Diamond Chase Roller Frame Short Review

[alan802]

I got the chance to test drive a diamond chase roller frame recently and I thought I would share my thoughts.  I still need some additional time with it to try and bring it up to full tension but this is what I have so far.

First we'll go over the good:
Ok, now that that is over, on to the not so good.

Ok, now we can get to the bad:
I spent about 30 minutes trying to load the mesh into the frame and I finally got it done but it wasn't near as straight as I get with a newman.  Maybe with more time I could figure out a good way to load the mesh quickly and straight but I know it didn't take near as long to load my first newman as it did the diamond.  I didn't have the right tool to lock in the strips but I used something that was very functionable and I can't see how the tool could work any better or make some of the issues I had go away.  Softening the corners was not possible.  I haven't tried to tension it too much because of the lack of corner softening and maybe I'll figure out how to soften them and I can take it up to proper tension.  The frame I have is comparable to the MZX and it's heavier than the few MZX's I have. 

I don't really want to bash a product like I have but I can't really find much of anything good to say about them.  I guess the channel edges are more rounded and probably would be more delicate to the mesh but you never know.  If you compare piece by piece to the newman roller there is really nothing that I can see that is done better and aside from the channel edge there is nothing that it does that is even to the newman.  I only have about an hour with this product so maybe I should come back to this and do an update in a few days.  But for now, if you have these and make them work then good for you, they are better than statics but if I were considering new frames I can't see a scenario or price that would make me buy the chase frames over the newmans.

Now with the Hix Retens, I haven't gotten my hands on one yet but I hope to one day.

[Evo]

Tools you will need to soften the corners with these frames:

1) needle nose pliers

2) a sailor's mouth

3) a dumpster with enough room to fit all the frames

[ebscreen]

I had a couple hat frames by Diamond Chase. One of them went flying across the shop when the rods or
whatever you call those things wouldn't play nice.

[3Deep]

I have some of both, and the hix retens are nice solid frames, just a pain to keep all at one size.  The diamond rollers aren't bad at all IMHO, but those little rods are a pain to get out but so are the vinyl strips newman use other than that I don't see one being any better than the other.

D

[ScreenFoo]

IMHO, keystone strips are OK, the double 'rod' (I'm guessing this is the system Alan/3D refer to) looks like a PITA to me.

Seems to me their drawbar retens would be OK--at least then you can lock them into any press, any clamp style, no adapters, etc. 
But then again, seriously heavy compared to pretty much all the others.

So you didn't like the reverse threads on the lock nuts?  Only thing I thought sounded *possibly smart about those things...

*(not sure, never actually tried one.  Doesn't SOUND too dumb though)

[Evo]

*(not sure, never actually tried one.  Doesn't SOUND too dumb though)

Super dumb. In the short time I had a set of these truly awful frames (bought in a used equip package) I could never get used to what corner torqued in what direction, and if I was really loosening a tight nut, or if I was about to strip one out.

Newman frames TROUNCE these things. Bad.

[StuJohnston]

I have a bunch of large format draw bar and roller diamond chase frames. I will not disagree with anything that has been said, truth be told. However, if you like panels, they fit in them just as easily as a newman. Panels are less expensive for larger format frames compared to plain yardage than it is for smaller frames though.

The thing that galls me is that I have watched the official stretching demo video more than once and I see the guy softening the corners basically like you do on a newman and after trying it myself, I have to wonder how the hell they pulled it off. Though the bolt pattern isn't so hard to get used to so long as you remember that the wrench handle always goes down to loosen and up to tighten iirc.

[hoogie]

I would have to disagree also with about everything that has been said on this topic. I'm running over 80 chase frames and over 40 newmans. The main thing to keep in mind when remeshing these frames is to have them super clean on the ends where you need to soften the corners. As for keeping the mesh straight when doing it, i've never ran into that problem period, you can see if its crooked or not. Another tip, if the locking rods that your using are old and chem. soaked toss them away...get new ones from eino...just like old locking strips from newmans...new ones have an are a lot easier to get in there they flex more when using the rolling tool...Aways use the rolling tool also...as for corners i dont like using the rolling tool to soften like in there video...I use a plastic ink scraping tool cut down to 2.5"...the easiest method that i've found is work on the locking rod closest to the mesh..i put the plastic piece right on that rod and rock back and forth and you can loosen that all day long...newmans are great dont get me wrong. I like em...lol same guy had a hand in designing them both...what i dont like about my newmans when your tighting the bolts every other one tightens in the direction that you loose tension...not true with chase...there reverse thread helps keep the tension there...I dont have near the mesh breaks in the corners like i do with newmans due to knicks and such...And to top it off i Paid $5 per frames when buying over 40 of them...that makes me like em even more! unlike the $20 i pay for newmans...just my two cents worth...

