Looking to upgrade mug presses...or should we go down the oven route?

[gazfocus]

Need to be able to do approx 500 mugs per week...

Currently, we use 4 x Freesub ST-210's, so can do 8 mugs in one hit. These presses have done suprisingly well for cheap presses but we are starting to hit limitations with blues not pressing correctly unless we increase the temperature, etc. So, we are looking at upgrading the presses to something better quality and wondered what you guys would suggest.

I really liked the look of the Freesub Pneumatic Mug Presses but with the elements being the same as the ST-210's we'll hit the same limitations, so have been thinking about buying 4 of the Galaxy Mug Press Pro's and running these alongside 2 of our current Freesub's until we can afford another 4, but these are the options we've come up with.

1. Galaxy Mug Press Pro's (with the aim of buying 8 in total over the next 2 months)
2. Genie III Mug Press from Listawood (again with the aim of buying 8)
3. 3D Vacuum Press like this
4. Convection oven (either a catering grade oven or a decent domestic 'fan oven').

I could really use some advice/recommendations and would love to hear from people that use any of these options.

[Andrew]

Not sure why you need so many presses for 500 a week. That theoretically be covered be covered with 1 press ticking along through an 8 hour shift during the week. With 8 presses you could clear it in half a day or is that the point of so many? 4 decent presses can be a full days work for 1 person to get 500 done. You can still use the freesub ones for easier designs when needed. Ovens bring their own problems and takes a fair bit of problem solving. Wraps aren't cheap and often fiddley as well. Have you used an oven at all before? Wouldn't bother with a 3D oven but if you largely get good results from a press just upgrade if needed. Volumes are there on the press option in line with what you need.

[gazfocus]

Not sure why you need so many presses for 500 a week. That theoretically be covered be covered with 1 press ticking along through an 8 hour shift during the week. With 8 presses you could clear it in half a day or is that the point of so many? 4 decent presses can be a full days work for 1 person to get 500 done. You can still use the freesub ones for easier designs when needed. Ovens bring their own problems and takes a fair bit of problem solving. Wraps aren't cheap and often fiddley as well. Have you used an oven at all before? Wouldn't bother with a 3D oven but if you largely get good results from a press just upgrade if needed. Volumes are there on the press option in line with what you need.

We're a print company so as well as doing mugs, we have other orders to fulfill so don't want to be stuck doing mugs constantly hence having the ability to do 8 mugs at once. We typically print 100-150 mugs a day, which using the presses we have gives us around 4 hours a day to do other work (once accounted for time spent packing orders).

To be honest, the only attempt I've had using an oven was a single mug in my oven at home and it did a decent job. I agree the silicon wraps are fiddly but the main issue with the Freesub presses is that they constantly struggle with prints near the bottom of the mug (even if there's a decent white border, blues will struggle to press right unless we bump the temperature up).

I do prefer the presses, and would probably eventually get a 3D oven as well in the future for other things like plates, different shaped mugs, etc, but at the moment, I just want the most reliable option for the volume of work we're doing.

[Andrew]

Do you heat the bases and have firm pressure on the ones that struggle for the base? I did try a couple of freesub presses but they were put in the bin quite quickly. Okay for easy designs but limited ability. 4 good presses should see one person completing the required workload you mention so would go that way personally. Ovens are the way to go for alternative mug styles but if you get it working well then it can be the option for all mugs.

[gazfocus]

Do you heat the bases and have firm pressure on the ones that struggle for the base? I did try a couple of freesub presses but they were put in the bin quite quickly. Okay for easy designs but limited ability. 4 good presses should see one person completing the required workload you mention so would go that way personally. Ovens are the way to go for alternative mug styles but if you get it working well then it can be the option for all mugs.

We don't heat the bases anymore because we found that this ended up with the top halves not been cooked correctly (it was as if the presses read the temperature of the bottom of the mug).

Out of interest, what would you class as a good press? I know Adkins are rated highly but out of my budget at the moment. Would you consider the Galaxy Mug Press Pro as a good press?

[Andrew]

It is tricky with heating bases that the rest of the mug doesn't heat as well and could possibly be dependant on sensors on a specific press.

As for makes of press, I have used many out there on both flat and mug options but I don't think I fall in line with most on here. Had Adkins/GK etc and whilst all good there have seen plenty of cheaper options that do a good job. Sometimes you pay extra and they are just over engineered. I used to have several 5 head presses but switched to singles as easier to adapt to workloads. We put a lot of mugs through so inevitably also use regular replacement elements. They also needed to be cost effective as sometimes they alone are heading toward £100 on the expensive models.

I will see if I can find a link and send a message through for some of the presses I have had lately.

[gazfocus]

It is tricky with heating bases that the rest of the mug doesn't heat as well and could possibly be dependant on sensors on a specific press.

As for makes of press, I have used many out there on both flat and mug options but I don't think I fall in line with most on here. Had Adkins/GK etc and whilst all good there have seen plenty of cheaper options that do a good job. Sometimes you pay extra and they are just over engineered. I used to have several 5 head presses but switched to singles as easier to adapt to workloads. We put a lot of mugs through so inevitably also use regular replacement elements. They also needed to be cost effective as sometimes they alone are heading toward £100 on the expensive models.

I will see if I can find a link and send a message through for some of the presses I have had lately.

Thanks Andrew, much appreciated. We started out with a cheap chinese press that cost £50 and that was pretty good for the money. Then upgraded to a Galaxy Mug Press Pro (the original one) but switched to the Freesubs when the element died because the element was £70+vat and the Freesub was £90 inc vat for double the capacity.

Just had enough of dreading doing certain designs now and want consistent results.

[matzy]

I have Galaxy Pro presses and love them, never had an issue with them unless it was my own fault. As an alternative to the single press Galaxy now do a pneumatic 4 press, the Galaxy Air Mug 4 (GS-204) which can be linked with others.. very good video here demonstrating this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0V3lQEb7g2Q and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQX_pLwaOqo

[gazfocus]

I have Galaxy Pro presses and love them, never had an issue with them unless it was my own fault. As an alternative to the single press Galaxy now do a pneumatic 4 press, the Galaxy Air Mug 4 (GS-204) which can be linked with others.. very good video here demonstrating this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0V3lQEb7g2Q and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQX_pLwaOqo

thanks - yeah I've seen the Galaxy Air but when you factor in the cost of a compressor, they're significantly more expensive than 4 individual Galaxy Mug Press pro's. Good press though.

[matzy]

Thats true, hadn't thought of that, plus the new model Galaxy single mug press can also do the latte mugs now which the older versions and the Air Mug 4 couldn't.