basic screen printing kit requirements?

[Mike Grant]

What sort of knowledge of screen printing do you have?
If you have non other than outsourcing you will be biting off more than you can chew. I spent 5 years of my life in charge of a Tshirt printing factory and the problems we had were enormous. If you don’t have the knowledge be prepared for a high volume of rejects and loss of profits.

We were churning out over 2000 shirts a day and I have vowed never to print another shirt again! 😮 😕

[Dan Osterbery]

Hi Mike,
I have no knowledge other than outsourcing, but we are not afraid to roll up our sleeves and get our hands dirty. Over the last eight years we have taught ourselves, graphic design and print, signwriting, embroidery, web design. I appreciate there is an art to screen printing and skills will improve with experience, but if you dont start somewhere you dont stand a chance of getting any better!!

Going back to the machine, does it look like it is a good one as a starter set up!!

thanks for your comments

Dan

[Ian Muir]

Don’t know about that Dan but a pal of mine made his own 6 colour from the back axle and rim of a car and a lot of welding over 15 years ago ….. He runs a very successful screenprinting business (mainly clothing) and never has felt the need to buy a new rotary printer. So, as you say, with hard work and a positive attitude you can achieve almost anything.

Ian :lol1:

[John Gregson]

Top half looks OK but the stand looks a bit flimsy. Spot dryer won’t suit your needs if doing runs of 80+ and the exposure unit wants throwing in the bin ASAP – its crap.

If you’ve taught yourself signwriting in the last 8 years then screen printing will take you about 5 minutes :lol1:

Good luck 😀

[Dan Osterbery]

thanks for your positive coimments john, can you point me in the direction of a semi decent exposure unit and dryer??

thanks

Dan

p.s. credit crunch really beginning to bite here now so its great to be on the end of some positivity

[John Gregson]

Hi Dan,
You would need a conveyer dryer, the same company that do the carousels do a basic one for about £2000 or ebay for well under £1000.

You can make a better eposure unit than the ones they are selling or buy one with a vacumn and blanket. Again ebay is good for second hand gear as an exposure unit would be too costly to buy new for a venture that your not sure about.

Cheers John

[Steve Underhill]

Those exposure units are ok for small screens as we have one with enhanced UV but for anything bigger you need a decent one, like John says.
find an engineer who is also your friend to build you a tunnel dryer, they aren’t too complicated.
what size prints are you thinking of doing?

[Dan Osterbery]

hi steve,
mainly one or two colour prints and to start with probably A4 size or slightly larger. We have outsourced about 6,000 t-shirts this year and we have been charged 1.20€ (1.00 pound at todays rate) per print per colour, and the quality of the prints and the service is really not that good, so id like to have a go myself.

I would like to have the chance to be able to offer 4 colour or more. We very rarely do anything bigger than 45cm high x 35cm wide as that is the max size of the screens of the guy we outsource too.

thanks for your time

Dan

[Otto Peltonen]

quote John Gregson:

You can make a better eposure unit than the ones they are selling

Cheers John

I built mine, partly because I found the new ones too expensive and partly because I needed my exposure unit to fit my purposes (I do screens to print cross-country skis). Bought Osram UltraVitalux- bulbs and made a system that would probably make every electrician cry hysterically; but it works brilliantly.

[John Gregson]

Same here Otto, mine was home made about 21 years ago and its still going strong now. 😀

[Mike Grant]

quote Dan Osterbery:

and the quality of the prints and the service is really not that good, so id like to have a go myself.

Mmmmmm there’s something in that statement that reflects my comments.
I didn’t mean to sound negative but I have been a screen printer most of my working life and I know that quality is learnt, not bought. I eventually left the job to go it alone because of the hopeless employees we had. 🙄

I’m glad you don’t mind the challenge, that’s what drives me, I never say "I cant" but I can say "I wont".

The machine looks OK. The stand looks totally inadequate and will probably wobble like hell. That is easy to overcome. It is difficult to really test the quality without actually seeing it in the flesh. The company I worked for built their own machines to their specs so I have never seen an off the shelf job other than the 6 station semi automatic printer I used to use but that’s another story/nightmare. 😮

What can I say other than if you don’t try it you will never know.
Good luck!

