secrets of the tri lock

[ericheartsu]

So after using our i-image and our tri lock for a little less than a month, we still haven't nailed the no micro set up. Everything is always really close, but still takes about 10-20 mins to get perfect.

What tips can you guys share for using the tri lock and the I-image together? Other than making sure all three corners are very snug against the i-image pusher frame corners?

[Mark @ Hurricane Printing]

same problem here still...no i-image..just the tri loc....ive yet to set up a multi color job and it not have to be micro'ed on more than one color and like you im still in the 20 minute set up range for a multi color design. I print my films out on either an oyo imagesetter or an epson 3000. I have an 8/8 chameleon with side/air clamps...and nuarc msp3140 vacuum top exposure unit....so all premium pieces of equipment...and for the life of me i have yet to figure out why in two years i have yet to get spot on reg's.

(not trying to hi-jack your thread with my non i-image problem....sorry..but i want to get the tri loc comment in there..maybe someone will see it that can help me also)

I responded to similar post about a month ago and the feedback i got was, there was one thing i was NOT doing, and that was taping the back of the film to the carrier sheets and I started doing that but still no luck (everything else i was doing was exact, text book procedure).......I know this has no bearing on you since you have the i-image but im responding in more of the tri loc side of things....If a tri loc can be recalibrate somehow by M&R id gladly send it to them to be recalibrated.

[mimosatexas]

I just finished my diy triloc pallet with my inverted FPU setup (similar to Alan's) and my first two 4 color and 5 color jobs required no micros on my hand clamped kruzer...

I used a loupe when positioning the films, and I held the frames in place with an iron grip while clamping them into the press.  My press is also very accurately leveled and all frames were the same mesh count and S mesh.

Not sure if you are using different mesh counts or what kind of frames etc, but that can come into play.  I know your press is brand new, but is it possible something has shifted a bit and is out of level, or perhaps the frame is shifting slightly when you're hitting the clamp switch?

[jvanick]

something else overlooked I think might be squeegee pressure.

my theory (which I'll get to test next week as we're getting our new press and i-image installed on monday), is that if you change squeegee pressure on static (lower tension?) frames, you'll drag the screen and can pull the image out of registration.

I see this on our Javelin all the time...  get a print in perfectly, add some squeegee pressure, and you're out of register.

so that might be something you want to look at as well.

[ericheartsu]

currently as i'm typing this my press op is working on a 5 color print. white base, 4 color highlights, pretty standard butt registration spot colors.

all of our frames are between 28 and 32 newtons, and 3 of the 5 are on rollers, with the other 2 being some statics (these are actually at 22n) we had lying around. We use smiling jack squeegees, and have them straight up and down, with pressure around 35psi on each head.

We are thinking this job the base was possibly not put in our i-image correctly, but i'm not 100% on that.

[mimosatexas]

That happens to me when I print manually as well.  A white base may take more pressure than the black for example, and I will have to micro the white screen toward me a touch to register properly.

[Croft]

too much squeegee pressure with a dry squeegee no chance, I personally never touch the triloc pallet on the press. I'm not at 100% but pretty close I can set some up with no micro other times not as lucky

[mimosatexas]

are the rollers all lined up and the statics not?  That would be a pretty clear reason for a registration issue.  I'm not familiar with the i-image, but doesn't it basically have a triloc style jig with spring pins pushing the frame onto the stops?

[Croft]

I just finished my diy triloc pallet with my inverted FPU setup (similar to Alan's) and my first two 4 color and 5 color jobs required no micros on my hand clamped kruzer...

I used a loupe when positioning the films, and I held the frames in place with an iron grip while clamping them into the press.  My press is also very accurately leveled and all frames were the same mesh count and S mesh.

Not sure if you are using different mesh counts or what kind of frames etc, but that can come into play.  I know your press is brand new, but is it possible something has shifted a bit and is out of level, or perhaps the frame is shifting slightly when you're hitting the clamp switch?

lets see a pic of how you did it

[mimosatexas]

I just finished my diy triloc pallet with my inverted FPU setup (similar to Alan's) and my first two 4 color and 5 color jobs required no micros on my hand clamped kruzer...

I used a loupe when positioning the films, and I held the frames in place with an iron grip while clamping them into the press.  My press is also very accurately leveled and all frames were the same mesh count and S mesh.

Not sure if you are using different mesh counts or what kind of frames etc, but that can come into play.  I know your press is brand new, but is it possible something has shifted a bit and is out of level, or perhaps the frame is shifting slightly when you're hitting the clamp switch?

lets see a pic of how you did it

I've got two jobs I'm finishing right now and I'll take some pics, maybe even a video if I'm feeling fancy

[inkman996]

If everything is being done correctly leading up to locking the screens down then I am confident the issue is at the press. I have early on really investigated where an image lost registration, checking films screen shifting etc. What I find is it is very easy for the screen to shift just enough on lock down to cause slight reg issues. With our Tri-loc we are never out of reg side to side but always up and down. Most times I can put the palette jig back on the press and double check the screens and usually find one shifted slightly forward when locking down. With enough diligence you should be able to find where shifting is occurring, this is in no way saying Tri-loc is alright dead on but it should be dead on or close enough every time to warrant nothing but a slight micro.

[Croft]

I just finished my diy triloc pallet with my inverted FPU setup (similar to Alan's) and my first two 4 color and 5 color jobs required no micros on my hand clamped kruzer...

I used a loupe when positioning the films, and I held the frames in place with an iron grip while clamping them into the press.  My press is also very accurately leveled and all frames were the same mesh count and S mesh.

Not sure if you are using different mesh counts or what kind of frames etc, but that can come into play.  I know your press is brand new, but is it possible something has shifted a bit and is out of level, or perhaps the frame is shifting slightly when you're hitting the clamp switch?

Fancy's good

lets see a pic of how you did it

I've got two jobs I'm finishing right now and I'll take some pics, maybe even a video if I'm feeling fancy

[prozyan]

How do you spin the carousel when moving the jig from head to head?  If you spin it by pushing or pulling the jig, you can move it slightly out of registration for each head.

[DCSP John]

Hi All..

Great conversation.

We had the privilege of having Lon/Graphic Elephants on site for a week a month or so back. One of the things
that we covered was a complete tri-loc re-training for all my guys.

Things like not touching the jig when registering is huge.  Spin the wheel by pushing a pallet instead.
One really big thing was how much pressure the person registering uses when holding the screens in placing before locking the frames. To much 'pulling' on the screen can create issues. Its best to have the same person tri loc all the screens, as opposed to two people each doing a few screens. Consistency is key.

Even throwing the locking switches one at a time , a opposed to both at the same time, can make a difference. Again, all in the  method.

However, even with some great hands - there is always the human element that can create issues.
I love tri-loc. It gets us close most of the time, but we still find our selves chasing colors sometimes when trying to register jobs.

John

[Squeegie]

I have an employee that struggled for more than a few years trying to get the "dead on" print with a tri-loc set up.  She was never successful...until she truly watched me set a few jobs up...then the light went on...she was pulling really hard on the frame to pull it into the stop blocks on the jig.  So much so that she was able to move the jig.  When she started using a soft touch on the set up she too was able to get the jobs locked in and printed without micro on most jobs.

We use just enough pressure to make contact on the three blocks and nothing more.

Best of luck.