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screen printing => Equipment => Topic started by: stitches4815 on August 20, 2015, 02:52:06 PM
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We just bought a used gauntlet today. I have been sick to my stomach on making the decision to buy it. Hopefully that will go away and joy will start to filter in.
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Man- sounds great~
I'm sure you will do well !!
Let us know how it goes...
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That feeling will go away as soon as you start printing with it.
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a couple of jobs, and you'll be wondering how you lived without one...
Steve
We picked up a '94 Gauntlet S a good 15 years ago, still running...
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old gauntlet huh...I'll lend you my list of custom swear words when you try to bump the micros... :P
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Thanks for all the input. I actually can't wait to get it and use it.
Jay, I am sure I will be able to come up with my own swear words but go ahead and send me your list. I am sure I will crap myself laughing.
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Forget the micros, buy a hammer
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Forget the micros, buy a hammer
^ He's not kidding.
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Absolutely no hammers allowed on the production floor. Ops need to learn how to use micros. Always centered to zero each job. Most don't even know they have a neutral position to prevent shifting.
Sorry but hammers=bandaid
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I never used a hammer on our gauntlet...our micros were as smooth as butter.
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I guess I need to clean and learn to use the micros then, because I too have succumbed to The Hammer Method™.
@ Brad and/or Tony, I only have front micros. Do I need to open the rear locks to use my front only micros?
Hey Stitches, what year is yours? Is it a Revolver? I have come to love mine, but it took a while. There IS a learning curve. :-\ Sounds like you are already prepared for a little head scratching. The long mounting rods for the airlock assemblies do more "flag poling" than I'd like. There is probably a trick that I haven't figured out yet. I'm 8 months in and still learning something new every few days.
If you seek basic operating instructions, be aware that the control panels are variable (by year?) and can be confusing when asking questions. As modern computer user, I remember thinking "This interface is SOOO "last century!!" But naw, its just fine once you get your mind around it.
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yeah no hammer mmk....no need, keep'em clean and you'll be ok. the issues with our micros are each head reacts a little different to each movement. the threads of the micros get a little looser on some over others... I know one head moves x and a little y at the same time, another head moves in a swing pattern....
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If you study true XYZ registration theory you will realize that rear micros are unnecessary though at times, especially with a slightly warped frame, they can come in handy. Its best to release the rear clamps.
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Absolutely no hammers allowed on the production floor. Ops need to learn how to use micros. Always centered to zero each job. Most don't even know they have a neutral position to prevent shifting.
Sorry but hammers=bandaid
Oh. My. God. The fact that most operators never even consider zeroing out their micros drives me up an effing wall.
Quick tip to OP: Zero out all micros after every job, and keep your white plate micros zeroed out at 33%-50% pushed inward. Depending on how the films were lined up, or any other type of inconsistency that can happen even with a CTS (if they can, they will...humans are human) it's always nice to have a little outward slack for all the colors after the white. you can always push back more since the rear frame holder is adjustable, but you can't always pull out unless you account for it. You'll appreciate this when you have to replace a screen in the middle of the run...especially once you experience the exact reason why I started doing this. Having to re-registering a job in the middle of a run is a waste of time, money and sanity. Everyone should do their job 100% perfectly. They probably won't. You shouldn't have to pay for that. Build in a fail-safe.
Also, disconnect the front frame holder from the registration plate thingy, clean it up thoroughly and smear a layer of lithium grease under there, put it back together, lube up the bolts that the knobs connect to at every junction and work the micros through the entire range of motion...if you maintain this (keeping the glue and lint out and the grease fresh every 6 months or so) those micros will work like a dream.
Also, keep the rear frame holder clear of lint and ink.
...and sometimes "cheating" is fine. Cheating being unlocking the rear frame holder and manually nudging the frame, holding it and throwing the rear locks. Yes, I know what that does...but when it works, it works...and it's far harder to do than it looks.
Though if you use a spray tac using the rear frame locks on head 12 (or whatever your last head is) is pretty futile unless you clean (and I also grease it with a thin layer of lithium) it after every job.
