American Tempo - stroke length.

[ZooCity]

A little puzzled at the front stroke travel on our Tempo, pics attached.

First pic is the back, with the stroke length adjusted all the way back- a respectable 3" from the flood.   

Next two are side and birdseye of the front of the screen. It has room up there in the front to go further but I don't know how to teach it to shuttle the carriage all the way to the front when flooding instead of hanging out 7" back and wasting all that real estate.  I say 7" back because that's where the flood bar stops, hence the furthest forward I can image. 

All in all I lose 10" per frame, front to back.  Not terrible but the difference in the front is frustrating and requires you to use longer screens when they aren't really needed. 

Pic shows carriage jogged to the point where it has just flipped the flood up and blade down and vice versa on the back stroke pic. 

eb, you got one of these right? 

[ebscreen]

Had one and your measurements are correct, though I always counted it closer to 6" than 7" for the front, you can
adjust angle of floodbar to get an extra 1/2" or so, sometimes.

Nearly all American/M&R etc. equipment uses those specs. Gotta fit the bulk of the carriage somewhere, eh?
My MHM's need 9" or so, so it ain't that bad.

[ZooCity]

yeah, I was prepared for it, or so I thought, but was no where close on my film placement on the screens, live and learn and reclaim and coat a bunch of big ass screens all over again.  ha.

I'm printing a roughly 17x23 print on there and though it would be easy as pie with that big image area and the big screens but it turns out only the very biggest screens I have are big enough to print that format size and requires careful planning.

9" on MHM?  geez. 

[ebscreen]

yeah, I was prepared for it, or so I thought, but was no where close on my film placement on the screens, live and learn and reclaim and coat a bunch of big ass screens all over again.  ha.

I'm printing a roughly 17x23 print on there and though it would be easy as pie with that big image area and the big screens but it turns out only the very biggest screens I have are big enough to print that format size and requires careful planning.

Both very common issues. Two suggestions that left me a bit of sanity.

First is a layout board. As simple as two backstops and a template with print boundaries.

Second is getting at least a few screens at the max size your press can handle.

[ZooCity]

Great advice.  Def building the layout grid but haven't had time yet.  I want to make a combo light table / layout / film alignment board and use the double side tape method for the flatstock screens.

And yeah, I wound up with a set of those Diamond Chase draw bar frames which I have, let's say, mixed feelings about.  They could be fine if I can fit shurloc panels into them, but anyway... most are 32x32 which clearly isn't going to work for printing the format size I'm looking to do.  I see an order of statics in the largest overall size the press can print in my future.  I'd rather have one size for the lot of 'em, even if we are printing smaller.  Sounds silly but eliminates a lot of flustercluck situations.  We can always coat with a smaller coater for smaller format jobs.

[Frog]

Great advice.  Def building the layout grid but haven't had time yet.  I want to make a combo light table / layout / film alignment board and use the double side tape method for the flatstock screens.

I use a light table with stops and a position grid for layout and film positioning, but don't bother with double stick tape. I just use regular scotch tape on the underside of the film facing up.

[ZooCity]

Great advice.  Def building the layout grid but haven't had time yet.  I want to make a combo light table / layout / film alignment board and use the double side tape method for the flatstock screens.

I use a light table with stops and a position grid for layout and film positioning, but don't bother with double stick tape. I just use regular scotch tape on the underside of the film facing up.

I like the sound of that.  I buy us the scotch tape in a blue box that's "removable".  It grabs on just long enough to shoot the screen and pulls of off the film, carrier and stencil without any hassle.