Impressions - October/November 2023 - 27

T
he screen-printing business can be both funky and inspiring.
On the one hand, tales abound of ex-rockers who started
out decorating T-shirts for whatever band they happened to
be in at the time ending up creating a multi-million-dollar
business. On the other, there are the horror stories-tales of
failed print runs, bankruptcy and broken dreams.
To avoid the latter, as is the case with pretty much any business
endeavor, one of the keys is having the right equipment, of which there
is plenty when it comes to screen printing: think screens, squeegees,
washout booths and, of course, the press, or presses themselves.
Of these, arguably the single most important piece of gear is the latter,
i.e., the press. Not only because it's the most expensive and takes up the
most room, but because it serves as a kind of foundation for everything
else. Sub-par screens or squeegees? Bummer. However, you can easily
swap them out for something better. Chronic registration problems or
the inability to execute the kinds of designs your customers are asking
for because of the limitations inherent in that supposedly gee-whiz auto
you just purchased? Sorry, you're pretty much stuck.
What follows is a brief overview of a few things decorators need to
be prepared to look out for when considering a new screen-printing
machine-whether you're just starting out printing T-shirts for your
latest band or church group, or making the jump from startup to
major decorator.
Making Manual Work
To begin with, never forget that no matter what system you choose
to go with, you and your operators are going to be spending countless
hours working with it. Therefore, as you are evaluating any given system,
imagine what it's going to be like generating product while employing
whatever features it may have to offer. This includes everything from
the specific kinds of the mechanism employed for getting screen in
register and then keeping it there to the " feel " of a system as a whole.
Other factors to consider, depending on the kinds of production
runs you have in mind, include the number of stations/colors you
want to work with and whether or not to go with a manual system
versus an auto.
Alex Sroka of Anatol Equipment (anatol.com), for example, notes
that when evaluating a manual screen-printing press, one of the biggest
factors to look for is smooth, easy movement. " Manual printing with
its repetitive movements will take a toll on your body...no matter
what press you're using. You don't want a press that's going to be
fighting you and exacerbating the physical strain, " Sroka says. " Test
the weight of rotating the pallets and the resistance when raising and
lowering screens. Many presses offer adjustable spring tension in the
print heads, which is a nice feature to have. Check the height of the
pallets and screens as well. If they're too high or too low when loading
shirts and printing, forcing you to bend or reach excessively, it can be
uncomfortable at best, and affect your print speed and quality and
lead to long-term injury at worst. "
Similarly, when it comes to the printing process as a whole, be sure
to pay close attention to the question of registration. On the one hand,
depending on the sophistication of a press's clamping and fine-adjust
features, you may find yourself spending far more time on setups than
you might otherwise want. On the other, you may find yourself with
a system that, despite a wealth of fine-tune features, refuses to stay in
registration when it comes time to do the actual decorating.
When evaluating a new press, it's
important to consider everything from
how it functions to overall construction
quality. Photo courtesy of Anatol
Equipment Manufacturing Co.
Oct./Nov. 2023
P.27
http://www.anatol.com
Impressions - October/November 2023

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