M&R Sidewinder Print Head Pics

[alan802]

Just a few pics of the print head requested on another thread.

[bimmridder]

Man, you need to clean your equipment better!

[mk162]

Just wondering, do the mesh sleeves over the springs keep them from flying off the press when one end breaks?  I got hit in the shoulder one time by a flying spring.  Not fun, 4" to one side and I wouldn't be as pretty as I am now.

[alan802]

I thought they were there to keep things from getting caught in there when the spring was stretched out then contracted.  I haven't got a clue really why they are there, but I like them.

[244]

They are retainers to prevent the spring from flying off the press in case of failure. If a spring snaps the spring will impact the sleeve taking away inertia an it will just drop in place.

[Gabe]

sweet press I`m jealous about those students are gonna be learning
on such nice manual press to say the least
those pics clears the smoke out of my head
thanks Alan
sincerely Gabe

[mk162]

I was lucky to not get hit in the face with it.  It knocked me back a few steps, that's for sure.

[inkbrigade]

I'm dying to get a chameleon or sidewinder in our shop for sampling and R&D. We don't have the space in our current shop and every time i mention getting a manual my wife wants to kill me.

[Evo]

I was lucky to not get hit in the face with it.  It knocked me back a few steps, that's for sure.

When they go, they GO. It's happened to me a couple times on older Hopkins presses. It's a cumulative stress failure too, so there is no telling when it'll happen. Since the springs are always under slight tension even when the heads all the way up, it can happen when the press isn't even being used.

One snapped on me when I was pulling ink out of a screen at the end of the day. A chunk grazed my arm and made me drop the ink bucket. Freaky.

[Evo]

Nice pics BTW Alan.

The only real difference in the SW heads vs the Chameleon is the thickness of the material used in the side clamps (alum extrusions instead of bent steel) and the Chameleon has triple springs on each side and infinitely adjustable spring tension. Otherwise it's just about identical. I have the single color press now and it's a SW head with a crazy beefy stand.


Entry level indeed.   

[ScreenFoo]

The netting is a great idea... wait till a spring end hits the fluorescent light above your head.  (the crazy thing is, we're not the only shop in town this has happened to)
Although it isn't pretty, I started wrapping electrical tape around each spring end--at the worst, they drop to the floor when they break now.


The head design looks great on that thing--simple, robust, and easy to clean.   The micros are beefy too.  From the looks of it, the Y axis micros are spring loaded--the X axis too?

[alan802]

The netting is a great idea... wait till a spring end hits the fluorescent light above your head.  (the crazy thing is, we're not the only shop in town this has happened to)
Although it isn't pretty, I started wrapping electrical tape around each spring end--at the worst, they drop to the floor when they break now.


The head design looks great on that thing--simple, robust, and easy to clean.   The micros are beefy too.  From the looks of it, the Y axis micros are spring loaded--the X axis too?

Nope, no springs on the micros.  I love being able to lock in the micros and after making an adjustment and the screen doesn't move.  How many manuals or autos for that matter have you made a micro adjustment then turn the micro locking mechanism to have the screen shift ever so slightly?

[ScreenFoo]

Being piclexic there... No spring loading for sure. 


Most of them.  Of course, a few didn't hold registration to a thirty second of an inch when I started using them...  Amazing what some people think is normal.
I haven't run across any heads that a thorough cleaning and rebuild won't fix... yet.  Of course, two of the three presses in production here are a nice shade of blue and clean up and calibrate real nice.   

[mk162]

that is a sexy press

[Evo]

Nope, no springs on the micros.  I love being able to lock in the micros and after making an adjustment and the screen doesn't move.  How many manuals or autos for that matter have you made a micro adjustment then turn the micro locking mechanism to have the screen shift ever so slightly?

That's all due to the nicely designed anti-droop setup on the heads.

Unscrew the micro lock down levers and look under the top plate, you'll see a lock nut under there. This is set to be *just* loose enough to let the micros move, but not let the head drop or shift on the lockdown bolts.

One thing to watch for, these bolts for the micro lock downs thread from underneath the head. The right side one attaches the left/right micro turnbuckle. If the bolts ever loosen over time, it may pull the locknut downward and can bind the micros. Check em a couple times a year or if the micros get stiff. If the micros develop play, grease the lockdown plates generously, tighten the locknut till it just binds the micro, then back off slightly till the micros move free.

BTW - I only ever had to do this maintenance/adjustment to the micros once in the two years I spun the Chameleon, and that was when I first bought it.