A cheaper press it has to be

[Markola]

Thanks Gary, I'm going to try and hang on and be patient. Wont be easy though, my cutter and bits n bobs are arriving tomorrow. Will be sat there tormenting me.

[NikGrey]

No, neither do I but that is because there are people constantly checking and buying them all up

I will buy some if/when I see them as there is always someone looking for a good press on here.

I will use my Ricoh and standard inks.. bee researching and maybe this may not be as simple as I first hoped

[pisquee]

No, neither do I but that is because there are people constantly checking and buying them all up

Don't know what you mean!
We missed out on the last one that went for £109 though - forgot to bid - D'oh!

[Andrew_Brian]

If you want a cheap chinese press go for the clam press for the time being, the reason being is beacuse the swing press is not sturdy its held by one screw and wobbles, if you have around £350 however i would wait for something good to come on ebay you may grab your self a bargain mate.

[pisquee]

Please hold out for a used good press - as mentioned Ebay usually has a good selection of used Adkins (proper UK made Beta range, not the newer Chinese ones), Insta (USA Adkins equivilent), Jarin/Europa (another UK press company making Clam style presses) Rarely there are also PressMech, and these usually go ridiculously cheaply as they aren't so recognisable, and most users don't seem to know what make/model they are to be able to advertise them properly.

[Scotty@BMS]

I think it's a tad unfair to uniformly equate 'cheap' to mean tat. Inexpensive machines can offer good value for money and a good starting point for beginners. Obviously you just need to hunt out these inexpensive deals and sort the wheat from the chaff.

[pisquee]

On the whole I agree, and rarely use the term 'cheap' to denote anything except low cost, but having used low cost Chinese made presses, and more high end UK and USA produced presses, I would say that the Chinese ones do feel inferior in quality in comparison. The one exception to this, is what is referred to on AliBaba as a "Korean Swinging Head Press" which was a heavy and well built swing away press, much higher quality then the cheap Chinese clams and swings.
When used presses from Adkins, Insta, PressMech and Jarin can go for less than you pay for a cheap flimsy Chinese model, I would always recommend getting a good quality used model, rather than something low-end and cheap.

[Scotty@BMS]

I hear what you're saying regarding flimsy designs, as a previous poster mentioned I think you're more likely to see that with the swing presses. But I can also say from experience that I have seen some pretty sturdy Chinese clam presses, maybe not the prettiest, but well built. And as important, even temperature distribution across the whole platen, even pressure when engaged and accurate temperature display on the control box. I think the 'unknown quantity' factor is always a problem with the cheaper presses, once bitten twice shy and all that.

[pisquee]

There was a PressMech that ended a month ago for £109, light use too, why waste money on dodgy Chinese stuff?

Just got another PressMech on Ebay ... buy it now for a grand sum of £20! It is in need of some repair work though as some bits missing, but they're easy to tear down and rebuild.

[Markola]

Just got another PressMech on Ebay ... buy it now for a grand sum of £20! It is in need of some repair work though as some bits missing, but they're easy to tear down and rebuild.

Thanks pisquee,

I just got an Adkins clam press off ebay for £390 bit more than I wanted to pay but my weekend is now free.