# Difference between high+low cost heat press'



## Miles Hart (Aug 15, 2009)

Hi there. I'm looking to buy my first heat press (large) to print my sublimation t-shirts. I was wondering what the catch was in buying a £350 machine as supplied by LoveCut (see link below), opposed to a £845 one as supplied by the likes of Magic Touch? I'll spend extra for quality, but can there really be much difference?

£350-
Heavy Duty 16x24 Swing away Heat presss 

£845-
The Magic Touch (GB) Ltd - Manual Heat Transfer Press, Manual Clam Press


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## Ib4E (Aug 21, 2008)

All heat presses do the same thing. They get hot, apply pressure, for a certain time. The trick is to find a unit that makes setting these three variables easy. Time and temp are fairly easy to control, especially for a digital press....which I recommend. Pressure, unless there is a guage of some sort, can be difficult to set. Too much pressure, and you will get strike thru, not enough pressure leads to graphics falling off.
There are also two basic styles of press (really more, but two popular).....clam style and swing away. The clam style opens, well, like a clam shell. The swing away units are nice because the heat is not in the endusers face all day. The heater is parallel with the lower platen, so heat isn't as much of a strain on the user. The top simply swings away to allow access to the lower platen.

I hope this is helpful.


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## spiderx1 (Oct 12, 2009)

Been there done that, problem cheap press, sublimation is very sensitive to temp and pressure. Wrong can result in weird colors or uneven color saturation, blacks that are purple. Cheap presses tend not to have even temp over the platen, the larger the bigger the problem, also temp not what is says. You can eventually solve the temp problem, but not the problem with even temp. Also watch for auto open presses, cool and a time saver because you can leave them and they open on time, but can cause a shift, ghost image in sublimation. Due to the paper shift caused by the opening, if you have one just lay your hand on top of the handle and it does not pop open rapidly causing the problem, but you need to babysit. My cheap one was a waste of time,


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## IYFGraphics (Sep 28, 2009)

Miles Hart said:


> I'll spend extra for quality, but can there really be much difference?


When it comes to heat presses you get what you pay for.....

This thread my help you.

http://www.t-shirtforums.com/heat-presses-equipment/t98998.html

Hope this helps.


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## Flagrant-T (Nov 11, 2009)

I don't know the specifics of those two presses, but one thing that is usually much better with the more expensive presses is heat distribution. On the cheaper presses, there are usually hot spots and cold spots as there is less coverage by the heating element within the top platen. This may or may not be a big problem, depending on your application.


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## Miles Hart (Aug 15, 2009)

Cheers guy, great advice. I guess everyone would like a cheap fix but quality equals more money.


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