TMT (Adkins) vs Pressmech

[arthur.daley]

Hi All

After a visit to P&P yesterday I am now torn between two presses.


http://www.pressmech.co.uk/site/index.php?a3-bag-press - at the best part of 1300 quid plus vat but including 3 plattens

or

http://www.themagictouch.co.uk/acatalog/Manual_Heat_Press.html - at 895 quid plus vat with one platten

The great thing about the pressmech is the plattens are really easy to change and as the platten mount is on an arm and you have loads of room under the press items such as bulky hi viz jacket sleeves are really easy to do. Its British made and although it doesn't look as sexy or high tech as the TMT/Adkins everything is easy to repair and replace and uses standard easily obtainable electronic control gear. But is is 1275 quid plus VAT.

The TMT/Adkins is probably made in China but to Adkins spec rather than Chinese/Ebay bare minimum spec! Its a lot cheaper but still costs 895 quid plus VAT.It does have a removable lower platten but the range of plattens availablke is quite limited. The gap under the press is quite small compared to the Pressmech and it doesn't mount onto an arm and so it would be no where near as quick and easy to get bulky garments onto the platten. I can get around the lack of plattens available for the Adkins as I am fortunate enough to have access to a CNC milling machine, a workshop and spent a long time working in engineering. That said they wouldn't be cheap to make as aluminium plate and closed cell silicon rubber are not exactly cheap - an A4 platten would cost me maybe 40 quid to make plus my time.

However, as I am also looking to buy an Oki white laser printer (from TMT) it makes sense to buy a 'system' from one supplier - when things go wrong there is no buck passing between suppliers!

On the face of it the ultra flexible Pressmech does look like the better buy even if it is a quite a bit more dosh - its very versatile. But the TMT/Adkins sticks with the same supplier as the printer the press will be used with.

So question is - anyone have any pearls of wisdom about either the Pressmech or the Adkins presses and the back up from the suppliers as well??? I really can't afford a four figure mistake!


Arthur

[GoonerGary]

Hi Arthur,

People often say that buying the kit from one supplier is a good idea, but that's advice for newbies who don't know what they are doing. There is no connection between the role of a press and a printer, they are completely different. If you were buying a bulk ink system and a printer, then I would buy from the one supplier, but even then we have enough technical knowledge to find out where any problem lies. So base your decision on the press you actually like.

The Adkins is in Dunstable, not far from you, so take a look at it and get a feel for it. There is nothing cheap Chinese about the Adkins, they make Dysons there too!

Add your membership discount to the Adkins if you buy from Xpres and there's a another tasty £95 off the price.

I'm sure the Adkins is capable of the job and it is certainly reliable. I would guess they are more competitively priced as they are more popular and wouldn't be a reflection of the quality.

Do you need three platens in reality or is one going to just lie about?

I would take one of your hi-vis jackets and try it out, one of the presses might annoy you in use.

[socialgiraffe]

Hi Mr Smith

You know my feeling on the subject as I was with you however there are a couple of other things to consider :-)

Firstly I have just done 1000 hi vis bomber jackets which were back and FLB prints, I used the standard platen on my Adkins without any problems. The bigger problem you will have with that type of material is finding a transfer that will apply and stick at less than 135 degrees. This is because the jackets have stitching inside them which melts at a higher temp and subsequently leaves a printed line on the outside. When you pop over I will show you what I mean.

You may want to consider the resell value and how easy it would be to sell on should you need to. Personally I think the Adkins is an easier sell secondhand.

If you really need to switch between platens that quickly then also look at a Stahls press. There is a really nice one on the market for about £1500

Finally if you can make your own platens I may well be calling on you for some :-)

[DS Designs]

Adkins presses are British and made in Hinckley in Leicestershire....15 mins up the road from me...

[DS Designs]

I've used an Adkins Beta Maxi for the best part of 13 years, it was second hand when I bought it. It has never missed a beat and is used most days. Not sure about the Pressmech ones, but they do look pretty good..and also British made :)

[arthur.daley]

Adkins presses are British and made in Hinckley in Leicestershire....15 mins up the road from me...


