Iron or Stampinator

[Logowear]

I have a Roq You 9/10 with 2 flashes and an Action roller screen.
I feel it take me so long to load that the ink cools and doesn't get rolled properly.
I'm thinking a Roq Iron or Stampinator may be better suited for my single load/unload setup.
What are your preferences and pros/cons for each of these?
I was told you could do foil with the Stampinator. I've recently been asked if I can do foil.

[ericheartsu]

stampinator. we have one on ever press.

BUT, you need to check with ROQ, as there are some issues with them being on YOU presses.

doing foil with the stampinator is possible, but def. takes time to work out how to do it right. as well as possibly having to upgrade your pallets to rubber top.

[zanegun08]

We have both a stampinator and a hot head.

My press operators seam to like the hot head better, but I think that the stampinator is more effective.

One thing, with the stampinator if going on hoodies it won't work great at least on a M&R press as it comes down uneven on the garment as it's offset but the hood. 

So in that instance the hot head is better since you can control the length of the stroke.

We had early issues with the stampinator and it losing heat in a run, however we were using it to cure the under base, which you can't do with the hot head.  I think that is mostly remedied now, as well as you could throw a flash in front of it and use it in the head after.

Having both is the best option, but if I had to choose one I'm for the stampinator, I think if you are a business owner and not an employee like me, there are a lot of creative uses for it, however getting my coworkers to think outside the box just doesn't quite happen.

I'd like to use it to apply inside neck labels, ask Eric to send you a video of his "RapidStamper" it's rad, that's what I want, I also like to use it near the end of a print run to smooth the print before it goes through a dryer, not just for the bases.

One thing though as far as heat, if you are loading slowly, a lot of the heat should come from your pallets so although it may not be as hot from the top you should have a good temperature coming from the bottom which you are pressing the ink against.  However a roller is like a fraction of a second of direct contact, a hot head is like 1.5 second, and a stamper is like 6 seconds or however long you want to set it.  So you'll get a much better smooth surface from a stampinator as it's more time, and more solid direct down pressure than a moving tool across a surface.

I'd get way more if my coworkers would use them more, and they weren't some effin expensive, I think I could get China to make them for a fraction of the cost.  The patent is on the springs in it, M&R used to make them I-kiss, it's not rocket science, why the rocket ship price?

[ericheartsu]

We have both a stampinator and a hot head.

My press operators seam to like the hot head better, but I think that the stampinator is more effective.

One thing, with the stampinator if going on hoodies it won't work great at least on a M&R press as it comes down uneven on the garment as it's offset but the hood. 

So in that instance the hot head is better since you can control the length of the stroke.

We had early issues with the stampinator and it losing heat in a run, however we were using it to cure the under base, which you can't do with the hot head.  I think that is mostly remedied now, as well as you could throw a flash in front of it and use it in the head after.

Having both is the best option, but if I had to choose one I'm for the stampinator, I think if you are a business owner and not an employee like me, there are a lot of creative uses for it, however getting my coworkers to think outside the box just doesn't quite happen.

I'd like to use it to apply inside neck labels, ask Eric to send you a video of his "RapidStamper" it's rad, that's what I want, I also like to use it near the end of a print run to smooth the print before it goes through a dryer, not just for the bases.

One thing though as far as heat, if you are loading slowly, a lot of the heat should come from your pallets so although it may not be as hot from the top you should have a good temperature coming from the bottom which you are pressing the ink against.  However a roller is like a fraction of a second of direct contact, a hot head is like 1.5 second, and a stamper is like 6 seconds or however long you want to set it.  So you'll get a much better smooth surface from a stampinator as it's more time, and more solid direct down pressure than a moving tool across a surface.

I'd get way more if my coworkers would use them more, and they weren't some effin expensive, I think I could get China to make them for a fraction of the cost.  The patent is on the springs in it, M&R used to make them I-kiss, it's not rocket science, why the rocket ship price?

you can use the stampinator for transfers too. That's actually super cool. It is, like foil, hard to learn how to do it correctly, and takes some mcguyvering.

[Hemi]

Does the stampinator leave noticable impression marks on the garment? I've seen some photos of the shirts on press after being stamped and you can clearly see the shape from the heating element just like you could get from an actual heat press. Which it's basically the same thing right?

[Logowear]

We have both a stampinator and a hot head.

My press operators seam to like the hot head better, but I think that the stampinator is more effective.

One thing, with the stampinator if going on hoodies it won't work great at least on a M&R press as it comes down uneven on the garment as it's offset but the hood. 

I didn't even think about the pocket on the hoodie making it an uneven surface! Possibly a special pallet for that. More $$
In that case, an iron may be the best choice. Hoodies are my main reason for the Iron or Stampinator.

