EZGrip Squeegee Handle

[Prosperi-Tees]

That's a good question. Is this strictly for print pullers? I do both push and pull depending on how I feel that day.

[TheEZGrip.com Squeegee 2 Ergo Upright Handles]

For those of you that liked the prototype pictures, here is the ORIGINAL CONCEPT. It started with the idea to have what we thought would be an overhead bar that the operator would hold when printing.

When we tried it, it simply fell in the direction we pulled it. A miserable failure.

Then, as we started disassembling it, we removed the top handle bar (by the way, we were going to named it "The HandleBar Squeegee", clever hey), it was then we developed the idea to bend the brackets that supported the top bar, and hold them instead of the top bar. Bingo, TheEZGrip was born.

See, we ain't has smart as you thought, pure luck. Pure dumb luck. What I give us credit for is doing something about it. I'm sure others have thought of the same idea, it's so simple, but never went so far as to make one like ours. We spent a lot of money making the mold and putting this together to have the part that we offer today.

I've used TheEZGrip to print over 15,000 shirts so I know it works and works good.

In any event, this forum has been a blast. It's been my first opportunity  to connect with other printers who have never even seen anything like this.

In giving away some free parts I sure hope to get some REAL opinions, not just mine to convince everyone this is a better mouse trap. How does the old saying go "TRY IT YOU'LL LIKE IT"

[TheEZGrip.com Squeegee 2 Ergo Upright Handles]

Frog is better at this then I am, so here is the after picture to the previous post.

link to video   http://www.theezgrip.com/video-demo.html

[TheEZGrip.com Squeegee 2 Ergo Upright Handles]

Screenxpress

That an honorable jester. Thanks for your support.

[Full-SpectrumSeparator]

I would like to accept the offer and give an honest review.

I work full-time printing manually, 40 hours a week, and run into all sorts of situations where I need to adjust angles and pressures and although I was a major fan of the push-stroke for a while, I have found some drawbacks to the method I was using for push that don't seem to justify me using it anymore, as it doesn't pass my quality standards for a professional print result.     I am very open to something that would bring back the upper-arm vs. hand/wrist strain as I found the push-stroke to be much easier on my hands and wrists and arms as well, but the way I was doing it seemed to create smearing in the push direction over time that would cause issues, as well as not having full control in printing a low-angle (high-angle when pushing with the squeegee the same direction as a pull-stroke, but I have seen others doing a push-stroke with the squeegee reversed and holding from the sides which is basically a pull-stroke in reverse... this was not the push-stroke I was using and familiar with and preferred... but maybe it is just an incorrect push stroke method and thats why it causes those issues) --- for example I cannot have good control when using a high-angle push-stroke to try and lay down a thick layer of ink quickly over a flashed first print, and through trial and error and being open to learning all the techniques, I have gotten through the strain of shifting to full-time pull-stroke and really appreciate all the extra control and being capable of printing in the versatile ways needed.

I would love to try out the EZ grip squeegee and see if it can still achieve the various angles and pressures needed for full-time printing of a variety of designs, garments, color and flash methods, inks etc... there are a lot of variables to consider.   It would not have worked on a job today for one reason... left-chest on v-necks and I decided not to waste time doing build-ups and just printing with the small left-chest squeegee at an angle towards the v.    I could still see the EZ grip squeegee being used on a left-chest design but I think it would really slow the printing down compared to using a small-size left-chest squeegee, but perhaps speed would come with familiarity.   Another issue is that you have the squeegee with the pegs laying in the screen, whereas often there will be large designs and ink towards the back of the screen, not just around the image, and the handles/pegs are wider it seems then the screen-clamps, so if I try to set it back against the screen will it just fall off the edges/roll out of the back of the screen, or still be able to rest against the clamps after a stroke... like how does this squeegee stay in the screen when you lift it back up?   

All that being said however,  what if the EZ grip actually gives me more control doing either pull stroke OR push-stroke and I can prevent ink-smear while still getting angle variations needed for different types of ink-deposit?    With the added features of less strain physically and no screws to hold the squeegee (we already use aluminum handles so you can use all 4 edges of the blade, but this would make it so you dont have to screw anything in to tighten the blade down)...   but really there are so many variables to consider,  and you're not the first person to try and present new innovations to a well-established industry.  

