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screen printing => Equipment => Topic started by: Printhouse on April 06, 2011, 07:18:40 PM
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OK.... I am to the point where I am just busy enough with mid quantity runs that I have been toying with adding a small auto to my shop. I have the chance to pick up a used 8 color javelin for a really good price. Anyone here ever ran one? I am looking for it to have the ease of refurbing it myself. I am not afraid to jump into a project at all. I had bought out a small machine shop and have been building custom motorcycles for years. I am not afraid to get someone involved when needed. Let me know if you guys have any experiences with the TUF products.
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Two Guys I know...
Steve Monroe monroesp@gmail.com
Ben Owens http://SuperScreenPrint.com
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Thanks. I have been looking at autos for awhile and just keep coming back to the TUF products for ease of service.
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The Javelin is a great press. I can't believe how many shops have 3 or 4 of them. Steve has I think 5 of them. The guys at Workhorse products are great. They will help you with fixing anything on the press. I don't have one. I have 2 of the Quartz dryers they sell, the Photosharp Exposure unit, Heat press and a 6/6 manual of theirs. They are only 20 mins from me so if I need parts I just drive to get them. If you have a problem they can tell you what it is over the phone. They really know the stuff they sell and will help you with everything. Great Guys (Steve, Phil and John)
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I bought an 8/8 manual earlier this year and the lady I spoke too for replacement parts was awesome.
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OK.... I am to the point where I am just busy enough with mid quantity runs that I have been toying with adding a small auto to my shop. I have the chance to pick up a used 8 color javelin for a really good price. Anyone here ever ran one? I am looking for it to have the ease of refurbing it myself. I am not afraid to jump into a project at all. I had bought out a small machine shop and have been building custom motorcycles for years. I am not afraid to get someone involved when needed. Let me know if you guys have any experiences with the TUF products.
If you end up wanting to talk to anyone at Workhorse I would say contact Tim Dunham. When we were auto shopping we worked with him and he was great about getting information on our needs, and showing us what he had to offer. A no BS kind of guy and we enjoyed that.
tdunham@workhorseproducts.com
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Thanks. I e-mailed him a couple of times when I bought my workhorse manual earlier this year. Those guys are all super to deal with.
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I own the Jav's little brother the Freedom 6-8. I have had it for about 8 years and not the first problem. Phil is really good to talk to when you can catch him. They are built well, solid piece of equipment. Would have went with the Jav but had just so much room to work with. The V blades take a little time to get use to I guess all autos do. Good Luck
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The Jav is a great press, thats what we started with. I found most of the parts for the machine can be picked up at local industrial supplies. Like mentioned above Phil is the guy to talk to. When We first got ours I had trouble with the indexer and he walked me right through it, had me hold the phone next to the press so he could hear what it was doing.
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Good feedback. For what a late model used Javelin can be had for these days they seem like a great deal.
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How's everyone like the V squeegee's though? That's the one thing that would keep me from getting
one for a second press. The early MHM's used them as well.
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How's everyone like the V squeegee's though? That's the one thing that would keep me from getting
one for a second press. The early MHM's used them as well.
My honest opinion of the V's on Javelins (had 2 Jav's for over 10 yrs) is that they don't make as even pressure across the squeegee blade as a chopper system. We always found printing with steep angles on the Jav to be very difficult, and the lack of full independent flood pressure control was not helpful. Let's just say the more complex the printing, the more the Jav's show their weaknesses. Good machines overall though, definately have their place.
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I just made a deal to pick up a 6/8 Javelin with two flashes this Thursday. I highly trust the people that were running this press in their shop and i look forward to the learning curve of an auto!
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I just made a deal to pick up a 6/8 Javelin with two flashes this Thursday. I highly trust the people that were running this press in their shop and i look forward to the learning curve of an auto!
congratulations!
let the learning begin!
pierre
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Congrats
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I just made a deal to pick up a 6/8 Javelin with two flashes this Thursday. I highly trust the people that were running this press in their shop and i look forward to the learning curve of an auto!
Flashing on bare aluminum pallets is a learning process too... especially if your shop is cold.
But, it can be done and is easier to manage if the print run is long enough to get dialed in.
Parts are cheap... I replaced the block of seven MAC valves (six stroke and one flip) for $450.
Older machines used an 8 pin plug-in timer relay (flood,print and dwell) and those are very hard to find these days. But, a soild state replacement is available.
The PLC is the only part that I worried about being able to procur.. if needed. Everything else is pretty much available from Grainger -or- McMaster Carr
Happy printing !!
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I am on my way home from up near detroit with an 8/10 javelin!
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Be sure to call Phil and let him know what you have. He will resister you in our service system and help you with any questions you may have. 800-778-8779 Phils extension is 806.
Dan Axelsen
Workhorse Products
800-778-8779 ext 802
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Did you end up with 8/10 instead of 6/8?
Congrats again
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Tim and Phil at workhorse were both great to deal with. I sent them pics of different presses I was interested in and they pro iced feedback. I ended up going with an 8/10 over the 6/8. It was a few years newer and about 8 hours closer to at 1/3 rd the cost. The press was filthy when we took it apart! After a couple of print runs today I started cleaning all the adhesive off of it. It is cleaning up very well. I am trying to get a compressor this week and start to set things up. It has a really nice custom made set of pallet mounting brackets that are quick release. When I get back home I will load some pics of this dirty thing!
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There are really good people at Workhorse. When we had ours they were always helpful with the trouble shooting. Great company to do business with.
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Streeter,
If you need the "Man" his name is Monte Bartel. Ask Phil or some of the guys with TUFs. I do not know if he is still in the biz but he knows more than just about anyone.
