Discuss the different types of equipment needed for screen printing. Topics include manual screen printing presses, automatic presses, dryers, folding machines, starter kits and high end machines.
So after ordering my Pro kit a bit back I didn't expect it until near the end of December but it came Last Monday! It was actually here 5 days before that but battling this North East weather we have been getting I had to wait until the freight trucks could safely travel the roads.
I've had a few issues that I haven't made them aware of yet though:
*The freight packaging wasn't entirely thought out well on the Press. One platen rubbed pretty hard on the press itself but luckily was on the back side.
*Somewhere during its shipping travels someone drove the forks of the fork lift through the Black Buddy Conveyor dryer packaging. Amazingly it JUST Grazed the unit leaving a light scratch & dent. (took all proper signatures and paperwork from the delivery guy Just incase).
*The four brackets weren't screwed on to the Platens square so once registering a screen at one station it fails to line up the same on the next 3 stations. So now I have to go back and remount all brackets to platens.
*Almost every unit (press, black buddy conveyor, wash out booth) came with one bolt & nut short. This isn't that big of a deal but for the money you pay would think everything would be accounted for.
Now everything's all put together and I'm working on getting the shop rooms finished up (heat/electricity/ plumbing/ paint) and most of all setting up the dark room!
Here are some pics.
I'll throw up some more as the shop takes shape!
Merry Christmas!
How do you guys like Ryonet as far as their products and Inks?
Man... I envy you with all that shiny new equipment....... and DRYWALL!
lol... I'm in the basement of an office supply/sign & trophy shop. It's old and dark and was wired back in the 50s. The price is right... but we regularly wish we were in a nicer place.
Equipment-wise, mine is almost identical to yours... except I bought it used from a shop that was shutting down. For about $5K I got a Hopkins/BWM 6/4, a Black Body conveyor dryer, a Black Body flash cure unit, and tons of darkroom/washout/exposure equipment as well as inks, blank tees and cleaning supplies.
There have been a few issues to deal with... but for the most part, I have to say that I'm really happy with the equipment. I think you'll find it to be some good stuff. Good luck
Man... I envy you with all that shiny new equipment....... and DRYWALL!
Equipment-wise, mine is almost identical to yours... except I bought it used from a shop that was shutting down. For about $5K I got a Hopkins/BWM 6/4, a Black Body conveyor dryer, a Black Body flash cure unit, and tons of darkroom/washout/exposure equipment as well as inks, blank tees and cleaning supplies.
There have been a few issues to deal with... but for the most part, I have to say that I'm really happy with the equipment. I think you'll find it to be some good stuff. Good luck
Thanks! Luckily my Father threw a toolbelt on me when I was 11 and I've been building houses with him since. On that note he has a Huge unfinished room in his house that he offered me to finish to set up shop in so I'm very lucky in that aspect.
I probably shouldn't have set everything up until the room was finished because now I'll have to cover it all for painting but It's so hard to look at everything sitting there all packed up. I couldn't help but unleash the excitement and start setting up.
Also it sounds like you got a GREAT Deal! The only reason I opted to buy straight from Ryonet is because all of the training they offer to the printing newb. I've been designing for a long time but putting my feet in some unfamiliar water I decided it would be best to make sure I have everything including the support I need.
Gabe
Last edited by MyFriendMoomba; December 22nd, 2008 at 10:40 AM.
Reason: added a paragraph
Smart thinkin'. There's definitely a learning curve for someone who's new to it. Won't be long though... you'll be draggin' squeegees at 2am while listenin' to AC/DC and drinkin' beer lol
Anything to stay awake and alert...... and happy lol
Hi there. Glad you got your equipment. Sorry to hear there were some issues. Shawn from customer services is attempting to contact you now so that we can rectify any issues. Welcome to the Ryonet family.
Hi there. Glad you got your equipment. Sorry to hear there were some issues. Shawn from customer services is attempting to contact you now so that we can rectify any issues. Welcome to the Ryonet family.
TJ
Thank you TJ. After rereading my post I hope it didn't come off as I was unhappy with my kit because I absolutely love it and can't wait to start using it!
I missed Shawn's call yesterday while I was at work so I will try and shoot him a call when I get out tonight.
Hi Gabe!
I'm a Ryonet customer and couldn't be happier
I've bought a lot of equipment from them, as well as ink and chemicals...and have gone to their class....excellent!
In these times of feeling like just a sale to a company, with Ryonet, I feel like I'm treated by people that really do care. I'm not looked at like a dollar sign.
