Just walked into a print shop in Austin and saw someone using a screen press from the 80s

Honestly I was in Austin last weekend visiting a friend and stopped by this small custom print shop called Ink & Thread. The owner was running a job on this old manual screen press that looked like it was from 1985 or something. He told me he bought it used for like 500 bucks back in 2006 and has never upgraded because it just works. Ngl I was kinda amazed watching him line up each shirt by hand with this little tape marks on the platen. He said his digital printer broke down twice last month so he just fell back on the old press. I'm thinking about getting into custom printing myself but I don't know if starting with vintage gear is smart or just asking for trouble. Has anyone else stuck with older equipment instead of going all digital? How do you keep it running without it driving you crazy?

2 comments

2 Comments

ross.jason22d ago

Ngl vintage gear hits different. Sold my auto press last year for an old Riley.

seanperry21d ago

Man that's wild! I used to be all about the newest gear, thought digital was the only way to go. But after reading your post and seeing @ross.jason's comment about selling their auto press for an old Riley I gotta say my mind is changing. There's something about the reliability of those old machines that makes sense. The guy at that shop running tape marks and doing it by hand sounds like he actually knows his stuff, not just pushing buttons on a computer. If a digital printer breaks down twice in a month you're dead in the water, but a mechanical press from the 80s just keeps going with basic care. I bet the learning curve is steeper but once you get the hang of it you save so much on repair costs. Honestly I think starting with vintage gear might be the smarter move if you're patient enough to learn the manual way.