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swinds
07-07-2012, 08:04 PM
I have a single mug press, but have seen the multi ones - 5 in one type thing - can anyone reccomend one ??

have seen one on ebay for 169 + 169 postage from china - but dont really want to go down the china route if i dont have to

many thanks

karl

Justin
07-07-2012, 10:11 PM
Personally I prefer to keep my presses separate. I've heard mixed opinions on the multi presses.

pisquee
07-07-2012, 11:29 PM
It's something on my shopping list for if/when we get a big enough mug job to warrant it - would also like any opinions from people who do have one.

WorthDoingRight
08-07-2012, 02:02 AM
Well, I wonder how often you would need to do 5 at a time? I wonder given the fact that mug presses seem to be available from around £80 whether buying 3 or 4 of those might not be better idea. At least if one breaks down the others probably will still work and if you ever realise you dont need all of them you can sell the surplus. Also makes better sense to me if you had 3 presses to keep 1 for 10/11 oz, 1 for Latte and 1 for smaller 6oz type items.

bigj2552
08-07-2012, 02:13 PM
only thing i can see usage for a 5 mug press is -
doing bulk runs for corporate/business, where designs are all the same.
doing runs to sell on market stall, where you would do batch's of the same designs to sell on stall.
other than that......na, canny see the point really.
but horses for courses an all that

Justin
08-07-2012, 02:46 PM
I mainly do runs of water bottles, possibly 100 at a time. Also do runs of mugs 36+ so multi press option would have been perfect to speed things up.

You're right in what you say though, separate mug presses are a good option and something I toyed with (and will now go back to I think)

I'm surprised we haven't seen more multi mug presses, Adkins do a cracking 2 head unit but expensive. Can it really be difficult to run 2 heads off one supply? I wouldn't have though so.

Andrew
20-07-2012, 04:14 PM
I've had several different versions of twin head and 5 head options. All have different benefits and downfalls. I have a few of the 5 heads that run off one supply unit and also tried the 5 head from CG. Also, a couple of the twin heads from NovaChrome which were expensive at the time. Like mentioned above, it's horses for courses and you need to have specific orders to warrant the extra hassle and investment. Nothing wrong with the oven route for larger orders which is where we have now headed. We can get 48 mugs in to an oven and suppose we could get an even bigger one to further this. The main thing we have found is that most ways work but there is no point complicating thing unless really of benefit. If the multi orders rarely come through the doors stick to what you know.

Justin
20-07-2012, 07:29 PM
I've bought another single head press to speed production up. Obviously these 5 head machines aren't much good by the sounds of it :-(

I've used the NovaChrome double head machine before and don't rate it, as you mention, very expensive. The new Adkins machine looks very nice but as we've said before, can you justify such a high price when you could buy half a dozen single head presses for the same price!?

Andrew
20-07-2012, 09:06 PM
The best 5 head I have used so far is the heatpressuk version. Only 1 position thermostat but prints the best out of the few others on the market.

Justin
20-07-2012, 09:07 PM
But £900??? Press mechanisms look the same as on a £100 machine.

Andrew
20-07-2012, 09:11 PM
Ain't bad for something that works and does the job. We've had 3 altogether but you need the runs to justify. Bought a CG one recently and can't vope with the harder prints.

Justin
20-07-2012, 09:32 PM
I only use my cheaper presses for water bottles, mugs I put through the Adkins.

socialgiraffe
24-07-2012, 04:09 PM
I have been using the HeatpressUK 5 at a time press for about 6 years plus. In this time I reckon I have printed in excess of half a million mugs with it. Unit is very simple and never failed me and is by far the most consistent. I did purchase one from China recently as it was a good price. Used it three times and then took it down the skip!!!! Steer well clear of them as they are useless.

Justin
24-07-2012, 04:22 PM
83,000 mugs a year? That's an impressive contract! Looking at the Heatpress UK machine, I thought it resembled a Chinese press, where is that made then?

