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  1. #1
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    Buying your very first heat press (Chinese)

    So this thread is for all who want to get into pressing t shirts or even mugs this will cover all the ad/disadvantages of the cheaper CHINESE heat presses, so lets begin...

    You've been browsing ebay, xpress print etc and your now baffled on what heat press to buy, you're on a budget and don't want a high setup cost but your thinking lets get the cheap press for now and when im properly established ill buy my self the harman karden of heat presses.

    Majority of you will be looking at ebay so your thinking hmmm ok i see a clam press, swing press, larger swing press, semi auto press and a Japanese high pressure heatpress am i right? Let's differentiate between them all now:

    Clam press: Is essentially a hinge based system which has a good area of 38cm X 38cm it is just smaller than a A3 print size and is good to do t shirts, hoodies etc a universal press plain and simple put a good overall press for GARMENTS.

    Swing Press: This is on a pivot meaning it is not on a hinge and therefore can use all four corners to place a garment it also has a clearance of around 10-20mm meaning you can put wooden plaques and thicker items in there also for people who want to completely center a print it is easier to do it with this machine, BUT remember this takes more space.

    Semi-Auto: Same as the clam BUT has a magnet which releases it self when the timer reaches 0.

    High Pressure: The name says it all, its a clam with a different clamping mechanism however the high pressure press is a better build quality.

    In essence there are only two type of these Chinese machines available and the choice is yours on what you want it for, if you believe you only want to do garments choose the clam and or alternative and it saves space but if you feel like you want to branch into other items then choose the swing.

    The larger clam press 40 X 50 are good but they are notorious for known issues of uneven heat! How do i know? I worked on them for a company that sold 100's and are a hit and miss due to the supplier wanting CHEAP goods and cutting corners!

    The swing press can be wobbly from the middle only because there is one screw that holds it, if you can get some epoxy/ metal glue and bond it, this will stop the wobble.

    The control box:

    Why am i talking about the control box? It is the heart of the machine it is what makes your machine tick or blow up, they are never earthed right so watch out for that, got a little static shock maybe the earth isn't right on the machine. The Blue screen control boxes are very iffy, you see the two switches on the side right? One of them will give up later on and melt away why? The box gets heated up and the soldered wires become loose causing fault because of the loose connection the box gets heated up more and eventually melts away the switch. Which one to look for? The grey screen control unit this is more stable and allows to interchange mug mats and heating plates where the blue screen does not.

    WARNING: DO NOT PLACE THE ELEMENTS OF THE BLUE SCREEN INTO THE GREY SCREEN IT WILL POP!

    So after all that why would you want a Chinese machine? In all honesty if the supplier has talked to the manufacturer and has not cut corners for the machines he or she has purchased these will last 1.5-3yrs as long as any other machine in the industry (be it some last for 5yrs+) however not everyone is in the position to buy 3 machines costing a excess of £500-800+ so these are like your cheap and cheerful backup machines that will make your money tenfold over. I personally wouldnt mind having 3 of these and one top of the range one.

    Next step, finding the supplier, so from what i have written, you now have a idea of what you want to buy so your looking for that supplier but are scared of the horror stories you hear about the suppliers of these Chinese machines well sadly there are some right B*****S out there so please watch out i do not want to flame anyone and get kicked but if you want to know i can give you all details via PM before you buy, (i know most suppliers and know who are the good ones and bad ones).

    I work for a company who are recently established, i have been working very closely with their manufacturers (along side our engineer) to ensure all above problems ARE RECTIFIED and ensure a safe working environment at a very competitive price, they are called artech-graphics and will have them in stock around may alsong side many other items.

    Any questions? Just ask i will be more than happy to help.

  2. #2
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    Good first post, I particularly like the advice on the different controllers and their weaknesses - if you could post this part as a separate guide with pictures to illustrate your point it would be great!

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    Quote Originally Posted by pisquee View Post
    Good first post, I particularly like the advice on the different controllers and their weaknesses - if you could post this part as a separate guide with pictures to illustrate your point it would be great!
    Will do when i get some time, only problem with the better control box, is the supplier him self, very dodgy, anything goes wrong he tried to dodge literally zero customer service and he is the exclusive seller of that box ONLY luckily we managed to source the box but was extremely difficult, not trying to advertise just going on from experience as well as the engineer who's fixed all the Chinese machines he knows his stuff!

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    hi
    been using chinese press for a while now, and think its time to upgrade, question i have is if xpress adkins etc is the top end spec (apart from the very very top end ones) and Chinese is low end, is there a middle of the road spec that would be suitable for heating two transfer papers together without having any cold spots like the Chinese ones do.? i ask this as i was looking at the STAHLS ones which are middle priced. what do people think of these?
    Dave

  5. #5
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    I think your looking at the same One I have, which is THIS One (but this is the Adkins version of it).

    The Stahls version is just over £1k from what I have seen - the One I have is cheaper and doesnt have the pressure indicator that the Stahls does.

    The heat plate on these is fantastic, this press is perfect for everything I use it for - nice even heat all over.

    I was considering the Stahls version but the only difference (apart from the foam handle colour) is the LED colour and this pressure indicator which I think is a gimmick as you get to know what pressure you are applying pretty quickly through muscle memory.

    I have only had this one and a Chinese One so cant really compare it to others but personally I think this will suit you as long as your not wanting to put too much pressure onto anything.
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  6. #6
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    hi Nik
    i was looking at these
    http://www.targettransfers.com/d/PR07/Stahls-Clam-Basic

    considerably cheaper...

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    Quote Originally Posted by Dave271069 View Post
    hi
    been using chinese press for a while now, and think its time to upgrade, question i have is if xpress adkins etc is the top end spec (apart from the very very top end ones) and Chinese is low end, is there a middle of the road spec that would be suitable for heating two transfer papers together without having any cold spots like the Chinese ones do.? i ask this as i was looking at the STAHLS ones which are middle priced. what do people think of these?
    Dave
    Hi,

    sorry for the delay in the reply the difference about the Chinese ones and the Europe based brands is not all about the heat plate its the configuration behind the heat plate, the plate is essentially a slab of metal that has been extruded and cut to that specific size.

    The components behind this plate is what determines the better heating for example the Chinese ones use a fibrous material like you get in lofts, a type of insulation which distributes the heat and that is all where as the European based presses use heat springs to distribute the heat evenly thus increasing the life of the machines and the best of the machines use a mixture of both.

    The one thing people also neglect is the fact the reason why these machines have these cold spots on the ends is because there are no screws on either edge of the machine and the ends lift up when these lift up, it also lifts the material which means there are cold spots on those edges.

    Chinese machines are good start up and backup machines adkins and stahls you cannot go wrong with quality items but with quality comes price.

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