Anyone own a Riley Roq manual press?

[Prosperi-Tees]

Any of you ROQ owners or otherwise own one of these?

[Shanarchy]

Really good idea by Ryonet, but I'm keeping my Legend.

[Frog]

Really good idea by Ryonet, but I'm keeping my Legend.

Sounds like they're trying to keep up with the Jones's (M&R), and offering a single pallet solution across the manual to auto spectrum.
I'll say that with them starting at $7000, they better be pretty nice!

[Shanarchy]

Really good idea by Ryonet, but I'm keeping my Legend.

Sounds like they're trying to keep up with the Jones's (M&R), and offering a single pallet solution across the manual to auto spectrum.
I'll say that with them starting at $7000, they better be pretty nice!

I noticed that too. The price was much higher than I expected.

[Nation03]

Been intrigued by these myself. Look pretty nice, just wish they would ditch the bolt registration gate. It would have to be really really nice for me to give up on my Legend as well. But hey, if I get an sroque in the shop one day I'd consider it.

[Prosperi-Tees]

Been intrigued by these myself. Look pretty nice, just wish they would ditch the bolt registration gate. It would have to be really really nice for me to give up on my Legend as well. But hey, if I get an sroque in the shop one day I'd consider it.

This was my concern as well. I think the Antec gate seems to be the best with Anatol and M&R gates coming in second and the rest third.

[Frog]

Been intrigued by these myself. Look pretty nice, just wish they would ditch the bolt registration gate. It would have to be really really nice for me to give up on my Legend as well. But hey, if I get an sroque in the shop one day I'd consider it.

Yep, that's the point, or aimed at folks looking at a manual press now and hope to step up to a compatible auto in the future.

[ZooCity]

I was going to suggest they do a retrofit option for other style presses so the platen arms/brackets are s.roque but the rest is you brand of choice.

[Nation03]

I was going to suggest they do a retrofit option for other style presses so the platen arms/brackets are s.roque but the rest is you brand of choice.

That would be nice. Antec stepped up and added an adapter for M&R style platens which is nice, and understandable since it is probably the most popular style pallet out there. Maybe action engineering will make an adapter one day. I see they're offering honeycomb pallets now for all brands, might pull the trigger on a set of those since my pallets are banged up pretty bad.

[ZooCity]

Yeah, integration is key.  You don't want duplicate sets of specialty platens in the shop if you can avoid it.

Having been around the s.roque platen system I think an adapter of some type would be doable. 

Agree that this is a great concept from Ryonet but I also don't care for the hopkins style machines v. the other styles, I really like side and air clamps and bearing/keel reg, but that's the brand they sell so it makes perfect sense. 

[Nation03]

I had a Riley Hopkins a few years back. It was alright, but compared to printing on the legend it felt kind of like a toy. I will say that it looks like they made some decent improvements since I owned one, but I don't think it would justify me spending 7 grand on one unless I really knew I was going to get an s.roque. I also found out there is a supply store the next town over from me that is an Anatol dealer (Shrieks), so I'm wondering if that would be a decent purchase since I'll have tech support locally, so they say.

Zoo, are you still using a Thunder?

[Prosperi-Tees]

What about the Ranar Elite Series? YouTube has a few videos up on it and it looks pretty solid and doesn't use the nylon bolt reg

[Evo]

Sidewinder with all the options stomps all over that thing for $7k. You can get a 6/4 with side clamps AND air clamps for that price. The Sidewinder is what a Hopkins press wishes it could be when it grows up.

[Evo]

Critical detail - the side clamp option on the RileyROQ can't handle 23x31 screens. ( )If you are looking for a press to handle auto size screens and be truly compatible for sampling and production, this is a deal breaker. Back clamps and auto size screens on a Hopkins press just sucks. Side clamps and a pre-reg system are a must for reliable registration and sampling from manual to auto.

[Evo]

Note: I worked with Hopkins presses for years. They do invoke some nostalgia. The sacrificial nylon bolts used on the reg gates aren't the worst thing, if you know how to maintain them. Just make sure they are all equally snug but not binding and check once or twice a month for play.