im looking at a second hand mhm chameleon right now. it's expensive as hell but an absolutly awesome carousell. i've decided i've pretty much got my heart set on it, i just a case of getting the cash raised.
i was just wondering what do you use?
anyone wana big up their set up?
Last edited by andrew625; May 3rd, 2008 at 11:33 AM.
I am not personally familiar with the Chameleon, but I've heard a lot of printers that have Chameleons and love them or worked someplace that had one and loved it. Maybe if you did a "search" on this board and other screen printers boards using the keyword "chameleon", you would come up with lots of threads to read.
everything i can gather it pitches it's self as the worlds 'leading' manual press and this would seem to be the general consenus from everyone i've spoke to in the industry.
im just interested if anyone can recomend alternative carousells they use incase this falls through. the reason im so taken by this press is the level of accuracy in alignment that would seem possible to achieve.
am i going over the top with this carousell? anyone recomend alternatives that are cheaper? the stuff im printing is pretty detailed and requires a fair few colours.
I guess it all depends upon the advertisers claim you wish to believe. We own an Antec Legend, which by most accounts is touted to be the best manual press money can buy. The only "drawback" to the Antec Legend I've ever seen is where one screen printer made comment about its price (which admittedly is higher than others), but in the same sentence he said "If you can possibly afford it, buy an Antec Legend." We bought ours about 3½ years ago at an ISS show and got a "show price". It is a 6/6 and including shipping it was just under 6k. Frankly, it's some of the best money we've ever spent. It has an all metal DUAL GATEWAY registering system (not just a single), and the way it holds registration is outstanding. It is also truely an all-heads down press. Check out the Legend at Antec Screen Printing Equipment, Manual T-Shirt Printers, Cap Printers, Flash Dryers
m & r also has good ones it isn't the press that matters most but if you are comfortable using it.....i think it is just your preferance.....there are some printers that use the old dinosaurs and swear by them and others that run out and buy the newest machines on the market and say you can't beat them but somehow there is always something better that will come along just waiting to knock it's competition out of the top spot.....this is common knowledge but whatever you choose just make sure yer gonna be comfortable with it cause it's gonna cost you dearly anyway you go...lol good luck
What press are you talking about? I did a search for MHM presses and only saw automatic presses and none were called chameleon. M&R makes a Chameleon manual press which I don't doubt is a great press. M&R autos are great. I think you would be happy with M&R.
ftembroidery,What is an ' all -heads down press'?
I had a look at the Antec site and the machine shown has back clamps, do they do side clamp versions as well? And are the platterns Aluminium or a laminated timbre product (sorry,I could not find this info on the net).
side clamps seem to be much more beneficial in suporting the screen from what i can gather, can any one explain the pros & cos between side clamps and back clamps.
An "all-heads-down" press allows you to print at all stations at the same time. If you have a 6/6 like mine, that means you and 5 workers can all print at the press at the same time if you're having to crank out a big order of 1-color shirts in a short period of time. Many presses claim to be all-heads down, but to the best of my knowledge only Antec is TRUELY all-heads down, because the heads "float" and are kept in proper registration by the all metal dual gate system. All other manual presses (including those claiming to be all-heads down) use a single-gate registration system and many of them are simply nylon bolts that you adjust inward to apply pressure against the press arm. If you suddenly need to print a large number of shirts, you make as many identical screens as you have room for and get some workers/friends/printers to help. Each screen can even be a different color of ink, each printer can be printing on different colors of shirts. Because the heads "float", the action of the other printers working does not interfere with or adversely affect the work of others.
Side clamps, yes, they do offer them. Some printers say, "I don't need or want them", and other printers say they are a "must have." Either way, they've got them if you want them.
The thing with Antec is, there is no "authorized distributor" or dealer. You MUST by direct.
manual carousell discusion 
