Manual Press Advice

[ericheartsu]

So out of the blue a 4/6 Kruzer was offered to us for a super cheap price. It's 4 months old and the owner has to sell it asap.

We were on the fence about buying an M&R manual, as we currently have an 8/8 Antec Legend press, and a TON of plattens for it, and found out recently that they make attachments for newman frames (aka side clamps), and M&R pallets.

If we took the Kruzer, we'd probably sell our Antec, which is a 2007, and in really great condition.

But i'm on the fence about it. What's a smart move? We are slowly moving over to all team blue with all of our new purchases, but I'm hesitant as it is an entry level press, compared to the antec that we have.

What do you guys think would be best? If we upgrade the antec it'll cost roughly $2k-$3k in attachments.

[jvanick]

is there a reason why you'd get rid of your other press? 

I can see a lot of times it would be nice to have 2 presses set up at the same time.

Also, with your current press being a 8 color, wouldn't dropping down to a 6 color/4 station kinda be a downgrade?

[tonypep]

I talk to a lot of people and haven't spoken with Eric in a while but I think I have his floor plan here. Don't think he has room and he has one or two autos for the multi color stuff.
Could be wrong

[ericheartsu]

Room is one reason, the other being we don't really use our manual press that often. When we do it's for small one color jobs, or small locations like neck labels, or for non traditional items like transfers or neck tags.

With a new 12/14 auto on the way i see us using it even less honestly.

My other thought is, having an M&R manual will make the system flow a little bit better, and that's why we were going to convert our antec over to accept M&R plattens

[jvanick]

on that note...

if you're going more and more 'blue', and are planning on getting a triloc system, I think the kruzer would be a great choice.

if you have aluminum platens on your antec, you might be be able to get new brackets....

[tonypep]

So.................Kruzer my vote

[ericheartsu]

on that note...

if you're going more and more 'blue', and are planning on getting a triloc system, I think the kruzer would be a great choice.

if you have aluminum platens on your antec, you might be be able to get new brackets....

Trilock is here, just waiting for the new press to be able to use it right! Also our I-image doesn't print our manual frames that we use (they'd require a smaller pusher frame), so we have to switch over to 23x31 frames.

[kingscreen]

We just picked up a Kruzer and it's nearly identical, in my opinion, to the quality of our Sidewinder. The Kruzer is exceptional for what M&R calls "entry level". I think that's quite humble of them.
You may want to consider if you'll be effected by going from an 8 color to a 6.

[ericheartsu]

going from a 8 to a 6 is one of our biggest considerations, but we only ever do 8 color jobs on the manual maybe 4-5 times a year, when the auto is down, or if it's sample. The new auto shouldn't be down as much as our current, and the trilock on the auto will allow us to run a sample if it's a big enough job!

[cbjamel]

The nice thing with team blue product is the same boards fit auto as well as manual. To me unless you print that many color on the manual then I wouldn't worry about it. If you print some 6 color or 8 color on the manual yes then reconsider.
Shane

[jvanick]

so we have to switch over to 23x31 frames.

The benefits of having all 23x31 frames, along with screens burned that can go on any press at any time are huge.

IMHO, that was one of best unexpected benefits of getting our Kruzer.  Now if I need to run a job on the manual that I was originally planning on putting on the auto, nothing has to be changed.  We even have the platens set up on the manual the same as the auto, so we don't have to even think any different when loading shirts.

[Shanarchy]

I'm in the same spot. I have an 8-8 Anatol Thunder. I'm considering selling it and getting an M&R Kruzer 6-4. I already have pallet compatibility with the auto, but only have a 2500 sq ft shop so the space saving would be nice. Although I do love the Anatol micros.

What's the footprint on the Kruzer?


Kingscreen, you're really not seeing a difference between your Kruzer and Sidewinder?

[Orion]

I would say go with the Kruzer, but you may want to check the pallet size. According to M/R specs for the Kruzer pallets are 15X16.

[blue moon]

also, if I am not mistaken, Kruzer does not work with Triloc. Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong.

pierre

[bulldog]

also, if I am not mistaken, Kruzer does not work with Triloc. Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong.

pierre

It works, it does not work with the Starlight 2331 maybe you were thinking?

From mrprint.com:

M&R’s System Integration design allows Kruzer to integrate seamlessly with the easy-to-use Tri-Loc Rapid Registration System, the industry’s most efficient way to set up and register screens on both manual and automatic screen printing presses.