semi-auto's - cameo, saturn, etc? help me and post your preference

[miklay]

the back is slowly driving me insane.

i'm starting to shop around for a semi-auto (something used and small, like a cameo 30, but not too small)
i know there are threads on them, but i don't have the time to search and read through them.

what are your preferences / experiences with these machines? i'm not looking to print professionally,
it won't be running every day. i just need something to print my own stuff.

saturns look to be big money and too expensive for me. help me out.

i'm looking at my friends who print. thanks in advance!

[andydiesel]

save some cash and just get a cameo, it will work great for what you want to do and be way less money than a saturn.

if anyone says you can't get a good print out of a cameo i tell them to look at 80% of what we published. it was all done on a cameo or daytona (they are pretty similar). they are the sherman tanks of the screen print industry.

that said, all we run now are Saturns, but we do a lot of UV printing and its way better for that.

[miklay]

thanks diesel. found a cameo 25 x 38 in medford, or for $1500. just might be the ticket.

[Kotah]

I just got a M & R 3040, but spent a chuck of change on it.

[squeegeethree]

We have an m&R 3040 as well. I don't think I would buy anything else in that size range. But if your press isn't paying for itself then go with the cheaper option.

[Andymac]

Mike, that's a good price if it is working. go see it run or get some pictures or vids. The diff to a saturn or other more modern press is all about adjustments. The cameo has almost none. And depending on age and who ran them and how they cared for them or didn't, they can be so beat to shit they are not worth using.
Check power requirements. If you don't have 220/240v in your garage, it can cost you.

[miklay]

The cameo i'm looking at is 120V. It was their main machine and supposedly runs 100%.

Sticker company selling it:

Cameo - 25" x 38" 120v - Table is in good condition. Well maintaned and could be a great startup machine for someone else. Has a squeege holder and floodbar. And has the footpedal. Vacuum in great working order.

[squeegeethree]

get it

[andydiesel]

the good thing about the cameos is a lot of the parts can be gotten from Grainger, and they don't need an air compressor.

I think my next press will and up being an M&R Renegade.

[miklay]

bought! and stoked! thanks for the replies. couldn't pass up a press i can actually afford and pay off in a relative short time frame.