Best swing and mug to look for pre owned.

[IrishPrint]

Im looking to press t shirts, phone and tablet cases, mugs, water bottles, jigsaws, chopping boards, pretty much everything.

I'm swaying towards getting one of the 3d presses from submeta for most items outwith garments but want a decent swing press also.

Its quite a daunting marketplace with so many products, even with weeks of research its still quite difficult to nail the best setup for the startup budget.

Should I shelf the submeta 3d idea and just get a swing and a mug press separately, I assume a good swing can do most items anyway. With swing presses am I correct in assuming there's a restriction on the type of phone cases that can be printed in the sense it would be the metallic strip with adhesive that attaches to a case rather than the case itself that's pressed?

About the pull the trigger, any and all help is lost welcome.

Are there mug presses that also do the water bottles?

[UK Printed Mugs]

Yes, swing press and separate mug press - in our opinion.
Would recommend talking to Scott at BMS about http://www.printerowners.co.uk/hardware ... -press.htm - In our opinion.

[IrishPrint]

I'll check it out, thank you. Would a mug press also work on water bottles?

[Lucifax]

Yes, swing press and separate mug press - in our opinion.
Would recommend talking to Scott at BMS about http://www.printerowners.co.uk/hardware ... -press.htm - In our opinion.

I have one of these and after only about 6 months of use I bit the bullet and bought an Adkins Beta Maxi a2 to replace it.

First issue I have with it is the metal on metal noise with every press. It sounds like I'm sublimating a litter of live piglets, regardless of lubricating. I could have lived with that though but the main issue was that the large steel retaining bolt screws directly into the soft Aluminium of the base platen. Subsequently, as it kept loosening with use and I of course kept tightening, it just ate the aluminium until it had bitten a hole too big to hold the platen in place and fell out altogether rendering the press useless.

BMS did eventually send a replacement base platen, but in the meantime I'd bought the Adkins so I still haven't even unwrapped the replacement platen. The press will do as a backup I suppose, but so long as the steel bolt screws into the aluminium threaded hole, it's never going to last under constant use. A bit of a basic yet significant design flaw really as steel just eats soft alloys for breakfast, it's always going to be just a matter of time. Other than those two issues though, the press did perform very well indeed and I liked it a lot. The Adkins A2 is really a completely different class though but more expensive in the short term of course.

I'll check it out, thank you. Would a mug press also work on water bottles?

Yes indeed although you may need a different size wrap depending on the size of the bottle. The more common aluminium bottles require the smaller wrap.

[UK Printed Mugs]

Just to say we have had our press for over 12 months and not had an issue with the base platen nor metal on metal noise. Indeed the Adkins press would be the best choice but at least double the price.

[Lucifax]

Just to say we have had our press for over 12 months and not had an issue with the base platen nor metal on metal noise. Indeed the Adkins press would be the best choice but at least double the price.

Yea, the A2 was the best part of two grand but the extra platen size is very nice so I figured better to get it than regret not doing so later as textiles are our main source of income. There was a used standard sized one in nice nick, on ebay at the time for £350 so it was a tough call.

The HP3805 platen should really have a threaded steel sleeve to house the tightening bolt, as it pretty much self taps into the soft alloy as you tighten, until there's nothing left. If you find you have to start re-tightening the platen, that's probably the time to get a spare one in before it fails. definately worth bearing in mind. This was pretty much why I bought the Adkins, as who knows, with supplier stocks being as fickle as they are, how long spare parts for the HP3805 will be available (it took over a month to get the replacement platen sent from BMS, although to be fair I think they forgot to send it rather than taking a month to source it. There was no quibble at all about the replacement and I hadn't chased it up as I didn't need it in a hurry by then).

[sinGN]

Hi,
yes,mug press also work on water bottles.

[IrishPrint]

Really struggling with the swing press side of things, we've got everything else.

Unfortunately we went over budget in a few other items which only really leaves about 350 for the swing press.

This puts me in a position where I'm literally looking at Chinese presses from ebay and some of the lower budget models from the UK resellers.

I certainly don't want to play the lucky dip game with this but we might not have a choice. I also need to take into consideration shipping to Ireland which is gonna be quite significant.

[galerion]

I believe this style of press has a good reputation, known as a "Korean Shaking Head Heat Press" you might find one of those within your budget.

[pisquee]

Try and find a used Adkins or PressMech - sometimes the latter go for very little on Ebay as they aren't well recognised. PressMech are one of very few presses still designed and built in UK, and are VERY good (we have 4 of them!)