Screen printing on Anodized Aluminum.

[jvanick]

One of our customers asked us if it's possible for us to screen print on anodized aluminum with an ink that can stand up to oils, solvents, etc.

I told him that I figure it's possible, but we have no experience in doing so.

he's willing to provide flat stock samples for us to test on (basically small (8x16") plates that go on the front of his equipment.  He'd provide print ready art in illustrator, so the art side is nice and easy for us.  1 color prints, etc.

he *believes* that his current vendor uses an air dry ink.

I'll give Nazdar a call later, but wondering if anybody has any experience in this.

[mk162]

nazdar would be the ones...it's doable, we had a guy working for us that did it years ago with ink from Nazdar.

I've got an employee now looking to do this for a personal project, so let me know how it goes.

[AndyD]

Try Nazdar ADE series epoxy ink with ADE-677 catalyst and RE 190 thinner. The aluminum has to be anodized for the ink to stick. Contact me if you have any questions.

[jvanick]

Thanks Andy!... gonna give nazdar a ring and see give it a shot.

any recommendations on screen mesh?  I assume that this is kinda like printing coroplast? where you want a pretty decent off contact and high mesh?

[ericheartsu]

i'd assume you'll be using 230, 305, or 355, to lay down a thinner layer of ink.

[AndyD]

I use 230 mesh with about an 1/8'' off contact depending on screen tension. I also never use high tension as there are usually sharp points on the panels where the cut outs are, 20 to 25 newtons should be fine. The Ink is mixed 5 parts ink 1 part catalyst reduce with RE190 thinner 5% to 15%. I usually mix 50 grams ink, 10 grams catalyst and 5 grams thinner. You need to let the ink sit for half an hour before using and pot life is six to eight hours. You also have to add fresh ink about every 5 minutes because the ink gets thicker/dries as you are printing. It is like printing with epoxy glue.

[jvanick]

we'll be doing one-offs, no more than 5 at a time.

are the fumes as bad as coroplast ink?

[AndyD]

I don't think it is but I have printed a lot of these over the years and I'm used to it. I also just asked two people to smell the ink and one said it is pretty bad and the other said it was normal. If you are ever by our Glen Ellyn location you are more than welcome to check it out or print your first job. I only have white, black or red for colors though.

[jvanick]

He also wants us to do polished stainless steel...

same ink?  or do I need to change things up?

[mk162]

stainless and anodized are totally diffferent...anodizing is a coating on the metal...you aren't actually printing on metal.

[Frog]

stainless and anodized are totally diffferent...anodizing is a coating on the metal...you aren't actually printing on metal.

Nonetheless, if jvanick is going with the ADE Epoxy, he's good to go. In fact, while the anodized aluminum is also good with Enamel inks, only the ADE is recommended for stainless.