All in one/5 in one/8 in one presses

[IrishPrint]

I keep seeing these crop up, both on eBay and through various suppliers - but I'm a little dubious.

I'm of the belief that it's better to buy multiple items that do their job right, than one item that does multiple things "average" at best, so what is the deal with these 5 in 1/8 in 1 presses, are they just a fad and don't work all that well, or do they do their job to a decent standard?

I'm still shopping around for a decent swing arm and mug press setup, but had an offer of one of these 5 in ones for a decent price - would I be throwing my money away?

[GoonerGary]

Yes you would. Buy separate presses for each item. You can get away with cheaper mug presses, but for flat presses you should spend as much as you can afford.

[IrishPrint]

Thanks Gary, would you recommend any in the 300-400 range?

[IrishPrint]

We're kinda in the situation now where we need to get up and running quickly and perhaps scale up 6-9 months in, not ideal but it is what it is.

[Andysam26467]

I agree with GoonerGary.
I bought a 5 in 1 set up when I first started. I had it for 2 weeks then stopped using it. I then went out and bought a George Knight DK20S.
Superb press but a bit pricey. It works all day every day and has never let me down. You get what you pay for.

Andy


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[Customprintwales]

I bought a 5 in one when I first started because it sounded really useful.

Using the mug press was not an issue as you just unplug the power from the heatpress and plug in the power cable for the mug press.

But you try changing over from a heat press to a cap press then to plate presses and that's a different matter. You have to wait for things to cool down unless you are happy unscrewing hot plates. you are forever having to reset the drop down depending on what base you are using etc.
I guess it would be ok if you are going to do 100 caps and then 100 plates and then 100 other items where the time involved in changing things around can be justified. But most small start up are not in that position and will be doing just a few items in the order.
The other issues I found with my 5 in 1 was that the cap press was really basic and had no arms on to apply tension to the cap and hold it in place.
In the end I just use the large platen for pressing items, moved to a halogen oven for doing my mugs, don't bother doing printed plates as I don't have a call for them and when the weather gets a bit better and clothing takes off again I'll be investing in a decent cap press with tensioning arms to get a better finish.

Kevin

[IrishPrint]

Thanks Kevin,

Did you find the actual large platen was alright though?

Honestly would likely not use any of the other items, have since sourced mug press separately and haven't looked at caps.

[Customprintwales]

I've had no problems with it. It's 30cm by 38cm which is large enough for me currently and seems pretty equal in heat all round and right up to the edges.
I'm happy with it even though I don't use all the other platens. If I was buying again though I would not go for one of these universal kits as it's just a lot of stuff lying around doing nothing.

Kevin