I live and work in Syracuse, NY, and back at the shop I started out in over 12 years ago as an artist... over the last 4 months I have been manual printing full-time (well I expose my own screens for the jobs)... another shop I was at was very small and I did everything from customer service to art and seps and embroidery digitizing and screens and printing etc.. but I wanted to work at a more professional shop again and gain more experience printing where things are busier and lots of variety to the jobs.    If you want to send one of these my way I will gladly give an honest and thorough (thats my style) review.   I will put it through the paces and see what pros and cons there are,  from the video it seems that this is supposed to be used at only one angle??   That would not work, as you really need to be able to print high to low angles with variation in pressures as needed.      I think the extra force of a push-stroke will simply always end up smearing ink more than a pull-stroke unless the push-stroke is just a pull-stroke in reverse (held from the sides and angled toward the press.. but that seems so strange to me and I've never tried it)....   Can the EZ grip squeegee work at various angles?   And what if when you go to try a push-stroke it has the opposite effect of the friction holding the blade in and the blade then simply releases as you are now using the opposite angle of force??        Also, how would I keep a whole bunch of these stacked or stored without taking up way too much space compared to a row of standard squeegees in a rack?    I will at least start it out on the things it was meant for it seems... full-size designs and pull-stroke method, and 1-color since I would have only 1 to start off with.      But lets see what happens and put it into some full-time fast-paced production.    If there are some other push-stroke guys out there I would love to hear from you about how to achieve high-angles with control and pressure and not slipping, as well as preventing smear in the direction of the stroke.. it seems the added force simply causes this  as you are really pushing the ink in a lateral direction compared to a pull-stroke... or is the side-grip angle-toward-the-press push-stroke the correct method?   This is really just a pull-stroke in reverse so that seems like you can have the angle and pressure controls needed.   The EZ grip seems like it will have some benefits as well as drawbacks, and for me some of those will really make or break its usefulness in every-day manual printing.    Do you want a full-spectrum review?

[Frog]

Screenxpress

That an honorable jester. Thanks for your support.

[Frog]

Frog is better at this then I am, so here is the after picture to the previous post.

link to video   http://www.theezgrip.com/video-demo.html

Ron, you just need to click "More Attachments" and post up to four!

[TheEZGrip.com Squeegee 2 Ergo Upright Handles]

Frog, as my mother would say " You are a hoot!"

By the way, now that I think I know your real name, I won't tell anybody it's Sylvester.

[mimosatexas]

Full time pusher here (for plastisol). Pull for water-based for a variety of reasons. Can see why you need to adjust angle and pressure with a pull stroke honestly. I always use the same angle and the lightest stroke that clears the screen. Mesh choice and eom control deposit much better an cleaner than adjusting either of those variables in my experience.

[Nation03]

I pull full time so I hope this is the next best thing to getting an auto or finally mastering the push stroke.

[Full-SpectrumSeparator]

Full time pusher here (for plastisol). Pull for water-based for a variety of reasons. Can see why you need to adjust angle and pressure with a pull stroke honestly. I always use the same angle and the lightest stroke that clears the screen. Mesh choice and eom control deposit much better an cleaner than adjusting either of those variables in my experience.

