Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work. - Thomas Edison
Do you alternate the direction your coating on the single side (rotate the screen 180 degrees) or just keep it the same direction and coat again?
Perhaps the rotating and coating the opposite direction is to help even out possible inconsistencies at the beginning and end of the stroke.This would also explain why an automatic coater (or Alan, lol) might not benefit from this technique.
I have been doing a 2/1 with the sharp side and a really slow coat. Have been getting really good stencils. Close to an acceptable white on dark thru a 160, probably would have been good on a 110.
I don't want to disappoint about the monster max, but it's probably not going to do much for you. It's easier to hold and handle, it's got some fancy stuff about it, but it doesn't do anything but give a very slightly better stencil consistency and I may be dreaming on that.