How would you lay out my shop?

[tonypep]

Pierre I'll call shortly w/those #s

[Shawn (EIP)]

As much as I've tried to layout my shops once you start moving things in something never pans out the way I wanted it to. I have to take in consideration of where the plumbing is and the 220 lines ,if there are no lines yet the further away the dryer is from the panel box the more expensive installing lines will be. I always try to have the dryer next to a window. Then there is the office area which I would want near the front entrance so customers are not walking through your shops and near ink buckets. Sample display area... Just a thought...

[Gilligan]

Thanks for all the suggestions and layouts (keep them coming!)... I will be taking snippets here and there... but this shows me how a work flow SHOULD go in an ideal world.  My world, like everybody's, is far from ideal so I will make stuff happen.  But at least I know the "rules" so when I break them I will know why. (I know they aren't "rules" but it's an old adage that is very well served in many walks of life.

Endless, right now this is PURE production... no customers here.  My store front and my production space are a couple of miles away.  Again, not an ideal world but for now.  Hell, my production shop has more room than my computer store/t-shirt store COMBINED!   (they share 800 sqft).  It's not ideal, but the rent is CHEAP and the location is AWESOME for drive by traffic!

BTW, my exposure unit will likely NOT be enclosed at all as I will be using it to cure UV glue on glass products on a grand scale... we just got an order for 200.  This area will have dual purpose.  Then it goes to the sandblasting are from there... see, very much less than ideal.

Also... almost no plumbing, I'll be pumping my waste out, but I don't mind poking holes in the wall for such a thing if NEED be.

[Shawn (EIP)]

Thanks for all the suggestions and layouts (keep them coming!)... I will be taking snippets here and there... but this shows me how a work flow SHOULD go in an ideal world.  My world, like everybody's, is far from ideal so I will make stuff happen.  But at least I know the "rules" so when I break them I will know why. (I know they aren't "rules" but it's an old adage that is very well served in many walks of life.

Endless, right now this is PURE production... no customers here.  My store front and my production space are a couple of miles away.  Again, not an ideal world but for now.  Hell, my production shop has more room than my computer store/t-shirt store COMBINED!   (they share 800 sqft).  It's not ideal, but the rent is CHEAP and the location is AWESOME for drive by traffic!

BTW, my exposure unit will likely NOT be enclosed at all as I will be using it to cure UV glue on glass products on a grand scale... we just got an order for 200.  This area will have dual purpose.  Then it goes to the sandblasting are from there... see, very much less than ideal.

Also... almost no plumbing, I'll be pumping my waste out, but I don't mind poking holes in the wall for such a thing if NEED be.

I've given great thought to opening up a tiny store front as a show room but couldnt find a spot that I could rent month to month to test out the waters. How's that working out so far? How do you divide up your time? My shop is sort of in the ghetto (people get shot in my area, no joke) in a building that's always locked on the 3rd floor so needless to say I dont get drop in visits, by appointment only.

[Gilligan]

Honestly I haven't done it quite yet.  I have two doors on the front of the building so.. We have the counters set up and the wife put the logo with sticker vinyl on the door but we have to order some signage for the building and we are going to just put a big curtain separating out the two sides.

I'll just pop back and forth as needed... we don't deal with customers very often in the computer side.  Just drop off and pick up, but of course like anything they all come at once and I'm sure that is how it will be with BOTH shops open.

Still got a little cleaning up to do at the store and a LOT of cleaning up to do at the shop.  My bro-in-law and moms-in-law are SUPPOSED to get in there this week and get his "shtuff" out of there which will free up a LOT of space and I can get arranging things.

I just cut the "tote" for the washout booth last night, managed to slam the cut out piece right on a nerve of my big toe last night (right next to the toe I broke last Saturday)... it was AMAZING how long that hurt for and how MUCH it hurt.  An hour later I was still writhing in pain... honestly it was probably HALF as bad as when I had a kidney stone recently.  It just would NOT let up.  Amazing really.  Finally soaking it in hot water with Epson Salt seemed to provide some relief (and 800mg of ibuprofen, and I hate taking meds).

[Dottonedan]

I understand some can make adjustments to a room to make it work in one room.

