Stahls Auto Open or DK20S

[liannef]

Hi
Not sure which one to choose between these two! Stahls Clam Auto Open or the George Knight DK20S both 16 x 20". I do sublimation and would also like to do heat transfers and possibly vinyl later on. I bought an Insta 218 off ebay and have found out that it is only for thin items so clothing etc and I want to be able to raise items up by using print perfect pads etc.

I would make space for either and they are about the same price. Read that auto open isn't recommend for sublimation and someone else said the DK20s can cause ghosting?

Don't want to be limited to what I can press, read that the stahls allows 1" thick items whereas the DK20S is 2".

I've watched loads of video on both and can't decide! Any advice from people who own these?

Thanks
Lianne

[Justin]

Personally out of the 2 I'd prefer the Stahls but that's a personal preference I use Adkins which are great but have a new Pressmech on the way. Thickness is something you can have issues with, the Adkins for example doesn't allow thicker acrylics to be pressed with the top locked down....so I bought a £100 press for these. The Pressmech doesn't have this issue at all.

Auto open may cause an issue with ghosting if the paper moves, t-shirts for example. Whilst this may reduce fatigue on a long job I don't really see it as an incredibly useful feature which just boost the price considerably.

Clam presses might be ok but a swing press is preferred. Swing presses are better at getting even pressure and heat straight away in general.

What's your budget and what will be your main blank items?

[pisquee]

Glad you're joining PressMech club Justin!
I did measure how much you could open the PressMech, but got bored - you could certainly fit a mug under one to press the base if you were that way inclined!

[NikGrey]

To be honest if I were in your position again I wouldn't bother with any 'Auto Open' press, I don't find it very useful at all.

I have the Adkins Auto Clam, great press but as Justin says 'Thickness' can be a problem.

[socialgiraffe]

I had an auto open given to me on test from a supplier.

I broke it within two weeks

[liannef]

Thanks for your replies, think I've decided it's going to be the DK20S, now just need to decide on the OKI 610, 711wt or Versastudio. I want to offer the graphic / text designs that I use for sublimation on coloured items so t-shirts, hoodies, bags etc, basically anything I can get in the press! I mainly do kids items so they need to last and not scratch and wash out easily. If the logo or design has white in it then does a laser printer do the same as sublimation and leave that area blank? which is where the white toner comes in? I want a method which is as easy as sublimation so print and press but the laser transfer method seems quite hard with release paper etc and with the VersaStudio you still have to do weeding and masking. Do you still need an ICC profile for the OKI and VersaStudio? Is the Sign and Digital the best show to go to see these in action?