screen printing > Equipment
Automatics...
Homer:
We bought used BUT - like most, I suggest to buy new for the reasons of: tech support aka " how the fk do I work this thing?!", installation, have a problem? they will fix it, latest and greatest technology, you will print faster, less set up time, all the bugs are worked out from the older machines, less down time, faster & better print speed, new parallel pallets, better toys -flashes, pneumatic squeegie holders all that fun stuff, longer ownership life out of the machine. . .
we went used, cash money -done- just to get into an automatic , now I know or have a better idea of what we really need. We have a 6 color, I think I may go jump Alan on a dark street and snag his 10 color because that is ideal. anything under 8 for us now -would be kinda pushing it. Monthly payment of 2k, what's that, maybe 2 -3 jobs, Terri is right, when you go auto, the flood gates will open, I don't know why but it did for us too. I guess you have more time marketing or something. . .
Northland:
I've had both used and new..... nothing but new in the future.
alan802:
I'd like to give you some features that I think are very valuable to have on any press you choose. Air activated squeegee and floodbar locks, as well as air activated screen locks. Those 2 features have saved us so much time during setups it's ridiculous. I couldn't imaging having to manually lock sq and fb's and screens now that we've done it with the flip of a switch for a few years.
Some printers might not care what kind of functionality that is available on each printhead, but I have some very strong opinions on this subject. I think having too many functions at the end of the printhead could very well have a negative affect on the setup process, but our press has more than the average press and it's been awesome to have. In the beginning, it was overwhelming to have all those buttons staring at you, but after just a few days, I was punching those buttons like it was a keyboard and I started to really appreciate all of the functions there. I think our press could do without a couple of the buttons on the printhead panel and you wouldn't lose anything, but for the most part, I use every single one of them. I'm certainly not dogging any press that is lacking in this department, but I personally prefer to have too many functions there than not enough. I think if you have test print, independent sq and fb speed, table up/down, indexing or at least free-wheel mode and sq/fb/screen locks then that is enough, but anything more than that can be a plus, but too many can also hinder the printer. Our press has a digital value set for most all of the print parameters which I find valuable, but it's not one of those things we couldn't live without. It's very nice to have and I'm a huge fan of those features. Those digital readouts really come in handy on tough jobs, I'll write down all those numbers so that when we print that job again, it's all right there on the job folder and is easily duplicated down to the minute details.
I think having a squeegee pressure regulator and gauge for each printhead to control the downward pressure the chopper cylinders is a must have, almost as valuable to me as having AC printheads and a servo indexer. We are constantly changing squeegee pressure within the chopper cylinders along with raising and lowering the squeegee to further dial in your print pressure. It's really nice to have that much control over the print pressure, and can make the difference in printing on top of the shirt or in the shirt.
The last feature that I would hate to not have is the tool-less squeegee/floodbar angle adjustments. Our old press required an allen wrench to loosen 2 bolts per squeegee to change the angle, our new press has 2 kip levers and it's done in seconds without tools. I'm one of those guys who changes print angle all the time and I hated having to carry an allen wrench around with me.
CENTRAL OFF CONTACT!, love it, will never go without it on a press ever again, unless it's a challenger III that has individual tool-less off contact adjustment. I'm not sure how other presses accomplish moving central off contact but ours is done with the pushing of a few buttons and it's sssssssssoooooooooooo valuable to have the ability to change the OC, it's another feature we use multiple times per day. Some shirts are thicker than others, tote bags and sweatshirts require a significantly different OC distance. Make sure the press you buy has this feature, and that it has a significant distance that it can move as well. A press that has central OC but it only has 1/16" of total movement isn't going to be as versatile as a press that has .5" or so of OC movement.
I'm sure I'll think of more things to add to this thread. Did I mention that I love talking automatics?
whitewater:
RThanks Alan for taking the time to write that up!
I really don't have a clue but with this info it will help me a great deal!
Thanks
alan802:
I forgot to mention getting a pre-registration system with your auto. There are pros and cons to them but I think the fact that most every big time shop uses them vouches for their value. People get by without them, and even we do from time to time, but if used properly, there is no faster way to set up multi-colored jobs. Some arguments against them are valid, and it's true that you'll spend much more time aligning film to screen, but several minutes extra in the pre-press process is nothing compared to the time you'll save on setups. That was the hardest thing to explain to my screen guy. He just continued to argue that it takes way longer to put the film on but if 5 minutes extra will save 10 minutes at some point down the line, it's more than worth it. Now multiply that over every setup over the entire year and you'll see some significant time/money savings.
If you are handy with fabricating stuff, you can build a regi system for under $100. I made a ghetto system and it has worked very well for quite some time now. I've contemplated buying a used tri-loc for a few months now to see if we can benefit more with a professionally built system.
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