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screen printing => General Screen Printing => Topic started by: Gilligan on September 03, 2014, 11:17:05 AM

Title: Growth of a small shop
Post by: Gilligan on September 03, 2014, 11:17:05 AM
Here is the insanity that is phase 1 of the move.

Development tank has been moved (that's why it's under the press), screen rack is jammed up into the press right now and air hose is laying around still being run.  Just general disarray as we cut a hole in the wall by the washout booth.  The exposure unit, drying cabinet and developing tank is all going in that room.

Should be fun!

(http://i57.tinypic.com/2d1kys7.jpg)
(http://i59.tinypic.com/pozk0.jpg)
(http://i59.tinypic.com/1zly8ub.jpg)
(http://i61.tinypic.com/65rivk.jpg)
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: jvanick on September 03, 2014, 11:22:17 AM
OMG, I would go INSANE with that much gear around...  I like to have room to move around, as well as move carts and shirts around easily.

Side note... is that RapidAir 3/4" air tubing?  how do you like it so far?
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: Prosperi-Tees on September 03, 2014, 11:41:24 AM
Can't imagine an auto going in there.
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: Gilligan on September 03, 2014, 11:48:50 AM
OMG, I would go INSANE with that much gear around...  I like to have room to move around, as well as move carts and shirts around easily.

Side note... is that RapidAir 3/4" air tubing?  how do you like it so far?

As I said, it's a bit in disarray right now because we had just cut that hole in the wall by the washout booth.  The developing tank was sitting on that wall and all of that paneling was obviously still on the wall. :)

That is Rapidair 3/4"  It's nice, but it is pretty damn stiff, almost might as well be rigid.  Not really, you can bend it by hand but as you see it holds it's shape and you need to put a foot on it to bend it, you won't wear yourself out bending it, but you will be glad when it's all done. ;)  I've only made one connection and it's pretty easy.  Plan out your run, think about all the connections you will have.  I thought I had done that and ordered what I needed, I was still short a few connection after I really sat down and thought about it.  One catch, the outlet on the "blocks" are 1/2" npt, you will need "reducers" to get to 1/4" for quick releases at basic stations.  3/4" is more than I need for the Sabre but I bought it a long time ago and I'd rather have more and need less.

Gerry, it should be fun.  I need to film a reaction of the tech when he walks in the door. ;)
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: GraphicDisorder on September 03, 2014, 12:23:31 PM
Holy crap dude, way worse than I thought it would be.   :o
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: bimmridder on September 03, 2014, 12:32:56 PM
Think positive. Fewer steps to get what you need ;D
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: stitches4815 on September 03, 2014, 12:39:35 PM
Where's the fridge for the beer?
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: Prosperi-Tees on September 03, 2014, 12:57:09 PM
You are going to have to become ocd to work in there!  ;)
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: Mark @ Hurricane Printing on September 03, 2014, 03:19:08 PM
I think I got you beat on "crampness"..one car garage

Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: Mark @ Hurricane Printing on September 03, 2014, 03:20:01 PM
another pic
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: Mark @ Hurricane Printing on September 03, 2014, 03:21:51 PM
another garage shot.......wash out booth on back porch.....light table, pc's and printers in a spare bedroom.
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: ericheartsu on September 03, 2014, 03:24:14 PM
our space is much bigger, but i feel right now, it looks like these pictures. Re-arranging, while still in production sucksssss
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: DannyGruninger on September 03, 2014, 06:50:01 PM
My first shop wasn't much bigger then that and I had auto in it..... I started in 700 sq ft, had an auto in there and all the stuff I needed to get big orders done..... I did a 25k order out of that shop as well! Keep on pluggin and before you know it you'll be moving on up. I would be willing to bet the m&r yellow room isn't much smaller then your entire shop, you should have m&r build you a yellow room to stick outside LOL


Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: Gilligan on September 03, 2014, 09:42:24 PM
Production takes place in there, it's about 450 sqft... only thing that doesn't happen there is art and film printing.  Embroidery, heat press happens in another room and sales in yet another room... art and film in yet ANOTHER room.

New setup with that cool hole in the wall by the booth is gonna allow us to bring drying cabinet, exposure and developing tank into another room.  This will let us move the ink table down where the exposure unit is and move some smaller shelves to where the ink table is.

It's a bit tight... but it's usually a lot cleaner than that.  It's just a work in progress right now.  Prepping!
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: TCT on September 03, 2014, 10:23:31 PM
I am no Mrs. Cleo, but I see a move in your near future! ;D
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: Binkspot on September 04, 2014, 08:12:41 AM
Wow talk about tight.

