I'm sure that most of you have been waiting on pins and needles for my review of the G3 after one full year in production, then there might be others who don't give a damn and probably know exactly what I'm going to say. And then there might be a few others who will not put any stock into anything I say about this press because they believe that "buyers pride", "confirmation bias", "blue baller", "kiss the ring of the king", etc are what will dictate what I type. Or perhaps I need to stroke my own ego because we could have chose a different machine and who knows how that would have turned out. I suppose I'll go ahead and do my best to describe the machine and how we've used it this past year. And so without further adoooooooooooo, let's get into it. And yeah, it's long-winded, deal with it, enjoy it, or ignore it and spend your time doing something you enjoy.
I'll get to some stats, but first I need to put it all into context and share some shop intrigue and info on how we've operated this year. I've had the same press op the whole year, but he was just learning how to be a press op after spending a year underneath my previous printer so he did know a good bit on how to run an auto and print, but not enough to tackle any complex jobs of more than 3 colors and/or halftones. So he stayed on the RPM 95% of the time while I learned how to run the G3. I only spent 4-6 hours on the production floor for most of the year and of that time only 3-4 hours of the day running the G3. I bounced back and forth with teaching my press op how to properly set up stuff on the RPM and running any and all jobs more than 3 colors on the G3. The RPM got more impressions on the counter in 17' than did the G3, but the G3 ran roughly 3 times as many screens/colors as did the old tan girl. The RPM got somewhere around 200K impressions and the G3 got around 150K. This was actually a great way to bring a new press op along and let him learn at his own pace and it also allowed me to master the G3 so that when the time was right I would then start teaching others how to run it efficiently. I've done an 11 color job, a dozen or so around 9-10 colors, bunch of 8s, and on down the line. So even though it technically indexed fewer times than the RPM, it did the majority of the work. It was nice to have the 2nd auto for several reasons, but the fact remains that we didn't need it and as efficient as we're getting at running the G3 we won't need to run the RPM any time soon. Which is good, I need to do some refurbishing and replacing of pneumatic parts on the RPM and it could use a break. 8.5 years, 2.5 million impressions without missing a full day of production for the RPM is pretty good and deserves some TLC.
Now back to the Gauntlet. After writing the last review I thought there would be some cons/quirks that would inevitably pop up within the first year and I'm grasping for straws or splitting hairs to claim any of the next comments as cons but I don't want to lose anyone here by not having a single negative thing to say about the G3 so here goes. I wish when running revolver mode that there was a preheat flash icon like there is when in regular "print run" mode. We all know that when running a complicated revolver job that you have to stop more often and for longer periods because you've probably got 8-12 screens on press, and not having the ability like in regular mode to heat up the flashes causes me some headaches. And revolver mode in general isn't as user friendly with the control panel setup as it is in normal functioning of the press. Then for the DX flashes, it's similar in quirkiness in that working the flashes to their full potential isn't as easy as I'd like it to be, but honestly, I run them as regular quartz flashes on the control panel and set the temp to where I want it to shut off and technically run the DX flashes like they were regular D's. At this point it's been so long since I set up the flashes that I've forgotten how to do it so I would need a technician to walk me through the process. At the time we got the flashes there was 1 technician that knew how to properly operate the DX's so now I'm sure they all know how and can get me back up to speed. Let's see, I guess I'm still being very picky here but the only other thing I can say that isn't 100% perfect with the press is the print speed knob on head 11 is inconsistent every once in a while. There's been a few times I'll have it set to 5, meaning it should be at about half speed, but the print carriage will be running actual speed of 1, maybe 2. Then when you turn the knob up higher, to maybe 8, it will take off and print at the right speed it's set to. I think I just need to get a new knob. That's the only knob or print setting that doesn't work perfectly. Honestly guys, I'm really trying to think of other things so that perhaps it will give me some credibility among those who don't know me, but I think what I've mentioned above is actually fairly petty when it comes to the issues that many other presses have. The RPM didn't have many issues either, but it has/had more than the G3 at the 1 year mark.
