Lew I Bought the Cheapest Printer

[Smallpatch]

Canon MG 2522 cheapest we could find.. Now for the comments on its performance. This printer is on sale at Walmart for 19.00. This is the picture that is on my computer and this is what I printed out to use as a pattern to glue on to some wood. Its 34? long and clear enough to cut out with  scroll saw.

 

Cutting to the lines, which the printer provides for a person to cut off so the pages will line up for the clear tape.  8 pages for this pattern and the only ditty is holding the paper straight while taping. Can't be a nervous norvis while preforming this task.

 I have two different pictures of the clown first one I just printed out without changing size where the other I enlarged to 18" and it did make the lines a  little jerky but the scroll saw blade should have no trouble going straight down the middle, so these are acceptable..this happened on the last two printers I've used when making a very large pattern.

 

So having Rapid Resizer print anything my computer stores is okay.

 

Being cheaper it is slower at the number pages a minute it will make but hey I'm not running a race with anyone. The ink for this canon was quite a bit cheap than the HP 4640 that wore out.

 When printing for a pattern I like to do it in black and white as the lines are better to follow when sawing out and I get to save on the color ink which is cheaper but if its a colored picture it won't redo in black for there are no lines just garble de gunk.

  The bad thing about this cheap of a model printer when wanting a great picture of something in color it just doesn't do a good job. First picture I took years ago of my box of hearts.

 Then a picture of the same shot with what the new printer coughed out standing besides the computer screen with the stored picture.

  Actually the very first picture was a different shot than the second one.

So for my needing patterns from what pictures I store from the internet I think the printer is perfect and for a total of 21 bucks gets a 2 years replacement warranty....

 I always use a backer board behind the hardwood I use to make the picture out of...After I cut the outside away from the rest of the wood I then remove the backer board and continue sawing out the pieces. This
way I have something to glue all the pieces thats been carved and colored and sprayed back to the original body whether it be a clock a clown or what ever... Or like with this clown I save some wood around the pieces to be a frame then glue a piece of 1/8" to the back of the frame to glue the pieces on.

 

Did I miss something?  Yes I did. This canon 2522 does not have a slot for the photo card so I had to find  my cord I use to plug in to the camera and the puter tower to transfer the pictures to the puter.

Edited August 24, 2018 by Smallpatch

[lew]

Wow! Thank You for the great explanation of your process. It is hard to figure out how they can make a profit selling a printer at that price!

 

I think the jagged edges of the lines in the drawings are due more to the resolution of the original picture. Lower resolution (kilobytes vs. megabytes) images tend to have that characteristic when enlarged. But, as you said, it's really not a big deal when cutting the pattern.

 

Again, thanks for helping me understand your process.

[Smallpatch]

Showing off nice pictures through this printer is not good but thats  not what I do mostly.

 

The black and white stored pictures on the puter are great for patterns. I get lots of things off of Pinterest but some things who ever has fixed it so they won't transfer. I printed these out for patterns a few minutes ago.

[lew]

I found a solution to those pictures that won't download. Here's a link to a screen capture application that I have been using for a long time-

 

http://getgreenshot.org/downloads/

 

Windows has a less powerful built in  application called "Sniping Tool" and can be found in the Windows Accessories directory.

[Smallpatch]

There are always so many I can load I just don't worry about the ones I can't get. 

Most of the time I will only get one shot of a carving but with Rapid Resizer it will do a mirror image or a flip image either. This carving only had one side and I like to add the other side if I am making a clock or frame and want the same thing on each side.

  Thanks for the http:/getgreenshot.org/downloads/  probably will need that someday!!

 

 This was a very faint carving and wanted to see how the printer worked on it...and will be plenty good as a pattern...lots of time I only use parts of a carving picture. It just depends on how much space I have to fill up and how big to enlarge or reduce it to match the rest of the pieces I am using..and sometimes I just draw extentions on what I already have...Hey, the good thing about carving I have found, no one knows what the artist had in mind as to how and what is taking place... I originally started buying the pressed wood carving pieces at Hobby Lobby then tracing around them on much thicker wood so I could make my stuff more wilder if you will and some pieces I even glued extra 3/4" on top  to get really wild...

 

This was my first attempts with using the Dremel to carve about 2 years ago. And thats all I use no carving knives like real carvers do but I'm not real.. And only the same 4 bits . They don't wear out...

I use less wood doing this than any other type of wood working so I don't have to keep the road to the lumberyard hot with my tracks..

[Gene Howe]

You make the process sound so simple yet, you get such amazing results. 

[PeteM]

20 hours ago, lew said:

 It is hard to figure out how they can make a profit selling a printer at that price!

They don't.  In fact, I suspect the "affordable loss on sale" is a carefully calibrated figure.  Follow the money:  ink.  The danger of course is that at $19 you don't buy ink, you just buy a new printer!

[Dadio]

Exactly! that is why I went to the most expensive printer I could afford. I had a room full of cheap printers and different ink cartridges that only fit certain printers. Next one, if there is one will be a laser printer in color, they are coming down in price.

Herb

[Gene Howe]

13 minutes ago, Dadio said:

Exactly! that is why I went to the most expensive printer I could afford. I had a room full of cheap printers and different ink cartridges that only fit certain printers. Next one, if there is one will be a laser printer in color, they are coming down in price.