I like many have also used Chinese presses for many years and they generally work very well. Of course you get the good ones and the bad ones but on the whole they're great value for money.

socialgiraffe
24-07-2012, 05:01 PM
Not sure where its made but I suspect China. All I can say is that these machines have never let me down and on average I get about 5000 mugs per blanket, although a quick calculation says that the current ones are at about 7.5k

I agree with you Justin in that if you get the right product then you can not beat the Chinese on price. The problem is if you are not happy then there is not much you can do. The one I purchased from China was from Sunfly. I did a review a while ago on here which I should really update to say "stay well clear!" Perhaps I did not give the machine enough of a chance, but then I have been spoilt with the HeatpressUK models.

Its probably more then 83,000 to be honest!!! I have contracts to supply most of the larger music tours (JLS, STEPS, HAPPY MONDAYS etc etc). Sounds great until you have to inspect 5000 JLS mugs, don't care how good looking someone is, after 5000 you are sick of the sight of them!

Justin
24-07-2012, 05:05 PM
If they're that good then they're worth the price :-)

Wow, how on earth do you get those size contracts? I'm amazed they're not printed in big ovens, very time consuming!

socialgiraffe
24-07-2012, 05:33 PM
If I look at all the kit I own or have previously owned then I think these mug presses have earnt me four or five times more than all the rest put together. I used to offer all kinds of services but recently shed most of them to concentrate on just mugs and heat transfers.

Got the contracts by mistake really!!! I designed poster for Universal Music Group once and it grew from there!!!!

The problem is that big ovens etc means big volume orders. By doing it this way they can keep the orders under control so that there are no overs at the end. A typical 30 date tour will involve about 15 orders for the same group with very short lead times. It is very rare for the bands to have more than 36 mugs left over at the end of a tour. Years ago it was not uncommon to have a couple of thousand if they did not sell.

neilb
24-07-2012, 08:48 PM
83,000 mugs a year? That's an impressive contract! Looking at the Heatpress UK machine, I thought it resembled a Chinese press, where is that made then?

I like many have also used Chinese presses for many years and they generally work very well. Of course you get the good ones and the bad ones but on the whole they're great value for money.


I'm not certain where but I'm sure I heard that the HeatpressUK 5 mug press is actually manufactured by Adkins.

Justin
24-07-2012, 08:53 PM
Uhm, very interesting. I'd like to see one of these machines....mind starts whirring....

Am I right in thinking Adkins no longer make their own presses though, they just assemble in UK? Something like that. I know something changed a few years ago.

Andrew
24-07-2012, 09:00 PM
Don't believe there is an Adkins connection from what I have seen of the presses.

Justin
24-07-2012, 09:01 PM
I'd have been surprised, when you look at the single and twin head press prices they offer.

neilb
24-07-2012, 09:16 PM
Don't believe there is an Adkins connection from what I have seen of the presses.

Looking at them I think you are probably right, can't remember where I heard it.

John Nex
03-08-2012, 10:34 AM
We use a large mug oven from the mug factory. We can cook up to 36 mugs at a time using rubber wraps, great results!

Andrew
03-08-2012, 11:16 AM
Don't know anything about the Mug Factory. Are they near you as they don't sell ovens on their site so assume you know them. No contact details on their site either which I am never keen on.

We bought ovens which are used in the baking industry so they are a decent size. Haven't got around to using them much yet though.

John Nex
03-08-2012, 11:26 AM
I think we got it from Spain, there are Spanish language stickers all over it :-) It's very good though.

Justin
03-08-2012, 11:31 AM
Bit of searching and I ended up at this place http://www.thefotogifts.eu/en/. Spanish company just outside Alicante Very interesting single head mug press that can be linked to other presses in serial, good approach. I see an additional tray for an oven but no details of actual ovens. 3 single heads for around £720.....and then you have to get the to the UK ;-) I'll offer to fetch them though!

neilb
03-08-2012, 11:38 AM
Serigraf do the ovens - http://www.serigraf.ie/heatpress_mug.html

Andrew
03-08-2012, 11:46 AM
Still looking for a good conveyor oven if anyone see's one of them on their travels. 2nd hand would do and if it hits 650c that would be a bonus.

