Vastex manual machine any good?

I second that--they're located in allentown PA and the stuff is made in the USA--its beefy and practical... I can't say enough good things about their equipment or service/support. I dont know how close to PA you are, but they also offer 2-day classes that go over the whole spectrum of printing if you're a "newbie".

As far as problems, the only thing we have had an issue with is the pallet rubber comes up about once a year, but that is probably due to user error (under the flash too long accidently)...they sell the adhesive and you just glue it back down. Not a big deal.

There are actually quite a few for sale in the Used section right now for some pretty good deals.

The only issue I've had with our Vastex was the rubber on the pallets coming up like Shelly. They simply didn't have enough adhesive on them to keep them glued. I took the rubber off and there was a super thin layer of contact cement on them from the factory. I think they've probably fixed that issue if in fact it was an issue on more than one press. I took the rubber off and put new rubber on them with a more generous amount of contact cement and we haven't had any issues since.