Herb

We have a Brother laser printer. B&W only. It'll run 20K sheets on one toner cartridge. But, they cost $56 per. I looked for a color Brother and they'll run the same number...but, couldn't decipher how to check the prices on the toner. It looks like you have to buy each color separately. The printer I was looking at was around $250.

I'd rather have $250 worth of mesquite.

Edited August 25, 2018 by Gene Howe

[Smallpatch]

I really think that is why I posted this thing about a cheap printer....I think you guys seem to be in the thought if its more expensive then by golly its got to be better... 

Yes that 19.00 came with ink cartridges. 

The one I retired was a HP 4640. It used # 60 Hp cartridges..  any time the cartridge ends in XL whether canon or HP it is more expensive  for there is way more ink and one doesn't have to by as often. By the number of copies the regular will turn out about a third less compared to the XL cartridge, it will save money so always buy the XL's....  I did compare the HP4640 inks with the new canon MG 2522 and we have been paying about twice what the canon ink cost... We didn't think ink when we bought the HP4640 we just figured all inks were for the same price category would be the same... Wrong, but it does take a little experience then one should remember things like that...

  Can someone tell me why a home that the owner does woodworking as a hobby or a full time job as a wood worker needs a lazer printer or a wireless or or a printer that will copy a page in .02 of a second compared to 10 seconds or hold a whole sleeve of paper? I didn't include shops that have 37 employees cause I don't know any one person wood shops that have that many employees. I am almost certain no one at home has the floor models that take up half a room in space but I almost bet some of you have thought why didn't I get the one that cost 1000 more than the one I bought???? I can brag to my buddies on how stupid I am...

 We don't have a land line so if you don't have one and and don't plan on getting a land line why go for the more expensive model that includes the fax ??

  I know, go ahead and ask me if I would rather drive a Rolls every day to the grocery store than a chevy and I'll include you with the nuts I know around here! And besides that my wife drives to the store by her self. She says she is confident and competent enough to be on her own and besides that she pumps her own gas, so there..and she knows how to cook.

[Smallpatch]

Okay, I've calmed now so I will tell what is not good about the 19.00 printer!!. It will not make good crisp photos equal to what I have on the computer screen that came from Pinterest or somewhere on the computer...But I don't take photos around trying to drum up business, I would rather for the customer to come to my place and see for themselves in person. I like a person to run their hands across my finish job then see the grin and a smirk at the same time form on the face...Pictures only get them partly in the door then if what you have built is poorly constructed with that ruff sandpaper feel they might be leaving with just that smirk never to return again...

  Up at the top of this post is what I run through the printer off of my pictures I save for all kinds of places.. and Gene one time was trying to explain to someone how he does a reverse or a mirror image with tracing paper or clear paper or something and I was thinking to my self that is kinda out dated for when I get a carving off the internet it is usually just one side but Rapid Resizer has a little button to push and it will have the printer shoot out a mirror image of that carving,,,,  no extra charge..

  So for guys wanting to start carving with a Dremel this 19.00 is perfect for them or an experienced dude who think he already knows how to carve but don't.....

Edited August 25, 2018 by Smallpatch

[lew]

If you never print color (which I do not), an "inexpensive" monochrome laser printer (black and white) is a little cheaper per page to print. Although you pay more for the toner cartridge up front, you get many more printed pages from that single purchase. 

 

We have a place here in town that will refill most inkjet cartridges a lot cheaper than buying a new one. Going that route, inkjet printing is less expensive. 

 

I used to print a lot of photographs for Mimi. That is until I discovered I can log on to the local WalMart store and have them print the photo in an hour for as little as 9¢ apiece! My color inkjet printer hasn't been turned on in a year.

[PeteM]

13 hours ago, lew said:

If you never print color (which I do not), an "inexpensive" monochrome laser printer (black and white) is a little cheaper per page to print. Although you pay more for the toner cartridge up front, you get many more printed pages from that single purchase. 

About 3 years ago, I had it with ink jets (the ink dried up faster than I used it), bought a $100 (Brother) b/w laser printer.  A cartridge lasts me a couple years, which makes the cost irrelevant.  Once in these 3 years I wanted something with color, went to local print ship, paid like $3 for the color copy.  Theory that I'd not need color turned out correct.  I don't print pics, I send via email.  Albums now on computer, thumbdrive.  I've been through 4 versions of desktop displays for wife, but she never uses them.   Current plan:  keep all the megs of images on various media, give to daughter just before I die.  Solved.

[Dadio]

I am very happy with my HP printer and have had a lot of printers over the years and to me the HP's are the best ink jets. They have the most ink in their cartridges too in my opinion. I have tried the aftermarket cartridges and had bad luck with all.  I like the all in ones printers as I scan a lot of documents and e-mail them. don't use the fax,but  do a lot of scanning,copying  and printing. I like the wireless setup too, I can set the printer anywhere ,even in the other room and print off my computer. When the adult kids moved in with me a few years ago, we used one printer for computers in 3 different rooms.

The price of ink is what it is, there is a lot that goes into making those cartridges besides filling them with ink. And forget the off shore recycled ones . Half of them come back empty, some the electronic parts don't work.

The only reason I might like a laser better is the permanency of the ink, not fading or smearing.

I don't use mine to make prints to work off in the shop, only to print out a picture to look at to work off. I never do any enlarged prints to scale like you folks do.

 

Herb

Edited August 26, 2018 by Dadio