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How many of you screen print – graphic or textile?
Our shop does pretty much anything but electrcial sign work. I’ve been concentrating on building our screen printing operation. I’m finding it more profitable than a lot of the regular signwork that we do.
Anyone here doing the same?
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18 Replies
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Hi Glenn
Im afraid I really don’t know much about screen-printing.
Within the group there are only a few members that actually supply their customers with screen-printing. How many of that few actually do this themselves, I don’t know.Lorraine may be able to help you there,
Sorry.
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Hi Lorraine,
I prefer to push the squeegee. It seems to allow me to apply more pressure with less effort.
I know of the squeegee you’re talking about – the Newman Constant Force squeegee. I had a opportunity to try it out a year ago last October. It was very nice. The only draw back is that a very flat pallet was required. If you’re shirt pallet was made of wood and had even the slightest warp in it, you wouldn’t get a consistant print the width of the image. It wasn’t recommended for graphic printing if you used UV inks. The ink would attack urethane strip and cause it to swell irregularly.
I used to hate graphic printing, too. Screen printing real estate signs and bumperstickers were a pain. I switched the shop over to UV inks a couple years ago. I love it. Screen printing became much easier and much less of a hassle. The inks don’t dry in the screen like conventional solvent-based inks. And, when run through a UV dryer, they are 100% cured and ready for the next color. The best part is that 100% of the ink is converted into a solid. It doesn’t evaporate into the air. That was a big problem I had with solvent-based inks. I didn’t like the idea of breathing the solvents into my lungs.
What are you using to clean your screens with? I switched us over to soy-based cleaners not too long ago. While they cost more, it takes less to clean with. I use a soy-based ink degradent which converts the ink into a harmless biodegradable. This allows me to actually wash the inks down the drain with no harm to the environment.
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rookie question from me!
is it possible to create a consistant gradiant when screen printing?
dont laugh im just asking. 😮 😳 😀
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Absolutely. I do it all of the time.
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but how is it possible glenn i thought screening is like laying a wash of colour down. so how can you graduate it evenly?
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Just to make sure we’re talking about the same thing, do you mean like this?
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Yes that’s it Glenn, exactly.
Like I said ive no real knowledge of the screen-printing trade.
I was under the impression it was only solid colour that could be laid down.
I am obviously very wrong!
Could you explain how you achieve this?
If it would take you a long time to explain then don’t worry about it. I think you must spend enough time explaining things on this board already. 😆
I would be interested none the less though.Thanks for any reply you may give Glenn.
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Well, I’m still learning. There is a great deal of information on screen printing available at http://www.screenprinters.net/articles/ . Its complete with "How To’s" and "Step-by-Step". You can purchase videos, which is what I’ve done.
Robert, you might be want to take a look at this…. http://www.screenprinters.net/articles/index.php?art=45
Y’all might be interested in this site…. http://www.richardgreaves.com . Richard is the one who really sparked my interest in screen printing. He really knows how to simplify things.
For anyone interested, here are some pics of the inside of our shop…. http://home.nc.rr.com/walldog/shop_photos.htm
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Lorraine,
I just posted a link to some pics of our shop. The interior shots were taken a year ago last March. Since then, we’ve added a 4’x6′ one arm squeegee table.
At this time, we have a 30"x40" automatic press (clam shell), a 6/4 manual t-shirt press (15+ years old I’m told), a gas-fired textile dryer, a UV dryer and a 7’x5′ exposure table (uses flourescent tubes).
I’m hoping to replace our manual t-shirt press with a 6/6 all-heads-down press or a semi-automatic press within the next 18 months.
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Hehehe….I wish it would have stayed clean. Those pictures were taken about a month or so after we had repaired the damage caused by Hurricane Floyd. We had about 6.5′ of water inside. The only thing to have survived was the t-shirt press. Here’s a link to some photos of the damage done…. http://members.tripod.com/taylor_graphi … _floyd.htm
There are a couple photos of my father showing how high the waterline was.
I’ll have to post some pics of what the shop looks like now. Its a mess. 😳 😉
Yep, we have a 4 color cap printer, but I’ve just about quit using it in favor of printing and applying heat-transfers instead. I get very little, if any, distortion in the print at all. Here is a link to the manufacturer’s website….. http://www.caps-screenprinting.com
I’m not sure who would carry the soy-based cleaners in your area. You may want to check with the following two sites…..
http://boards.martex.uk.com/boards/spa/bulletin.htm
http://www.images-magazine.com/Like I said, they are more expensive to buy, but it takes less to use. I use them to clean plastisol, solvent and UV inks.
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Hi,
We are just about to go into screenprinting,any advice regarding suppliers equipment e.t.c. wuld be greatley appreciated.Regards
James
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James there is already quite a bit of info about screenprinting on the boards, try doing a search.
Lorraine does a lot of this kind of stuff and has put up quite a few posts, I believe some even mentioned suppliers. If you cant find what you need you could always PM or phone her.
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