They are always fast with getting me what I need, as well as being there to help me with questions. Two big thumbs up !
btw, I've got the Riley Hopkins 8/4 and LOVE IT !
Merry Christmas!
Denise
Last edited by Celtic; December 24th, 2008 at 06:11 PM.
As I said in my latest post "In no means was I unimpressed or unsatisfied with my equipment & service" I Love Every Bit of it!
And to assure my satisfaction over such minor issues I was contacted after that post and credited $75 towards my next purchase! After months of surfing around on Ryonets website, watching YouTube Videos, and Hanging out in the T-Shirt Forums reading posts I got the feeling that Ryonet was one of those companies that truely cares for their customers on a personal level and that is Exactly what they do!
All my Screenprinting supply needs will be purchased through them.
*This is why I feel a lot of big companys are experiencing economic trouble is due to their lack of customer care.
Once you get going, how about giving us a review on the joystick registration system? Once in a while I'll see posts that are kind of vague. Some like it, some don't, but since it's such a unique system, I'd like to see someone give a little detail about it's ease of use, or a lack thereof. I saw the press a few years ago at an ISS show in Tampa, and talked to Riley about it and fiddled with it a little. I had an old Hopkins International with no micros at the time and was curious about retrofitting.
Meanwhile, it looks like you're off to a good start. It's nice having new stuff, and you didn't cheap out, which is most folk's mistake.
I have a hopkins 6/4 with joystick micros, I have been running production on this machine for a little over a year, and so far have been very pleased at the ease of use. Assuming your pre-press was done well (buring the image in approximately the same place on every screen for a multi color job) You can register a job very quickly.
I place my palm on the tightnening knob and grab the ball on the very top of the joystick, which allows more leverage and makes the screen move easier, with the other hand I hold the other end of the screen about where the neck would be, I use registration marks, so I simply move the joystick until I have my marks lined up, and tighten. the joystick allows me to manipulate the screen not just up and down, left and right, but also in any other angle you can think of. You can make just the bottom edge of the screen move left to right, or just the top.
on occasion I get a screen that wants to creep while tightening the registration knobs, To combat this I will register just a hair below the marks, and when I tighten it moves right into place. This only happens once in while however.
One tip, is make sure you have your screens tight fisrt, then register and tighten well, if you fail to tighten everything well before inking, and you loose registration mid job, it is really hard with this registraion set up to loosen and re-register without starting all over. If this happens loosen the knobs just alittle and use a hammer to try and knock the joystick gently into place.
This method is possible, but a little more difficult with the joystick as you have to make sure you hit the angle perfect.
This press holds registration very well when properly registered and tightened up, even for large runs.
The hopkins press with this registraion sytem is very capable of quick set ups and quality prints. We have not had any regrets with this machine.
Thanks. Nice to hear someone elaborate a little who has some experience with the joysticks.
One thing I just found out after printing for 5 years is this: to combat the tendency of the screen to "twist" out of registration when tightening the screen clamps, press the screen down tight to the platen, then slowly, and alternately, tighten the screen clamp bolts. Since I've started doing this, I rarely have to use my micros. Your off-contact has to be low, but I was surprised at how well this works. I'm kind of embarassed to admit I didn't know about this before, but I haven't seen it mentioned anywhere before, and I've been on the screenprinters.net forum since I started, and on this one for a while. I happened to catch it off a video from (I think) Screenprintingsupplies.com. I don't think there's a back clamp press made that doesn't have this problem of the screen twisting when tightening the clamps. If I'd known about this, I might have kept that old Hopkins International a little longer. They ought to make the two clamp bolts turn in opposite directions (one left hand thread, one right hand) to compensate for this tendency to twist.
My experience with the joystick is identical. I have the Riley Hopkins 6/4 and I recently registered a 4 color CMYK job in about 15 minutes, perfectly. That's the usual amount of time it takes to register now that I have the hang of it. You do have to ensure that your off contact and everything is set (and hopefully low as possible) to make it easier to register, but i'm sure that's the same with any press.
I'm really, really happy with it. As Drue said, if you want to move that last fraction of an inch, it can be a little annoying, but getting the initial setup done is so fast, its more than worth it. I'm going to ISS here soon and will compare the setup times between the joystick and a regular micro system. My thought now is that the joystick will be a LOT faster on the initial setup, but be slightly behind on the re-registration. Seeing as the press holds registration so well though, the re-registration issue is almost null.
Riley Hopkins 6/4 pro kit came early! 