I would just move the heat press and emb to the load station of the press so the loader/unloader can run them while printing.

So all your goods need to go through the office to get to the shop?
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: Gilligan on September 04, 2014, 10:04:38 AM
Wow talk about tight.

I would just move the heat press and emb to the load station of the press so the loader/unloader can run them while printing.

So all your goods need to go through the office to get to the shop?

Lol, I'll run that by him. ;)

Yep, only have two doors, one is through the show room, the other is on the other side through my computer "lobby", which then has to go through the show room... Well, technically it could now go through the hall, through the workbench/exposure area and through that new hole on the wall. ;)
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: gtmfg on September 04, 2014, 10:30:00 AM
Where we started looked like that. 24x24 detached garage in my backyard 10c auto, 6c manual, 11ft dyer and compressor. Washout, exposue was in the basement of my house which meant carrying everything up and down all day. At the end it consumed everything. Bedrooms, kitchen, living room, front garage. Yeah, my wife eventually freaked out on me. But we're still married!
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: Gilligan on September 10, 2014, 08:21:35 PM
Progress... things moved and some mess cleaned up... still lots of work progress.

(http://i57.tinypic.com/33asyg5.jpg)
(http://i58.tinypic.com/2itqyj4.jpg)
(http://i62.tinypic.com/5x64g9.jpg)
(http://i57.tinypic.com/5lyxys.jpg)
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: Gilligan on September 10, 2014, 08:25:50 PM
See the blue tape on the floor? That's where the edge of the auto will be. :-)
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: jvanick on September 10, 2014, 11:21:52 PM
your installer is going to freak when he walks into your shop :)
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: Prosperi-Tees on September 11, 2014, 01:02:00 AM
I can't wait to see the final layout! Oh, good place for those Newman Constant Force squeegees  ;D
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: Gilligan on September 11, 2014, 05:12:32 AM
I can't wait to see the final layout! Oh, good place for those Newman Constant Force squeegees  ;D

Sonofabitch!  J/k

They work when used with high tension screens.

Yeah Jason, I'm thinking we should film a reaction video. :D
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: Doug S on September 11, 2014, 09:54:26 AM
I used to think we were operating with limited space until I looked at that pic. 
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: alan802 on September 11, 2014, 11:28:20 AM
I think of a print shop in Japan when I see those pics.  I could be incredibly efficient if you can arrange things the right way.  Imagine not having to move far for anything at any time, could save lots of time really. 
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: Gilligan on September 11, 2014, 02:17:14 PM
Like NKOTB said, step by step!

Truck arrived a day early!

(http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/09/12/a3uha8yn.jpg)
(http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/09/12/5ybu8eda.jpg)
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: Gilligan on September 11, 2014, 02:18:49 PM
Other half is in connex box... driver thought we could unload by hand since we didn't have a forklift!

Neighbors were very cool and drove down here and unloaded it for us.  Cheapest burgers I ever bought!
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: royster13 on September 11, 2014, 02:20:42 PM
What is that?
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: Prosperi-Tees on September 11, 2014, 02:25:28 PM
Nice!
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: Gilligan on September 11, 2014, 02:32:09 PM
What is that?

Arms of a Sabre 6/8.
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: GraphicDisorder on September 11, 2014, 02:33:04 PM
Congratulations
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: Inkworks on September 11, 2014, 03:28:23 PM
Nice, get ready to get busy!
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: sqslabs on September 11, 2014, 03:31:03 PM
Congrats man!  I finally got a tour of the Sabre at ISS Orlando and it is a sweet f*&king press!
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: Gilligan on September 11, 2014, 03:49:26 PM
Nice, get ready to get busy!

It's funny things started really picking up as we were finalizing the paperwork.

No stress here, just easy living a head. ;)
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: mk162 on September 11, 2014, 04:18:48 PM
hahahaha...or so you think.  having an auto is great, I would never go back to a manual, but I can't say it's easy living either.
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: Gilligan on September 11, 2014, 04:53:26 PM
Well, that's what that little winky guy was for. :)

Not having a manual backup is gonna be even more fun!
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: mk162 on September 11, 2014, 04:56:04 PM
Hey, you can always set it up at the house and flash cure them and run them through the oven later... ;)
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: tancehughes on September 11, 2014, 05:02:29 PM
Gil I guess I am completely lost, what kind of auto did you purchase?! Exciting times indeed!
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: Gilligan on September 11, 2014, 05:16:58 PM
What is that?

