ink rooms

[tonypep]

Frosting spatulas for DC pigs are all that's necessary. Drill is for plas

[mimosatexas]

Ive been using these for a few years http://www.webstaurantstore.com/32-oz-microwavable-translucent-plastic-deli-container-with-lid-240-case/128HRD32%20%20%20%20COMBO240.html, but I am starting to get sick of them breaking on occasion when using the drill, and honestly they don't seem to be completely air tight.  I premix a lot of discharge stuff, stock colors or for regular reorders, and they seem to still dryout pretty quickly compared to stock inks I've bought.  I put a layer of water on top etc.  I feel like the container is the issue.

[ebscreen]

I'm not a fan of metro stuff for some reason. We tried it for awhile, it's flimsy sometimes and
I hate the way the uprights lock the shelves. They got relegated to bathroom supplies.

Really trying to stay metal. Stay metal. Stay. Metal.

Reduction indeed, and our stock color chart definitely did wonders for the retail side of our business.
Probably one in twenty of them request a custom color. Whereas before we used to not spec it,
and then if then mix almost every single color. the reality being that the majority of clients aren't that
picky.

Contract is another issue, and we're quickly approaching having almost every mix in the book on the shelf!
Quarts six deep is unmanageable, and I'd like for them to be like ten feet tall, just line the walls.

[Dottonedan]

I gotta hand it to you all here that posted pics. The vast majority of ink racks do not look that clean, in fact just the opposite and tons and tons of ink,

Even for plastisol, you can have it narrowed down to one ink system and mix your custom colors as needed per order. I was at a few shops where we took the leftovers and added to black. Made either a warm or a cool black but never a rich deep black.   That saves a lot of buckets and a lot of extra special colors sitting around.

Eric, I'm pleased to see the need for so many 5 gallon buckets there. I assume mostly white and some black. You must be doing very well. Buy in bulk if you can unless you plan on quitting soon. Good job guys! Another example of a quality group of people here on this forum.

For all the others on here not as clean, fear not. A mess is the more common way.

[Gilligan]

[jsheridan]

Even for plastisol, you can have it narrowed down to one ink system and mix your custom colors as needed per order. I was at a few shops where we took the leftovers and added to black. Made either a warm or a cool black but never a rich deep black.   That saves a lot of buckets and a lot of extra special colors sitting around.

Been there done that and literally, got the tshirt

It's a salesman's dream, to tell people that.. you can recycle this and that and look, you only need to mix XX gram to run that job, you can clean up with no wasted ink and you don't need to have shelves full of ink...

then you work in 30+ ink rooms over a span of 25+ years and you come to realize that it's a pipe dream.

Next time you see Lon.. ask him about the basement of Golden Squeegee and what they did with their 'extra' ink

[ebscreen]

Haha.

We're somewhere in between the terrible messes I've seen and that guy in Germany's shop.
Only because we've been full tilt for what seems like six or seven months now. I'll post a pic of
our room in a couple more months when we slow down and remodel it. Again.

[jsheridan]

Nice setup John. But after all how old is it?

as of today.. 6 months old 

[tonypep]

Need to see pics 6 ys from now! But I'm sure you'll keep it up. Takes discipline in a chaotic environment but it can be done.

[ZooCity]

Frosting spatulas for DC pigs are all that's necessary. Drill is for plas

You hand mix all your DC/WB from a pc/base system Tony?  If so, what advantage is there or could there possibly be to hand mixing these inks?

We use the same pigs, Rutland WB-99 and even filtered these need higher speed dispersal, so I'm super curious about this comment.

[Dottonedan]

Even for plastisol, you can have it narrowed down to one ink system and mix your custom colors as needed per order. I was at a few shops where we took the leftovers and added to black. Made either a warm or a cool black but never a rich deep black.   That saves a lot of buckets and a lot of extra special colors sitting around.

Been there done that and literally, got the tshirt

It's a salesman's dream, to tell people that.. you can recycle this and that and look, you only need to mix XX gram to run that job, you can clean up with no wasted ink and you don't need to have shelves full of ink...

then you work in 30+ ink rooms over a span of 25+ years and you come to realize that it's a pipe dream.

Next time you see Lon.. ask him about the basement of Golden Squeegee and what they did with their 'extra' ink

I'll ask him in a few minutes as a matter of fact. LOL.      I know people who do this and it's very efficient. Can everyone do it all the time?  I can't say. I imagine not with all of different types of printers and business models. Some require custom pantones all the time while others do retail and can stick to a specific set.

[jsheridan]

Right around the same time I layed eyes on the basement, I worked for a printer who did retail designs and used 65 colors as his pallet. Those were some easy mixing days.

[TCT]

How far away from the press do you guys have your ink setup? I'd REALLY like to move our ink so we could have more space for shelves. But I keep thinking if it isn't right by the presses we will waste time....

[Binkspot]

All our plastisol inks are on the wall next to the auto. Five gallon pails under the shelves all on small carts to move them around. Next two sheelves are the one gallon pails with quart PMS colors above. To the left is another set of shelves we keep the water base, discharge and additives like soft hand, puff, etc. Next to that is our mixing station where we keep the PC system and now also the pigments for WB & discharge. Whites are under another set of shelves we keep the pallets on close to head one.

Webstruant has a soft side cup that will not break or crack from dropping or power mixing, can't find the product number now but will look next time I'm at the shop.

I made the PC table to spin, bring the pigments to the cup and scale.

[sqslabs]

Wow, these photos have really inspired me to give my ink area a facelift.   Thanks to everyone who shared their setups.