Heat Press £300 - £350

[wessy83]

Morning all,
As the title suggests, I'm after a heat press for around £300 - £350. I would prefer to buy a decent used press but struggling to find any on ebay, gumntree etc.
Can anyone recommend any other presses? I've looked at the ones on Longforte but I assume they are chinese models with varying heat problems?
I've also looked at the Stahls Basic Clam (£420) which is out of my budget really and a bit small.

If anyone has anything for sale or can recommend anything I would be extremely grateful.

Cheers

Lee

[socialgiraffe]

What size?

Personally I would recommend purchasing a cheap Chinese one but from a reputable supplier. My first press came from BMS and I could not fault it, especially as it was only £240.

By purchasing from a reputable supplier you have their experience of the machine and its reliability, It the heat varies at least you will be able to go back to them and sort the issue out.

[wessy83]

Thanks SocialGiraffe,
I'm after approx 38 x 50 - only because that's what I'm used to and it seemed like a good size.
I'll happily listen to any other size suggestions.

Interesting that you recommend a cheap Chinese one, everything I've read on here and another forum says the heat is unevenly spread across the plates and so they're a nightmare for sub dye items.

[ArtyGamer]

If a 15" x 15" will work for you, and you can get to Glasgow, you can have my old one for free. I'd have to make sure it still works though, as I've not used it since the beginning of the year but I'm sure it'll still be fine.

EDIT: Oops... left the page open for a while and submitted my response before I saw your latest. My bad.

[wessy83]

Thanks Arty, that's very generous of you. Glasgow is a fair old trip though ha ha.
thank you anyway.

[socialgiraffe]

Hi Wessy

I am not recommending a "cheap Chinese" one, if you want a recommendation I would say Adkins from The Magic Touch.

However, you are on a budget and Adkins will be out of your price range.

Without going into too much detail about three years ago I needed a heat press and was really strap for cash. The only option was cheap from wherever I could get one. I decided it would be better to go new from a reputable supplier than go secondhand and have a good make/model. I decided to go this route as even a good make will, after time, wear out. You have no idea on the history when purchasing secondhand and "one lady owner" never rings true with me. Others will say secondhand is the route, its just whatever suits you.

So cheap from reputable supplier led me to one from BMS, the DF50 which served me very well, I did need to make some modifications to it as I needed very heavy pressure (sublimation in general does not need to be that heavy), but £20.00 to a local welder sorted me out. The machine was used in a full time environment for about a year and a half and was only replaced by an Adkins as I needed a seriously good press for the WOW papers.

I still have the DF50 as a back up and would not hesitate in using it on any sublimation, just not the WOW transfers.

Just one other thing (sorry for waffling), if you purchase secondhand and the machine is no good for your needs then you are stuffed. If you purchase new and the machine is no good (i.e. uneven temperature) you can take the machine back and either ask for a replacement or demand a refund. But MAKE SURE THE SUPPLIER HAS A GOOD REPUTATION

[wessy83]

Makes perfect sense, thank you SocialGiraffe!

Would you recommend any of the below then?

http://www.longforte.com/korean-shaking ... ss-38x38cm

http://www.longforte.com/40x50-semi-aut ... heat-press

Thanks

[galerion]

If your going to pick between those 2 then the korean ones are considered to be better built than the chinese ones.

[pisquee]

Try a lower offer on this PressMech ... http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Digital-Heat- ... 4d24d3f71f
If we didn't already have 4, we'd be getting it!

UK made quality press - around £1500 new

[bendee2020]

Makes perfect sense, thank you SocialGiraffe!

Would you recommend any of the below then?

http://www.longforte.com/korean-shaking ... ss-38x38cm

http://www.longforte.com/40x50-semi-aut ... heat-press

Thanks

Hi wessy
I got the Korean heat press from longforte about 6months ago and I can't fault it. I have had absolutely no problems with it. The only thing I would say is that when the swing is fully open it can topple over (this thing is heavy) I would recommend bolting it down.
good luck
Ben