Printing over SIDE SEAMS - HELP!!

[Get Shirts]

I'm hoping there is a simple solution to this that I'm just missing.  We're running a print over the side seams of some tees and it's just not turning out all that great.  The main issue is the seam creates a ridge, and that ridge creates inconsistencies in the print which transfers to the next print.  Additionally, it's causing some registration issues.. but I can correct that.

If we could discharge these they would be cake, but we don't have time for something to go wrong there.  I'm thinking we could build the pallets up and create a valley for the seam to fall into.. but that might open up some other issues.

So really, any suggestions would be great.  There has to be something that we are missing to move this job along.

I'm attaching a picture of the print over the seam and the issue.

 

[ericheartsu]

Brandon told me at one point to go to home depot and try getting cheap tile/flooring, and building up the platten!

maybe that will help?

[ebscreen]

If the shirts are dischargeable, discharge them. Sooo much less trouble.

If not, have you tried packaging foam? It tends to work better for us rather than building a channel,
but it really depends on the seam itself.

[ol man]

Craft foam sheets form Michaels ( or embroidery supply company) -- hard squeegees .
whats your meshcount on the underbase?

[Get Shirts]

Thought about the channel but I think that still leaves too much room for error. 

The shirts are discharge able but a) I'm not confident that we can hit the colors consistently enough and b) another location has already been printed with plasticol.

Craft foam sheets, are those pretty thin?  We have zipper pallets so I'm thinking about using the rubber from mouse pads to fill the gap left for the zipper so that the seam has an area with a little flex.

The UB is either a 156 or 195.

[mimosatexas]

Definitely put some kind of neoprene or foam under them as the easy solution for the irregular surface.  Alternatively, depending on how much free time you have and how big the run it, you could run them through a heat press to smooth the surface.

[kingscreen]

DC underbase, plastisol on top.  Best of both worlds.

[ol man]

Thought about the channel but I think that still leaves too much room for error. 

The shirts are discharge able but a) I'm not confident that we can hit the colors consistently enough and b) another location has already been printed with plasticol.

Craft foam sheets, are those pretty thin?  We have zipper pallets so I'm thinking about using the rubber from mouse pads to fill the gap left for the zipper so that the seam has an area with a little flex.

The UB is either a 156 or 195.

the craft foam are relatively thin - 2mm... -

195 for the under-base should  be good -

[ZooCity]

Closed cell foam on the platens,  almost any thickness will do for t seams.  Mesh counts around 200 as mentioned.  From there play with the blade,  angle, speed pressure, etc.  Also try basing down the ub with a little clear base. With plastisol if the ub is smooth enough the rest falls into place.

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[Action1]

What machine are you using to print this? I am thinking that a roller squeegee would assist in smoothing all the areas to look uniform. This would mean flashing after the point you have it pictured and then employing either a manual or automatic Roller Squeegee. 
If you would like to try one to see - we would loan it to you for testing. I hope you will give this a try as we're interested to hear your results.

[sweetts]

Can you make a transfer and heat press it?

[ZooCity]

A roller squeegee is probably not going to affect this print that much, you can't "roll out" an underbase that's not completely cleared nor will it smooth out ink buildup to the point where it would make the whole thing magically work.

But buy a roller squeegee anyway because they rule.  We have one for each of our autos. 

[Get Shirts]

Thanks for the input everyone.  In the end I simply talked the customer into moving the print 2" over and avoiding the seam all together.

Action, thanks for the offer.  We actually have your rollers on both of our autos, couldn't live without them at this point, but they did nothing to help this print.  Hitting the prints with the heat press after the fact would help smooth the ridges out, but that interference from the seam causes registration issues so no dice there either.

Using our zipper pallets we did attempt to build up the channel with strips of a mouse pad so it was level with the pallet to allow a some give at the point of the seam, also did not work.

Discharge would have done the trick for sure, but we had to get this out of the door stat.

[mimosatexas]

good info either way!

[Action1]

Thanks for the input everyone.  In the end I simply talked the customer into moving the print 2" over and avoiding the seam all together.

Action, thanks for the offer.  We actually have your rollers on both of our autos, couldn't live without them at this point, but they did nothing to help this print.  Hitting the prints with the heat press after the fact would help smooth the ridges out, but that interference from the seam causes registration issues so no dice there either.

Using our zipper pallets we did attempt to build up the channel with strips of a mouse pad so it was level with the pallet to allow a some give at the point of the seam, also did not work.

Discharge would have done the trick for sure, but we had to get this out of the door stat.

Roger that & thanks for the RLSQ feedback.