Arms of a Sabre 6/8.
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: TCT on September 11, 2014, 07:12:39 PM
Congrats man, now get it put together and post pics!!!
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: Inkworks on September 11, 2014, 08:09:31 PM
Hey Gil, I just bombed down from BC, broke in and set up your machine for you. It looks great, you're welcome:


 (http://www.shop.spotcolorsupply.com/images/Sabre.png)
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: Binkspot on September 11, 2014, 08:10:53 PM
Forget about the shop pictures, I want to see the video of them trying to get a dryer and auto through the front door, down the hall and into the shop area.
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: GraphicDisorder on September 11, 2014, 08:52:30 PM
When is the tech coming?
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: Gilligan on September 12, 2014, 12:00:28 AM
Tomorrow!

They don't play around!
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: tancehughes on September 12, 2014, 08:28:35 AM
Dude a sabre! I think you're going to really like that press. I've been really impressed with it. I'll be heading to Lafayette to check it out once you're set up


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: Gilligan on September 13, 2014, 10:39:30 AM
Dude a sabre! I think you're going to really like that press. I've been really impressed with it. I'll be heading to Lafayette to check it out once you're set up


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

No sense in waiting too long!

almost done!

(http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/09/13/upymesyn.jpg)
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: Prosperi-Tees on September 13, 2014, 11:20:20 AM
Sweet!!! Is that where the dryer is going? Looking clean!
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: GaryG on September 13, 2014, 11:29:33 AM
It's going right through the wall into the delivery truck so
they can be delivered faster! lol

Looking nice!!
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: Shanarchy on September 13, 2014, 12:13:11 PM
Tight space, but real nice looking press. I'm jealous. I should have my new to me press all set by the end of the month. Give us feedback on how you like the Sabre.

Does the dryer run through the wall? Or are you moving it later?
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: TCT on September 13, 2014, 01:54:40 PM
Sweet dude, your place cleaned up nice!

Since no one has asked, what's going to happen with the dryer?  ;)
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: Binkspot on September 13, 2014, 02:18:37 PM
Nice.

Never seen a Radicure with a 4" out feed, was that custom?
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: Gilligan on September 13, 2014, 08:00:19 PM
It's going right through the wall into the delivery truck so
they can be delivered faster! lol

Looking nice!!
exactly! lol

I guess the picture is an optical illusion.

there is actually 43 or so inches back there behind the tunnel, the arms aren't on yet.

so far we are digging it.
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: IntegrityShirts on September 15, 2014, 10:28:23 AM
Nice. When you see shirts climbing the back wall you know it's time to go empty the bin and put a new one under there.
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: Gilligan on September 18, 2014, 10:08:30 PM
Just ran our first "real" job on the press.

250 pcs (really did 264 as he forgot he ordered extras), two color plus under base, one sided... 1 hour 20 mins.

Running about 20 dz/hour with a flash back and one operator, I was just there to look pretty.

I was actually under the press tweaking the lift cylinder's rate and coushin to smooth it out to our satisfaction and playing around looking for interesting gopro shots for a future video (aka: slowing him down ;) ).

Print stayed pretty good and we wiped down 1.5 times, he didn't need to but did it anyway... Tuned in for tips on that in another thread.  Also that could have been due to he forgot to lock down the micros at first.

Radicure kept up like a champ at the upper end of 10 feet per min.  Need to do more testing on that as we JUST got it 100% (technically 95%) right before the job.

We are happy.
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: TCT on September 18, 2014, 10:21:07 PM
Nice! Good to hear man! Did you end up getting 1 or 2 flashbacks?
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: Gilligan on September 18, 2014, 10:40:19 PM
Just the one now, but we could have ran this job with two colors and a flash back pfp each color.

Would have gone slower and was worth the extra under base screen. Though no butt registered colors so that would have saved setup time, lock and load!
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: Inkworks on September 18, 2014, 10:54:36 PM
Congrats Gilly, I know it's been a long time coming so savor the moment! It's a game changer when you start looking at 300-400pc orders as an hours easy work.
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: Orion on September 19, 2014, 09:05:32 AM
Looking at the pic, is the radicure in backwards?
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: GraphicDisorder on September 19, 2014, 09:30:55 AM
I bet your happy now, well at least your printers are anyway.
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: Gilligan on September 19, 2014, 09:37:12 AM
Congrats Gilly, I know it's been a long time coming so savor the moment! It's a game changer when you start looking at 300-400pc orders as an hours easy work.