[jsheridan]

ahhh..

The D chase roller frame.

They make really good picture frames to hang art around the office.

[alan802]

I would have to disagree also with about everything that has been said on this topic. I'm running over 80 chase frames and over 40 newmans. The main thing to keep in mind when remeshing these frames is to have them super clean on the ends where you need to soften the corners. As for keeping the mesh straight when doing it, i've never ran into that problem period, you can see if its crooked or not. Another tip, if the locking rods that your using are old and chem. soaked toss them away...get new ones from eino...just like old locking strips from newmans...new ones have an are a lot easier to get in there they flex more when using the rolling tool...Aways use the rolling tool also...as for corners i dont like using the rolling tool to soften like in there video...I use a plastic ink scraping tool cut down to 2.5"...the easiest method that i've found is work on the locking rod closest to the mesh..i put the plastic piece right on that rod and rock back and forth and you can loosen that all day long...newmans are great dont get me wrong. I like em...lol same guy had a hand in designing them both...what i dont like about my newmans when your tighting the bolts every other one tightens in the direction that you loose tension...not true with chase...there reverse thread helps keep the tension there...I dont have near the mesh breaks in the corners like i do with newmans due to knicks and such...And to top it off i Paid $5 per frames when buying over 40 of them...that makes me like em even more! unlike the $20 i pay for newmans...just my two cents worth...

After spending more time with the frame yesterday I'd like to know how you insure that the mesh is in straight?  I got lucky and got one pretty straight but nowhere near as straight as on a newman.  So many times when I put the bars in the channel the mesh did not load consistently down the channel and sometimes it was downright awful.  I felt like if I had one or two more hands I could deal with it better but last time I checked I only have two arms and three legs .   

[hoogie]

I would have to disagree also with about everything that has been said on this topic. I'm running over 80 chase frames and over 40 newmans. The main thing to keep in mind when remeshing these frames is to have them super clean on the ends where you need to soften the corners. As for keeping the mesh straight when doing it, i've never ran into that problem period, you can see if its crooked or not. Another tip, if the locking rods that your using are old and chem. soaked toss them away...get new ones from eino...just like old locking strips from newmans...new ones have an are a lot easier to get in there they flex more when using the rolling tool...Aways use the rolling tool also...as for corners i dont like using the rolling tool to soften like in there video...I use a plastic ink scraping tool cut down to 2.5"...the easiest method that i've found is work on the locking rod closest to the mesh..i put the plastic piece right on that rod and rock back and forth and you can loosen that all day long...newmans are great dont get me wrong. I like em...lol same guy had a hand in designing them both...what i dont like about my newmans when your tighting the bolts every other one tightens in the direction that you loose tension...not true with chase...there reverse thread helps keep the tension there...I dont have near the mesh breaks in the corners like i do with newmans due to knicks and such...And to top it off i Paid $5 per frames when buying over 40 of them...that makes me like em even more! unlike the $20 i pay for newmans...just my two cents worth...

After spending more time with the frame yesterday I'd like to know how you insure that the mesh is in straight?  I got lucky and got one pretty straight but nowhere near as straight as on a newman.  So many times when I put the bars in the channel the mesh did not load consistently down the channel and sometimes it was downright awful.  I felt like if I had one or two more hands I could deal with it better but last time I checked I only have two arms and three legs .

i just updated my profile info, sure feel free to get ahold of me...I tell ya what works for me...cell just in case 574-536-9380

[KevWilso]

Funny Alan; you sound like you had the exact same experience I did with that frame.  Once I would get the mesh straight I could not keep the locking strips in place. 

I use to have about 4 of those hix retens here; but I have no idea what happened to them.  I will look around and see if I can make them turn up.  If I find them I will give you one to play around with.  I remember stretching those and they were really easy to tension.

[Inkworks]

90% of what we use are the Hix retens. The only draw-back I find is how they change size as you tension. Aside from that they have several advantages:

Square frames allow fro easier clamping, even on a back-clamp manual.
Hollow tubes don't leak of fill with water/chemicals
End caps can't strip or have the bolts seize, they use a nut and bolt for locking, so you can always replace them
You can stand them on end, or even stack some on end without nicking the fabric as it doesn't wrap around the bar.
They stay flat without any special tables or talent.
much easier to tension.

As a side note, I do see they have stopped making them.  Glad I got what I did, when I did.

[KevWilso]

Inkworks, it is true Hix does not sell these anymore; however I believe Shur Lock bought that line from Hix so you may be able to get them through Shurlock now.  Not 100% sure they are selling them though since they have that easy to use stretch device of their own.