The White Toner Printer

So, I am getting rid of the Thunder Laser Bolt and want to put another technology in its place. I had considered a small mini milling machine to make metals like a four axis CNC mill or something like that, but I decided to go with a printer so that I could do promotional items like cups, hats, shirts, acrylic puzzles, decals, stickers, and things like that.

After researching lots of different technologies, mostly inkjet, I’ve decided to go with a white toner printer. Me being a tinkerer and hobbyist means that I don’t run the equipment very often and I don’t want all of the cost and hassle associated with purging and cleaning inkjet wet ink systems.

Looking around a bit at some of these printers I realized they were mostly Ricoh and Oki. I am factory trained on Oki and have worked on Ricoh… so I’m familiar with both. I opted for the Uninet iColor 550 printer because it will do both an underprint and an overprint, among other things.

The iColor 550 series printer is a few years old and a legacy model, so I got it on clearance but it’s new in box.  I thought it was an Oki LED print engine based on some toner search results, but the unit actually looks to be a Ricoh SP C342DN.  I have been told its a good unit, but the newer software and firmware out by Uninet has made great strides since then and to try to get the latest and greatest firmware and software if at all possible.

I also got a decent auto-open clamshell 16×20 heat press, and some starter packs of transfer and a/b films to experiment with. I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of this new equipment, and I will update this post as I move along with the process. I have been told the higher quality heat presses do make a difference, but i think middle of the road will get me the result i’m looking for, at least for now.

The stuff should arrive soon! Here’s a little update (I said it’s an Oki in the video, but I confirmed its a Ricoh SP C342DN print engine, just fyi):

The Equipment showed up. Here is my initial take on it:

Installing Icolor 550 Driver and Rip Software:

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