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They had mentioned Monte but were not sure what he was up to these days.
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Here are a couple of pics of my new press. One of the reasons I wanted to get something that needed some work is the fact that I love to know every aspect of the equipment I am using. I have learned a ton over the past 2 days about the construction of this press. I was sent some links to pages that really break down every part in detail. It is nice to know exactly what every sensor and switch does.
(http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff27/SClow303/009-1.jpg)
(http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff27/SClow303/010.jpg)
(http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff27/SClow303/008-1.jpg)
(http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff27/SClow303/007-1.jpg)
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Days and DAYS of cleaning years of spray tack and lint off of this thing! I am almost ready to start moving it into the spot where it will be set up. Been some of the busiest weeks for printing on top of all the cleaning so I have been making slow progress so far. I am anxious to start getting it together to see what needs replaced. Thanks to Phil at workhorse I was able to source a great compressor for this press. The thing is a monster 10hp 120 gallon.
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be sure to get a air dryer that will hold on that compresser. That is one of the most important parts. If moisture gets into the system your asking for BIG trouble. Congrads....
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Workhorse has all your printing needs for sure www.workhorseproducts.com 800 778-8779
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I will give just a quick update to where I am with the press so far. I really have had little time to mess with it to a great extent due to the extreme jump in business lately! I have been printing like crazy... my 4 best weeks ever with no end in site. So far I have cleared away the 18 pounds of spray tack and lint from the base, pallet arms and upper arms and heads. It is suprising what a little cleaning will do. The press has been moved into its new spot. Later this afternoon I am planning on putting 3 of the upper arms on and fine tune the location we want before leveling. I have taken every nut and bolt off all the arms and shot peened them in my cabinet so they are nice and new looking. Once we get it set in place and leveled the object will be to get everything hooked up and see what cylinders might be leaking and in need of replacement. Once I get it to the point where it runs I plan to take one head at a time completely apart for bead blasting and re-powdercoating. My father is retired and is going to be assisiting with the rebuild. So far I am very happy with the purchase. I have very little invested in this project so if it sits a little while it is not hurting me at all. That being said with all these big runs coming in it would be nice to have an auto! This press fits perfectly with my vision right now and I am looking forward to knowing every nook and cranny of it.
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The biggest thing to remember is that Automatics are not Manuals design your artwork accordingly and the job will run smoother!
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All the print heads went on today. Tomorrow I have a 700 plus piece run to do manually then I will be putting the pallet arms on. Hooked it to my current small compressor and it started moving..... I think that is a good sign!
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Hey gang!!! Quick update on my 8/10 Javelin. I was debating selling it off due to lack of time to mess with it..... Well, I had the entire day free today so I decided to take some time and work on it. After reading the schematics chart and rewiring a terrible hack job I finally got the computer receiving and sending all the correct signals. I hooked to to my very small 2.5 hp, 30 gallon compressor and what do you know.... It worked perfectly. I was able to set it to the auto mode and it would cycle through all eight heads prior to running low on air slowing to a crawl. I would shut it down and let the compressor build back up and it would run perfectly again. If I shut the all but 2 heads off It would make about 20 revolutions prior to running out of steam. I plan to order my new compressor on Monday and a chiller. My hope is once the new air system is in that I can then get things a little more fine tuned. I will be looking for a flashback to add to the press also, possibly two. Once I get it a little more fine tuned I will be ordering the 5 missing squeegees, maybe not all at once, and some rubber to top the aluminum pallets with. I only have 5 mid sized jobs lined up this week so I will be able to work on this quite a bit. Once it is all dialed in I am going to take one head at a time off and fully go through it. I will be able to blast each part and re powdercoat everything as I go. Hopefully when I am done I will have a nice reliable press that I know inside and out! I will post videos of it running tomorrow!
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How's everyone like the V squeegee's though? That's the one thing that would keep me from getting
one for a second press. The early MHM's used them as well.
How is the v-squeegee's, well it takes a little bit of knowing what the v-squeegee is capable of doing, I have found it is a combination of the correct ink, the correct speed on both the flood and print speed , angle and pressure, YES that is it just four things. I own a Javelin, and an M&R I find I print most of my white ink on the Javelin, that may change some day, but with the Javelin I set my angle to what I think will work add a some of Sonny's White Xenon ink, print it watch the squeegee to see if the flip cylinder can hold the pressure and angle I have and then If the flip cylinder is not able to hold the angle and pressure I start backing off the pressure until it will hold the sharp angle I have chosen. I use 156 mesh and down. It is a great press for the money, and it is very forgiving. And as others have said Phil at Workhorse is a Plus.
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How's everyone like the V squeegee's though? That's the one thing that would keep me from getting
one for a second press. The early MHM's used them as well.
How is the v-squeegee's, well it takes a little bit of knowing what the v-squeegee is capable of doing, I have found it is a combination of the correct ink, the correct speed on both the flood and print speed , angle and pressure, YES that is it just four things. I own a Javelin, and an M&R I find I print most of my white ink on the Javelin, that may change some day, but with the Javelin I set my angle to what I think will work add a some of Sonny's White Xenon ink, print it watch the squeegee to see if the flip cylinder can hold the pressure and angle I have and then If the flip cylinder is not able to hold the angle and pressure I start backing off the pressure until it will hold the sharp angle I have chosen. I use 156 mesh and down. It is a great press for the money, and it is very forgiving. And as others have said Phil at Workhorse is a Plus.
I have been working on getting my Javs angles, pressures etc down. Is their any way you can take a pic of your printhead so I can have a starting point to look at as far as angle and what not?
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Bump any jav owners willing to send pics