Has anyone here used a Action Engineering LOC Gauge?

[Printficient]

Sonny, that sounds like hell.  I think a series 1 would be off by rougly 10 times your tolerance in about 2-3 days of normal production.   Our Gauntlet's platens will be up to 1/16" out of parallel in about 3 production days.   We were paralleling every Friday and now it's every Wed and Fri. 

One thing that any of these jigs will not help with is the plane of carriage- if the carriages and print head arms are not in plane with each other across their entire linear motion or very, very close you will still have frustrations on a press with screen holder and platens in parallel.  Use a flood bar and no screen loaded to confirm that each print head is on the same plane and fix that if needed first, then get to it with keeping holders and platens in parallel.

Try one to two shifts.  That's right.  It would be out after one shift.  Of course the shift following me on the press would take out all of my Double Bevels .

[ZooCity]

I believe it.  Heck, at that tolerance, it's probably out after 3 strokes.  I would be happy with a press holding 0.02" or 1/64".

[Inkworks]

We parallel to the floodbar. It just makes way more sense than paralleling to a screen. I make 2 jigs out of .060" lexan with another piece of .010" lexan glued on top like a small step. We level all 4 corners until he floodbar just barely clears the .060" and catches the .010" step on top, which puts us less than .010" from perfect, which is plenty good enough on a press with 2.5million prints on it. The new squeegee sharpener will be here tomorrow and squeegees will be less than .002" from perfect in their holders. I'm looking to really pushing our limits in the next year, working towards all single-strokes, minimal pressure and one-hit whites.

[ZooCity]

We parallel to the floodbar. It just makes way more sense than paralleling to a screen. I make 2 jigs out of .060" lexan with another piece of .010" lexan glued on top like a small step. We level all 4 corners until he floodbar just barely clears the .060" and catches the .010" step on top, which puts us less than .010" from perfect, which is plenty good enough on a press with 2.5million prints on it. The new squeegee sharpener will be here tomorrow and squeegees will be less than .002" from perfect in their holders. I'm looking to really pushing our limits in the next year, working towards all single-strokes, minimal pressure and one-hit whites.

I like this.  Sounds quick and easy and idiot proof.  There are often a few cold ones involved with Friday maintenance time here, squinting at a metal ruler isn't ideal.

[Inkworks]

What would be ideal would be a flood bar with dial indicators on each end. Should be dead simple to fab too.

We put a dime on the prox. sensor so the choppers keep the pressure on the floodbar and you can still move the carriage back and forth.

[Action1]

What would be ideal would be a flood bar with dial indicators on each end. Should be dead simple to fab too.

We put a dime on the prox. sensor so the choppers keep the pressure on the floodbar and you can still move the carriage back and forth.

I like it - Would it look something like this?
Would you like to try it and report on your findings?

[alan802]

Several of us have made and done the dial indicator on the flood bar tool. It works great.

[ScreenFoo]

I'll see your crazy contraption and raise you one simpler--two mag bases for dial indicators, one on each end of your floodbar mount. 

Zoo--assuming you're not trying to correct a curved platen through your OC adjustment, three points will level a plane.  You tried that trick with the arms yet?  If you're re-leveling a few times a month, should be easy to schedule...   

[Inkworks]

What would be ideal would be a flood bar with dial indicators on each end. Should be dead simple to fab too.

We put a dime on the prox. sensor so the choppers keep the pressure on the floodbar and you can still move the carriage back and forth.

I like it - Would it look something like this?
Would you like to try it and report on your findings?

I'd love to. Personally I like an analogue dial indicator over digital for a purpose like this, watching a needle move as you run the squeegee over the stroke is easier than reading numbers i.m.o.

[alan802]

I'll see your crazy contraption and raise you one simpler--two mag bases for dial indicators, one on each end of your floodbar mount. 

Even better, but they'd have to start making the flood bars with something besides aluminum.

Never mind, just re-read that.  I thought you meant mounting the mags on the flood bar itself.

[inkman996]

I'll see your crazy contraption and raise you one simpler--two mag bases for dial indicators, one on each end of your floodbar mount. 

Even better, but they'd have to start making the flood bars with something besides aluminum.

Nah I think he means the square tube that the flood bar clamps against, that is made of steel.

[Action1]

I'd love to. Personally I like an analogue dial indicator over digital for a purpose like this, watching a needle move as you run the squeegee over the stroke is easier than reading numbers i.m.o.
[/quote]



Excellent!  We will make the Carriage leveling Dial Indicator assembly and supply it to you for your testing and evaluation. Please call me at 800-228-4668.

I can see us now providing a calibration Kit that includes the standard LOCP and also this new assembly.
The indicators can be moved from the LOCP to this. We shall call it the Carriage Calibration Device.

[Gilligan]

Day late and a dollar short Alan.

[alan802]

Day late and a dollar short Alan.

What do you mean?

[ZooCity]

Foo, I didn't try the trick, looked at it and pondered and spooked myself out of it, concerned I'll have to re-register.  Maybe after the move.  I really think it's the fact that there's no reinforcement below the print arm at the outer edge and those dang old school M&R platens have this short little bracket so the tooling plate is completely unsupported and just getting reefed on hard all day.  In any case the printhead itself bows upward too so it would probably just increase the issue there.

Love the mag mounted dial indicator idea- doing this!