Simulated Process Printing Question

[ScreenPrinter123]

So for a 6-7 color simulated process print (for those of you who are pros at it) on a WHITE SHIRT, would you use 225's (S Mesh), 280's (T-Mesh) or 330's (S Mesh)?  What about on DARK SHIRTS -- 280's or 330's?  My main concern on the whites is fibrilation and the colors being vibrant.  My main concern on the dark colors is the ink colors being vibrant.  I am considering the 330's just for the purposes of higher lpi, as we should theoretically be able to retain similar detail (i.e., retain the same amount of halftones at a lower lpi) but am questioning if the vibrancy will be there -- and the other bonus is I'm imagining there's also some ink savings over 5,000 shirts? 

Thanks Pros.

[blue moon]

it will depend on the art. 330S (which should deposit more ink than the 280T) will not give enough opacity on the shirt if hit on it's own (i.e. any text printed with a 330 might be too thin).

if the art is depositing multiple layers of ink in different colors, 305/330 will work. If any of it is just a single layer, you might have to add another screen to print that particular part or boost it up.

Your total ink layer when printing with 305 should be in the 150-180% for good coverage and to avoid ink mushrooming out.

pierre

[alan802]

I've got the 280/34 depositing more ink than a 330/30 (about 12-15% without a calculator handy) with fairly similar size mesh opening.  I don't know that the difference between those ink deposits would change the overall look of the print a lot (it will but might not be noticeable to most) but the 330 should hold more detail if that's a concern. 

[screenprintguy]

man, we are still doing 230's for our sim pro, maybe I need to try using some of these higher mesh counts.  then agian I don't have the fancy machines ya'll have yet, YET I SAY YET 

[blue moon]

I've got the 280/34 depositing more ink than a 330/30 (about 12-15% without a calculator handy) with fairly similar size mesh opening.  I don't know that the difference between those ink deposits would change the overall look of the print a lot (it will but might not be noticeable to most) but the 330 should hold more detail if that's a concern.

you are right!!! had to look it up on the Murakami website and 330 deposits 17 units compared to 280's 20 units!

pierre

[ScreenPrinter123]

man, we are still doing 230's for our sim pro, maybe I need to try using some of these higher mesh counts.  then agian I don't have the fancy machines ya'll have yet, YET I SAY YET 

Look out.... you may just get censored if you were including me in that :-).

[screenprintguy]

hahahahahaha

[JBLUE]

Depending on your ink and solid image areas you can get away with 230's. 225 S might lay down too much but again it depends on the solid areas. 225 S makes a great base screen if there is a lot of detail so you should try that one out.

Most people print with too much squeegee pressure so they run into problems running lower mesh. They think that if they go super high it is going to fix it. When they do, they run into even more problems trying to smash ink through a 305 or 330. They then make more mistakes by thinning the ink out, smashing the print, and really losing their opacity big time.

If your SOP is to lay down as much ink as you can when you print you have to change the way you think when printing good sim process work. The more you lay down the more problems it can cause during the run. This is where screen are really important. Good tight screens eliminate a lot of issues. Not saying some sloppy statics wont work but good tight screens make a big difference in the way they run.

[screenprintguy]

For the last few years we've done our sim pro with 230's, standard mesh, haven't done the S thread with those yet. Tension around 40. Always comes out good, could always improve you know. I have a stack of frames that's growing that need to go back on the newman table, I'll order some higher mesh counts from Surlock give it a try. I know the S thread though you have to keep that tension lower, but I guess with that stuff, tight is tight and doesn't seem to give much.When you guys run your sim pro, what's your squeegee situation, we've always used triple duros, 70/90/70.

[ScreenPrinter123]

75/95/75 here and sometimes 65/95/65 for the UB

[alan802]

Smiling Jacks for everything over 225.  We've got the manny's and Dr J's for other applications but they don't typically do well with higher mesh counts.

[CastleKing]

We use 230 or 280's for UL and 280 or 355's for top colors. Squeegee is 60/90/60 on UL and 70/90/70 or Smilin' Jacks on top colors.