Thoughts on Stuff & Things

[alan802]

This is what I envision when I think about where we are as an industry when it comes to a lot of the standard mesh counts that are widely available to us.  Especially when you go back to the days when ink was not as good and mesh was far from where it is today, it makes the standard mesh counts even more confusing as to how they came to be.  I understand how many billions of shirts have been printed with said mesh counts and how many will be done in the future but it still doesn't make it a good alternative to using mesh better suited for the job. 

I ordered a few yards of my favorite mesh yesterday and it got me thinking how difficult it is for most of us to get that specific mesh and it's impossible to buy pre-stretched screens with that mesh at the moment.  I'd like to convince the murakami guys to start offering statics in a few other mesh configurations, especially the 120/54.  I know I speak about this often and it might be getting old but when I think about how much better the screens we use are now versus just a few years ago I feel compelled to share that with anyone who'll listen and even those who won't.  I know we benefit more from our mesh count selection than any other tool or device in the shop.  Whenever I speak to others about issues they're having I know that making a better choice of mesh (assuming tension is good) will, 90% of the time, eliminate their problem and then open up a whole new level of benefits in much the same way that people speak of CTS.

To any and all who are tired of dealing with issues that you don't understand or know the "hows" or "why's" start with the most important tool we have and get it right and then see how issues begin to disappear.

Just a few gentle musings from a screen printer who's finally got some spare time to muse ever so gently...

[ABuffington]

Hello Alan,

All Murakami mesh counts are available pre-stretched from our warehouse, just get Kevin to order them for you.  The best part?  Order some bias stretched meshes.  This really helps on coarser mesh to prevent squeegee chatter and to keep the threads where the belong on 80/S and similar counts for high density, gels and glitters. Also you can specify the mesh angle at 22.5 degrees so that you can output tonals in square graphics at '0'degrees to create a halftone 'grid' look of square dots in the 30/inch area for a great new graphic look.  We also now carry Asada stainless steel mesh.  Try an 80 mesh in stainless for high density, incredibly sharp raised edges and thread that is so fine you approach 70-80% open area. 

Of all the things I have seen this year, one that really intriques me is Dupont's ink to create medical device sensors on the inside of the shirt.  You can print circuitry with this stuff.  This process is going to revolutionize fitness industries, medical wear with real time medical feed back data. Not to mention the potential for LED add ons.

Sell on the net now everyone, huge upstarts are easily challenged with better art, better lservice and products.

Al

[tonypep]

Similar to what we thought was going to revolutionize our industry about 12 ys ago. Picture a three part printed "wire". #1=insulator, #2=conductive ink, #3=insulator connected to a battery sound device attached to the garment with a rivet-like system. Prototype: Jimi Hendrix print sim process. Strum the guitar and Purple Haze emits. Amazing technology but perhaps ahead of its time and rushed to market without proper market research and testing. Chargebacks and returns/ lawsuits closed one of the most famous, largest, and talented printers we may ever see. Sounds like its ready for a comeback but not in its gimmicky first introduction.

[244]

Similar to what we thought was going to revolutionize our industry about 12 ys ago. Picture a three part printed "wire". #1=insulator, #2=conductive ink, #3=insulator connected to a battery sound device attached to the garment with a rivet-like system. Prototype: Jimi Hendrix print sim process. Strum the guitar and Purple Haze emits. Amazing technology but perhaps ahead of its time and rushed to market without proper market research and testing. Chargebacks and returns/ lawsuits closed one of the most famous, largest, and talented printers we may ever see. Sounds like its ready for a comeback but not in its gimmicky first introduction.

very true! We built the machine and actually tested the circuit being printed. If the resistance was wrong we used our no shirt sequence to skip the shirt around to reprint before putting graphics over it. Wild times And machine!

[tonypep]

Yeah Rich good times (sort of). Sure have been some eyebrow raisers to be sure. I remember Joe Clarkes heated screen stretcher.........used a flash panel! And that stand alone reg machine (pre triloc) up in Allentown. Scheduling dept had to actually add time allotment when we would beta! About 20 ys ago we talked at a show about inline foiling for a Nike project for Barcelona Olympics. Took a while but it finally happened. Goes to show you have to break some eggs to make an omlette. Its all part of the process of progress.