M&R I Image STE - Installed

[DannyGruninger]

Well, our new I Image STE has been installed(today was our first day ripping screens on it) and this thing is a beast compared to our Lawson dts. Quite honestly the Lawson seems like a toy compared to this m&r unit. Prior to purchasing our lawson, we were told that the machine is basically an identical machine to the i image but having used our lawson for the last 1.5 years I must say this cannot be further from the truth. Yes both machines use the same style print heads, software platform and a few other minor things but other then that they are nowhere near the same. My analogy is similar to car manufactures, a ford might use the same goodyear tires as the ferrari but you cannot compare the two cars the slightest bit. That's how I look at these dts units between the two companies, they both have the same "tires"(print heads, etc) but other then that entirely different machines. So if anyone out there is looking at both machines, I will tell you they are NOT the same and the M&R so far is far superior. Once I get caught up with our production I will post some more information on the machine and some videos for everyone to check out. Today we ripped 78 screens and on press we setup several jobs that required 0 micro adjustments. This machine is bad to the bone as our quality is certainly going to improve over the lawson. Just excited that we are finally a 100% m&r shop so if anyone wants to come demo my unit in real life we can easily setup a time to do this. We also have the uni kote coating machine going here now as well so if anyone wants info on that I'll be happy to help.



Danny

[tancehughes]

We've had to hold off purchasing our unit for now (building reno ain't cheap!) but it's so good to hear these types of stories about the I image! Wish I was just a little closer to Colorado


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[GraphicDisorder]

Awesome man!

I am coming out there, just a matter of finding some time. 

[alan802]

Were there any reliability issues or performance problems with the Lawson or is it more along the line of manufacturing quality (more robust design and components)?  There are some things I put more emphasis on them being heavy and sturdy in design but other things can weigh 1000 pounds or 2000 and not make much of a difference.  Since I don't have any practical experience with CTS machines I don't know how those things can affect the final product (putting the design on the screen).

Hell, I'm still stuck on waterbased or wax so once I figure that one out we can move forward with all the other considerations.

[DannyGruninger]

Were there any reliability issues or performance problems with the Lawson or is it more along the line of manufacturing quality (more robust design and components)?  There are some things I put more emphasis on them being heavy and sturdy in design but other things can weigh 1000 pounds or 2000 and not make much of a difference.  Since I don't have any practical experience with CTS machines I don't know how those things can affect the final product (putting the design on the screen).

Hell, I'm still stuck on waterbased or wax so once I figure that one out we can move forward with all the other considerations.

Without really getting into too many specifics on why I think the m&r is 10 times the machine the lawson is I will point out a few differences. The actual manufacturing of the machine is not really comparable. M&R has custom machined everything for their machine with lots of thought put behind the engineering of it whereas the Lawson is basically a bolt together combination of aluminum channel stock or parts you can find at a place like grainger. The easiest way for me to put it is the M&R is purpose built and the Lawson is not(converted dtg printer)

- Our lawson could NEVER print bi direction(halftones looked like crap and the solid areas would be slightly blurry) so the lawson ran at 50% the speed of the m&r right off the bat since everything had to be printed in uni direction mode.
- Lawson uses a step drive motor to control the screen table where the m&r uses a highly precise servo motor - The m&r is much smoother operating because of this, the detail is much better/controlled.
- Lawson printer does not use a mesh support and this is a key part of the m&r machine. With the combination of the lawson step drive motor and no frame support you will get a harmonic vibration while the machine is printing potentially causing a slightly blurred halftone or a halftone not as clean. Since the m&r supports the mesh with surface loading the mesh and the super smooth servo drive motor you don't have this problem at all.....
- With the way you load a screen into the lawson it has to physically move before the screen is clamped, during this locking action the screen can slightly shift. On the m&r you avoid this all together as when you load the screen it does not have to move up or down in order to lock into place. You can clearly check to confirm all tri loc points are touching in the correct spot.
- On the lawson we were doing quite a few auto cleans in order to clear the print head, m&r we barely have to do this so we are saving way more on ink over the lawson.... due to the ink the lawson uses, you are having to clean and flush the head a bunch more then with the m&r.

The manufacturing of the m&r is far more impressive and the quality issues that we did run into with the lawson are non existent with the m&r. I've looked at almost every dts machine out there, used quite a few of them(wax and ink) and I wouldn't look toward any other machine then the i image now that I'm actually seeing it work. The guys m&r has working on them are sharp as nails so you can't beat the support which is a huge thing. Support with the other companies is almost non existent.....


I'll chime in more here later on this

[DannyGruninger]

And here's a print that we just did with our I image ste....... This job was setup on press with perfect registration in under 6 minutes total. Not one adjustment needed to be made and I can look at the registration under 20X magnification and see dot on dot registration. Nearly each and every screen that has been setup needs no adjustment. I Image is kicking some major ass for us right now.

[Underbase37]

That looks great. But I think you're prints always look kick a$$. The halftones look like they held great.

Murphy37

[Mark @ Hurricane Printing]

fantastic lookin'!

[PixelPimp]

looks good!
the STE is the version with built in LED exposure system, correct?

[Admiral]

looks good!
the STE is the version with built in LED exposure system, correct?

Yes, 'E' is for Exposure

[244]

looks good!
the STE is the version with built in LED exposure system, correct?

Yes, 'E' is for Exposure

And the I Image STE II is launching at Nashville.

[Doug S]

looks good!
the STE is the version with built in LED exposure system, correct?

Yes, 'E' is for Exposure

And the I Image STE II is launching at Nashville.

Gotta ask what does the II do that the first ste doesn't?  Just curious

[244]

looks good!
the STE is the version with built in LED exposure system, correct?

Yes, 'E' is for Exposure

And the I Image STE II is launching at Nashville.

The II is aimed toward the diazo emulsions being used for water based applications.
Gotta ask what does the II do that the first ste doesn't?  Just curious

[dirkdiggler]

I am headed there to talk about this with you 244, now it just got better!

[244]

I am headed there to talk about this with you 244, now it just got better!

want to see how it does on your emulsion? Bring some with you to the show and I will coat and burn it for you.