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| jerboy |
 Posted: Mon Sep 25, 2006 8:32 am |
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Joined: 02 Jun 2006
Posts: 334
Location: the piedmont
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so i'm just getting started on some screen print work, i've worked in shops in the past and all the equipment was high dollar profressional stuff. i'm wanting to do some posters and what not at my house but kinda confused on exposure. what are ya'lls thoughts on exposure units, i don't want to drop a load of cash on a vacuum table but not sure if i want to do the lamp stand thing either. what about light tables.
any thoughts? |
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| Fool's Gold |
| Posted: Tue Sep 26, 2006 7:42 am |
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Joined: 10 Mar 2005
Posts: 284
Location: Ontario Canada
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the best way with the least amount of equipment/money is to get a 400+W metal halid lamp from a hydroponics store. Alternatively, people have luck with some of those 500w halogen shop lights
Or build a box and put a bank of blacklight flo. tubes inside and use that. |
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IRONCLAD GRAPHICS: Custom screen printed posters, apparel and stickers. |
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| skinny |
| Posted: Tue Sep 26, 2006 10:05 am |
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Joined: 12 Sep 2004
Posts: 2706
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Fool's Gold wrote: the best way with the least amount of equipment/money is to get a 400+W metal halid lamp from a hydroponics store.
This is good advice, I have achived excellent results with a setup like this. |
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| Earwick66 |
| Posted: Tue Sep 26, 2006 5:48 pm |
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Joined: 27 Oct 2005
Posts: 3565
Location: Grand Saline,TX
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dug this up from an old post of mine..Good Luck! 
are you going to be "burning" screens for t-shirts or board sized screens for printing decks??
i dont have a spec sheet and i only have experience using a true dedicated exposure unit, but i could make a rough sketch of a homemade unit that should work for you.
..i assume you know the basics of burning screens or have seen it done before and have a general grasp of whats involved??
beyond building an exposure unit, do you have a dedicated room for coating/exposing screens? you do know that you'll need to put yellow slip-on covers over your lights(over head lights for working under) so that you dont accidentally expose your screens before hand.
i can quickly explain in words how i would do it then i'll try and do a rough sketch and post it up later...
1)build a box slightly larger than your "biggest" screen youll be using(i'd say roughly 6 inches larger than the diameter of your screens)
2)the "depth" of the box should be just large enough to mount your fluorescent tubes inside running long-ways underneath
3)a piece of glass that fits somewhat snugly inside the top of your box(this is what youll lay your un-exposed screen on top of and your fluoro tubes underneath to shine the light up and through)*dont mount the glass permanently as you'll need to replace your tubes periodically of course.
4)some type of black covering(to lay over the entire top to shield outside light and to keep the image and screen pressed together to insure proper exposure and crisp details)also..since it would be too difficult to make a vacuum unit yourself..some type of system(bricks..heavy books..whatever) to lay on top of this to keep the image/art pressed against your screen
5)a timer hooked up to your fluoro tubes to turn them off and on for specific periods of time(youll need to experiment quite a bit to get your screens exposed properly)
6)if you're still with me so far..youll need a place to wash out your screeens..i use a power washer(sold at Home Depot or other lawn/garden centers) to wash out screens(not neccesarrily the water pressure needed but the gun gives a more "tuneable/adjustable" spray..
*hopefully my novel has helped and i'll check back to see if you have more questions and (time permitting) i can provide a sketch to correspond to my diatribe
-Eric/longtime squeegee puller
Earwick66 wrote: heres my sketch(more like MS Paint Masterpiece  )if this helps anyone..glad i could help..if it amuses you..glad you got a laugh from it
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| jerboy |
| Posted: Wed Sep 27, 2006 6:52 am |
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Joined: 02 Jun 2006
Posts: 334
Location: the piedmont
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thanks for the info fellas, been a huge help.
heres my situation, i have a pretty big basement, enough to have the laundry room on one side and oodles of extra room for woodworking and printing, i do have a weird hidey hole room down there under the front steps that would serve as a PERFECT room for coating and storing screens, and seeing as how i'm about to do a ton of work in my kitchen, i'm going to have a big tub like sink put in down there as well to use for blasting screens.
i think i'll be building my own exposure unit like the one shown here, my main objective here is to print posters as art, do some one color shirts to pay for the gear, and do some limitied edition decks, well just because they're skateboards and skateboarding is fun.
i do have one concern though, i get some water down in the basement, not enough to flood, but enough to leave some moisture in the air, i have a dehumidifier down there, but will even the slightest moisture in the air effect my screens and chemicals? |
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| Fool's Gold |
| Posted: Wed Sep 27, 2006 10:24 am |
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Joined: 10 Mar 2005
Posts: 284
Location: Ontario Canada
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build a big plywood box and put a dehumidifier, maybe a small heater for the wintertime and a fan in the box. Store your screens in there, they will dry fast and remain perfect for exposure. Humidity will make everything dry slower, which may not be an issue for you.
Regarding your exposure unit. If you have a smallish place (ie: you don't have enough room for a separate screen exposure room) then a box unit is best because it will contain the light. A metal halide bulb, though it will give you a much better exposure on fine fine detail, will also throw UV light all over the place and any screens near by will be exposed unless they are kept in the dark. Metal halides are used in professional exposure units, but they are contained in a big box, with vents and a rubber vacuum top so no light sneaks out. I once forgot the covering on my shops exposure unit and burnt some screens and walked away to do something else. I got a perfect screen for the one on the exposure unit, and exposed about 150 other screens at the same time that were sitting on racks ready to go, they guy reclaiming was confused about why he was reclaiming 100+ screens with no image on it. |
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IRONCLAD GRAPHICS: Custom screen printed posters, apparel and stickers. |
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| jerboy |
| Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2008 8:20 am |
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Joined: 02 Jun 2006
Posts: 334
Location: the piedmont
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so i've been busy this weekend setting up my basement studio for printing.
i built my exposure box very similar to the one posted above, but hit a snag, can anybody give me some help on wiring the exposure unit, i'll have 2 units in there.
1 - 24 inch 2 row unfiltered blacklights
1- 24 inch single row unfiltered blacklight (actually this might be one fluorescent)
the ones that i found at lowes are all hard wired, i need to wire these both to one switch, preferably a timed one, and have no idea of what i'm doing here (i'm learning through this process that i'm not a very good carpenter or electrician)
any tips? |
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| newrepublicsteve |
| Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2008 11:10 am |
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Joined: 13 Nov 2004
Posts: 674
Location: Birmingham
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for the switch...
a regular power strip works great
plug them both into and there ya go...
my cell phone has a stop watch...
keep it cheap and simple
I just built a new exposure unit for my west coast shop
my east coast has a huge expensive one...but I needed something cheap over here
I used 4 sets of 48" double lights...
I went with natuural lights instead of black...
they are supposed to create the full light spectrum, and I have had 0 problems with exposure at about 12" away at 3 min.
I an using chromaline spike ct-420d
with a 1-1 coat....
that emulsion is acutally best suited for black lites and our east coast is getting 2 screens burnt in about 30 secs with it... |
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| jerboy |
| Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2008 1:15 pm |
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Joined: 02 Jun 2006
Posts: 334
Location: the piedmont
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thanks for the tips, i was thinking of using the plug in lights, but wasn't sure they would sit straight and mount in the bottom, after looking back over those, i think they will.
so with an 18" x 30" / 9" tall box, can i get away with 3 24" unfiltered blacklights? |
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