Squeegee Sharpener

[farmboygraphics]

Thoughts on this https://www.advancedscreenprintsupply.com/product2502.html.
Also, how many sharpen or just replace? My volume is no where near some of you, so when
both sides get dull I just replace. Not sure how long it would take to get my ROI back on this.

[tonypep]

Opinions definitely vary on this but I would replace blades. Do the math and you'll probably agree.

[Admiral]

We sharpen a couple of times a year.  Replace when half an inch or more is gone (roughly). 

[CBCB]

Opinions definitely vary on this but I would replace blades. Do the math and you'll probably agree.

What is your math?

Can you switch a blade quicker than throwing it on sharpener?

[bimmridder]

I can! But we do both.

[tonypep]

To do it correctly on a diamond bit, usually three sets of passes, Coarse, medium, fine. And you need to do it slowly IMO. Takes too long. Don't need press ops doing this for sure.... thats where my math lies. Press downtime. Slap a new blade in and go is how I always roll. Plus that 2K tag plus shipping is a hard nut to swallow for a small, med shop. When I ran the larger shops w/ 8+ presses and we had a maintenance dept then, well sure, cycle them through and sharpen as needed. The M&R quip clip or whatever, allows you to switch blades in seconds. Again not bad Investment for a mulitiple auto shop.
Also part of the math....144" roll of squeegee = btwn $120/$170. (nine 16" blades,about $10. ea)

[Rockers]

Many years ago we considered buying a squeegee sharpener. But for 2K + shipping I can buy boatloads of very good squeegee rubbers on Alibaba.com, which we did. And I don`t have another piece of equipment standing around that`s barely been used. Changing a squeegee blade doesn`t take much time either.

[CBCB]

Many years ago we considered buying a squeegee sharpener. But for 2K + shipping I can buy boatloads of very good squeegee rubbers on Alibaba.com, which we did. And I don`t have another piece of equipment standing around that`s barely been used. Changing a squeegee blade doesn`t take much time either.

Now this is some logic I can get behind, and that I haven’t heard before.

I use a belt sander style one we got for cheap from an old sign shop. And the top is a table with our white ink area with a drill press and the 5ers/quarts. So that is not really accessible to another shop to just find a used squeegee sharpener.

The ROI is gunna be the simplest logic but how much is a non-Alibaba roll these days? I used to buy a lot of rolls for a baby shop before we had the sharpener. For a one-auto shop it’s gotta be less than like two years.

Really good points.

[tonypep]

Using my supplier, costs for a dual durometer squeegee (bought in rolls) $2,000 buys enough material for 105 (16") squeegees. So you can use that for your math if you like. Also factor in how often you need new (or sharpened) blades which will vary quite a bit depending on multiple variables.

[1964GN]

I have never understood why you would want to sharpen squeegees for an auto press. I wouldn't want 40 squeegees all at different heights

[tonypep]

True enough, especially for those huge shops who record squeegee parameters for all process/sim process orders for repeatability. Durometer/speed/angle/pressure, etc.

[ebscreen]

We have a professional type unit complete with diamond nub to dress the wheel.

I have never been able to do anything with it but burn rubber. We now use it to round corners.


Does anyone flip rubber to a new edge? The thought is always tempting but by the time you've got
the old rubber out and the holder cleaned we always just replace it.

[Doug S]

We flip the squeegees and use the unused part.  The only disadvantage is the grooves left where it was clamped.  They are a little harder to clean.

[CBCB]

We flip the squeegees and use the unused part.  The only disadvantage is the grooves left where it was clamped.  They are a little harder to clean.

I do the same thing with my undies to get four uses out of them.

I speculated the squeegee height thing for consistency too but in the end I figured we are adjusting for different garments all the time anyway so the savings would be kinda small?

[Rockers]

We flip the squeegees and use the unused part.  The only disadvantage is the grooves left where it was clamped.  They are a little harder to clean.

I speculated the squeegee height thing for consistency too but in the end I figured we are adjusting for different garments all the time anyway

I don't follow, what are you adjusting based on garment type?