Those who can do that are also the ones who purchase all the control tools to keep an eye on the variables like temperature and humidity control devices. Were talking hygrometer, not only a dehumidifier. Those are needed also, but to do what Tony has done, you need all your variables controlled. Still, even with that, having your exposure unit in the same room as your coated/ stored screens is asking for problems in my opinion. If the mere color difference between a white mesh and a yellow mesh can make a difference in exposure results, so can premature exposure.

  At Disney, Russell Athletics and Ohio Pyle Prints, we had a separate room for the exposure unit. We did have separate rooms for washed/reclaimed screens and a room for coated screens.

The "print world rules of order" say do not combine your light source in
with your light sensitive drying emulsion. Even self contained devices can leak light. How much is enough to affect a correct exposure? Don't know. I'm just reading from my imaginary book of what not to do. LOL.
Some might say I am over thinking it or taking it too literally. Probably so.

[Gilligan]

You probably are as I've seen some fairly careless carefree handling of screens with no ill results.

THAT being said... putting a "light source" in your "dark room" does seem counter productive so it is no wonder one would immediately say... that's a no no.

[Denis Kolar]

Why no one did not put exposure unit in the dark room? Just separate drying room from the dark room (wall with the door).
Would it be better not to take pre-exposed screens into the lit area before they are exposed?

Just wandering

I guess I wrote it incorrectly.
I did not mean directly in the drying room. I was thinking more of two rooms next to each other and before washout booth, like Dan had it set up (I mentioned that later too). I just do not like taking the dried screens out on open under shop lights for them to be exposed. Dual cure might be OK, pure-photo might be affected a bit.

[Gilligan]

Pure photo (at least I think that is what Chroma Blue is)... my buddy has his screens behind a light curtain (which isn't always pulled close or is half heartedly pulled) under his exposure table.  The fluorescents are on in there they are on outside that room and they often forget to close the door.  They carry them around under the lights.  And they have THIN 1:1 coating on them.

Never seen them have any issues unless they expose incorrectly or the vacuum lid f's up.

[Clark]

My cabinet for holding coated screens has quite a bit of light coming through.. As long as they arent in there for more than a couple days, you should be good.  I don't ever have a problem with it.  And I transfer coated screens to the exp unit in a well lit area.  Works fine.

[alan802]

We have a pretty secure dark room as far as UV light is concerned, but some of our screens that have been sitting in the dark room for several months are harder to washout due to a little bit of pre-exposure.  That is to be expected I guess, since every time we open the door there has to be light coming in, although it's not strong UV light.  We have our exposure unit a few steps outside the dark room so the screens are exposed to the shop lighting for a few seconds before going onto the exposure unit.

[blue moon]

same here, I have to walk about 40ft to the exposure unit, no problems with it. We do turn of some of the lights when we are burning the screens though, but the daylight is coming in pretty strong.

pierre

[Gilligan]

And your daylight is worse than the shop lights (depending on type of shop lights obviously).

[Denis Kolar]

same here, I have to walk about 40ft to the exposure unit, no problems with it. We do turn of some of the lights when we are burning the screens though, but the daylight is coming in pretty strong.

pierre

I forgot that you have to take them all the way to the back to expose.
Yeah, I guess it does not matter that much.

[Dottonedan]

It's an incorrect statement to say that it's ok or does not matter that much or does not affect it.  It does. To what degree is another question and will br different for different shops.

Those who use all various sizes of pre coated stock piles of screens quickly or daily, will not see a huge impact on quality for just a little exposure.  Like the sun and skin cancer, the longer you stay in it the more you are affected. Some people don't believe that tho, since they don't see anything wrong yet and are in the sun all the time.

 Like art jobs, each are different. Lower mesh for example have a thicker layer and can withstand more or longer pre exposure. Higher mesh tend to get pre exposed easier.

If anyone has the balls, (double dog dare ya) they can do a test for us. Much like doing a manual exposure test. You could print out a sheet if film with nothing but a 5% fill of halftone across the whole image. Print it out at 55lpi and in thr dark room, lay it over a nice 300 mesh. Draw on the screen with a marker using a ruler to mark off a section every 1". Do this across the film for a total of 16" sections. This should be a 8 min pre exposure test. Pull the trash bag back exposing the first section in regular shop light. Expose each section for 30 seconds using a timer. Once you reach the end, cover the screen completely and go expose it with your regular time and wash it out.

This is a good myth buster so I hope someone takes me up on it. I am pretty sure that 5% will not wash out on one or more of those sections.