Dot Metrix printer for stencils

Has anyone here got any experience using a dot metrix printer for printing stencils? I heard it could be a cheap alternative

I have used one, they do work, they dont always give a crisp thin outline, depends on how many dpi you set it on, mine is an old Epson LQ300+ I hand draw all mine these days.

Thanks dude...i saw one up for sale locally for around $60 it's an epson LQ570+
Did you run yours through any specific program or were you able to just plug it inot your pc/mac and print without any issues?

I just plugged mine in, works on windows vista, 7, XP and 8.1, I think I had to download a new driver from the epson website, also mine has a serial port so I purchased a serial port to usb lead and it works fine on my 8.1.

I got hold of one recently, part of a job lot, I think an Epsom lq470. Tried to run it through a Mac ... No chance! No drivers available. I ended up dumping it...literally.

If you take anything from this, check out how the seller last ran the printer, what OS and what version of the OS and if drivers are available etc.

Whippet wrote:I got hold of one recently, part of a job lot, I think an Epsom lq470. Tried to run it through a Mac ... No chance! No drivers available. I ended up dumping it...literally.

If you take anything from this, check out how the seller last ran the printer, what OS and what version of the OS and if drivers are available etc.

This is what i feared, he was running it from an old version of windows... looks like i'll keep hand drawing for now, i guess it's all good practice for the final piece

I use a chinese thermal copier which works fine, and as I'm only practising right now I'm getting through a fair few stencils.

However, there's a lot to be said for 'learning' the design as you handmake a stencil. I never had a stencil transfer machine before so all my stencils were hand drawn.