We just tested out the Action Engineering mask hold-downs for printing masks. They have worked great for us, even on what I thought would be difficult masks, some triple ply pleated masks.

We do NOT want glue on the inside of the mask, so even printing single ply masks we did not want to secure them to the platen with adhesive. This Action platen solves that issue.

Many effective masks are two or three ply, and so adhesive will not keep the mask in place anyway. This hold-down platen works something like traditional jacket hold-down used for lined jackets, a gasket holds the multi-ply mask tightly in place so it does not move and so you can hold good registration with white ink or with multiple colors.

The hold-down mask platen seems like a solid piece of machinery that will hold up to heavy production use. We started with the hand press version, and  we are going to branch into the automatic version which they have for most top brands including our MHM’s.

Here are some photos of some work we just did with the platens,  and a video, the particular press person was doing this after just a few minutes. It is an easy load and it holds the mask in place.