The Hot Rod Gauntlet Thread

[TCT]

Good luck man!  You will get your practice setting up on that job!
Honestly, on our first press I HATED setting things up,  it took me forever! I bet it was close to two years of having it until I felt comfortable setting What's the password for the computer here? Now I didn't print that much so I didn't get a lot of practice, the guys that were printing picked it up kinda fast. But I learned on s manual and that was all I knew.
Stick to it,  you will be doing to with your eyes closed in no time!

[TCT]

Good luck man!  You will get your practice setting up on that job!
Honestly, on our first press I HATED setting things up,  it took me forever! I bet it was close to two years of having it until I felt comfortable setting What's the password for the computer here? Now I didn't print that much so I didn't get a lot of practice, the guys that were printing picked it up kinda fast. But I learned on s manual and that was all I knew.
Stick to it,  you will be doing to with your eyes closed in no time!

[cbjamel]

What year Gauntlet, so older one didn't work with triloc. Rich (244) can tell you for sure. My 97 I thought will fit the triloc.
Shane

[Prosperi-Tees]

Ours is a 97 as well, Rich said it wouldn't work well on our machines because of platen deflection

[JBLUE]

Manual revolver lol. I am having some growing pains actually. The print was a golden yellow on navy. I initially had an underbase screen in head one choked back 1 pt and the top color in head 8. I got it lined up but the spread of the top color looked horrible where it fell off the underbase. I tried adjusting pressures and angles and just gave up and put the top color in head 1 and sent it around twice. I hated it but the print came out nice after I added some dulling paste to the yellow.

1 pt is way too much if the press is dialed. I run .35- .5 at most. I hate the halo with an all out passion. I hate the base peeking out even more. Just like thick ink it looks crappy. Other than pallet flex that machine will print just as good as any new machine out there. Speed wise it is old but as far as print quality I would put my old Challenger up against any machine any day. Someone wanna bet a Challenger 3 on it........

The machine only knows how to pull the squeegee not set up the job. Take care of the machine and it will take care of you.

[244]

Ours is a 97 as well, Rich said it wouldn't work well on our machines because of platen deflection

a little confusion here. The Tri-Loc won't work on series one presses due to flex in the front screen holder. The pallet has nothing to do with it. There was no TriLoc in those years and the deflection of the holders was not an issue. Just a FYI.

[broadway]

Ahh I just finished printing 150 pieces PFP and realized I need to round the edges of the squeegees.

I would also tape the bottom of the screen with 2 inch painters tape. I tape the front and back where the  squeegee stops and starts  and also the end of the rounded blades on the sides. Round all blade edges even if they are double bevel. My print/flood you can not adjust, so it is consistant on all the screens. You will eventually see a nice ink haze mark where the squeegee stops and starts.

[JBLUE]

Ours is a 97 as well, Rich said it wouldn't work well on our machines because of platen deflection

a little confusion here. The Tri-Loc won't work on series one presses due to flex in the front screen holder. The pallet has nothing to do with it. There was no TriLoc in those years and the deflection of the holders was not an issue. Just a FYI.

Here is a little trick I noticed on ours. Using a waterbase resistant emulsion that has silicon in it has reduced that flex a little bit due to less friction on the squeegee to screen contact area.

[ZooCity]

Ours is a 97 as well, Rich said it wouldn't work well on our machines because of platen deflection

a little confusion here. The Tri-Loc won't work on series one presses due to flex in the front screen holder. The pallet has nothing to do with it. There was no TriLoc in those years and the deflection of the holders was not an issue. Just a FYI.

Here is a little trick I noticed on ours. Using a waterbase resistant emulsion that has silicon in it has reduced that flex a little bit due to less friction on the squeegee to screen contact area.

Bringo!  I was just mulling over with my printer what else we can do to get better with our Gauntlet and I brought up a low rz emulsion as one thing that could help.  What emulsion are you using?  We're about to trial run a couple new ones in here.  Any little thing we can do to minimize this issue is huge.

