Anyone have an American Arrow multiprinter?

[StuJohnston]

I managed to pick one up a while ago and haven't used it much as I am just starting to do the shirts. I got it for a song, but as you may imagine it's in pretty rough shape. One of the things that didn't concern me too much until I had to do a multicolor job was the micros. I had mistakenly assumed that the locking part would operate with no effect on the registration. Boy was I wrong. In the end, I had to use percussive adjustment to get final registration worked out.

What I am hoping to find out is if I am missing parts. Actually I am relatively certain that I am missing something like washers other small parts for some reason that I can fathom. I will take a few pictures of what mine look like in hopes that someone can identify what is missing. If possible, it would be awesome to see what a functioning micro on one of these presses looks like.

As an aside, coming from presses where you move the substrate to match the screen, trying to register with the screen moving is pretty disorienting.

[Frog]

As an aside, coming from presses where you move the substrate to match the screen, trying to register with the screen moving is pretty disorienting.

Just a few hours ago, I was pointing that difference out to my wife at the show in Long Beach. MHM and I guess SRoque owners will probably say that's the way that "real" presses work, LOL!

[ol man]

Could you explain the difference in the way an m&r style press registrates versus the mhm or sroque...i guess i have always assumed one would move the screen to match the previous color.  Or am i totally misreading this?

[Frog]

I assumed that Stu was talking about the shirt boards remaining on their plane and the screens coming down rather than the boards coming up to "meet" the screens.
But maybe I'm the one missing itl.

[ol man]

i will agree that mhm and sroque are far superior int hat regard

[StuJohnston]

It's true, Frog. The screens move up and down rather than the plattens, but that wasn't what I was referring to. On most, perhaps all, single head flatstock presses, the micros are on the table and the screen stays in the same place. Whereas on most if not all textile presses, the screens have to match the position of the last one. When you are drying in between colors and printing the next color with the same press, you don't need the screen to match the position of the last one.

Multicolor flatstock presses notwithstanding.

If you take a look at this Saturn, you'll see the witness gauges and micros are mounted on the table.

[Printhouse]

Take some pics of your micro set up.  I have been learning a lot about the multiprinter while working on my rototex auto.

[StuJohnston]

Ok, I am finally going to be back on this horse again. Later today I will put up some pics or vids depending on how easy it is to edit the video down. I have taken one of the micros apart and cleaned it up and I am about to start on the rest now that I have a better idea of what to do.

To answer my own question btw, I am pretty sure that I am not missing parts, its just that the previous owners took pretty poor care of this machine. Pretty sure I just need to put the knobs closer to the threads and lock them in. I think that they had previously slid back and no one bothered to readjust them.

Printhouse, where are the micros on the Rototex? If they are in the same place as they are on my machine, then that could be frustrating.

[StuJohnston]

I hope multiposting is ok, I have news! I have been taking some pictures of the disassembly, cleaning and reassembly of the micros that I will put up later. For now I will just post this. Look at what you missed out on ZooCity! Are those frame hold downs OEM or are they "custom"? It looks like it's set up to put the sliding hold downs on the L-bracket due to the notch in the center.

[StuJohnston]

For those curious about what the inside of an american arrow multiprinter micro looks like, here it be. The shot of the inside shows that there weren't any nylon washers in this particular micro. I didn't know this until I took a second micro apart. The second micro's washers were about to fall off, so I am going to pick up replacements and change all of them.

The way it works is a bit more crude than I was hoping, but what can ya do! At least I think I have all the parts and know how it works! The crude bit is the part where the frame mount slides on the y-axis bar. I can't tighten that too much or it won't move under the power of the spring, but if I don't tighten it enough, I end up with considerable slack when I try to move the y-axis.

[RICK STEFANICK]

I think your going to have to accept the fact that the micros are the micros on those older American presses.  They never worked we'll when they were new. Your required to loosen the screen on the far side so they move the screen evenly. We would just take a little extra time lining up and kept a hammer handy to tap it in.   I like those old presses don't get me wrong but act like it has no micros. If you really want to repair them though. Contact Rick fuque at rpm,He developed a micro system for that exact press that works very well.

[StuJohnston]

Thanks for the suggestion on contacting Rick Fuque. I am curious what he came up with. You know, I saw some threads that were about how various auto presses worked and it looks like the RPM presses have a similar looking setup. I can't imagine that the innards are the same, but the knobs are in the same place.

The main reason that I am taking them apart is to clean all the dust and felt off and they are simple enough to do that without worry of losing parts or damaging anything. I just figured I would replace what's broken while I'm at it.

My main issue was with the locking mechanism moving the micros. I am pretty sure I have that part worked out, but if it is still bad, I am no stranger to adjustment with a hammer. I used to true mandrels on a lathe with a deadblow and a 0.015"  dial indicator.