They used to be made in Hinckley but according to Xpres the 'small' presses are now made in 'The Far East' but as I said above,to Adkins spec rather than Chinese ebay spec ;o)

[arthur.daley]

Hi SG

I will be over this evening - see you later. I'll try and remember to ring before I set out just in case you are on a mission somewhere


Mr Smith

[socialgiraffe]

Am not going anywhere today so come when you like. No point in calling, its very very rare that I answer my mobile (its normally a client needing something urgent so I avoid :-))

[NikGrey]

Arthur is correct about the Adkins no longer being made in the UK, certainly my Auto Clam range are made overseas as this was the problem I had recently.

a small number presses were not calibrated before they left the factory, and obviously each one is not checked exhaustively here before they are sold.
I have heard that they are no longer made here by several people connected with the company in various ways.

personally this does not worry me as I cant see where any corners have been cut.

I am considering making a 'Caddy' for my main press so I have more room underneath (got the idea from the pressmech machines).

big week ahead for me, website is opening and I will be moving my office when I get home.. Into a bigger room.

[DS Designs]

News to me with the Adkins presses then :( ..Oh well

[JMugs]

I use pressmech and had it built to my needs. I try to keep as much as possible in the UK. Very pleased with it.
Janners.

[pisquee]

We have had a few presses come through our premises through the years, from PressMech, Adkins, Insta and Jarin. We had a period of a sideline of buying in Presses which were being sold way below their market value, mostly snapping them up on Ebay. Some of them we used ourselves, some we flogged on straight away as they were in good condition, and some we fixed and sold one, some are still in the garage waiting for me to have time to get them fixed up too!
The presses we wouldn't sell on, because we liked them so much were the PressMechs - when we bought the first one, we didn't know who'd made it, but it was being sold cheap and looked interesting. It took a lot of research to track down whos press it actually was. We work them hard, and when the heating element went in the first one, we had to use one of our other presses, and going through the pile of presses we had at the time, and nothing came close. What stuck me the PressMech was I emailed them about the press no longer heating up, and within 5 minutes had a call back from Dickie (essentially Mr PressMech) who talked me through over the phone, while I did it, how to take it apart, where to put my multimeter to test where the fault was, and had a new element in the post that day.
The last premises we were at had terrible electrics, which were always tripping out, and this didn't do the heating element much good obviously, but I knew how to get it apart to replace the element and wasn't worried . Around this time we bought a 2nd one as we liked them so much.
We've (well, I've, the wife isn't much interested in taking presses apart, just using them!) taken all the above listed makes of press apart to one degree or another, phoned their tech support lines, and looked at some of the repair manuals, and I prefer the PressMech for the ease and speed in which you can get into them.
Aside from this, they heat up well, are easy to use, and very well built (although all the above press makes are built like tanks and weight a tonne - the Jarin's being the exception on the weight front)
Note: When I refer to Adkins, I am talking about what is recognisable as classic Adkins models from the Beta and Omega ranges, too much of the new Studio range look like rebranded chinese presses.
The other thing about the PressMech is I did spot an old Adkins on Ebay around 6 months ago IIRC that was the same design as the PressMechs. No idea what the story is with that though, but I will ask Dickie about it next time I get in touch.

[arthur.daley]

Thanks for that Pisquee

I spent a very pleasant and sociable evening with our tall friend last night and am now even more torn between Pressmech and the TMT/Adkins. I think I may be worrying over nothing and that either of them will do an admirable job -the Pressmech has the edge on versatility but TMT/Adkins is much cheaper.

sigh

[pisquee]

Comparing like for like (38x50cm presses, ex delivery, ex VAT)...
PressMech A3 £895 (from NovaChrome (http://www.novachrome.co.uk/equipment/heat-transfer-presses/swing-head-press-deep-impact-a3.html))
Adkins Beta Maxi £895 (from Xpres (http://www.xpres.co.uk/p-7924-swing-heat-press-20-x-15.aspx?p=55))
The 10% discount for DSF premium members at Xpress makes the Adkins a little cheaper

[Justin]

I'm a big fan of Adkins but always use the older press rather than the new one. Newer ones have the darker platen whilst older are all one colour. in my opinion/experience the older ones were better built but the newer ones are still excellent.

