New Shop Setup (Supplies & Plotter)

TCT · January 29

In the process of ordering our first shipment of Tint inventory and also a Cutting machine since vynal will be up coming in the near future. I have been looking at a few machines, pretty much got it dialed down to a Graphtec FC9000, Work Horse 2 64” , and the Titan 3.

The Titan 3 caught my attention very quick on Flexfilmstore.com website where they have it setup when you spend $5,000 in store supplies you can get 60% off the Plotter (Titan 3). Would work out perfectly if I could go ahead and Stock up on and film and save major on the cutting machine. All good right?

Now comes my issue with the film, iv looked up reviews on the tint films offered from the Flexfilmstore.com site. And not to many good things I’m finding out. I wanted to see is anyone had at least 1 of their films be decent OR know of any other company offering deal packages like that. Any info would be great. Thanks

Edited January 29 by TCT
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Tintguy1980 · January 29

TCT

Flex is a minnow in a tank of sharks; a small player in industry. Be smart about your decision in the sense that there are very few that offer drastic discounts as bait.

See what other players have in terms of film supply that would fit your needs; suppliers like, SolarFX, Express, Johnson, any film from Garware (ex. Global).

Good luck.

TCT · January 29

12 minutes ago, Tintguy1980 said:

TCT

Flex is a minnow in a tank of sharks; a small player in industry. Be smart about your decision in the sense that there are very few that offer drastic discounts as bait.

See what other players have in terms of film supply that would fit your needs; suppliers like, SolarFX, Express, Johnson, any film from Garware (ex. Global).

Good luck.

Yes Sir, understood. I’m starting to see now the more and more I research. Looking at the main name brands now

Dano · January 30

Global, Llumar, 3M in that order for myself. Also you can find a used fc800/fc8600 for half or less than new. In 27yrs I've only wore out one plotter and it could have been set back up if needed. Dang things last way longer than you might be thinking. No need for new.

TCT · February 9

On 1/30/2023 at 9:20 AM, Dano said:

Global, Llumar, 3M in that order for myself. Also you can find a used fc800/fc8600 for half or less than new. In 27yrs I've only wore out one plotter and it could have been set back up if needed. Dang things last way longer than you might be thinking. No need for new.

Wanted to reach out and tell you thank you for your kind words of Advise, i did just as you told me and searched around fir a slightly used Plotter, ended up finding the exact one I wanted at an 1/8th of the price. Really saved me big time. Did cost me a 8hr drive but without sacrifice there can’t be any victories. Thanks again Dano!

Dano · February 9

👑

el38790 · April 27

Where did you get 3M? I am trying to find out if I can buy it anywhere

Tintguy1980 · April 28

If you are in the business to apply film, start here:

https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/c/films-sheeting/window/

Just know that 3M may have buying quotas to meet and they have protected territory for their dealers.

If you are Joe Public:

Either check with 3M for their dealer locator or check your local listings.

DynamicATL · May 1

On 4/27/2023 at 2:21 PM, el38790 said:

Where did you get 3M? I am trying to find out if I can buy it anywhere

You have to be a window tint shop and become a dealer for them. If you're a shop, just reach out through the 3M website. If you are a consumer, you won't be able to buy big name brand films. Dealers are not allowed to sell it. All the stuff you see sold online and eBay are fakes.