So let's get to the good stuff now. Mechanically speaking, aside from the one rheostat knob that controls print speed not working perfectly all of the time, the other 1000 or so parts and software has been as close to perfect as a screen printer could imagine. Even before we bought the G3 and I had seen the CH3/55 and G3 at a few shows, I felt like it was a tank. You don't buy a press because it weighs more than the competition but being able to see that a press is overbuilt inspires confidence. Now you have to be careful that preconceived notions don't get in the way of what is reality, but if something looks reliable, performs reliably 100% of the time, you've got a reliable machine. "Ok Alan, it's reliable, it should be" so I'll ask a rhetorical question to all of the members here that have bought a brand new automatic in the last 10 years. Can everyone say that the only thing wrong with their auto is an inconsistent rheostat knob? Hopefully quite a few can answer YES!, but I know there is a bunch that cannot say that.
Next, is it more capable in terms of putting shirts on dryer belts versus the competition? I can't answer that directly since we don't have all of the brands of machinery here, but we were incredibly efficient in 15' and 16' with only the RPM and I would say we've bumped up our production capability by at least 20% or more. Setups are noticeably faster, teardowns are the same as the RPM, and real-time production speeds are really fast. Being able to flash for 1-2 seconds and the indexing speed is really fast so that running 800/hr on the G3 is similar to running a press that the pallets raise and lower at around 600-650/hr. Also, running the G3 by yourself, loading and unloading is easily done at rates of 500-550/hr without laboring yourself to death.
I understand the differences between shops, how one shop can do mostly contract work, or rarely do a job over 4 colors or more pieces than 250 per order and how our stats don't crossover to other shops. But our average job size is 130 pieces, average job is 3.25 colors, 80% are 2 locations, and we'll probably do somewhere between 1700-1900 jobs this year if things trend the same direction. I think we will print around 900 shirts/units per day, 1500-1600 impressions per day, 20 screens per day (2 images per screen=approx 40 screens per day without ganging), 12 setups per day and the G3 is capable of much more than that. I honestly believe that when we go DTS, we will be able to do (at current job stats/size) at least 2500 jobs per year and go above $1.5 million in sales with one auto and 4 production employees. Maybe we have to add a 5th production employee due to factors that we won't realize until we reach that volume. I know in many shops they are limited by the machine, meaning they are only printing 400/hr when they could be doing 700/hr with a different press or due to press features they can only setup a 3 color job in 25 minutes, but we haven't found the point at which we are faster than the G3.
For years now, I've been thinking about how some of the newer autos have so many features that really look good on paper but in practice you only use a certain number of those features and using more has diminishing returns on efficiency. I think the RPM falls just a little bit short of that line and doesn't have any features that we did not use. The G3 goes a little bit beyond that line and there are some features that we don't take advantage of. The ink dip and squeegee dam being two, and some of the more advanced features of the DX flashes. And perhaps if we would have bought a different brand we could achieve the same production numbers but I don't think anyone could bring forth a persuasive argument that there is a machine in a comparable price range that could do MORE.
