1, let me know. We can have any custom platen made-to-order for your machine.


I'm very glad to know you build the custom platen for the shoe printing i would like to know what it cost to buy the custom platen and does one work with shoes of all kind? sorry for my questions but i'm much new to these business but wanting to get the best of equipments for quality production, i would also like to know if the same machine used for T-**** printing can be used for the shoe once so i can have an idea of which to buy? i would appreciate every single advice i get thanks in advance...


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## janem (Mar 8, 2012)

Hi,

This idea is great idea. Can we do this with a kiosk 3? And if so where would i get the platen? And how do you heat treat it on?
Sorry just excited about the idea . And want the info


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## Belquette (Sep 12, 2005)

Yes, any DTG printer can print on anything that you can get fairly flat.
Most people that print on shoes make there own jig depending on the target area of the shoe.

Here are some tips:

1: Give the shoe a light dusting of Light Garment Pre-Treat.

2: Print unidirectional at the highest resolution your printer can achieve.

3: Do a test print by covering the area to be printed with some masking tape to make sure the image is placed correctly as you only get one shot to get it right and shoes are $$.
Lower the ink levels to about 20% for this test.

4: Since most shoes in general do not get washed a full cure is not as important but you can get close by putting them in a microwave oven for about 2 minutes. (make sure the shoes have no metal rings for this method.
You can also put the shoes into on oven at under 200f for several minutes or take a heat gun to the printed area...if the shoe starts to smoke back off a bit):

I have seen some very cool graphics done on shoes over the years done with inkjet printers....it all depends on your taste.


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## janem (Mar 8, 2012)

Hi,

Thank you for info. Will see what i can get in platen for it. Ah yes heat gun why did i not think of that .
Do you have to take sneakers apart ?
And is there anyway to see this if you are not in america. As abc not accessable in england. Plus cannot find it on youtube.


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## Belquette (Sep 12, 2005)

You may want to take the lasing out but that's about it.
Not sure about watching the re-run, but it would probably not help much anyway, its just one of those things that you need to experiment with. 
Printing on shoes have been around for some time... not a bad niche.


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## allamerican-aeoon (Aug 14, 2007)

Talk is cheap.
Show you how is worth beef.
I can send anyone to the moon by talking. Get the best rocket, make seat comfortable, load lots of beef jerky, beer and oxygen bla bla. I can do perfect score on pool, golf game by talk. Coolest design is per-print before assemble shoes. Second is not how to print. How to make Jig for already made shoes. Soon as anyone has shoe jig print is not much different than shirts print.
Issue is how many shoe jigs will be sold? If thre are $$$$$$$ someone will make. Many different shoes too.
Cheers! Beers are on me always.


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## denaluv (Nov 25, 2011)

okay peter,
maybe i missed your point,but you said that to say what?
denaluv


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## allamerican-aeoon (Aug 14, 2007)

denaluv said:


> okay peter,
> maybe i missed your point,but you said that to say what?
> denaluv


 I love it when someone ask me this way. I am not joking. but I think I am pretty good as old Korean and not afraid or shy lol.
1. If we have jig all digital printer can print shoes.
2. We all know how to print on shoes if we have a jig while someone says how to print shoe is issue. Talk is cheap. We can do all by talking.
3. There are not enough money as t shirts. So developing jigs and machine is not active.
Cheers! Beers are on me always.


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## denaluv (Nov 25, 2011)

ooooh,now i got cha,
and you are correct there is not
enough money in shirts alone.
denaluv


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## Belquette (Sep 12, 2005)

denaluv said:


> ooooh,now i got cha,
> and you are correct there is not
> enough money in shirts alone.
> denaluv


Diversifying what you are able to offer your customers is always a positive thing, it just takes will and some creativity.
That's the beauty of these type of printers.
_My very first printer was actually used to print directly onto one's fingernails, so anything is possible with a bit of imagination!_


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## tyguycarroll (Sep 22, 2011)

Is Nick's patent on the specific platen he has developed, or does he think he can patent the entire DTG shoe printing process?


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## denaluv (Nov 25, 2011)

Nick,
Only has the patent on the shoe platen.
Fernando invented the shoe platen,nick
bought the platen,so no one could get it.
Stitch city used to sell the platens.
I`ve been looking to get one,there are several prople that have made their own.
Denaluv


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## SaintsDesigns (May 8, 2010)

Sorry to awaken an old thread ...
just need some advice as there is seemingly no diffinitive guide to printing to shoes..

Ive been printing them now for just over 12 months, converse have been the medium of choice... anyhow, ive been pretreating them with pretreatment for whites (the clear pretreatment), do I need to do this, Ive only done it as with shirts i thoughtbit would give darker blacks and crisper lines no bleeding... however recently ive notice the odd shoe has like a small amount of snow, for want of a better description where there white of the shoe is peeking through where it looks like ink has pinked off in tiny spots... is this just the nature of DTG printing to shoes or is it likely the use of the pretreatment ?

I havent as yet tried printing without the pretreat, for fear of the finish being bad and wasting a pair of shoes... thus far no one has complained but the prints ive been doing recently are full colour covering the whole shoe.

Any help in advance is much appreciated


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## WGiant (Oct 15, 2015)

SaintsDesigns said:


> recently ive notice the odd shoe has like a small amount of snow, for want of a better description where there white of the shoe is peeking through where it looks like ink has pinked off in tiny spots... is this just the nature of DTG printing to shoes or is it likely the use of the pretreatment ?



You'd probably get much worse results than "snow" without the pretreatment, so I wouldn't take that as a solution. You could try different amount of pretreatment, a little more or less might improve things a bit.


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## SaintsDesigns (May 8, 2010)

WGiant said:


> You'd probably get much worse results than "snow" without the pretreatment, so I wouldn't take that as a solution. You could try different amount of pretreatment, a little more or less might improve things a bit.


Yes thank you, i tried it without last night and the blacks were grey and had a little bleed,, now just using a light spray of pretreet and drying there and then, the ones i had issues with i left to dry ...

I just need to do some more work on my platens to stretch the shoe out more


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## SaintsDesigns (May 8, 2010)

Also i noticed some advise saying print uni directional, not bi directional ... what difference does that make ?


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