Yeah I really assumed the same thing myself,  especially on the 86 meshes, I asked the production manager to have the screen-coater please do face-coating... he ended up doing it on the squeegee side...  I need extra EOM on the shirt-side if I'm going to get lots of ink-deposit....  although I don't really have control over that,  and it would slow down the screen coater and change up all the exposure values if they started face-coating all the screens.   I can tell they have a thin amount of emulsion because the 86 meshes you can see and feel the threads through the emulsion.      The ink-smearing is probably from too much pressure rather than just enough to clear the screen as you said... probably because I was compensating for the lack of EOM,  but I tried raising the angle to get similar results to the low-angle pull-stroke and its too slippery and less control push-stroking at a high-angle.    Too low of an angle push-stroking and there are those changes the blade catches the design... I saw and tried and it worked by pushing with a slight angle - like left or right hand a little further, so the entire blade is not horizontally catching a design-edge of the emulsion and stopping...   Yes I really found push-strokes to be so much better but when I encountered the smearing and could not get thick deposits for example over a very fibrous shirt material and need to really matte down a thick layer of ink.....  however it really seems to make perfect sense that this is what you would have to do without much EOM on the shirt-side and the right mesh count.... with the low-angle pull stroke I can see it is like using the top of the screen as the gasket and when the off-contact changes it sucks down that thick layer of ink...     the extra EOM on the shirt-side is how it is supposed to work I know.    Thanks for clarifying this for me... but it's politics a lot of the time, so I will have to tread lightly to see about getting face-coating to work out.      The production manager said he never uses any off-contact and never heard of or seen people using the push-stroke I was using, like it is experimental or something, lol.   I really really prefer it for many reasons,  and I would like to try and get more of the proper techniques down rather than compensating for a lack in other variable as you mentioned.    If the extra eom can provide the needed gasket on the under-side of the mesh then I don't see why I would want to do these low-angle pull-stroke passes that don't really clear the screen well without much pressure.    And also with the right off-contact and pressure and speed in the push-stroke - along with the added EOM on the shirt-side, (or both sides), this could prevent the ink-smear or bleed in the push-direction right?   

[TheEZGrip.com Squeegee 2 Ergo Upright Handles]

Dear Full-SpectrumSeparator

WOW, you sure ask a lot. I'll try to answer most of your questions, but many will be answered when you try TheEZGrip. Send me your address and I'll include you in the "10 Freebie Give Away Offer".  Two free samples left.
ANSWERS:

1. Chest imprint / see attached picture, although you are right, at times a narrow width job may be easier with the wood squeegee, I'm not saying TheEZGrip is the perfect solution for all jobs, just most. 

2. The rods that support the handles can be put into the ink, it won't contaminate the handles, but there is always an inch or two between the ink and the end of the screen, put the rod ends there. This system makes it so fast, you'll save production time.

3. Fiction of the ink keeps the squeegee in place when lifting the screen, providing you don't lift to high. Or buy some rubber cup ends at the hardware store and put them on the rod ends. I did that in my earlier prototypes and it works.
In addition, with this system allows you don't have to reach so far to put down the squeegee each time, going to the end of the screen all day is a pain, pun intended.

4. Control - no loss! In fact there's even more control, the use of larger muscle groups in the upper arms and shoulders provide a greater degree of applied downward pressure. In essences, this is the general application of ERGONOMICS. 

5. No screws to hold the blade, yes it better. Replacing a blade in seconds compared to minutes. It's a no brainer.

6. Can TheEZGrip work at various angles, why not?

7. How can you stack them, well if TheEZGrip works as good as I say, you'll find a way.

8. When you use it and give an honest review, then we will know the rest of the story.

If I can send you a free one, let me know. Thanks   

http://www.theezgrip.com/video-demo.html

[TheEZGrip.com Squeegee 2 Ergo Upright Handles]

Here's a picture of a narrow imprint.

[TheEZGrip.com Squeegee 2 Ergo Upright Handles]

TheEZGrip.com squeegee is happy to announce we signed on a new dealer - McLogan Supply out of California, some of you may be customers or might have noticed them during an online search, they have a high Google ranking.

McLogan started in business since 1922, so they must be doing something right. They have 4 locations, San Diego, Anaheim, LA and Chatsworth, CA.

The just got their first case yesterday and haven't put us on line yet, so you'll need to call if you want one.

Welcome aboard McLogan!!

link to our 3. min video     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bx2jgdEz4Ts   

[InkedUpAZ]

I actually started out by learning on the EZGrip and I'm still currently using it. I'm a puller and it works great for my needs.
I actually had the opportunity to try out the old conventional style squeegee blade system and I immediately put it down never to use again, I honestly can't see how people use that for high output printing.