Amazing toys: I use this Angle Cube gizmo to set my squeegee angles.

[Itsa Little CrOoked]

I had this already as a knife sharpening aid. It's called The Angle Cube and it bears the brand name iGuaging. It cost only about 35 and it seems pretty accurate and gives repeatable readouts down to 5 one-hundredths of a degree. Some reviewers have gotten "lemons"...so choosing a  reputable U.S. vendor seems wise to me.

I used it to level my Gauntlet and thought somebody might benefit from my experience. The magnets are GREAT but might not be of much use on some presses.

I bought mine from The Wicked Edge in Santa Fe, but Chef Knives To Go has them too. (Warning: do NOT get hooked on high end knives and sharpening systems no, no, no!)

Stan

[Dottonedan]

Nice, but I can't read it to well. "Itsa Little CrOoked".   ;0

Seriously tho, I love gadgets like that.

[Itsa Little CrOoked]

It's a LOT crOoked!!!

My username comes from my many trips up front with my first strike-off. Some designs, which I *think* might be a tad too high or too low just NEED a female's 2nd opinion. If the missus isn't busy she gets to case the first vote, especially if it's her art.

She'll almost NEVER say "higher" or "lower" or "shift that left chest over just a skoshe". She says it's CROOKED!

Drives me NUTS. After 7 years in this business, she doesn't understand loading shirts. If she thinks she can load 'em STRAIGHT every time, she needs to write a book.

The pallet arm I chose to lock the Angle Cube onto, turned out to read .30 degrees high on the shirt end. But I didn't know how much until rotating it and levelling the legs. Initially it read .60 high, meaning water would run toward the mainshaft. On the other side of the press, it would read 0.00.  After several adjustments, I was able to get the shirt end to read .30 degrees high all the way around. It might bounce down to .25 or up to .35....but the next turn it would read .30 all the way. 

I didn't test against a spirit level, because I had some screens in place for a job, and I didn't have a short "torpedo" sized level. Anything longer than that would have hit a screen.

Anyways, .05 of a degree... measurable and repeatable for 35 clams... is ridiculous accuracy for my purposes. 

And it changed my knife sharpening forever.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eMQzLYFWtM

[Itsa Little CrOoked]

Well, heck yes. I can measure my squeegee angle. So what?

I just ran a little job on my Gauntlet that I got INconsistent results on the White UB/White Top Color combination screen. It was a 100% coverage UB, simple spot color TEXT.

5 or 6 shirts were perfect and then one would pop up every so often that needed to go around again.  The white just wasn't covering as well.

I am double stroking with Wilflex Quick at 15 degrees preXACTLY, 110/80 (2 over 2 sharp) on a static frame---but pretty new and taut, using a green single durometer blade of (embarrassed) unknown hardness, and a firm flood.

DUNNO..... It seems that whether the setup is right or wrong, it oughta be more consistent. I've not had this problem before.

My squeegee IS rolling over pretty bad. Is my angle all jacked up for this purpose?

I do have some 60/90/60 blade from Sonny....if that would fix it, or I could stand it up a little straighter.

I'm an auto noob. I wouldn't know an incorrect setup or how to fix it, if it jumped up and bit me on the arse. Too many years of "just FEEEEL IT" on a manual.

I saved the job, but it left a mark on my psyche.

[ebscreen]

If 0 degrees is straight up and down the majority of our plastisol prints are at 5-10 degrees. Blade rolling
over is bad and can be wrong duro or too much pressure or too low of an angle. I'd swap the blade
for one that you know the count of, set the angle more upright and watch your pressure. 110 should be single
hit.

If you still have issues check your pallets/arms for consistent issues on the same number.

[Itsa Little CrOoked]

EB, by single hit, do you mean single stroked? I have been double stroking my white (as in flood, print, flood, print then index to the flash), but not Print Flash Print.

If you can print at 5 degrees, I surely can stand up my squeegees a little more.

I have read but cannot yet personally verify that 5 degrees should yield more penetration, as opposed to 15 degrees that should theoretically lay down more ink---less penetration. Is this correct?

[ebscreen]

I mean single stroke, flood/print, not not P/F/P. Ideally everything should always print with a single stroke, but there
are always exceptions, like fleece or high mesh underbases for sim-process. Solid white would be two screens,
single hit each, flash between.

I don't know that all machines calculate angle the same, but almost straight up and down is how we
print most plastisol. With plastisol you ideally want it on top of the fabric, but with the ability to matte
the fabric fibers down. I'd say that a more upright angle keeps the ink on top of the fabric and knocks
fibers down. When discussing penetration I immediately think to waterbase, as that's where it's important.