The machine, installed in November, was the first textile printing machine Edinburgh-based Heriot Watt had invested in for more than a decade, having previously had a 2004-purchased TX2 and a secondhand 2006-purchased TX1. It is still running the TX2.
The TX300P was supplied by Mimaki reseller RA Smart, which Heriot already had a longstanding relationship with, having previously been supplied by them with screen printing equipment.
“I was looking around the market, but when I became aware of this particular machine I think it ticked all the boxes for us,” said Heriot-Watt senior technician Roger Spark.
“There are textile printers that are aimed at industry but we are quite a small service here within the university so it was absolutely ideal for us really.”
Spark was mainly impressed with the speed, which he said was around 10 times that of the TX1 but still retained quality.
Launched in November 2015, the 1.8m roll-to-roll TX300 is capable of printing up to 68sqm/hr on a number of fabrics, including thicker and textured materials. It has a maximum resolution of 1,080dpi with drop sizes ranging from 6pl to 24pl and is compatible for use with a number of dyes.
Around 50 students are using the machine regularly, mainly third- and fourth-year students taking the print option of the design and textiles course. A number of fashion students are also benefitting from the machine.
Spark added: “There was a period of bedding it in when it arrived and I had to get used to it. I generally print colour charts and provide students with finished colour swatches that they can use as a starting point for colour matching but it’s really going to come into its own in semester two when I’m producing degree show stuff.”
Other than the Mimaki, Heriot-Watt also runs screen printing workshops with hand-printed screen lines plus a Ricoh SG 7100 sublimation printer. It plans on investing in a bigger wide-format sublimation printer at some point in 2017.
Heriot-Watt is one of a number of Scottish universities that run textile printers, including Aberdeen’s Robert Gordon University, The Glasgow School of Art and Edinburgh College of Art.
Robert Gordon’s 'digital fabrication facility' recently invested around £70,000 in a Jetrix KX3 for its community printing project.
