We've had a Thunder for over 2 years. My husband (our printer) has a background in engineering. He looked at all the brands (I've been in business since 2005 and going to ISS shows since 1997). We were ready to get a new 6/6 press from our old used press we'd had for several years. He looked at all the manual 6/6 offerings for our business and it came down to Vastex and Anatol. Anatol won out on the registration gate setup. Although he loved the detents in the Vastex. We moved into an auto 2 years ago and keep the Thunder as backup now. It's a wonderful press.
@@ThePrintLife we were a able to pick up used Anatol volt. At the same time we upgraded the manual we went ahead and bought in Anatol dryer with programmable digital readout. So we are completely red shop at the moment. (The blue and green guys give us sh!t all the time.)
That air light press down feature at 5:56 does it for Me, Cam 👍 But I think 😍GiGi, was gettin' a little jealous when You started gettin' too shmoozy with hiw easy and floaty the head goes down, just sayin'... Great video, tho'as always! 😎
So not sure if you've covered this yet.. but would you be willing to talk about or do a video on what to watch out for if we are buying used equipment? I'm not ready to grow out of my 1 color station yet, but if i see something come across on facebook/craigslist/my local garage sale, i'd like to know what you think is a good deal and what to stay away from. For example, in this video you talked about wanting to be compatible with used pallets. Is there anything that you recommend just completely staying out of ?
I printed on an antec legend for about half a year in a 2 man team, and if you get the right person with the right rhythm you can hit close to auto numbers, but you need that reliable person and someone acting as captain to get that production
For sho. All heads can be very fast. If you ate in that phase were you are considering an auto bit not quite there all a few extra guys is a good temp solution.
Having worked for Anatol I am familiar with their issues in terms of late delivery and service however I was always certain that their manual presses were the best in the industry. If I had run an m&r shop I still would have purchased anatol manuals
Thanks for the update boss, I was looking at that press in March at the ISS show. I found it to be oneI would defiantly consider when I upgrade my press.
News mate..... The thunder is on our way..... Watching you videos to be ready to set it up.......Thanks this channel is been and still juice if you know what i mean hahahahaha.. Have a nice day CAM...
Nice video! I have and M&R automatic and one of their Kruzer manual presses. The Kruzer is garbage. Finally looking to get rid of it and this looks like a great option. The only thing that concerns me from your video is that it looks like the screens go down so easy that they might want to fall down on their own from the weighh of rthe squeegie if you load up your screen with a decent amount of ink. Is that a concern?
Keepin it clean. I'll be honest I don't like having a potty mouth, It just comes out, but I also get defiant when people tell me to stop cursing, then I want to pop F bombs like an uzzie. However Im a working on not blasting off at the mouth as often.
they gave me a great deal on it. Maybe after this vid we can convince them to get me an auto to test. that would be huge. that volt they have is amazing.
Damn, you may have swayed me from the Vastex V2000 HD or the Antec Legend. I believe anatol has a lower level press called the “lightning”...I think lol. Stoked for the flash review! Looks like a beast!!! Thanks Cam!
yea the lighting, has the same great print heads, the big difference is the pallet arms are not as beefy as the thunder. However I have seen shops using the lighting and it does not appear to have much deflection either.
@@ThePrintLife we bought a Lightning almost a year ago, and couldn't be happier. Haven't noticed much deflection either. The all heads down has increased our output like crazy.
I would still go with the Antec Legend. I think the Legend is the best manual printer on the market. The floating arms and double locking registration gates puts the Legend in a class by itself
We just picked up a Lightning 6/6 will be replacing an older Brown Mfg. 4/4 so I'm pretty stoked!! Also go a Anatol dryer 30 inch belt I think.. Awesome review I will be reviewing it in the future i'm sure!!
Joining the Anatol Club. I love our Lighting. For sure make a review video of it. Did they ship the press to you or did you pick it up? if shipped do you get it as fast as I did? It Showed up so fast.
Great Video 😁 a lot of really great specs on the Anatol, def Better than the M&R Kruzer plastic pallet knobs and heavy pallet arms. 🤨 definitely wasn’t my carousel of choice when printing.
Yea the ANatol Thunder is more in line with the M&R Chameleon, at a better price. You can also upgrade with air locks, and all that good stuff, the one cool feature the chameleon has is the double decker carousel, I think you can have like 11 colors on that thing.
Hey Cam, have you done any videos pertaining to the artwork side, from tips on soft-wear for working on client art work, what you require as far as client art submissions, like file type. Also on the RIP soft wear to the printer you use for the screens. Look forward to possibly seeing something on this end of the business. Thanks, David
@@ThePrintLife By the way I just happened to find your site by accident but I consider it beginners luck, and I'm glad to have found you as we start from ground zero to open a shop we are currently looking at equipment. I am in the process of watching all your videos that we are using as our reference point on decision making. We really enjoy them, Thank you!
