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| marmalade longboards |
 Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2005 3:28 pm |
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Joined: 28 Sep 2004
Posts: 136
Location: southend, UNITED KINGDOM
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show me your home made exposure units..
has anybody made there own units?? i have been using halagon lights - nothing but hassel.
i want to make one using uv light bulbs.
just looking for some direction...........
jon... |
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| newrepublicsteve |
| Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2005 8:10 pm |
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Joined: 13 Nov 2004
Posts: 674
Location: Birmingham
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| marmalade longboards |
| Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2005 12:20 pm |
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Joined: 28 Sep 2004
Posts: 136
Location: southend, UNITED KINGDOM
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| stu |
| Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2005 7:02 am |
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Joined: 07 Jun 2005
Posts: 59
Location: London,England
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Hey marmalade
hope all is good. i have a home made light box. it contains 6 uv strip lights sat just below a sheet of tough glass in an mdf box. It is big enough to expose t-shirt size screens well enough. It's really basic. ,basically i just put my image on the coated screen, put a peice of black out cloth inside the frame with the image on the glass then put a peice of wood inside the frame with weights on top (told you it was basic). But it works great. I'm sure you could build something similar using the strips or just a powerful uv bulb (i trhink you'd have to have the bulb a bit further away though so that you got a nice wide even exposure).
I'll try and take a phooto and post it up. The other thing i do which is totally sketchy is use a big UV bulb hung from the ceiling, you put your artwork on the screen and put the glass over the top and turn that mother on. WATCH YOUR EYES THOUGH MATE!
I got the bulb from a screen print suppliers in Tottenham, London and it cost about 100 quid.
good luck dude. |
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| marmalade longboards |
| Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2005 1:06 pm |
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Joined: 28 Sep 2004
Posts: 136
Location: southend, UNITED KINGDOM
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stu wrote: Hey marmalade
hope all is good. i have a home made light box. it contains 6 uv strip lights sat just below a sheet of tough glass in an mdf box. It is big enough to expose t-shirt size screens well enough. It's really basic. ,basically i just put my image on the coated screen, put a peice of black out cloth inside the frame with the image on the glass then put a peice of wood inside the frame with weights on top (told you it was basic). But it works great. I'm sure you could build something similar using the strips or just a powerful uv bulb (i trhink you'd have to have the bulb a bit further away though so that you got a nice wide even exposure).
I'll try and take a phooto and post it up. The other thing i do which is totally sketchy is use a big UV bulb hung from the ceiling, you put your artwork on the screen and put the glass over the top and turn that mother on. WATCH YOUR EYES THOUGH MATE!
I got the bulb from a screen print suppliers in Tottenham, London and it cost about 100 quid.
good luck dude.
hi stu.
what do you find works the best the home made box with 6 uv strip lights in or the big uv bulb hung from the celing...
where did you get the uv strip lights from??? i am having trouble finding anywhere that sells then.
thanks, jon.... |
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| Fool's Gold |
| Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2005 4:01 pm |
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Joined: 10 Mar 2005
Posts: 284
Location: Ontario Canada
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| A point light source (bulb from the ceiling) will always give you better results then the UV tubes. You best bet for cost versus effectiveness is to go to a hydroponics store where they sell metal halide lights and reflectors, you could also check electrical supply houses (shops that supply electrical contractors). Up here in Canada a 1000W metal halide costs less than $300 CDN ($200 and something US) that is the same bulb that are in most 'professional' exposure units because they emitt the correct UV wavelength that emulsion reacts to. Measure the diagonal with of your screens and hang the light that far above the mesh. put a piece of 2" construction foam (the blue stuff) inside the screen and place a piece of glass over top of your film on the emulsion. burn |
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IRONCLAD GRAPHICS: Custom screen printed posters, apparel and stickers. |
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| stu |
| Posted: Fri Aug 26, 2005 3:48 am |
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Joined: 07 Jun 2005
Posts: 59
Location: London,England
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Hey Jon
Fools Gold says it all. I find myself using the bulb more and more these days, just a bit of a pain because i live in fear of leaving it hanging and one day smashing it. At the moment on ebay.co.uk there is an exposure unit for sale. it has a few days left but last time i looked it was �15 quid, which is rediculous, maybe you should try and bag it. As for the uv strips, I bought them off an old screen printers in Maidstone, they were getting rid oif a flat bed and they just came with it. I think the hydro place sound like a great idea, should have all you need.
Stu |
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| Fool's Gold |
| Posted: Sat Aug 27, 2005 11:24 am |
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Joined: 10 Mar 2005
Posts: 284
Location: Ontario Canada
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| the only trick with a metal halide is that they take a few minutes to warm up and get to full strength. So if anyone goes this route it's probably best to build a light tight box with a removeable top, set the screen up with film in the box and cover it up. turn on the light and let it warm up, then remove the top of the box and start counting your exposure. |
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| ThrashCan |
| Posted: Sat Aug 27, 2005 1:24 pm |
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Joined: 16 Mar 2004
Posts: 1331
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MH lights are also used for growing herb...good for the vegitative state.
but drugs are bad. |
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| kilwag |
| Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2005 1:20 pm |
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Joined: 06 Jul 2004
Posts: 40
Location: Portland OR,
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This is the setup I use. Pic is from an article I posted. In my case I have plexiglass in a 2x4 frame to keep it rigid. Instead of saw horses I have it hinged to the wall so it can save sapce when not in use. To hold it up I have an "H" shaped brace that is also hinged to the other end o fthe table, so when you lower the table, the legs swing down too. Then I place a UV grow light on th e ground shining up. A bag of cat litter spread out makes sure that the plxiiglass is pressed against the film positive , which is presssed against the screen.
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