As far as tri-lock/pre-reg not working on the series 1 presses, they do "work", as in you can use a pin-lock or tri-lock system on these presses and it will be dead nuts on every now and then but mostly just close.  Both the outer edge of the print arm and the outer edge of the platen deflect, up and down respectively like an alligator opening it's jaws.  Unless your blade pressure and a few other factors are identical screen to screen, this is going to frustrate an attempt to get that sweet "lock and load" that's achievable with good pre-reg systems on presses with less deflection.  It's more like "lock and groan" sometimes but some days it's right on the money, strike off and go.  I would still highly recommend any type pre-alignment setup, even a basic one, to keep you from burning art high or low on screens.

[JBLUE]

Ours is a 97 as well, Rich said it wouldn't work well on our machines because of platen deflection

a little confusion here. The Tri-Loc won't work on series one presses due to flex in the front screen holder. The pallet has nothing to do with it. There was no TriLoc in those years and the deflection of the holders was not an issue. Just a FYI.

Here is a little trick I noticed on ours. Using a waterbase resistant emulsion that has silicon in it has reduced that flex a little bit due to less friction on the squeegee to screen contact area.

Bringo!  I was just mulling over with my printer what else we can do to get better with our Gauntlet and I brought up a low rz emulsion as one thing that could help.  What emulsion are you using?  We're about to trial run a couple new ones in here.  Any little thing we can do to minimize this issue is huge.

As far as tri-lock/pre-reg not working on the series 1 presses, they do "work", as in you can use a pin-lock or tri-lock system on these presses and it will be dead nuts on every now and then but mostly just close.  Both the outer edge of the print arm and the outer edge of the platen deflect, up and down respectively like an alligator opening it's jaws.  Unless your blade pressure and a few other factors are identical screen to screen, this is going to frustrate an attempt to get that sweet "lock and load" that's achievable with good pre-reg systems on presses with less deflection.  It's more like "lock and groan" sometimes but some days it's right on the money, strike off and go.  I would still highly recommend any type pre-alignment setup, even a basic one, to keep you from burning art high or low on screens.

Kiwo One coat is what I have been using. Slick as snot. It is like non stick coating. I am going to keep using it with plastisol. Exposes super fast without diazo.

[ZooCity]

Ah, we used to run Kiwo One.  Great emulsion but too soft for wb/dc inks in my opinion.  I did really appreciate how flexible the emulsion was, no cracking on the sq edges like with Aquasol.

The Polycol Z from them was the crazy slickest emulsion I've ever used.  Like printing hot butter on smooth sheet of teflon.  It's a dual cure with excellent resolution but took to darn long to expose for me at the time.  Shooting 2up now, I'm looking at diazo again.

[JBLUE]

I just got a couple gallons of their new one they formulated for the newer WB inks. The newer inks are starting to add solvents and its attacking more than ever. The new one is Versa-Tek Plus. Crazy high solids. Fast exposure too like the one coat. I am going to try it out on some screens this afternoon. Plus its pink so that makes me happy......lol

[ZooCity]

Let us know how it works out.

[JBLUE]

Let us know how it works out.

25 screens are coated and drying. Will be testing first thing in the morning.

[Printficient]

This is the second thread bemoaning the length of exposure.  i ask why.  One should not be exposing and printing the same screen on the same day.  i.e. shoot screen on Monday, put on press Wednesday.  I know there are times when re-shots are necessary.  Only one that I can think of and that is a ripped screen on press.  All other screen issues should be solved long before press.  What I am saying is that scheduling is the most important and most overlooked issue in shops.  I would not be concerned in the least if it took my screen person a day to get a screen right as I did not need it for at least two and sometimes three days.  A quick emulsion is sometimes the worst thing you can have.  You should choose your emulsion based on your exposure unit, ink, and trouble shooting skills.  Pick one that holds up to the ink and gives you a window to adjust for film deviations.  Getting off my soap box now.  Have a great weekend.