Sportsman EX 10/12

[Homer]

we have 2 flashes on our 10 color, but rarely use the second one, however when we need it, it's super handy. We have our main flash in head 3, a lot of the times we lay down a color before the white, flash, and use always use a smoother screen on head 4...works rather well. I like flashes on stands, no in head flashes for us...I guess you are saying you loose 4 heads due to one being a flash and the other a cooling station?

[dirkdiggler]

we have 2 flashes on our 10 color, but rarely use the second one, however when we need it, it's super handy. We have our main flash in head 3, a lot of the times we lay down a color before the white, flash, and use always use a smoother screen on head 4...works rather well. I like flashes on stands, no in head flashes for us...I guess you are saying you loose 4 heads due to one being a flash and the other a cooling station?

I knew some would disagree, that's why I said IMO, I like to get the full use of the press.  Yes, its good if you can move them easily, like if your printing a lot of FLO colors, those suckers need to be flashed.  If your art is built correctly, you can print 8 colors without flashing them, IMO.

[tancehughes]

dirk, I pretty much agree with you. Engineered correctly,  there shouldn't be a ton of flashing going on. I am mainly thinking I want the second flash for the exact reasons posted - flo colors, some highlight white that may need to be flashed, etc.

[alan802]

We use the second flash all the time for 5+ color jobs that have stubborn inks that don't print wow worth a damn.  I wish we used a mixing system and all of our inks were engineered to print wow but we don't.  Most of our work is 4-5 colors, bold artwork, on darks with lots of ink area so having the second flash to hit 2-3 open areas of ink before we put a few more colors on works wonders for production flow.

[screenprintguy]

Spot on with what Alan said with our 9 Color DB. Usually roll a tabasco flash into head number 6. Alan, I found a little trick for those stuburn  inks that don't like to WOW and stay down. Wiflex fashion soft base. It looks and has the consistency of their curable reducer, around the same price per gal. Use about 2-5% in your wow inks and it keeps it from sticking to the screens, at that mix ratio doesn't seem to affect the opacity either or effect the finish of the inks. So far I've tried it in wilflex inks, and Union Maxopaque royal and scarlet red. Makes them a nice high opacity wet on wet able ink. Second flash, "on a movable stand", is a serious helper. I want to get into a 12-16 co machine next to have at least 3 flashes.

[Homer]

when I started years ago, we would flash EVERY color....no matter what....on a brown Harco 8 color manual with blown lazy susan bearings....I had tennis elbow for years....not my choice, I was just a grunt printer for someone that didn't have a clue how things should really be done and taught me terrible habits. rant over.

[tancehughes]

We use the second flash all the time for 5+ color jobs that have stubborn inks that don't print wow worth a damn.  I wish we used a mixing system and all of our inks were engineered to print wow but we don't.  Most of our work is 4-5 colors, bold artwork, on darks with lots of ink area so having the second flash to hit 2-3 open areas of ink before we put a few more colors on works wonders for production flow.

Alan, wilflex MX is great for WOW inks, that's what we are using here, very consistent and EASY EASY to print. You probably already knew that though

[Inkworks]

QCM Wow inks are great too. I'm bummed they discontinued their WOW white. I hate shopping new whites when you have something you like.

2 flashes here on the 12/14, and if the right deal on a third flash came along I'd be on it just for the added flexibility it would provide of tricky prints and weird inks.

[GaryG]

On our Sportsman 10/8 a second flash is pretty essential with spot colors
every now and then. More powerful flash for whites, then basic one for successive colors.
The cool-mister would be nice not to loose heads for cooling.

Second the Wilflex MX system we have been using for 12+ years.
A little curable reducer and slick-up, no pick-up as it goes.

[Evo]

Just for reference, I operate a 10/8 Sportsman every day. Not the EX or the E, but it has a servo index and AC heads. We can easily run it at 70 dz/hr, and have hit 83 dz/hr with the right screens and ink.

83 dz is not the most comfortable speed, to be perfectly honest. Mostly because shirts are usually stacked all effed up.


It's 2013...can the mill factories stack a shirt straight please?


Also...is there a person at Gildan who's job it is to sweep lint and thread off the floor and dump it into the outgoing shirt boxes? They use to be bad, lately they are just evil.

[screenprintguy]

The lint is horrible huh? I took a pic of my wife's neck last week after she ran 300 black g2000s.  It looked like someone threw a dust pan at her. The use of a sticky screen is looking like it's really needed.

[GaryG]

Did a bunch of towels last week and what little hair I had on my arms
gathered a few oz's of lint!

Hate to see what Mooseman's hairy arms would come up with.
(remembering a pict of his a bit ago) 

[GaryG]

We do have the 2011 Sportsman EX with "rear micro".

Do any of you EX'ers use it?

From old school and find just using front swing is quicker if familiar...

[alan802]

Spot on with what Alan said with our 9 Color DB. Usually roll a tabasco flash into head number 6. Alan, I found a little trick for those stuburn  inks that don't like to WOW and stay down. Wiflex fashion soft base. It looks and has the consistency of their curable reducer, around the same price per gal. Use about 2-5% in your wow inks and it keeps it from sticking to the screens, at that mix ratio doesn't seem to affect the opacity either or effect the finish of the inks. So far I've tried it in wilflex inks, and Union Maxopaque royal and scarlet red. Makes them a nice high opacity wet on wet able ink. Second flash, "on a movable stand", is a serious helper. I want to get into a 12-16 co machine next to have at least 3 flashes.

I used to use the fashion base but it never improved our inks for wow printing.  I tried it numerous times thinking it would help but the inks I added it to were terrible at building up so maybe there was nothing that could help those inks.  My additive of choice these days is halftone/process base.  Depending on who you buy it from it's either halftone base or process base.  We use it for anything that needs cut, softened, extended, lengthen body, shorten body, you name it.  I've tried many different bases and reducers and they all have done what I needed for the most part but this halftone base is all we have in the shop now.

[dirkdiggler]

Spot on with what Alan said with our 9 Color DB. Usually roll a tabasco flash into head number 6. Alan, I found a little trick for those stuburn  inks that don't like to WOW and stay down. Wiflex fashion soft base. It looks and has the consistency of their curable reducer, around the same price per gal. Use about 2-5% in your wow inks and it keeps it from sticking to the screens, at that mix ratio doesn't seem to affect the opacity either or effect the finish of the inks. So far I've tried it in wilflex inks, and Union Maxopaque royal and scarlet red. Makes them a nice high opacity wet on wet able ink. Second flash, "on a movable stand", is a serious helper. I want to get into a 12-16 co machine next to have at least 3 flashes.

I used to use the fashion base but it never improved our inks for wow printing.  I tried it numerous times thinking it would help but the inks I added it to were terrible at building up so maybe there was nothing that could help those inks.  My additive of choice these days is halftone/process base.  Depending on who you buy it from it's either halftone base or process base.  We use it for anything that needs cut, softened, extended, lengthen body, shorten body, you name it.  I've tried many different bases and reducers and they all have done what I needed for the most part but this halftone base is all we have in the shop now.

We do the same but with Finese.