[Otto Peltonen]

Are you sure you want to go for a kit that has "everything", Dan? Might be better to look for things separately. Like others have already mentioned, that machine in the kit looks OK, excluding the stand. But you can find a better second hand machine (if you’re lucky), and exposure unit and even the tunnel dryer can be home made. And what comes to the rest of the gear, buy when you need, don’t stock. ‘Cause every job you do teaches you more and it may be that after a few months you notice that you have lots of stuff that don’t suit your purposes. (Or it may be that if you buy the kit it turns out to be the best buy ever…:D)
Anyway, I purchased my textile printing equipment separately and partly used and haven’t regretted doing so.

[Dan Osterbery]

thanks otto!!

So what do we need to start? The machine, exposure unit and dryer? I have just ordered a couple of books so hopefully will have a better understanding soon.

The guy who we outsource too, doesnt have a dryer he uses a hairdryer and two heat presses???? Is this why it is poor quality or is he flying on a tight budget as well??

thanks for your time, it is appreciated

Dan

[Dan Osterbery]

Thanks mike,
im sure i will have moments where I will be pulling my hair out!! We have a strange business model on this island, there are only 2 companies screen printing and we have tried them both and find them expensive and poor quality, we can use barcelona for big runs, but they are really not interested in anything under 500.

We have a good reputation for the quality of our embroidery,signs etc and I dont want the screen printing to let us down.

We have lots of businesses who want 200 lighters etc, everything is small runs, we have a company who can print for us either stamp/pad printing or screen printing but again they will only do 500’s

I feel it is something that we can learn in house, we have the space and and we are brave/stupid enough to have a go! I appreciate your comments

Dan

[John Gregson]

Hi Dan,
For the cost of the two heat presses he could have had a decent second hand tunnel dryer. Don’t know why the guys doing his hair while printing though :lol1:

Cheers John

[graffica]

Dan. We used to do a bit of screenprinting, but now find it much easier to sub. it out to a local company.
They only charge 33.00 euros for a 2 colour print from 1-100 shirts. 3-4 colours is 54.00 euros. Plus screens. (1.20 euros to print 1 colour is a crazy price).
Might be worth a try for your next order. If you´re interested I can put you in touch. You can phone me at 96 689 7150
They also do tampografia at very reasonable prices and in small quantities.

I understand what you´re saying about wanting to learn everything yourself, but sometimes it´s not worth the hassle or the cost of the necessary equipment.

Chris A

[Otto Peltonen]

quote Dan Osterbery:

The guy who we outsource too, doesnt have a dryer he uses a hairdryer and two heat presses????

And I always thought that I have a vivid imagination… a hairdryer?????

Yes, you need the machine, exposure unit , dryer (not hair…), emulsion, emulsion remover, coating through, frames,silk, squeegees, good nerves, patience… and ink.

I’ve only used Union Ink’s products (check their site unionink.com, there’s a lot of useful articles), and I’ve been happy with those.

And what more… maybe the most important thing in order to reach a good results is that the print original must be good, so you can easily separate the colors for the films.

I am definitely not the best guide to the world of textile printing, since I’m a self made man in this field; but on the other hand if I have learned to print shirts, anyone can.

[Dan Osterbery]

Thanks everyone for your replies!!

After an interesting chat with chris from graffica, I know would like info on making larger screens maybe 70cm x 50cm to be able to print onto correx signs!!

As I presume the basic technology is the same???? Or am I really beginning to run before I can walk??

regards

dan

p.s. Steve is that why you asked what size screens??

[Steve Underhill]

That was the exact reason yes, as we have a flatbed screen printer that tales 100cm screens etc and you’ll need a large exposure unit,
ours is something like 1.5m x 1m x 1.2 m high its bloody massive lol

[Graeme Harrold]

Slightly off topic, but Im planning on building an exposure unit for sandblasting. A supplied on ranges from £150 (e-bay) to £6-600 for an A4 unit. I have sourced all the bits and can fit this inside an old A3 scanner case. Again using 9W fly killer bulbs @ £7 ea and the fittings, should have it done for under £150 and Ill know its a good one.

[John Gregson]

Hi Graeme, not quite sure about sandblasting but will the bulbs not be too close to whatever your exposing and cause a double image.

Cheers John

[Steve Underhill]

posted in wrong forum for some bizarre reason
wasnt the one I was reading
anyway deleted it.

[Dan Osterbery]

hi john,
just seen your pm! thanks i cant pm back as I am overseas and im not allowed too.

thanks though

cheers

Dan