Digital BW, The Print

Hello Tom,

Welcome to the forum.  I can answer this one...

>2.I'd entertain buying an Epson 2400.  Can I get high quality color 
>and B&W from the 2400 without the risk of clogged heads in 6 months.  
>Can I use the recommended Epson inks exclusively?

I have used a 2400 for 11 months now, exclusively with the Epson K3
inks, and have yet to experience a clog.  I don't even bother doing
nozzle checks after changing ink carts.  It prints very fine BW and
color, and has been a dream machine after four years of struggle with
other systems.  It's not cheap, but the old saying "you get what you
pay for" certainly applies in this case.  It's worth every cent.

Article #9 at the link below describes an efficient BW workflow for
the 2400, and #9b describes using it with the new Silver Rag paper.

As for swapping color/BW inks on a 1280, swapping carts always
triggers a cleaning cycle which wastes a lot of ink.  So color/BW
swapping is an annoying and inconvenient chore at best, often time
consuming and potentially expensive.  In addition, the 1280 has been
notorious for getting clogs after cart swapping, requiring even more
cleaning cycles.  There may also be an issue of dye ink on the parking
pad reacting with the pigment BW ink in the head and causing nozzle
clogs (maybe someone else can clarify this).  I haven't used a 1280
myself, but a good friend of mine has been through four of them. 
Countless 1280 reports here over the years makes me think this would
not be a satisfactory approach.  It's ancient technology compared to
the 2400.

Regards,
Clayton


Info on black and white digital printing at    
http://www.cjcom.net/digiprnarts.htm