Exile FreeStyler CTS

[brandon]

Absolutely faster.  I can print atleast a 3rd more shirts in one day on a 6 or 7 setup day with cts then I could with film because of the decreased setup time.  Setup is much faster with the triloc and dts.  Not to mention, I can count on one hand how many pin holes I've had in the last 6 months.

This

[Prince Art]

So,here is another angle on the direct to screen equation:

How fast are your setups right now?

Will a tri-lock type system give you noticeable improvements?

Will those improvements in set up speed actually create more revenue for you?

Exactly. This is part of what I was trying to get at - a CTS machine could actually print slower than our film printer, yield no better quality, and yet the time it would save in this area and others would be a significant gain. Another side benefit: space saved in the screen room by not needing a place to tape up films. And space is always worth something in a growing shop.

[Rockers]

One advantage of the HP cartridge is that the cartridge is also the head so you don't have problems with blocked heads, etc.
I worked out that the cost of printing a screen is the same as the cost of film.
I am doing more Sep's. CYMK and  simulated and what I saw was that this printer does not print a good dot, especially up to 5 and 95% plus.      If you print mainly spot and are happy with dots from 10 to 90%
It's a good machine.

2%-98% measured on the screen at 55LPI.

[Grand]

We have a freestyler. We Make about 15-30 screens a day with it in 2 head mode. By the time I expose and rinse the screen the one in printer is usually done depending on image size.  Support has been great from exile.  No complaints about ours!

[Maxie]

Good to hear from someone who has one.
Rockers, is the  2-98% on the screen or printed on the shirt?
In the demo I saw there was a 2 % dot but the quality of it was so bad it wouldn't wash out and print.

[Rockers]

We have a freestyler. We Make about 15-30 screens a day with it in 2 head mode. By the time I expose and rinse the screen the one in printer is usually done depending on image size.  Support has been great from exile.  No complaints about ours!

How are your halftone screens coming out? Better result then printed films?

[Nation03]

Has anyone else pulled the trigger on one of these? CTS is looking like more of a possibility for me and I'm really getting tired of films. This machine seems like a perfect fit for my setup. I'm only doing about 25-50 screens a week but to free up the space of stored films and have quicker setups I think this will allow me to take in more work or at the very least improve my workflow.

[avogel]

We have been looking at this unit also. We keep thinking it has to be better than films, but we haven't pulled the trigger on it.

[Dottonedan]

Yep. The time and space saved in screen room and film storage, and ease of getting files and re-loading for re-orders. No brainer.

[Rockers]

Has anyone else pulled the trigger on one of these? CTS is looking like more of a possibility for me and I'm really getting tired of films. This machine seems like a perfect fit for my setup. I'm only doing about 25-50 screens a week but to free up the space of stored films and have quicker setups I think this will allow me to take in more work or at the very least improve my workflow.

We are in the same boat as you. Maybe around 30-50 screens a week. It has been a huge time saver. We bought Spyder II  showroom model from Exile for around 50% of the actual retail price.

[Nation03]

Has anyone else pulled the trigger on one of these? CTS is looking like more of a possibility for me and I'm really getting tired of films. This machine seems like a perfect fit for my setup. I'm only doing about 25-50 screens a week but to free up the space of stored films and have quicker setups I think this will allow me to take in more work or at the very least improve my workflow.

We are in the same boat as you. Maybe around 30-50 screens a week. It has been a huge time saver. We bought aa showroom model from Exile for around 50% of the actual retail price.

Glad to hear it's working out for you! Any major issues or maintenance involved? My main issue is that I don't quite have a temperature contained space for it so I'm worried about too much humidity. I can always build a room for it or keep a dehumidifier near it but I wasn't sure how sensitive these are. Thanks!

[Logowear]

You'll need a minimum of 50% humidity for it to work properly.

[Nation03]

You'll need a minimum of 50% humidity for it to work properly.

That shouldn't be an issue, it's pretty sticky in my shop. Was worried about it being too humid but I guess the print heads prefer it?

[Dottonedan]

I don't know if it's the same or not, but with the M&R wet ink, it depends on the environment as to the results. The ink can work well at 35% humidity in one shop yet it can run or spread in another shop at 35%. One may have air conditioning while another shop doesn't. So 35% RH in one works differently at 35% in another.


This is why the machine/software on the Wet ink printers are more versatile than wax printers. You can adjust the printer settings to work better in your specific environment. I'd think that the wax printers are adjustable as well, but not needed as much with the wax since it solidify's as it hits the screen. This is a good selling point for screen rooms as you can have poor, good or great screen room environments. There are a ton of people that just don't want to have to improve their processes in their screen room so, Wax is a good choice in that case. Having said that, you should also be able to adjust your wet ink printer to work in any environment also.  By default, or standard settings, it's to be good between 35-50% RH. Then when you get it there and installed,they  test it, they may find that your Tech needs to adjust how the printer spits the ink out in the software to accommodate.

I've installed in some extreme environments and had no issues with default settings. It's really strange.  One shop in Maine, in the winter, had the back window open that they used to offload stuff from trucks. Musta been 40-45 degrees outside with some color rainy air blowing in...and they had the machine right below the window across the walkway. RH was ridiculous and very cold, yet the machine ran fine.  Then I've been in perfect conditions environment conditions....yet they did not stock a lot of screens so the blew through them fast, (wash out, coat, barely dry, print, expose, semi dry and off to be used in production (all too fast). So the emulsion has moisture. There are many reasons outside of the inks chemical makeup that affect the results....and is almost never the inks fault, nor your emulsion type.

I always ask if there is any breakdown of the screens on press to the owner. They will typically say "oh, never a problem" but when you ask the people on press, they may say otherwise. How people work in a shops specific are may impact in other areas. If you just double your stock of screens, you eliminate a ton of other issues.

[hoogie]

We have a freestyler. We Make about 15-30 screens a day with it in 2 head mode. By the time I expose and rinse the screen the one in printer is usually done depending on image size.  Support has been great from exile.  No complaints about ours!

Grand, what kind of prints are you putting out and what dpi setting for halftones? Sim process or just spot colors?
Do you use tri-lock on press for setups? If so hows this machine do on line ups?
Wax is my preferred choice, but with some up coming equipment additions coming not sure that's in the budget. I for one like the fact that when you replace ink it's also the print head, yes maybe a lil or lot more cost than others but it's nice to know there wont be a clog waiting for you in the morning.