stahls hotronix

[calvinabc]

anyone seen or tried the stahls hotronix fusion heatpress from grafityp?

many thanks

calvinabc

[Earl Smith]

Seen but not tried. Seems like a damn good press, especially the one with the slide in and out platten.

[ArferMo]

Yes I've used one...... very nice bit of kit.

[calvinabc]

seen video online, looks super, going to see in action first but think this is the one for me.

[socialgiraffe]

I have seen one in action and they look the nuts, however I would not touch one with a barge pole.

Heat Presses, by the nature of their work, end up covered in little bits of fluff, or in my case covered in hi vis material. This fluff from the various items being pressed gets everywhere including inside the machine. Imagine the inside of your heat press looking the same way as the inside of your desk top computer which sits on the floor under the desk. Now times that by 20+ years which is what a heat press should last at a minimum and then you get to paint a picture of what the Fusion will be like.

How many buttons do you need to set a time and a temperature? All that is additional fluff that could go wrong.

Pretty much most of those who have been in the business a long time will recommend an Adkins or a Pressmech, they are solid work horses that just keep going. Plus if you ever get to see an industrial set up or company who churn out a few thousand a day and you will not see any fancy computer screens on their presses, but you will see sold built heat presses banging away all day everyday....

just my humble opinion

[Earl Smith]

Interesting points there SG.
Like any machine. The simpler, well made and more solid they are, the longer they will work.
For me its the Adkins all the way.

[socialgiraffe]

For me its the Adkins all the way.

Same here, I did trial another machine which was supposed to be very well made and able to handle a work environment. It broke within 5 days.

Another interesting point is that my Adkins is currently in for repair as I dropped it. It is also receiving a full service and various small bits are being replaced including a severed bolt from about 7 months ago. The great thing was that it still worked with the missing bolt and is only £200 for the service and repair.

This is the first service in about 7 years and the machine is hitting about 1000 presses per week. Never misses a beat. Great value for money in the long term.

I would love to think the Stahls would be the same, but with all that computery stuff I am hesitant.

[pisquee]

Yup, old Adkins and Insta presses had clockwork timers, and old school analogue needle type thermometers - really basic tech!

[socialgiraffe]

Its the winding it up as I go that bothers me

Often feel like Windy Miller!

[mr-gobby]

I bought an Adkins beta swing, mainly because I knew someone who had one and they sang it's praises, secondly it was quite new but secondhand so a considerable saving and I figured I can always sell and get my money back. I'd have another too but they do have some limitations compared to others mainly the limited thickness adjustability and not being able to slide garments under the lower platform very easily if at all. If I was in the market for a new machine I'd look at pressmech but also the Stahl's as they got some nifty features well worth having making them easy to use and possibly quicker, time is money after all. It would make sense to check out the repair options if it would be your only press but as everything breaks it's just down how serviceable they are and what you can do while out of action, Adkins can loan you one can Stahl's or would you be stuck, perhaps keep an old Adkins as a backup! Siser do one with twin plates which can help speed up productivity, load another while pressing one.