Justin
03-08-2012, 12:18 PM
Serigraf do the ovens - http://www.serigraf.ie/heatpress_mug.html

Couple of great mug presses on there, something a bit different at last :-) Auto release and moves the mug away from the element, that's a first....one that also does plates, great.

Postcard
08-08-2012, 04:13 PM
Couple of great mug presses on there, something a bit different at last :-) Auto release and moves the mug away from the element, that's a first....one that also does plates, great.

We've just come back from Dublin to visit a very helpful chap down at Serigraf. He took us through the four-head press operation in a very nice trade showroom. Does anyone out there have experience of these Schulze mug presses? (Not the auto-eject, the blue line) Entry point of 1200 euro for four-way and 475 euro for single. We need to complete an order of at least 1000 mugs and hope to continue to put through volume. We are considering starting with two individual presses. Can anyone explain the price of these presses and if there is benefit in investing that much? We are looking at the BMS DK12/14s.
Any advice on correlation between price of press and workload would be much appreciated. Thanks, Margaret

Justin
08-08-2012, 07:42 PM
Just got their price list though today so looking with interest at the 4 head machine. Good to hear from someone who's seen them.....but immediate thoughts are these are very expensive so I'm expecting something pretty special!

Postcard
08-08-2012, 08:21 PM
Just got their price list though today so looking with interest at the 4 head machine. Good to hear from someone who's seen them.....but immediate thoughts are these are very expensive so I'm expecting something pretty special! The full tech specs are available for download on the website. Be keen to know if you feel they warrant the price? I may start another thread specifically on these presses to maybe catch the eye of someone who has experience of them.

Andrew
08-08-2012, 08:55 PM
Looks expensive compared to what is about these days. It would have to be far superior to some of the others to justify. What are the replacement element costs?

ASLCreative
08-08-2012, 11:00 PM
My concern with a 4 head machine is what happens if it breaks down - you are immediately without a machine and have no production ouput.

At least with 4 separate machines if one goes down, you have 3 others while you wait for delivery of another machine.

Andrew

Justin
08-08-2012, 11:02 PM
Eggs and baskets springs to mind?

Postcard
08-08-2012, 11:05 PM
My concern with a 4 head machine is what happens if it breaks down - you are immediately without a machine and have no production ouput.


fair point well made - however its the difference of about £200 for four heads instead of two presses. -I'm led to believe the heads operate independently with separate cut-off switches so you'd have to be talking full arbitrary (basket!) failure.

Justin
08-08-2012, 11:09 PM
Surprised more folk haven't mentioned the ovens for longer runs. I worked with a couple of the smaller ovens a while back but wasn't really happy. Maybe the larger ovens as mentioned briefly here would be a good option.

Andrew
09-08-2012, 12:12 PM
Ovens don't seem popular for some reason. Presses are more convenient possibly but ovens are more flexible on what you can print.

With the multi presses, if something goes wrong it tends to be just an individual head and most of the time just the element part.

Traynor26
09-08-2012, 03:17 PM
I have one of the 'blue machines' single head, mine is orange and bought from a company here in Germany, was rather expensive, but i love it. My suppler also has the 4 mug machines, will have a look at his prices.

socialgiraffe
09-08-2012, 03:20 PM
I print thousands of mugs and have never even considered an oven, not sure why, perhaps its a hangover from my screen printing days when I had a textile dryer. I think you need to give the national grid warning before you fire up one of them :-)

I presume I have always thought it would be the same with any other oven. It would be interesting if anyone knew the difference in cost between running a 5 mugs at a time press versus an oven. I know that I can get about 50 mugs per hour from one 5 in one and if I run two it increases to 80. Anyone here know what an oven can do?

Traynor26
09-08-2012, 03:28 PM
These are €1070 over here

http://www.sublimationsprodukte.de/en/shop/hardware-and-equipment/transferpressen/tassenpressen/artikel/630303040.html