I think if anyone is so inclined we can discuss the press in more detail but I'll finish this post by mentioning how this press fulfills our "production philosophy". So our production philosophy is quite simple and is answered by this question. How good can we make this print look and how quickly can we do it? Since print quality is VERY subjective the fact will always remain that what we might consider a quality print won't be at other shops, and the other way around. So if you're trying to figure out what is the standard, I can't really help. What I can do however, is tell you that if you want to see a lot of very high quality screen printing in one place, go to the Disney store in any mall in America and look at the shirts on the tables. If you want to see a bunch of subpar and bad printing look in those stores like Spencers, Hot Topic, PacSun and you'll notice how poor the print edge definition is, the opacity is usually poor, surface is rough, all the usual suspects of bad print techniques. I know most of the grocery stores in our region carry a lot of locally printed shirts for the high schools or colleges and for the most part, those prints are average. I have seen some good ones at our local HEB, but I've seen more bad prints than good. How does the G3 help us provide the best in print quality? The ability to calibrate the press and hold it's calibration is key, but also being able to provide consistent downward force, and PRINT SPEED will allow you to get the most out of your artwork. Controlling off contact is very important but most presses these days do a good job of that. When printing plastisol, most importantly on dark garments, if your press can't print at least 20"/sec (30-40"/sec is even better) while keeping squeegee pressure low enough (20-40 psi is acceptable, and when printing at 40-45"/sec you might have to use 45-50 psi) to keep the ink from penetrating the shirt fibers then you will never reach the highest print quality that you could. There is so much more that goes into being able to print like that but there are so many shops that can't, simply because of their auto. Our 2nd point of production philosophy is all about shop efficiency. This is made up of many different processes from reclaim, to stencil development, setup, print run, teardown, etc., but the G3 can produce much more than we can load and setups and teardowns can't get much, if any faster. I have a few videos of me running the press at 1000/hr and even though there is recent chatter here about production speeds and the difference between average and actual, I'll never concede that actual production speeds aren't that important. The same people that try and diminish real-time production speeds are usually the same people who are talking about saving a few seconds to a few minutes because of a special feature that only their press has. But they fail to realize that getting a 144 piece job done in 10 minutes at 900/hr is saving 4 minutes over running that job at 600/hr, which is almost a 30% increase in productivity. 30% DUDES!!! And Dudettes. If you could improve your production capacity by 30%, who in the world wouldn't be excited about that? That 30% can be the difference between your business employing 2-3 people and putting food on a few tables or employing dozens of people and providing a great workplace for many.
I've saved this part for last, mainly because you can't quantify peace of mind, or confidence, but I have virtually zero doubt that the Gauntlet is going to do what I want it to do every single day...for years to come. It took a while to get confident with the RPM but the last few years I always knew that as it aged the likelihood that it would go down was getting higher and higher. Couple an aging press with our volume and one or two days with a down press and we're in a hole so big we can't dig ourselves out without losing a customer, or two. Machines break, but we all know about M&R service and support so I won't bang on that drum just to piss off all of people who have had bad service with their new machine. But it's there for when we need it. The competition between the machines today is pretty damn stiff, but there is still an area where the gap between brands is wide. I don't hear a lot behind the scenes but I do hear a little, and there aren't many people out there that speak publicly about their service issues and I can understand that, and I don't have a problem with that. I only have a problem with those that say different things privately than they do publicly, because as I've said MANY times before, there are a few people who have enough sway with other members of this community that they have a responsibility to tell the truth and they should take that seriously. I'm not calling anyone out, I'm just trying to remind everyone that they should not be cavalier with their comments about things that cost more than everyone's car (Brandt excluded
, because more than a few members put a lot of trust into what some say on here, good or bad, it will always be that way.
Our Gauntlet is a lot of things, essentially all good, nothing bad, and almost nothing wrong with thousands of opportunities to have a problem. It's a beast, a tank, a monster, and any other number of ridiculous words, but more importantly it has been everything that I hoped it would be, was told it would be, and what we were sold. There is no doubt that a few of you will be buying new machinery this year, and I have not been given any advice as to what to say, or to even say anything at all on behalf of M&R or Rich. Nor have I been given any financial incentives to say good things about our press. I will not get a commission of any kind for any Gauntlets that are sold in the future even if the buyer referenced this review as the sole reason why they bought an M&R. Furthermore, I would not accept anything from M&R on those terms due to the fact that saying nice things about something in the hopes of benefiting from it in the future is no different than if I got anything today. I don't know that many shops out there get rewarded for positive reviews, but I do know it has happened, and within our little community. If the things that were said were true then there is no real damage done, but ethically there is a debate to be had in my opinion as there is a conflict of interest put into play.
In conclusion, I think the G3 is a 10 out of 10. 5 stars out of 5. 2 thumbs up. I'm just as excited and happy with the press as I was after the 1st month, 6th month, on down the line. I hope that everyone that bought a different brand is as happy with their decision as I am. I'm not trying to say that the Gauntlet is the king of the mid-priced automatics, but I am saying that if you're in the market for a press like this, it's possible that you can make an equally good decision but I think it's more probable that it will be worse, but I don't think it's possible to make a better decision.
Here are a few pics from today. We keep her clean, and today we will start the press calibration process since we haven't done it in a year. I'll also be doing thorough preventative maintenance after we finish calibration.
