Hi
I need to start planning new equipment purchases, as I really need to get a new press and set aside my current antiquated table for one color prints done by a future assistant. So I'm in the market for a press, a six color, four station one. I want the platens to be able to move around and it needs to be able to hold screens as small as 18" x 20" as well as larger ones. I want to get a good table without spending a huge amount, two to three grand would probably be my budget. I saw the Riley Hopkins press at ISS and liked it, but I wonder if I would really like using the joystick as opposed to micro registration knobs (I like knobs and switches and whatnot, so I may like a micro reg knob system more than a joystick).
But anyway, I wanted you guys to recommend different presses for me to look into. Any information and suggestions provided will be highly appreciated.
I'm not personally familiar with the joystick mechanism. I've heard both pro's and con's about it, raves and raspberries. I'm sure it's like anything else, you have to get familiar with it.
My main reason for responding is to urge you to consider NOT getting a 6c/4s manual press. Rather I urge you to instead consider a 6c/6s press. The additional stations will give your garments just that much more cool-down time after flashing. If you try to print on top of ink that you've flashed that hasn't adaquately cooled, you'll get garments sticking to the screen and lifting off the platens.
Nick, thanks for that suggestion. 6/6 seems to be a considerable amount of money more than a 6/4. Along with the press, I hope to get an automatic flash cure unit, so I envision doing a quick print, rotating that platen to the flash cure, and hitting the foot switch. If it's just a 1 color print then I'll set the auto flash to cure it fully in 15 to 25 seconds or whatever it will take, and I'll remove that shirt when it comes back around to me as I keep printing, spinning, and flashing. I use water-based ink, by the way. If I'm doing a multi color job, then I'd probably be flashing only 10 seconds or less(?), so I would think it could cool enough by the time it got back around to me with just a 4 station press. Do you think that's accurate?
Brent,
You would probably set the flash dryer 1½-2" above the platen. This would most likely result in a flash of 6-8 seconds for plastisol. If you multiply those seconds by the number of stations you have on your press, you'll see how much time each shirt will have to cool down before you put on a second layer of ink. 4x6=24 seconds whereas 6x6=36 seconds. The more you flash, the more heat starts building up in the platens and the more you'll need to cool off the shirts before your second layer of ink.
Another way to overcome the problem is to install a cooling fan at the station after the flash or two stations after the flash. You have to be careful that the wind created by the cooling fan does not cause a problem for the flashing station. Flash dryers are VERY susceptible to breezes and their performance is greatly effected by them.
Also, I urge you to NOT use your platens when curing fully. They are not built/designed/intended for such use and will likely warp. If you must use your flash dryer to fully cure, place a table, platform, etc. that is the same height as your platens near the flash dryer so you can spin the flash away from your platens and onto your DEDICATED drying platform.
To ME, it would be money better spent to get a 6c/6s press and a totally manual (not automatic) flash, than to short yourself 2 stations. That having been said, I have a 6/6 press with a manual flash dryer but I will be replacing the manual IR flash with a Quartz flash that has a built-in timer and a footo-switch trigger (usually flashes a shirt in less than 2 seconds). I have a converyor-type dryer for my final or full cure. That's just MY thinking on the matter. You have to work out what's right and best for you. I'm certainly no expert.
Nick- perhaps not an expert, but you sound very knowledgeable and I appreciate your thoughts. I currently have a 16"x16" manual flash. I was thinking of the increase in production I could get using an auto flash, but I had forgotten about the platens warping. I'll just keep flashing as I do, doesn't take long, and when I can I'll get a conveyor belt oven. Do you flash the shirts at all before taking them off and putting them through the oven? I'm not sure if that's the proper thing to do if you've just got to lay down one layer to do a print, but it could have speedy results.
When I flash shirts, it's just between coats and only as necessary. I do not flash before taking the shirt off the platen and putting it into the oven.
When I flash shirts, it's just between coats and only as necessary. I do not flash before taking the shirt off the platen and putting it into the oven.
I figured that was how people did it, no drying, just print and off onto the belt. Did you have to get used to that method, and avoid folding or smearing wet ink? I can see myself doing that.
Just be very careful when removing the shirt from the platen and placing it onto the belt. In my case, my dryers belt is 24" wide so when I pull the shirt off the platen by the shoulders, I fold the arms and sides of the shirt toward the side NOT freshly printed, touch the bottom hem of the shirt down onto the belt fairly far away from me (I stand to the side of my dryer, not at the end) and then fold the shirt down on top of itself so that it fits within the 24" width of the belt. ALL WITHOUT LETTING GO OF THE SHOULDERS WHERE I ORIGINALLY GRABBED IT TO PULL IT OFF THE PLATEN. A little practice and it comes pretty easily.
Just be very careful when removing the shirt from the platen and placing it onto the belt. In my case, my dryers belt is 24" wide so when I pull the shirt off the platen by the shoulders, I fold the arms and sides of the shirt toward the side NOT freshly printed, touch the bottom hem of the shirt down onto the belt fairly far away from me (I stand to the side of my dryer, not at the end) and then fold the shirt down on top of itself so that it fits within the 24" width of the belt. ALL WITHOUT LETTING GO OF THE SHOULDERS WHERE I ORIGINALLY GRABBED IT TO PULL IT OFF THE PLATEN. A little practice and it comes pretty easily.
Sounds like a good method. I'm sure it'll come natural after 10 or 200 shirts or so...
What kind of oven do you have, what brand/model? I need to figure one of those into my expansion plan as well.
I have a HIX 2408. It's 24" wide and 8 feet long. If I'm running everything by my self with no help shirt 1 is getting ready to come off the belt just after I've finished putting shirt #6 on the belt. Move quickly to the other end of the dryer and start lifting the shirts off the belt as they get ready to drop off the belt and set them down flat to cool. If I had it to do over again, I'd probably get a 2410 (10 feet long). Maybe even a 12 foot long, but I think at 12 feet they also get wider.
If I was already using a quartz flash, and had one person loading, another putting shirts on the dryer, and yet another taking them off the dryer, production would be very high. However, if I had that many people in the shop because I needed to produce that many shirts, I'd probably buy an auto.
I was assuming an 8' belt was long enough, but I don't want to find myself outgrowing it anytime soon. How much volume can you do per day or hour without being limited by the 8' oven that you have? At what printing point does the oven start slowing you down? Can it handle 60 prints an hour? 100? more?
Actually an 8' dryer can handle a lot of volume. What I was talking about is when I'm in the shop all by myself (no kids to help). If you have one person loading shirts on your platen, a second person taking them off the platen and placing them on the belt, a third person taking them off the belt and stacking them for folding/boxing and a fourth person running the squeegie and flash, you'll be able to put shirts out quite quickly.
What I do, is set the temperature and belt speed on my dryer to bring the shirt up to temp and keep it there for about 20 seconds, so in my case, it works out to about 2 shirts a minute, about 120 shirts an hour, about 960 shirts in 8 hours. But that requires 4 people. The fewer people, the fewer shirts.
My orders are not that large anyway, so no big deal. We havent had any single customer order more than a couple hundred shirts at a time. Our business is aimed at other businesses such as auto dealerships, auto body repair shops, resturants, building contractors, Governmental agencies. One may order 12 dozen shirts this week, 2 dozen in three weeks, 1500 pieces on a special order anually, but with lots of customers, and all of them doing pretty much the same thing, we stay busy.
Recommend a 6/4 press? 