Thanks for the review! I've been looking at that press as one to get later, amongst other similar units. Granted I'm on a 4/1 machine with no micros right now so ANY upgrade would be... Well I can't even come up with an analogy. :-)
Does this brand have a 1 station 4 color available or something for beginners? Looking for my first. This does look amazing but I don't think I need a 6 color right now. I do love the features. thank you for another informative & great video
Great Review. I'm curious though. How does this compare to the Legend? We are about to upgrade to a Antec but after seeing this I'm now interesting in doing more research into this set up. Please share
People talk a lot about Vastex... Vastex V-2000 is a real tank machine but the other press ( v-1000 and v-100 ) are really not the same quality. I had a V-1000 6-4 and dammm the off contact drove me crazy ! Not fun at all to work with.
@@ThePrintLife I have been shopping around and think I'm just going to make my own for now. There's a company online that sells a kit precut Lumber with micro registration for a 4 color press. I think I'm just going to buy in a symbol that one it looks pretty good. I already have some people including the gym where I teach martial arts that want me to make them shirts so it's a start.
great review.. first equipment upgrade I make will be my press.. I dream of one like this.. one day :) So if you take care to preserve your press is it called presservation?
I'm confused about these side rails. You said aluminum was stronger than steel. Being a machinist for years im pretty sure that isn't true if apples to apples comparison. Could it be the steel ones are thinner at that point to reduce weight? Because if they are the same i have to believe steel is stronger!
Cam, been following you for a while, love the vids! Quick question, have you messed with the Anatol pre-registration system? I'm stationed in Germany, but when I get back to the states, I'v been debating on Anatol and M&R. I love the micros you mention on the Thunder. Do you think the pre-registration is even necessary on this press at all based on set-up time on average jobs?
There are many shops that use them with great success. I simply cant figure it out. We have tried both ways and reverted back to using micros and registering to a template taped to the pallet. From what I cant tell for pre reg to work you need to have fairly high and consistent newtons accross all the screens. I find this very difficult to achieve in my shops enviroment. When I eventually move to roller frames I may revisit pre registration systems.
HI Cam, just on time thank you! Yesterday our M&R rep dropped by and we were almost convinced to go with M& R but now seeing this video we are back to Anatol. Do you have a rep we could deal with from NZ to purchase a machine? We have emailed Anatol from their website and looks to be replies from Europe, however a little nervous dealing with people we don't know with large sums involved. Also have you tried their jacket holder? Thank you, Paulo
Hey Katy. I deal with Micheal Merritt. I'm not sure but with them it seems best to send a preliminary email. Then they will reach out to to. I dont know about the jacket tie down but if you get the slide bracket you can get them from action engineering.
@@ThePrintLife Thanks so much. We emailed internationalsales@anatol.com and got an email back from a Michal with email address miwaniuk spe.home.pl does that sound like the same person? Really appreciate your help with this as we are super keen to go with Anatol. Cheers
@@ThePrintLife hey Cam.......I tell you something ..... The Honey just arrived to New Zealand ...... I gonna try to do you TAp dance the one u did when u got it....... i will send you some pict if u keen.. Just let me know where...... Later on more update ....Catch upppppppppp
@@ThePrintLife Anatol looks like a great manual, I have always been happy with my Workhorse, but the micros look amazing. Your portable press you use for shows, did you custom make it? That is great, setting up for shows can be a pain in the a$$...
So Im looking to start a tshirt printing business in my basement. The issue i have is its all carpet down there. Would that effect the stability of a press or just in general, should i pull it up to set up a shop?
I had the M&R Sidewinder, the antec legend, that's also a great press if it had side clamps, and the vastex v1000, also worked on the workhorse odessy I think it was, years ago at another shop. I love all press manufactures though.
We have the V1000 4/4 and upgrading it to a 4/6 and then to a 6/6 later which you can go and upgrade to an 8/8. It's a good press and holds registration. Haven't had any issues with it yet and we have it for 3 years now. It's perfect if you want a press to grow with your business.
@@saraht4089 Hey! I actually went with a used 4/4 riley jr. Its not bad. Print heads and off contact are a bit of a pain. Wish it was 6/4. But happy i went with a 4 station press. I would recommend a 6/4 press. It helps so much to be able to do more than 1 shirt at a time
@@alejandrovilla237 hey, thanks for the reply. I’ve been considering the Riley Jr too, or Vastex 1000 so good to hear some current feedback on that. I think you’re right about going for a 6/4 though!
I asked Anatol for price quotes on the lightning and the thunder press. Not heard from them yet and that was a month ago. That reflects very poorly on them. I'm ready to pull the trigger and buy one but the lack of any customer service may push me towards a different press which sucks because everyone knows they make the best manual presses. I need to know I have support from them though. Right out of the gates they dont seem to give a shit. I dont want to buy indirectly from another supplier. Im in southern Washington State and Ryonet is the big supplier here, right up the street from me. They only carry Riley Hopkins though. I may have to go that route instead because I know they will always be available in terms of customer service and have my back. I guess all i can do now is ask everyone here if who they bought their Anatol presses through.... and do you have a trustworthy recommendation for me on what company I can use? Please let me know. thanks.