Also, to hell the rear manual clamp...but make damn sure you tighten the front ones always. Never rely on the air clamps, even if the job won't be left aired down overnight.
Also, when leveling the pallets I would level to nickles at the rear corners and dimes at the front corners. The literal coins. This would account for most of the pallet deflection that occurs naturally. Even using minimal pressure you'll see that the absolute top of the pallet doesn't clear out as well as the middle or rear when leveled perfectly flat (to quarters, if you were curious). Compensating like this allows me to use minimal pressure without the top of the print being less cleared out than the rest...and you won't have to use more pressure to clear the front, resulting in too much pressure for the rest. Don't worry if this sounds like a bunch of voodoo mumbo jumbo right now. The first time you level the pallets (I'll say a prayer for you) it'll all click.
But you don't have to take my word for it...you'll learn this all on your own eventually anyway.
Congrats, Stitches. The free-swinging Gauntlets are my favorite press that I've ever used. You've made a wise investment. With regular maintenance that thing will run forever...and even without it seems. Those things just can't be killed.
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What if we change the pronoun "Hammer" to "Dynamic Excitement Tool"? No, we don't, but we used to once upon a time. We had an old Italian machine called MATEX, a 7 color carousel (there's one on eBay right now) and the hammer was pretty handy for the final little tweak. Yes, we knew better, but it was much faster than the worn micros...
Steve
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the funny thing about the gauntlet micros is they are so basic. You can buy everything you need from McMaster to rebuild them cheap if needed.
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I had an old Gauntlet for 10+ years never used a hammer. What i did, still do, is before you clamp the screens in, release the mocros and move them a bit. I find this will reduce the ocassional "jumping" of the micros. I went from front/back screen clamps to side clamps on the Diamondback and i took me a while to get them down. Quite different than the Gauntlet. Same micros but in different locations. Still no FPU for me. I am more of a "Jesus, Mary and Joseph" kind of guy.
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Reading this post makes me feel like I've missed out on some good old times LOL, being that I got a pretty nice press with all the bells & whistles from jump and never had problems with micros >:(
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I want to thank everybody for your comments. I know we have a long way to go to learn this machine when we get it. For those that have asked it is a 1996 6/8 Gauntlet Revolver. The stomach ache has gone away and some excitement has began to creep in.
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OOOH! A GT-6!
We used to have a GT-8 of roughly the same vintage. That machine had the most buttery smooth micros I have ever touched on any press ever. Ever ever ever. The later Gauntlet 2s don't even come close. Our Gauntlet Z is even worse (I think it's a maintenance issue, honestly)....and the Challenger 3? Pffft, I'm just glad I don't run that beast. Very very stiff micros, though I hear they are super precise.
But a GT-6? As long as it's all snugged up and there is no slop in it? Those micros are the best.
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Dan The Man, you've succeeded in kicking my lazy arse into Maintenance Mode. I'ma take a micro apart, clean it, grease it and see if I can lose the ham.... um..... "Dynamic Excitement Tool" on at least one head.
What could it hurt?
I love the micros on my Hopkins 6/4 and like Tony said, the whole X, Y Axis thing once mastered quickly becomes automatic. It's just that the whole rear clamp thing is totally different than what I learned on the Hopkins years ago. I suppose I'll unlock the rears for larger movements and see what happens.
I don't yet have a pre-registration system like a Tri-Loc. I register to a film taped on a piece of White 3mm Sintra (PVC sheeting for signs) and lift the table. It was ghastly slow at first, not so much now. If I ever get busy to the point that I can't take the press out of production for my CaveMan Registration System, I'll have to do something different. I just try to schedule higher color count jobs first in the day, setting up after the last job is boxed up from the previous day. Then any one colors go to the manual for printing while I set up the next job on the Gauntlet.
Low volume shops do stuff that simply wouldn't fly in in a higher throughput environment. And I are LOOOW Volume Shop...certain times of year especially.
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It's been awhile since I have posted about this. We received the press and just had it installed. Holy crap!!! It may be old, it may be ugly, but it is mine. That thing is amazing. I don't know why we didn't do this years ago.