Evolution of my setup

[PhilR]

Back when I started nearly everything I had was DIY. Made my own press, squeegees, exposure setup... I'd make my own screens from plywood & stretch them with a large Newman frame. Here's some old pics I found. The first is my initial attempt to make a line-table style press. This quickly proved a pain in the arse to use so I built a rotary version instead. I used that press for well over a year. Got through a lot of prints with it.  Used it in conjunction with a cheap flash dryer and a heat press for print curing.

Now I have a Roger Jennings 6/4 press, BBC BlackFlash and a Vastex EC-1 dryer so I've moved up quite a bit since then. Still using my DIY vacuum-lid exposure table though. I have a huge Dainippon 4kW halide exposure system in storage but I need to upgrade my workshop electrics before I can get it running. Can't wait for that, screen exposure is so low and noisy with the DIY table...

[tpitman]

From the looks of that rotary press, looks like you got yourself some woodworking chops . . .

[Frog]

Yep, and please don't take offense at my mentions of termite-proofing as a common equipment subject on another certain t-shirt forum, LOL!

[PhilR]

From the looks of that rotary press, looks like you got yourself some woodworking chops . . .

Eh, nothing special. I'm a sucker for working stuff out on the fly as well rather than making proper plans. A decent mitre saw takes a lot of the work out of it. I made a few changes to it over time. I replaced the pin bar & platen arms with steel box section so I could have adjustable platens.

Yep, and please don't take offense at my mentions of termite-proofing as a common equipment subject on another certain t-shirt forum, LOL!

Fortunately we don't really get termites in the UK. Woodworm maybe. :p

I kinda miss that press in a way. Registration was stupidly simple and technically I now have less colours at my disposal. Don't miss having to carry the screens about by hand though.

[ZooCity]

That is rad Phil.  Tell us more about your table printing experience.  This has always interested me for printing fabric yardage in medium runs, at a volume between spoonflower one off's and big time runs.   I think years ago I saw a picture of a shop in E. Asia that had a crazy long print table to do cut pieces, front panels of Ts, and they flashed it all in one pass with an overhead moving propane heater.  We so often get stuck in thinking that the only way to do this is on a rotary setup with a single head flash but that's a fairly new adaptation compared to table printing.   

[PhilR]

I haven't lost my DIY urges with commercial equipment however. On my RJennings press I made my own aluminium pallets, and recently made my own blatant rip-off of the Action Engineering neck tag printing pallet (please don't sue me AA. Your stuff is neat but you don't make it RJ compatible and I can't afford an M&R). I also fitted my press with a full set of side clamp assemblies made by Ryonet for their Silver Press. They're actually pretty well made and have made my life a lot easier when setting up prints. I hardly ever touch my micro adjusters since installing them.

A few pics below. Including the exposure system which is currently in bits stored all over the place until I can install a high current line into my prep workshop/office. Damn thing has a starting surge current of 41 amps! And a running draw of 20a. Won't be running that off the ring main I think! It's actually a platemaker. But I've figured out how to convert the bed section to allow for screen frames.

[PhilR]

That is rad Phil.  Tell us more about your table printing experience.  This has always interested me for printing fabric yardage in medium runs, at a volume between spoonflower one off's and big time runs.   I think years ago I saw a picture of a shop in E. Asia that had a crazy long print table to do cut pieces, front panels of Ts, and they flashed it all in one pass with an overhead moving propane heater.  We so often get stuck in thinking that the only way to do this is on a rotary setup with a single head flash but that's a fairly new adaptation compared to table printing.

I didn't stick with the table layout for long really, but I did keep the 3-point pin registration system for my rotary build. It's such a simple method and it lets you get into detailed multi-colour work without much investment in equipment.

[3Deep]

Phil if your like me it's fun building stuff and you love it until you buy new, my first press was made from wood and I stored as long as I could before the wife said toss it we need the room.  Looks like you know what your doing with the wood, your press looks awesome!!

Darryl