Funny you say that.  I got a call a couple days ago for 300 cheap black shirts with just white on one side as I quoted them, I thought... Man, that is cheap, but I wasn't saddened as I knew that would be about a two hour job and easy money.
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: Gilligan on September 19, 2014, 09:45:08 AM
Looking at the pic, is the radicure in backwards?

Yes, it kind of has to go that way... We could completely rearrange it but I'm hoping reversing the belt is good enough.

It only has 3 panels, in a 1101 configuration, so we are now running it in a 1011 configuration.

I'm not sold on the 1.5' in feed but my printer says he's ok with it.  I told him if it isn't working I can run some wires for the motor to the other side (electrical is right on that side already) and we could move it around pretty easily.

Current indicator LEDs are not that bright, so hardly are usable except when directly checking them... Need to see about fixing that if possible.
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: bulldog on September 19, 2014, 09:51:59 AM
So is all that in a 450 sq foot area or did you gain some space when you knocked the hole in the wall?

What is the footprint of your Sabre?
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: Homer on September 19, 2014, 10:06:31 AM
Congrats Gilly, I know it's been a long time coming so savor the moment! It's a game changer when you start looking at 300-400pc orders as an hours easy work.

Funny you say that.  I got a call a couple days ago for 300 cheap black shirts with just white on one side as I quoted them, I thought... Man, that is cheap, but I wasn't saddened as I knew that would be about a two hour job and easy money.

don't lower your price just because you went auto, now you gotta pay for that sucker.

Under the press already effing with adjustments after the tech set it up?  :o....

nice machine Gil, time for some vids of that baby making some bank.
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: mk162 on September 19, 2014, 10:18:41 AM
welcome to air...i felt like our air gauntlet could always be a touch softer when running.  It finally reached a point where I got it as good as it could get(which was fine) and ran with it.

I do like servo though, changing platens without slamming or clunking.
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: Gilligan on September 19, 2014, 10:36:00 AM
So is all that in a 450 sq foot area or did you gain some space when you knocked the hole in the wall?

What is the footprint of your Sabre?

LOL... yep, the hole in the wall allowed us to move the drying cabinet, exposure unit and developing tank into the other room.  So we gained some elbow room, not square footage.

12.5' just like the specs say it is, I just took the tape to it.  But we have more room than I was anticipating.  Maybe because I plan for the worse or maybe because the Radicure is that much shorter than I was expecting to have freeing up some space.  We can walk completely around the entire press fairly comfortably, even while it's running.


don't lower your price just because you went auto, now you gotta pay for that sucker.

Under the press already effing with adjustments after the tech set it up?  :o....

nice machine Gil, time for some vids of that baby making some bank.

Hell no!  That was my previous prices... just before it would have been decent money but a good bit of time due to PFP on a manual.  300 pcs with all the hates my guy wears would take him all day or possibly a couple of days unless he was able to just hammer through them, which he typically can't.  (FYI, it was 4.64 each, I don't think we got the bid)

Well, to be fair... we got the press in on Thursday, unexpectedly, and I went a head and called Work Horse and told a small white lie that we had everything in the shop and ready to go.  Truth was the print heads and arms were in but the center shaft and flash was still in it's crate in our storage container because our forklift wasn't coming in until the next day.  I just wanted to make sure we weren't delaying them sending a tech out any longer than we had to since I knew we would be good to go first thing the next morning.  Well, they said they could have a tech at my place the NEXT day, he was doing an install 30 mins away!  *GULP*

We made it work as with ISS Dallas going on, it would have been some time before we could have gotten a tech out to do the install if we wouldn't have seized that opportunity.  Only caveat was that he HAD to be done by Saturday night because he had to be in Dallas for ISS setup.  I certainly didn't mind the long hours or coming in on Saturday.  So we jumped on it!

The tech had showed me how the valves work to speed up/slow down the lift and decent of the press and where the cylinder cushion adjustments were and we tweaked them a bit while he was here.  But as the press got broken in and things really started moving more freely the thunk that was happening at the bottom of the decent became more than my guy and I were liking.  So I went down there and decided to get it "right".  Now it's smoother and has a very subtle thump at the bottom that we both like a whole lot better.

