Coating screens and putting them in a cabinet

[Appstro]

OK so Sunday I built my drying cabinet out of wood. Its light proof and looks great. I am ready to coat the clean screens with emulsion and stick them in the cabinet, but since the cabinet has no fan or dehumidifier yet, will I have problems with the screens drying overnight? The cabinet only holds 9 screens so it will probably be pretty humid in there for a little while… Will my screens turn out OK?

[mk162]

there is only one way to find out, but my guess is no...also where are you located?  if the air is dry you have a better chance.

[Appstro]

San Diego

[Colin]

Pick up a very small fan and a pellet dehumidifier (It's better than nothing).  It will at the very least be good to have in there and speed things up.

But, I am betting your screens will take a while to evaporate/dry sufficiently since they are in a small enclosed space.

[Denis Kolar]

Put the "fart fan" on the top and a few holes on the bottom with a some kind of filter on them.
That will make the air move through

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Broan-70-CFM-Ceiling-Wall-Exhaust-Fan-671/202905936#

[Denis Kolar]

I coat mine in the evening and they are ready next afternoon

[Appstro]

Thats a great idea! I was planning to use a computer fan with a filter. I havent quite figured out how to set it up so that the fan is pulling out air and the box stays filtered and dry yet. I didnt leave enough space inside for anything but the screens, really.

I dont mind waiting a day or two for drying as long as the quality of the screens will not be effected. For now anyway…Do you think they will turn out OK?

[Gilligan]

If you use an exhaust fan for a bathroom that shouldn't take up much space... no more than a screen's worth.

I will eventually have to plumb my dehumidifier into my cabinet because it takes up MANY screens worth of space.

[Grumpy Ole Artist]

In my home-made drying cabinet, I have a dehumidifier on the floor and a box fan at the top. While cleaning fan a few weeks back, I tried coating without it in the cabinet...everything except for my coarsest mesh (61) came out fine...the 61's had emulsion drips (think blunt stalactites) dried into the underside of the emulsion, unuseable. Give it a try with one or two of all mesh ranges and see what happens. My guess is, without dehumidification or moving air, you are going to have trouble.

[starchild]

A computer fan will not be sufficient to move that much moisture and you would want the fan mounted at the bottom and the exhaut at the top..

http://youtube.com/watch?v=NhQojYudUW8

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[tpitman]

Put the "fart fan" on the top and a few holes on the bottom with a some kind of filter on them.
That will make the air move through

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Broan-70-CFM-Ceiling-Wall-Exhaust-Fan-671/202905936#

Thusly:

[Gilligan]

To avoid said stalactites, I'd suggest a fan outside the cabinet to "skin" them over and then putting them in the cabinet.

This is what I did before I built my cabinet.

Not elegant, but it worked.

[Sbrem]

Yep, you need air movement to evaporate solvents in the emulsion, or anything else for that matter. We have screen dryer, but before I did, I simply used racks and a fan in a light safe (yellow tubes on fluorescent lights) area. Then, we store dried screens in a dehumidified cabinet. Not a big deal at this time of year in Massachusetts, but during the summer, when it's super muggy, it's a necessity.

Steve

I haven't used 61 mesh for a long time, give Saati's 81SDE for a really pleasant surprise; basically an 81 with 110 threads, ink lays down very nicely.

[starchild]

A good read is "factors affecting the rate of evaporation"

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evaporation

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[Croft]

small fan is what we use , usually coat after everyones gone then leave door open on cabinet with fan blowing over the screens through the night. There always ready in the morning . The fan we use is just a small 8" one set on low.  If i don't have the fan on they don't well and drips occur.