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| DunnDiego |
 Posted: Tue Nov 16, 2004 2:53 pm |
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Joined: 12 Jul 2003
Posts: 2817
Location: San Diego
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Ok, so I'm gonna try to coat my screen with the emulsion, and I'm going to do it in my garage with only the red light bulb for illumination.
Does it need to be a specific kind of bulb? Or will any red light bulb work?
I also want to make sure I get a nice thin layer of the emulsion, but I don't have one of those tricky trough things. I was just gonna pour it on, and spread it out. Is this a mistake? Do I need the trough?
And lastly, when I expose the screen, can I use a shop light like this one:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf...?itemnumber=30858
If not, what do you sugest?
Thanks all!! |
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| newrepublicsteve |
| Posted: Tue Nov 16, 2004 6:52 pm |
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Joined: 13 Nov 2004
Posts: 674
Location: Birmingham
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I have a small converted closet I use for a dark room
I use a red flood light I bought at home depot for like 5.00...
I use the exact same work light for exposing
I use the 500 watt version
also from home depot about 15.00 for mine
I use ulano qfx emulsion and my burn time is about 12 minuts, and we get full photographic half tones at 12 inches from the screen...
works perfect, never had a bad screen come out of it
for coating screens we don't use a scoop couter we use a new squeeze bottle to distribute the emulsion evenly and then a clean sharp squeege to spread...
you can get really clean thin coats this way...
practice practice practice
and if you have any questions hit me up |
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| DunnDiego |
| Posted: Tue Nov 16, 2004 7:50 pm |
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Joined: 12 Jul 2003
Posts: 2817
Location: San Diego
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Cool!! Thanks for the info, I'll definitley hit you up with any more ?s
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| Homer80 |
| Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2004 10:33 am |
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Joined: 15 Jun 2004
Posts: 1386
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| I use one of those "bug lights" they sell at the supermarket. They are the ones that don't attract insects, there amber and make it easier to see when applying emulsion. I haven't gotten the hang of using an emulsion scoop. I use the squeege method as mentioned before. Using that lamp will work but make sure you have plenty of screen recover fluid onhand it might take a few attempts to get everything set for your equipment. Once you start getting good burns it wont even be an issue then. |
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| ThrashCan |
| Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2004 10:52 pm |
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Joined: 16 Mar 2004
Posts: 1331
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| what is screen recover fluid? |
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| newrepublicsteve |
| Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2004 11:10 pm |
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Joined: 13 Nov 2004
Posts: 674
Location: Birmingham
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it's emulsion remover
emulsion is a checmical substance and can only be completed removed with emulsion remover...
pretty straight forward I guess...
screw up a creen and you need to remove the emulsion completly before recoating |
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| ThrashCan |
| Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2004 1:14 am |
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Joined: 16 Mar 2004
Posts: 1331
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right on. I know the basics of screen printing I'm slowly learning things but I have yet to get my hands dirty with it. I'm gonna buy a screen, a light, and some other things. I already have a squeegie and some crappy acrylic paint.
Whats a good ink for stickers and where is a cheap sticker paper source.
Could you explain the emulsion coat with some detail. How thick do you want it?
How do you apply the ink to the screen? When I messed around I just painted on a coat then squeegied it....it works ok but I had come smearing.
I just wanna print stickers as of now then work my way into fabric. I think its a very good skill to have and a very interesting hobby. Thanks in advance for all info. |
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| newrepublicsteve |
| Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2004 3:19 am |
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Joined: 13 Nov 2004
Posts: 674
Location: Birmingham
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actually stickers are a lot harder then shirts
to do them well you will need a vacum table
I built mine for about 30.00
basic carpentry skills and tools are all you need for that
next vinyl inks
we use nazdar gv series
great inks horrible smell horrible clean up
you need to be in a well vented room to do them...
these inks air dry in about 20 minutes
so you need to print about 200 per hour to keep the screen from clogging
I also use a thinner from nazdar to get my inks to an almost water like consistency before printing
as for the emulsion
please use qfx for stickers
if you use qtx or some cheaper emulsions the vinyl ink will bond with the emulsion and pretty much trash the screen...
I have done it it sucks...
as for clean up, I use ulano emulsion remover, comes as a powder costs about 45.00, but makes like 8 gallons...
works great
as for ink clean up, my only ink remover for both vinlys and plastiols
is the same nazdar thinner...
some may think I am crazy for this, but it's not super expensive, not too casutic, leaves not ghost images, and jsut destroys ink better then anything else I have tries
I get it from nazdar as well its called fv 180 it's a thinner and also a flat vinyl clear....
anyhow it's about 30.00 a gallon and lasts me about 2 weeks or so and we do about 50-70 screens a week with it....
so we got inks, clean up, and emulsion....
next we need vinyl
the viyl is calle pressure sensitive vinyl
we use some stuff made exclusivly from our distirbutor, but almost any vinyl will work....
for highg quality make sure it is atleast a 3 mil. and has an outdoor adhesive of 3-5 years
we get our vinyl for like 40 a roll and we get about 150 sheets from a roll
and we usually get about 10 stickers per sheet....
as for using the acrylic paint....
it's not a good thing
for shirt use water based or plastisol inks, you'll find they work so much better then paint, and they will not work for stickers at all....
you can find some places on line that carry vinyl in your area jsut search google if you can't find anything I can hook you up with my distro compnay but ups shipping sucks...
how to coat a screen....
hmmm
those should give you the basic idea
if you don't want to mess withthe stickers
just hit me up we do them pretty darn cheap, cheaper then sticker guy as just as high a quality
also make sure you use atleast a 230 for printing stickers...
if not it's a runny fucking mess |
Last edited by newrepublicsteve on Thu Nov 18, 2004 5:01 am; edited 1 time in total |
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| ThrashCan |
| Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2004 4:02 am |
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Joined: 16 Mar 2004
Posts: 1331
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well......fuck stickers. The inks and chemicals seem like such a bitch just for casual personal printing. We were just about to place an order of stickers with sticker guy. I think we'll hit you up though they take forever!!! and I love to help the stray companies. How much would 500 sticks, white vinyl, black and red print run us? I forget the size....something like 3x4 maybe....I duno. I'll have my partner Ryan email you. Hes taking over the soft good stuff.
I would like to learn how to print on fabric for some side cash. Do some gear for the local shops and bands. I also am tired of paying $20 for a shirt and $50 for a hoodie so I think I'll make some knock offs.
What is a good fabric ink that is easy to work with for personal printing? From previous threads I think I'll look for mesh in the 150-200 range. Sounds good?
My squeegie is squared off..is that good or do I want a rounded one?
Emulsion is applied to the screen then left to chill in a dark place with a fan to dry then the image is burned and washed out. Correct?
Anything I'm forgetting?
Thanks a shitload bro your a good dude.
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| newrepublicsteve |
| Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2004 5:00 am |
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Joined: 13 Nov 2004
Posts: 674
Location: Birmingham
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well your coating technique sounds right
we'll be out of business for the next month starting friday while we move to pittsburgh but after that we'll hook up something on those stickers
I will stil ltry to answer any questions you guys have though
I basically started the way you are...
if you want to get serious go find a real shop to work in for a while
tel lthe myou want to learn but don't tel lthem you want to do your own thing...
a lot of printers hate sharing ifo becasue it really is an easy career to start, but you have to be super dedicated
good luck |
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