New press, what to buy?

[banjoman]

New to the forum, We are an in house utility with a one man shop which I have been running for 13 years. Started out with a Hamada C248 and a Hamada 612, 30" Challenge cutter and a Baum 2020 with right angle. Had an ECRM Imagesetter. 7 years ago we added an old Solna 425 25" 4 color and upgraded to an Agfa Avantra Imagesetter. We are thinking about getting rid of the Solna and the Hamada 2 color and getting a small 4 color press. We have talked about a Presstek DI and I have seen a demo and of course I was impressed with the demo but after researching what operators and owners have to say I have my doubts. The Hamada C248 that I have has been the best small 2 color I have ever run, and I have run AB Dick and Ryobi and a few others. I have had about 4 service calls in 13 years for this machine and they were for general maintenance like rollers and I had an electrical problem. Other than that I have changed rollers a few times and just put in a new pump in the water system. I have heard that the Hamada has gone down hill and that they are now made in China so I don't know what to think. Maybe a GTO and a platesetter would be better. We do a newsletter that goes in the monthly bills that is 10 x 14 4/4 60M pieces so that would leave us in a situation that really would require a long run plate. We do a lot of short run color and some color booklets also but not the amount a commercial shop does and being a one man shop I need to cut time as much as I can. There is a lot of good info here and any input is greatly appreciated.

Banjoman in NC

 

[eyetech]

Re: New press, what to buy?

I've been in the industry for all my working life...my recommendation given your circumstances?

Komori Lithrone 420, great little press with great features - auto plate loading, clean ups, remote inking - a true litho press with real world print abilities. (I think you can even run translucent plastic thru' it!!)

Low maintenance and long life span unmatched by any press manufacturer. (The very first Komori Lithrone 40 is still running in China! You can't say that about Heidelberg Speedmasters)

The heart of the press are the cylinders which run in triple race taper bearings, Heidelbergs run on needle bearings which give rise to vibration and unsightly roller marks even from new.

I was head of sales for Komori in Spain - now I'm in the Uk with my own print company, guess what I run? Komori 626EMP, before that Lithrone 428, before that Lithrone 426, before that Sprint 226p. All of them gave many years of troublefree service.

I suggest you research your local dealerships and track down a 3 -5 year old one if you can't run to a new one. Good luck!

 

[4stateprint]

Re: New press, what to buy?

Banjoman,

I would really suggest looking at jobbing the job to a larger printer. Unless that means your out of a job... in that case by no means would I do that. If you set up the newsletter and run it is the only way I would recommend it. Especially with the price of the presses and if you figure up that all the supplies to run may have to be changed in accordance with the new press.

I don't know which side of the coin your on but thats my suggestion. Hope it helps but you will have to find a vendor you can trust should be plenty of places on here to look for that. Good luck which ever way you go.

4stateprint