I am sure this topic has been gone over several times in the past but I am looking for some help.

Does anybody know where I could purchase a new Alps printer in the US? And which model seems to work the best? Are they compatable with XP?


Thanks for the help
Keith

Or has anybody tried the ink jet decal paper to make custom labels?

Keith,
If you do a search for "alps printers" here you'll find all the info you care to read, but i'll try and answer your questions here too.
There is nowhere in the US to buy Alps printers anymore, I think the only place you can get them now is Austraila, and they are very expensive. You can find plenty used ones on @#$%& but be careful buying one from there because you may get a "bum" deal and be stuck with and expensive pile of plastic.
The models that will work for decals are the MD-1000, MD-1300, and the MD-5000 as far as I know.
To get the printers to work with XP, you have to get a new driver available through the Alps website. I'm sure other places on the web my have these drivers also.
In my opinion you best bet would be to get Jimi at Decal Connection just to make what you need and you'll come out way ahead. You have to make ALOT of decal to justify the cost of an Alps printer because they aren't cheap even on the used ones and the ribbons arent getting any cheaper either and harder to come by. I too wanted an Alps for a while for decals but soon figured out the Decal Connection route would be the best route for me to take.
I'm sure other with more knowledge on this will chime in.
Hope this helps,
Noel

The ink jet decals wont work because they will fade out to nothing in a short amount of time.

Is there anything computer generated that allows builders to add individual names to a stick other then writing? I currently write on all the sticks I sell but XP has some very nice fonts I would like to use.

Thanks for the help.
Keith

just trivia FYI, icw Australia, I tried a few times to get to Australia to look into the Dingo fly viseand was NEVER able to get through or connect. I only have dial up internet svc. But, the point is, I personally am not going to do anything with Australia simply because my communications with them doesn't work. My computer not that old either. Sure wouldn't want to have to communicate with very many messages icw equipment or anything else with MY communications set up. Maybe for others it works fine. Just FYI.......

Keith,

All you need to do is send Jimi at Decal Connection an e-mail telling him what you want,, along with fonts sizes etc. and for a couple,three bucks you will have a beautiful waterslide decal in metallic gold or silver in the mail in 2-3 days.

Check out their website (link on the left).

Mike

Keith,
Anything you can dream up on your computer, save it and send it to Jimi @ Decal Connection via email or snail mail and he will make a decal out of it. I personally have found images I liked on the web and saved the image and sent it to him and he made the decals for me.
Hope this helps,
Noel

One other note on this. From a complete 'money' standpoint, the Alps printer seems expensive. But if the "convenience" thought comes into play, as it has for me, it's really a great tool for the price.

Putter
Williston, ND

Keith

Go to @#$%& search for alps printers. you can buy one that doesn't work and then send it to ALPS Usa. they will send you a factory rebuilt printer .
I did this and now have a great machine. I would reccomend The Alps 5000p that is the one with The Dye Sub upgrade installed .
ALPS charges $350.00. But you must have a printer to exchange. You cannot get one otherwise.

Hope this helps.

Terry

Http//www.alps.com

Keith
The Citizen Printiva 700 was made for citizen by alps and it uses the alps cartridges I bought a brand new one in the box on @#$%& awhile back even though they to have not been made for many years. The only problem I came across was the drivers that came with the printer will not load on the newer operating systems and the drivers you can download for the new operating systems did not let me print metalics so I ended up loading the old drivers on an old windows 95 system and it works great.

Allen

Well men, you too Tom. Ahhhh....just kiddin' ....since I didn' t use a last name I guess I didn't insult anybody.
uh.....PARDON ME about the Aussie post. I just clicked on the Decal Connections on the left and was there in a heartbeat. Makes me wonder if I should ever try to offer a helpful post, since I obliviously don't know what I am talking about. One thing for sure, I sure do learn a lot from this website.

Thanks to all....

Plain Old Jim.......I'm Plain.......and I'm old"

Nice to have you aboard, Jim!

Putter
Williston, ND

The Alps MD-2010 will also work for decals......


I bought my Alps off @#$%& and was lucky enough to get a like new one with over 25 spare ink cartridges.
If you research the seller ID on @#$%& you should be able to find a used one that is in perfect working order and save yourself a ton of $$ but like stated above if you do get one that doesnt work you can get a new one from
AlpsUSA if you send them the broken one.

In my opinion the only benifit of having the Alps is the convienence because your not going to save any $$$ making your own unless you get the printer for practically nothing!

Do a search here on this board for Alps printers and you'll find plenty of info re: using them to do decals for rods. Here's what I've learned. If you acquire one to save money, you won't but if you're looking for the convenience of being able to quickly produce your own names, inscriptions, rod info, etc. they are great. .I purchased a used 2300 on @#$%& which works OK for the few metallic gold or silver decals I need. Alps still supports these out-of-production printers and will send you the drivers to enable you to use it on an XP O/S. The Dye-sub models like the 5000 are overkill for decals. The dye-sub feature is for photos and require special cartridges. Regular Alps cartridges that enable you to produce decals are @ $12/ea and unless you produce a ton of them, will last quite a while. Decal paper is available on-line primarily from 3 sources which supply the hobbyist trade. Model railroaders and model builders are the biggest users of decals. I guess rod builders are just an offshoot.
If you're really into such things, a drawing program software package like Canvas or Corel Draw would enable you to do your own logoes. Artistic, I'm not, so such things are better left to those skilled in such things like Decal Connection.

i make tons of tranfers and i like the micro-dry technology! my alps is dead., so what are my options? lasers seem to jam frequently and ink jets bleed when washed> any ideas anyone?