I was offered a PressMech a while ago for test/review purposes but the company stopped responding when i tried to take them up on the offer! The presses do look very interesting and appear very well built although I assume the timers etc. are off the shelf rather than custom built for the presses? Appreciate all the comments about these being easy to fix but personally I'd sooner have a press that rarely if ever needs to be fixed! lol.

[pisquee]

I'm not saying that the PressMechs go wrong a lot, it's more that we've tended to pick up presses that are sold cheap, have faults, need repairing etc, and the ones we use we use hard (we don't just do standard/normal sublimation, with some of our work being well in excess of the normal 200 degrees, and using a huge pressure, and running for a full day) under normal conditions I am sure they'll be fine.
Personally I like to know how things work and why, so that when they inevitably go wrong and need something doing I can do it. The PressMechs do use standard off the shelf timers and temp control units, housed in a nice module on top of the press, with two quick release screws to open up, if you need to whip em out and replace. Our metre wide rotary press also uses an off the shelf temp controller, and that would have cost more than 10 times as much as a PressMech or Adkins when it was new. Am sure plenty of of industrial equipment use standard control units.

[Justin]

I'm not criticising them for using these timers, if anything I think it's a good thing as they're easier and cheaper to replace :-)

[arthur.daley]

Comparing like for like (38x50cm presses, ex delivery, ex VAT)...
PressMech A3 £895 (from NovaChrome (http://www.novachrome.co.uk/equipment/heat-transfer-presses/swing-head-press-deep-impact-a3.html))
Adkins Beta Maxi £895 (from Xpres (http://www.xpres.co.uk/p-7924-swing-heat-press-20-x-15.aspx?p=55))
The 10% discount for DSF premium members at Xpress makes the Adkins a little cheaper


If I were going to get a Pressmech it would have to be the Bag Press (direct from Pressmech) - so versatile but its £1250 plus VAT :o(


Arthur

[arthur.daley]

The PressMechs do use standard off the shelf timers and temp control units, housed in a nice module on top of the press, with two quick release screws to open up


I am with you on this one. The Pressmech definitely isn't sleek and sexy but better than that it is very easily fixed should anything go belly up. Using well established industry standard components that are easily changed can only be a good thing. Eye candy it ain't but once you see past that its a cracking piece of kit.


Arthur

[pisquee]

It's an industrial piece of machinery, and doesn't need to look anything, as long as it does the job well, which it does.

[tlworkwear]

Heres one I just found with a quick search of 'pressmech':

http://www.dyesubforum.co.uk/vbforum/showthread.php?8723-TMT-(Adkins)-vs-Pressmech/page2&highlight=pressmech


I'm getting more and more tempted by the pressmech..

[Tony4415]

Hi
I'm thinking of buying the Adkins Beta Maxi press, can this do 25mm Acrylic blocks? Or have you tried to do this?
Thanks

[Justin]

Tony, have you not been reading our conversations?? Lol

[Tony4415]

Sorry it was meant for Magic Touch, they emailed me the other day.
i must of copied and pasted without checking.

[taz8130]

I have been using a used Pressmech that I picked up on ebay, for several months now and I have to say that it's everything I could possibly want.

I too dithered between Adkins and Pressmech and I'm glad I got the Pressmech. It's solidly built and I'm confident in Dickie's aftersales support, having driven down to his workshop to have my press serviced by the man himself.

The fact that several of the components are readily available is another confidence boost for opting for the machine because I know that no matter what, it will keep on ticking.