Do you still need to flash with the Stampinator? I was led to believe that you didn't or maybe just an option when you need to.
I know that a few M&R guys swear by the Hot Head. Is the Roq Iron the same or a just similar?

[ericheartsu]

We have both a stampinator and a hot head.

My press operators seam to like the hot head better, but I think that the stampinator is more effective.

One thing, with the stampinator if going on hoodies it won't work great at least on a M&R press as it comes down uneven on the garment as it's offset but the hood. 

I didn't even think about the pocket on the hoodie making it an uneven surface! Possibly a special pallet for that. More $$
In that case, an iron may be the best choice. Hoodies are my main reason for the Iron or Stampinator.

Do you still need to flash with the Stampinator? I was led to believe that you didn't or maybe just an option when you need to.
I know that a few M&R guys swear by the Hot Head. Is the Roq Iron the same or a just similar?

this is my argument for the stampinator:
-It is a roller and a flash in one unit.

that's it, game over!

[TCT]

this is my argument for the stampinator:
-It is a roller and a flash in one unit.

that's it, game over!

Pretty much! We have not touched our iron since we got the stampanator. In fact if someone want to buy a ROQ Iron I'd be happy to sell ours.

We found that especially with like a sponge fleece garment the Iron would sometime move the garment a bit, this could be minimized with less pressure and some screwing around, but you can take all those things out of the equation if you use the Stampinator.

[Nation03]

So you can stamp wet ink to flash it and it won't stick or  blur the image?

[ericheartsu]

So you can stamp wet ink to flash it and it won't stick or  blur the image?

correct.

[Logowear]

this is my argument for the stampinator:
-It is a roller and a flash in one unit.

that's it, game over!

Pretty much! We have not touched our iron since we got the stampanator. In fact if someone want to buy a ROQ Iron I'd be happy to sell ours.

We found that especially with like a sponge fleece garment the Iron would sometime move the garment a bit, this could be minimized with less pressure and some screwing around, but you can take all those things out of the equation if you use the Stampinator.

TCT...How do you go about using the Stampinator on fleece hoodies with the pocket?
I'm quoting a job now that has 200 sponge fleece hoodies.

[Croft]

Does this really work as advertised? had never seen it before .  what are the limitations other than fleece?

[TCT]

this is my argument for the stampinator:
-It is a roller and a flash in one unit.

that's it, game over!

Pretty much! We have not touched our iron since we got the stampanator. In fact if someone want to buy a ROQ Iron I'd be happy to sell ours.

We found that especially with like a sponge fleece garment the Iron would sometime move the garment a bit, this could be minimized with less pressure and some screwing around, but you can take all those things out of the equation if you use the Stampinator.

TCT...How do you go about using the Stampinator on fleece hoodies with the pocket?
I'm quoting a job now that has 200 sponge fleece hoodies.

SAME. We have a unwritten policy here, if you don't NEED to change something, DON'T!!! That being said when using the stampinator we don't use a TON of pressure. Just enough to cure/flatten. Think of it like backing pressure off your squeegee until the ink just clears the screen. If you were really concerned about it, you could just raise the rear off contact a hint also probably...

We are not probably the best to ask about this though as 97% of all fleece we print is Independent and we don't print plastisol on them.

[Homer]

bumping this up.

Where did you end up on this? I'm more interested in the stampenator -however I see Brown makes the Anaconda, similar idea for a lot less coin and it would be adjustable print stroke on our presses.

[zanegun08]

Brown makes the Anaconda, similar idea for a lot less coin and it would be adjustable print stroke on our presses.

This is the same idea is an M&R Hot Head which you can get both with a heated roller or iron, or ROQ Iron.  These work decent as smoothing screens, but need to be added after a flash and not used for curing of the ink.  This can also push the garment / print or put creases into fabrics, probably less with a roller than the iron.  The way they are showing it on the brown site it is moving so fast in the video I would bet it had no noticeable effect on the print.

Nothing can beat straight downward pressure, consistent heat, and time in smoothing and gelling of a base.  An inline heat press can also be used at the end of a run to flatten and par cure all the colors. 

Using an inline heat press on a printing press to apply transfers is kind of a gimmick in my opinion since you have to do so much modification to the press to get the pressure, I recommend getting a real dual station heat press or automatic heat press. 

For hoodies, I would still recommend using a flash, and then pressing, it won't have as good of an effect due to pockets and zippers but it will still work.  Though on a hoody a little more hand isn't as big of a deal in my opinion due to the garment being thick anyhow.  Also plastisol, and especially poly inks that have some puff or blowing agent, even if pressed inline, when ran through a dryer to cure will raise back up some, which is why a post press in this case is superior but a second labor step.

In line heat press is one of the greatest tools for printing when used correctly, it's not a one tool fits all applications but for majority of apparel can really improve your prints, but it's often advertised in gimmicky ways, or operators don't use them since they don't really understand the benefits.