tri loc questions

[balloonguy]

Hello all,
I am thinking about adding one. Is there anyone in north FL or close(ish) that would allow me to see it in action? I really want to see how it functions in the real world.
thanks.
Matt

[whitewater]

im not close to you... but I'm a total fan... I've always had it, bought it with my auto.

[kirkwad]

Though we're up in Michigan, I can tell you it's a great tool that saves a tremendous amount of time.

When we were registering by eye we were averaging 10-20 minutes per screen in set-up time. We then went to using the Tri-Loc w/ film & carrier sheets & got down to an average of 6-12 minutes per screen. After we added our I-Image our set-up time is averaging 3-6 minutes per screen.

The most important things are making sure all your micro's are zero'd out to the same position, not letting the stop blocks hit the screen when raising the table, making sure the screens are making proper contact with the stop blocks before locking down, & not moving the table by putting pressure on the Tri-Loc pallet, but rather the arm before or after it.

[repogolfer]

The most important things are making sure all your micro's are zero'd out to the same position

I've always wondered why this was so important???   I've always thought that the screens would be in the same position regardless since the screen is hitting the 3 stops on the pallet jig and my thought was that even if the micros weren't zeroed than it should still me in the same place after they're locked.   Am I missing something?

Jon

[kirkwad]

The most important things are making sure all your micro's are zero'd out to the same position

I've always wondered why this was so important???   I've always thought that the screens would be in the same position regardless since the screen is hitting the 3 stops on the pallet jig and my thought was that even if the micros weren't zeroed than it should still me in the same place after they're locked.   Am I missing something?

Jon

If your micros on head 1 are zero'd out & your head 4 has your micros to the left, when you test print the screen in head 4 will print further to the left in relation to the print in head 1. Even if you're zero'd out on all your heads you generally have to make the slightest adjustment, but it is dramatically less than if you don't zero out all your micros.

Another tip is after you lock in all your screens, print 2 test scraps on the same cycle for your first test print & then make your adjustments off of scrap #2. This is because generally the first hit will pull the screen a little more than the second. This is because the ink isn't covered over the entire area your squeegee is hitting causing the squeegee to pull harder on areas of the screen that don't have the ink "lubricating" the pull.

[Gilligan]

The most important things are making sure all your micro's are zero'd out to the same position

I've always wondered why this was so important???   I've always thought that the screens would be in the same position regardless since the screen is hitting the 3 stops on the pallet jig and my thought was that even if the micros weren't zeroed than it should still me in the same place after they're locked.   Am I missing something?

Jon

If your micros on head 1 are zero'd out & your head 4 has your micros to the left, when you test print the screen in head 4 will print further to the left in relation to the print in head 1. Even if you're zero'd out on all your heads you generally have to make the slightest adjustment, but it is dramatically less than if you don't zero out all your micros.

Another tip is after you lock in all your screens, print 2 test scraps on the same cycle for your first test print & then make your adjustments off of scrap #2. This is because generally the first hit will pull the screen a little more than the second. This is because the ink isn't covered over the entire area your squeegee is hitting causing the squeegee to pull harder on areas of the screen that don't have the ink "lubricating" the pull.

I don't see how this can be correct with a tri-lock... unless it's bumping against the hanger or something is physically interfering with it hitting the 3 stops, it should be EXACTLY the same regardless of any differences in micros.

[Stinkhorn Press]

zeroing the micros: to my understanding: depends on your press. most, no, no difference. some, yes, needs doing (roq perhaps? mhm? something).

mine doesn't so i don't understand exactly what goes on with the presses that DO need it, but.

[repogolfer]

The most important things are making sure all your micro's are zero'd out to the same position

I've always wondered why this was so important???   I've always thought that the screens would be in the same position regardless since the screen is hitting the 3 stops on the pallet jig and my thought was that even if the micros weren't zeroed than it should still me in the same place after they're locked.   Am I missing something?

Jon

If your micros on head 1 are zero'd out & your head 4 has your micros to the left, when you test print the screen in head 4 will print further to the left in relation to the print in head 1. Even if you're zero'd out on all your heads you generally have to make the slightest adjustment, but it is dramatically less than if you don't zero out all your micros.

Another tip is after you lock in all your screens, print 2 test scraps on the same cycle for your first test print & then make your adjustments off of scrap #2. This is because generally the first hit will pull the screen a little more than the second. This is because the ink isn't covered over the entire area your squeegee is hitting causing the squeegee to pull harder on areas of the screen that don't have the ink "lubricating" the pull.

I don't see how this can be correct with a tri-lock... unless it's bumping against the hanger or something is physically interfering with it hitting the 3 stops, it should be EXACTLY the same regardless of any differences in micros.

This is how I see it to.  My thought was that the 3 stop block make the screen be in the same position on  each head regardless of where the screen holders are at the time since we don't lock them until the frame is touching the 3 points.  The right screen holder might be a little out of skew and not perfectly straight but it the frame should still be in the same place.  Not sure how it works on front/rear clamp machines but for my side clamp maching I never understood why they would need to be zeroed except if they're way out of skew then adjust may not be able to get made if your over all the way from the start.

Jon

[Frog]

perhaps zeroing the micros is just a good habit in general to allow for possibly needed adjustments in either direction on all heads.
Raise your hand if you've never run out of needed adjustment on one head, on a press without a really accurate pre-reg system.

[Doug S]

Frog, my hand is raised.  That's why I zero now.  As far as making a difference on the sportsman with registration if they aren't completely zeroed, it hasn't made a difference as long as those 3 points can touch.

[mimosatexas]

We rarely zero our micros, but we don't even use them on a good amount of jobs.  Definitely a good habit, but not needed with the triloc (at least on our Sabre).

[Gilligan]

perhaps zeroing the micros is just a good habit in general to allow for possibly needed adjustments in either direction on all heads.
Raise your hand if you've never run out of needed adjustment on one head, on a press without a really accurate pre-reg system.

Wth front and rear clamps, I just UN clamp the front and readjust to give more travel.