Got my 4900!

[Mike Guilbault]

Got the call from Vistek this morning and picked it up this afternoon.  Unfortunately, by the time I got back to the studio - there was no one left around to help me carry it in.  I'll have to set it up tomorrow morning.  And of course I have tons of other work to do before closing for Easter so I don't know how far I'm going to get setting it up.  I may just have to leave it until next week.

Only problem now is I'm out of money and can't afford paper or ink.  But hey.. it'll look good on the printer stand!

But... as soon as I have it up and running I'm sure I'll have questions and I'll report on my findings here as well. 

[bill t.]

Quit the excuses.  Drag it in all by yourself, ruining your back.  Set it up and print until 6:30 am.  Anything less, we just can't take you seriously.   

[Mike Guilbault]

lol.. the last time I tried to carry something that heavy myself was a panel to a sauna.  I need the sauna to help my back, but because I put my back out, I couldn't carry the other pieces in to set the darn thing up!!  As much as I want to try... I'll wait for help.

[Farmer]

I've carried a 4000 and a 4800 by myself.  I wouldn't recommend moving the 4900 yourself :-)

[stefano]

A helper is definitely a good idea! Congrats on the new printer, I love mine! By the way, I am still going strong on the starter inks after at least 60 feet of paper...

Happy printing!

Stefano

[Mike Guilbault]

That's encouraging Stefano... thanks!

[KeithR]

lol.. the last time I tried to carry something that heavy myself was a panel to a sauna.  I need the sauna to help my back, but because I put my back out, I couldn't carry the other pieces in to set the darn thing up!!

A great definition of Catch 22.

[Mike Guilbault]

A great definition of Catch 22.

Either that or 'irony'.

[Mike Guilbault]

Managed to find some time to set it up.  Man.. that's one honkin' big box!
Fits the stand ok... but it does shake a bit when the print head is moving back and forth.  I'll probably pick up a better stand shortly.  Going to have to rearrange my whole workstation now to make everything fit and flow.  Made a couple of quick prints, just on the Epson Premium Lustre and they looked pretty good right off the bat. Needs a little tweaking but I'll get into that when I'm back after Easter.  Speaking of Easter... everyone have a great weekend!!

[bill t.]

All the printers I have owned that came with stands have done a certain amount of hoochy-coochy dancing as the heads change direction.  I theorize this is by design to help keep the ink in the cartridges stirred up, so I have never tried to fight it.

Edit...very approximately, sitting on their manufacturer's stands the Epson 9880 and the Canon 8300 recoil about 1 or 2 mm for each head carriage reversal, which is pretty noticeable.  I try to be careful not to lean things up against the sides.  Both these printers have heavy stands that could easily have been designed to be more rigid for the same amount of materials, so I assume the flexibility is a deliberate choice.

[Mike Guilbault]

I haven't measured the 'hoochy-coochy' (how does one measure that anyway?!) but it appears to be  more like cm's not mm's.  I just wonder with all that shakin' going on, would too much affect the print quality?

[bill t.]

'hoochy-coochy' (how does one measure that anyway?!)

Can't say, but I know it when I see it!

Actually, it's like a rapidly oscillating boy-yoy-yoing at each end of travel, several small, really fast back and forth motions.  Damps down in about a second.  Think something out of a Bugs Bunny cartoon.  Doiiinnnng!!! I'm sure this must be helpful.

Buy anyway the 8300 is making the sharpest prints I have ever seen so I don't think the vibration is hurting anything, and the designers must be aware of its presence.  There's no vibration while the ink is actually being laid down, it's all at the ends of travel.

I suspect you are seeing a much more leisurely back and forth movement from that table, which would not be the same thing.  You know I'm just guessing that the vibration is intentional and a good thing, could be wrong.

[Mike Guilbault]

I think the hoochy coochy coming from the printer (I think you may have discovered a new technical term) starts the stand a-goin' and then the stand picks up it's own momentum. It's this extra hoochy cooch that I'm mostly concerned about because because the stand is still in movement between head direction changes.

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

I think Michael and Jeff may have to add another hour or so to their upcoming "Son of Camera to Print" video, devoted to measurement, analysis, and best practices of hoochy-coochy movement.