Here’s one for all the members out there. Does anyone know if there are any currently made printers (home use or similar sized) that have the capability to print metallic silver? I know the old ALPS printers could, but they are no longer being made at least on this side of the pond. (It is a British expression to describe the Atlantic, for those who are not familiar with it.) Thank you for any assistance that can be provided.
I have never heard of any except for the ALPS, and thay have been out of production for so long that I would never buy a used one - can not get the ink or repair parts any more. If anything is available, it probably would be a commercial printer costing thousands of dollars.
Maybe you could look into silk screening, or a custom printer like Rail Graphics
Depending on what you need, we have a local commercial sign maker that can print custom peel and stick decals for us in any color or combination of colors desired. We have them make custom decals for our club and home layouts in HO and G scale. They can even do graphics if you have a sample they can photograph.
I took a new G-scale steam locomotive to them so they could measure the available space for the lettering and numbers, and they printed up a sheet of gold-colored custom road name and numbers for me at a cost of around $10 per 8x11 sheet.
Check in your area and see if a similar company exists – I think any of them should have the same capabilities.
ALPS are indeed still being made; and in addition to used ones poping up on eBay all the time, there also seems to be a plethora of parts & supplies available. I’m saving up to buy a refurbished one.
Which printer would you recommend: the 5000 or the 1300? I am leaning toward the 1300 but I am not sure. The other question: did I see something about decals needing a clear coat cartridge? If that is so, what cartridge number is that?
FRRYkid, I would recommend the ALPS MD-1000, if you can find a good refurbished one. One problem - The latest drivers you can get are for Windows XP - nothing for Vista or WIN7. I keep my XP machine going just for that printer. If anyone knows of a source for a Windows-7 compatible driver that works like the ALPS driver, please let me know! The driver that Windows supplies for it won’t do single-ink printing, and it doesn’t do “overlay”, which is what you need to do decals. (Overlay re-positions the paper after you make a pass, so you can lay down multiple layer to make the colors you want: cyan and yellow to make green, magenta and yellow for red, etc., and a white undercoat for all colors.)
The “clear coat” cartridge which the MD-1000 uses is called a “finish” cartridge, and is simply a clear mylar ribbon which “irons down” the ink after you’re all done. It’s not really necessary unless you are laying down more than 4 or 5 layers of “ink”.
And BTW, the “ink” is not really ink. It’s a solid polymer that is deposited by heat.
You can still get the stuff, but the prices have gone a bit nuts. A white ink cartridge goes for around US$21.95 - other colors somewhat less.
In the alternative, would a 1300 work as the 1000 is a little hard to find? As for your driver question, I found this site that claims to have ALPS drivers for Vista and Win 7. I don’t know if it works or not, but it is a suggestion. http://www.drivershelper.net/?bid=ALPS&color=ffffff&fontsize=42&logoid=ALPS1&menu=1 I just need the printer for doing my silver decals. I am wondering if with just the one color, the white would be needed. I have had them done professionally previously and the non-printed areas were clear. I am content for them to be that way.
Just to make that druver link clickable…
I didn’t want to just leave you hanging, there; check out this link for ALPS printer supplies:
http://www.fjaproducts.com/SearchMe/Department1498.asp
Also, there’s an ALPS group on Yahoo; which is rumoured to have the drivers for all the ALPS printers. I just joined, so I can’t say yet. Personally, I’m going for the MD 5000, or maybe the 5500, which is still being manufactured & serviced in Japan.
Here’s some more info:
http://www.systems-consulting.com/alps.htm
As to ‘sky-high’ cartridge prices: I don’t think $21.95 is ridiculous; I just paid $50 each for x-large inkjet cartridges for my HP printer, so that’s quite reasonable.
Happy Surfing!
The 1000 and the 1300 are perfectly adequate for decal work.
The 5000 series added a photo-accurate color mode that doesn’t work well on decal stock. It still supports spot color mode for decals, however. Plus, it is still supported in Japan.