I thought Washington only had an East side and west side…joking.. I was wondering what you ended up with? I’m also in WA so it would be cool to hear your experience.
Several possibilities: 1) The shirt/platen has got too hot from repeatedly being under the flash. What happens is that after flashing, the platen is so hot that the print can't cool down. When you lay your second screen down, the thin layer of ink in the screen "cures" to the shirt, causing the mesh to stick to the shirt. To avoid this, never print right after a flash, and always make sure the print isn't too hot to touch. 2) Your off-contact is too low. The screen mesh is "resting" on the shirt and when you print, the ink is pooling back up through the mesh because it's still in contact with the garment. Off-contact should always be about 1/8" 3) No or insufficient adhesive spray on the platen. Your ink supplier well sell cans of it, or you can pick up a can of 3M all-purpose adhesive spray from a local hardware store.
Hey man, why did you go for the manual press vs the automatic, besides price point. I have a busy shop and wanted to handle more work. We are considering those anatol automatic presses.
Hi Ricardo. I went with a new manual press to help with consistency and to make set ups easier. We dont have the space or volume to warant an automatic right now. I did strongly consider the Volt though. I cannot speak on the press from experiance but I love the idea of no air lines. When we do automate I will get the volt unless something new and ground breaking comes out from another manufacturer.
@@ThePrintLife First, you're the man for banging out comments responses. But yes! the volt seem like a good choice for an entry level auto press. I should probably hold on to my manual until we busy 24hrs in a day. Thanks!
One more question. Can you briefly explain why you went with the anatol thunder amongst other competition? I am really liking the new riley 300 and 350. There's probably a bunch of screen printers with the same question since ryonet is a little more popular.
steel is stronger the aluminum sorry to say ur wrong skyscraper aren't made of aluminum there steel . all heads down sounds good but if ur paying that many people you should have got an auto people get tired autos dont . they do have good micros on the press cant wait to see the review in 5 years and see how it is then .
waldo2413 no you made your self look bad lol you sound like a know it all. How about you make a video that gets more then 30views about it and post it in the FB group instead of telling someone else is wrong lol
@@solekefs626 Young's Modulus for steel (29 million PSI) is three times that of aluminum (10 million PSI). ... In other words, an aluminum part under load will deflect three times as much as a similarly loaded steel part. The thickness and shape of the formed part also contributes to its stiffness. I'm just pointing out facts
I've got a v2000. It's a great press and will last a lifetime with a very long warranty. Just two issues with it. It's really heavy to use so you'll feel the strain on a big job and the platens are very clunky with a big arm underneath. For some items it can be difficult to load. If I was buying new I'd go for the Anatol.
They are both great presses, I cant say one is better than the other. I have had both, I prefer the Anatol thunder over the Sidewinder, and the Chameleon. Mark my words I will get hate from print heros for saying that.
Anatol have offices in Poland that ship to pretty much every country in Europe as far as I'm aware. Just go to their website and go to the 'Were To Buy' page :)
@@hotboxprintstudio Mainly got burnt on editing. I was looking back over the channel and I connot belive how many cuts I have made. It's good to take a step back and objectively look at the channel and decide what kind of content I want to make moving forward.
@The Print Life hey Cam.......I tell you something ..... The Honey just arrived to New Zealand ...... I gonna try to do you TAp dance the one u did when u got it....... i will send you some pict if u keen.. Just let me know where...... Later on more update ....Catch upppppppppp
Mario Herrera Your right. M&R is the only good manufacturer out there. All other press manufacturers are worthless scrap metal. Thanks for the valuable education. M&R for life, am I right?
What I didn’t like about the M&R Kruzer is it does not have a tilt adjustment. Having the tilt adjustment together with the off contact makes setup quicker. Its also kinda heavy. The weight doesn’t bother me but it might make a difference with large orders. Sometimes the workers fatigue kicks in.
My moms bf scammed me out of 4000 because he told me he had a friend that could get me a legit press with all the things i was going to need turned out to be completely bullshit. I ended up moving out of my moms because she didn't seem to care definitely killed my dreams for a couple of years because i was just struggling on my own trying to survive but I'm finally trying to get back to my normal self just feels like im back at square one but at least i learned valuable lessons about people n life in general dont be like me do your research dont just trust blindly
Most good presses are expensive. If you just starting go for a single color single station from Ebay, get some clients then making this purchase wint seem so bad.
Proverbial is not the right word. LOL. But 99% of the time that word is used anywhere it is used incorrectly. There has to be a proverb associated with it