Truth be told, I don't think our tech understood how detailed orientated we were and how meticulous we were going to have this baby tuned up.  It's not perfectly level and I'm guessing that judging our shop and others in the are that just get Javs or Freedoms AND that we only had 3 auto screens stretched up as we thought we would have another day or two before the tech arrived.... AND that we had some seemingly dumb questions on where to burn the screens which was misinterpreted to what he thought was REALLY dumb questions.  He was telling us to have registration marks on our artwork LOL as he thought that was part of our puzzle.  We just didn't know how to deal with the "right of way" of the print head carriage and where it can and CAN'T print.  Coupled for us with the fact that the plattens move, the screen holders move... where is this all supposed to go?!?! ??? :-[ :-\ ;D  It was a bit overwhelming from our system that we developed 2 years ago that we have been using to slap films on the screens that was so simple and any adjustments were pretty easy to make because the screen was in the rear holder and didn't have any place to go.  Now we had so many more variables and no FPU to go with.

Anyway, the tech was patient with us and even helped get the radicure in and our dryer in storage and some advice on how to do a few repairs that weren't related to anything he was doing.  He certainly didn't have to take time out of the install to do those things but man did we appreciate it!

So, yeah... it's not balls on perfect, but we will get it there and it is probably the best most shops ever see... we just come from the Anal Alan School of printing and want to get everything nailed down PERFECT! ;)
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: Gilligan on September 19, 2014, 10:40:48 AM
welcome to air...i felt like our air gauntlet could always be a touch softer when running.  It finally reached a point where I got it as good as it could get(which was fine) and ran with it.

I do like servo though, changing platens without slamming or clunking.

Yeah, the servo indexing and AC heads are nice... Their indexing method is rather clever, though it may not be unique to them... basically a double yoke bearing that takes turns indexing the shaft as it spins in half turn increments.  I wish they would have put a proximity sensor at the midway point so allow half indexing though.

It's pretty soft now, we could soften it more but it would be at the expense of time before it could flash (flash back), so we left a small thud in it to get it moving.  Balancing act... the boys in New Orleans with their servo lift probably don't have to worry about these things. ;)  (just replacing that expensive ass servo if it ever goes out!  And double clutching at the right moment. :p )
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: alan802 on September 20, 2014, 09:32:09 AM
I spent an hour around the Sabre yesterday, 30 minutes at the Sroque YOU, an hour at the G3, 45 minutes with the MHM X-type, 3 minutes at the Anatol Volt, and about 15 minutes at the DB so I got to see a lot of autos up close yesterday.  I'll start another thread on my thoughts on each machine on Monday but I'll say a few things now.  RPM is going to get passed up, if they aren't already, in the "bang-for-the-buck" category.  It's hard to say just how lucky we are these days with having so many GREAT machines out there and just 5 years ago I would have said the only great autos were just a tad bit out of our price range and the RPM.  That's not true anymore. 

The operating systems I saw yesterday were impressive, and I'd say the Sabre is right up there in the top 2, along with the MHM, and the G3 is so functional it's hard to knock points off because its not as sleek and pretty as the Sabre, MHM and Anatol Aries.  There were a few things on the Sabre that I thought were very unique and nobody else had done.  Others have the maintenance schedules on there but then having a video there to show exactly how/where to do the maintenance?  Wow, that's cool.  The Sabre's ability to integrate with shop software and their portal system was awesome too.  Others have the same type of function or ability to tap into other networks/software but I didn't think anyone has that feature as well thought out as the Sabre does.  It's close in that department, with the MHM tablet and the new stuff that is coming/already here with M&R but for a press with the price point of the Sabre?  I'm shaking my head.  And watch the hell out when/if the Falcon gets this upgrade.  They are also already looking at upgrading some of the less noticeable components of the Sabre that won't necessarily enhance the functionality or appearance any but just knowing it's there will be nice but I won't go into that since there were parts of the conversations that were off the record so to speak.   

So after having some questions on the robustness of the Sabre and if it was stout enough to handle a higher volume shop...those were answered with a yes.  There was only 2 areas that I though might need some improvement with regards to the print head and that was discussed and is already in the works.  By no means were those things a deal-breaker, not even for my picky ass, but it's nice to see that the Workhorse guys are truly committed to putting out a machine with no real weaknesses. 
Title: Re: Growth of a small shop
Post by: Gilligan on September 24, 2014, 02:02:51 AM
Small update... We had to get out a 150 pcs contract job today.

I left for a meeting right as backs were done being setup, returned to my guy having problems getting some union royal blue to clear some 180 (I suspect scumming or something, screen opener or pressure got us rolling and we had no time to play).

It was two color left chest plus under base (we flashed table up in head two with the flash back).  Put a three man crew on it and was bursting at 600/hour, sustained 500/hour.

Sabre + flashback was kicking some ass today!