Four colour press

[starprintingltd]

Hi

I was wondering if any of you guys can help.

I am think of upgrading my press to four colour as I currently run a ryobi 512.

I only have £50,000 ($95,000) to spend. I want to buy heidelberg as I think quality is better than ryobi (that's what I have heard) and they look good too.

Can anyone tell me whats the best heidelberg to buy on my budget. I need a press that can print good quality and relatively quite easy to operate.

Will I have to also buy a ctp system or am I okay still using posi plates.

And also do Heidelberg ctp systems be used on any of their four colour presses.

Thanks

[Nielsen]

Look for a Komori Lithrone 420. Its a 4 color 20" machine. You can print alcohol free and the servicebudget on this machine is very low. Max sheet size is 375 x 520 mm (14 3/4 X 20 15/32 inches I think)

[PGArnel]

It really depends what you are trying to do - If you are someone that wants to print colour because in your heart you want to be a printer then good luck to you - However £50,000 will buy you nothing. The most you could hope for is a two colour GTO and then you still have to make plates . My view would be to move to a digital press - reconditioned Indigos are available in the UK

Peter

[rbailleu]

really for less than $100,000 you should just sub out the work if you want to make money. a 4 color gto will drive you into the poor house trying to compete with the trade printers. make ready and blanket and impression cylinder washup. you could buy a used di and do okay would be better than the gto.

[RGPW17100]

$500,000 would be a starting point for a 4 color press that will have the bells and whistles you would need to be competitive. And that would be a used price. You really need an Aqueous coater to go with it. Without the coater you are looking at much longer dry times and a lot more spray powder that will give the sheets that sand paper feel. As mentioned stay away from older GTOs. They do not have proper front lay sensors and because of it the sheets can go in skewed or a seam from a sheet can go through and trash all the blankets. Max speed is around 7K and I have not met many operators who can figure out the feeder so the press will keep running especially on book weight stocks.

[JaimeZ]

GTO is a great press, but it does not have a lot of automation. A 4 color press will cost you around $200,000 (dollars US) used or a bit less, but you will not find one for $95,000 that is in good shape. If you do not have the business for it, the lease payment can be a hinderence. As for the comment on competing against the "trade printers," if you're a trade printer, you will not be able to compete against the larger presses. If you're a retail printer than you should be fine; you just need to price your work around the trade printers' price with your markup.

[rbailleu]

not to be contrary, but I would just like to say we had gto's for 20 years. I never thought there would be anything better. then we bought a used sm 52. we now do twice the work with no overtime when it comes to 4 color. its like 5 times the work. running speed on long runs is above 10000iph on the gto we were lucky to hit 5500-6000. if just getting started I would farm out the work untill I had enough to by a press. then buy a good one.

[RGPW17100]

not to be contrary, but I would just like to say we had gto's for 20 years. I never thought there would be anything better. then we bought a used sm 52. we now do twice the work with no overtime when it comes to 4 color. its like 5 times the work. running speed on long runs is above 10000iph on the gto we were lucky to hit 5500-6000. if just getting started I would farm out the work untill I had enough to by a press. then buy a good one.

This was our experience with the switch from the GTO to the SM52. We were not able to be competitive with the GTO. Even with a good operator the GTO does not have a coater which is a must. Most customers on 4 color jobs expect the sheet to be aqueous coated.

[JaimeZ]

I will agree with the last two posts that the SM52 blows away the GTO. Frankly if I had had my way we would had purchased a used SM52 instead of a GTO, but I did not have final say and lost my argument.

If you can get a used SM52 for a similar price of a GTO, that's the hot ticket. But if your beginning to grow your four color market and a GTO is more affordable, as compared to a SM52, then a GTO is a great starter press. My plans are to replace the GTO with a SM52 within two years and add a metal platesetter as well.

[rbailleu]

I have to agree with the last statement a metal ctp is a must as well. a real time saver. we bought a use prosetter 2 years ago and wow what an improvement.