• Printers
  • Canon PIXMA MG5520 (Discontinued Model)
  • Brother MFC-J6930DW
  • Canon Color imageCLASS LBP622Cdw
• Cutting Machines
  • Silhouette Portrait 2
  • Silhouette Cameo 3
• Other Supplies

Printers

I use 3 printers in my daily job stream for making reproductions. Each have their own purpose, which I'll talk about here.

Canon PIXMA MG5520 (Discontinued Model)

Price: $100, purchased in 2014.

Purchase Link:    Unavailable

Purpose:

General printing. Used for game labels, covers, manuals, and anything else requiring 8.5 x 11" media. This was my first printer and still works well, although it's been delegated as a backup printer when my others are down. The reason for this is due to ink color matching when doing CMYK prints, and its slower speed. Some colors appear duller than my other printers, although they are still great quality.

Brother MFC-J6930DW

Price: $279, purchased in 2018

Purchase Link:    Amazon

Purpose:

Any printing on 8.5 x 11" or 11 x 17" media. Primarily used for labels, manuals, and boxes. I keep Tray 1 loaded with inkpress printable vinyl (labels/stickers) and Tray 2 loaded with Red River #1515 paper (insert covers). The rear tray I keep loaded with 11 x 17" 100lb Card Stock for boxes. This printer is still my primary go to when I'm in my workshop, although some of the tasks I've moved to my laser printer.

Canon Color imageCLASS LBP622Cdw

Price: $203.98, purchased in 2019

Purchase Link:     Amazon

Purpose: 

Any printing on 8.5 x 11" media. I have used this for game labels, cover inserts, and manuals. It cannot handle thicker media like card stock, but the print quality is unparalleled when I compare the results with my other printers. Ink is very expensive for this printer, so expect to spend $110 for OEM ink in high capacity. Do not use 3rd party ink, as the quality greatly suffers (and usually fails when doing duplex printing).

Cutting Machines

I have used two cutting machines to great success, but I primarily only use a single machine.

Silhouette Portrait 2

Price: $107.77, purchased in 2017

Purchase Link:    Amazon

Purpose:

Cutting of labels and stickers. It has some restrictions in that it can only use 8.5x11" media, and you must use the auto-alignment feature. The downside is the auto-alignment takes about a half inch away from the printable area on all sides of the document, making it tough to use for anything other than labels and stickers.

Silhouette Cameo 3

Price: $429.02, Purchased in 2017

Purchase Link:     Amazon

Purpose:

Cutting of labels, stickers, boxes, vinyl decals, etc. Able to handle any media up to 12x24". It also supports an automatic adjusting blade, as well as the older ratchet blades. Recommended to use auto-alignment, but isn't always required if you align everything properly on the feeding tray. I also use the 12x24" cutting mat (~$20 each).

Other Supplies