Jumping into water base

[JBLUE]

I have decided to jump into using water base to add to our offerings. I have a few questions on the setups. My supplier has gotten me setup supply wise. My question is on my screen setup. My rep mentioned that I should dry my screens the opposite way that I do with plastisol. He said that I should dry them squeegee side down. He said that this is done due to the wear and tear that the waterbase puts on the emulsion. Is this correct or should I coat and dry them the same way? Any other tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys and have a great weekend!!!!!!

[tpitman]

As I'd mentioned in another post, one tip I got on another forum (I believe it was from Dan at Forward Printing in Oakland) was to print on-contact using waterbased to avoid the ink creeping underneath the edges of the stencil. Unlike plastisol, waterbased is driven into the fabric, not designed to sit on top. Made a difference for me holding a sharp edge. I haven't done a ton of waterbased, but the inks are pretty thin. You don't flood to fill the stencil before printing, but flood loosely to cover the stencil to discourage plugging. I can't say that I'd read where anyone was drying the stencil topside down, or of anyone complaining about emulsion breakdown if a proper emulsion was used and fully exposed.

[DanK]

We don't dry ours upside down or anything differently.  We do two thin coats of emulsion on the squeegee side though and one on the substrate side.  With the right emulsion, you shouldn't have to worry about the screen breaking down...

[JBLUE]

I use Murikami TXR and I have had good results with it. I use diazo and hardener on the squeegee side and it has not been breaking down for me. I bumped up the exposure times and post harden in the sun. Thanks for the response Dan!!