Who has the best bang for the buck in autos?

[Screened Gear]

The MHM program prints when you load and unload it just stops when finished. Then when you say another group it will start printing on round one when you are unloading finished shirts and loading blank shirts. I wouldn't use it if it just waited. That can't be right about the M&R program, what a waist.

As far as speed the time is not cut in half. The second round prints really fast. You are not loading and unloading shirts on the second round so it just prints at full speed with no delays.

[alan802]

Isn't this type of discussion fun?   I could literally talk autos all day long.  I sometimes feel that I should get into the machinery side of the business.  I'm not a sales person though, and I don't have an engineering degree so that doesn't leave much for me to really contribute.  I like the idea of maybe getting into doing setups, or working on them in some capacity but I wouldn't be able to travel until the little guy gets a bit older.  He's simply too much to handle with just one parent for more than a day or two.

[Nation03]

I don't even have an auto and I can talk about them all day. I'm like a kid in a toy store with threads like these.

[GraphicDisorder]

Love threads like these too.  I really love our press and all autos, even the shitty ones.  LOL

[Prosperi-Tees]

How about Anatol? Being almost the cheapest of the bunch. I really like the way they are progressing but I keep hearing that they are not built as heavy as others.

[David005]

Man ,had my auto installed on Tuesday last week and I couldn't happier paying that finance payment. Had older presses but touches this thing. M&r 10/12 sportsman ex. Setups a breeze - coming from an 1988 gauntlet 6 color - heaven

[Nation03]

Lets see some pics dave!

[RICK STEFANICK]

I missed something. who was unloading everything in revolver mode? once you hit the switch you unload then load immediatly..it never misses a beat. alan, i am forced to do the manual revolver thing now but come on, its so much easier to program it in a minute or two and let it roll if you have it available.

[Homer]

Man ,had my auto installed on Tuesday last week and I couldn't happier paying that finance payment. Had older presses but touches this thing. M&r 10/12 sportsman ex. Setups a breeze - coming from an 1988 gauntlet 6 color - heaven

I'll be joining you, I have a '94 6/8. going to a 10/12. I can not wait.

[alan802]

I missed something. who was unloading everything in revolver mode? once you hit the switch you unload then load immediatly..it never misses a beat. alan, i am forced to do the manual revolver thing now but come on, its so much easier to program it in a minute or two and let it roll if you have it available.

I totally agree with you that I'd run the program over manually doing it.  I just said that I wouldn't look for that feature in a press that I was buying because I am so experienced in running it manually.

And on your first question, I was at a local shop visiting and saw their press op unloading all the shirts after the 3rd (yes, that's right, 3rd revolution on a 6 color job, 8 color press) revolution and completely emptying the pallets before he began loading the next round.  He had a stack of about 300 shirts and I was thinking to myself, it's going to take him 4 hours to do that stack of shirts.  I kept my mouth shut because they are the competition after all, and if it takes our competition 4 hours to do 300 shirts, that's good for us.

[alan802]

How about Anatol? Being almost the cheapest of the bunch. I really like the way they are progressing but I keep hearing that they are not built as heavy as others.

Are you trying to get me wound up and on the anatol owner's bad side?  I'm kidding, they are a fine machine, they just fell out of favor with me as a company more so than the machine.  As far as it being not as heavily built as others, I can for sure say the stratus is not as robust as our machine and significantly lighter overall weight but when it comes down to it, does a heavy press mean it's a good press?  Yes and no in my opinion.  I expect my press to be engineered for heavy workloads in the areas that are under the most stress.  When I look at some of the anatols, I see areas where I'd like to see more to it, but let's face it, I'm not a mechanical engineer and I don't know if the machine is barely going to pass a load or stress test or if it's going to pass with plenty to spare. There are definately areas where I'd expect my auto to be built stout and other areas where I can see brut strength really wouldn't matter.  It's kind of like using a sledge hammer to put in a finishing nail, sometimes a 10 oz hammer is plenty enough to do the job.  These guys designing these things could build them to withstand a fall from a 10 story building if they wanted to, or use chopper cylinders that are 100 times stronger than the ones we use now, but somewhere you have to draw the line and find a balance that will make the press perform for what it is that we do.  Which is slapping ink on dumbass tshirts.   

[IntegrityShirts]

I'm guessing Anatol would have the best bang for buck press in today's market.  P-tex might be a contender, though I've never priced one out fully installed like I have from Anatol.  I'd say the weakest points on most of the presses made today is anything made from plastic on them lol.  Squeegee/Flood speed knobs, clamps etc.  As far as build quality goes, I don't think Alan is discrediting them for possibly not having the thickness of steel that the RPM has, mainly because he follows that with stating that he doesn't know if it has any adverse effects in printing on the machines or longevity.

I think it's safe to assume, given the polled answers, that if Anatol had a problem holding registration or being able to print day-in day-out, there'd be a lot more people posting in a fit of rage about their presses not working.  In my experience with my machine, it is more than robust enough to keep on truckin' every day.  Now, I will say that it did have worn out choppers when I got it, but there was also no known history of the machine and how many impressions they had seen, and the oiler was empty.  The barbs/air line fittings on the screen locks leave a little to be desired as they do leave after the tubing on them gets old, but you just snip a 1/4" off and push them back on and they good to go again.

[blue moon]

If I can just put things in perspective here quickly. It is my opinion and probably Alan's and almost every body else's here, that all of those manufacturers make a pretty decent product. They all hold registration and will print few hundred shirts per hour. All of them have sufficiently good enough tech support. For everyday jobs, they all are 95% alike! The difference we are talking about here is not their ability to perform the everyday tasks, as they all do just fine, but rather the last 5%. Where one brand might have a one in a 1000 failure, another might have one in 10000. MHM (since that is the one I am familiar with) takes one min to change the plattens and and Anatol or M&R take two or so. We are nitpicking as that is what we like to talk about, but the reality is every single one of us here would gladly take any one of those new automatic presses as an upgrade from a manual and be absolutely ecstatic about it! The issues are so few and far in between. . . 

pierre

[Prosperi-Tees]

As I print more on the 1996 Javelin I have I can quickly see how some of the new mordern features as simple as screen air clamps and a better micro system would save me tons of time so Pierre is correct almost any new press would be awesome coming from a manual or an old auto.

[GraphicDisorder]

I think most options out there will get it done.  But I do think there is something you give up with each and every one of them.  Some its money, some its a feature(s), some its support/service, and so on.  My goal was to find the one that had the best balance.  I felt M&R did that for me. 

I don't look down on anyone for buying any brand of press, they all print.  At the end of the day they will all make you stacks of cash.  I barely used my press compared to most of you, and ive made a grip of money with it for a 2 person shop that prints 1-2 days a week.  Beats a manual hands down and easily pays for itself. 

Look at it another way.  We can all get from A to B in a Kia.  Why is it most of us drive something else?  The Kia is a cheap car, right? 

Same applies here.  Make your choice and make money with it.