School me on 1-hit whites...

[jvanick]

I just wanted to post a quick update...

so we've been playing on jobs and trying different things...

the key of getting this to work for us was the hard flood... it seems that you really want it to be like manual press fill-stroke technique where you can see the image and not have a coating of ink on top.  Changing to a heavier flood made all the difference in the world.

[Frog]

Especially with thicker opaque inks, a hard flood/fill really utilizes the thicker EOM

[alan802]

If you get a chance, try flooding with a squeegee blade and see what happens, might work well for you.  We've used Joe's Dr J blade to fill/flood for a year or two now and it will add about 15-20% to your ink deposit in some occasions.  It doesn't make that big of a difference on every use, but if you need more opacity, it can certainly give it to you. 

[ScreenFoo]

Squeegee blade is a sweet idea.  Those Newman Hydras mean business too, if you're really trying to fill your stencil.


I'm just going to throw out a blind guess for you J--next time you're playing, add squeegee pressure and speed it up.
Got AC heads? 

(If so, I'm jealous.  )

[jvanick]

We do have ac heads.. was one of the most important features i wanted when we upgraded.  We have a rush job tomorrow, I'll get the details...  psi angle speed etc.

[GaryG]

I'd be interested in the variable of squeegee speed...

Alan an others mention front to back in approx. 1-2 seconds,
on a dial of 8 or 10. This is a lightening quick shear for thick white ink.

I would hedge to say the rest of us - 90% - are much slower on dial of 4 or under
using a 60D or 55/90/55D squeegee at a higher angle (20-25º) hitting twice.

The fast shear is a valid theory, but seems like two strokes are still needed, no?
Also, how do the s-mesh riders see it helping get near a one stroke white?
-Less pressure, more open shoots, but still need 135 or lower mesh count to get one stroke?

Too many questions, I know, but inquiring, improving minds want to know. 

[mimosatexas]

Can't speak for the auto guys, but manually the S mesh clears (shears) MUCH better than comparable standard thickness mesh counts.  I can completely clear the gummiest white in my shop on a 135S without even trying while that same ink may require a clearing stroke on a 110 standard mesh.

[LoneWolf2]

S-mesh clears insanely easy for me on an auto (air heads). I'm printing with almost half the squeegee pressure I normally would be on a standard mesh.

[alan802]

If you break down plastisol printing on garments to it's most simple terms, you're trying to get 100% opacity with the thinnest amount of ink possible and printing with the least amount of pressure possible and printing as fast as possible help to achieve that as much or more than any other variables.  To get the most opacity with a thin layer of ink you need to put the ink on top of the shirt, and the pressure and speed you print with are the major factors in doing that.  We don't double stroke when we print fast, it's not necessary for us.  We don't double stroke anything under a 305 with any ink and only when printing a thick ink on a 305 would we double.  Now you won't get all that much ink down with one stroke through a 225 but you can clear with one stroke easily.