DIY LED Exposure Unit - The Saati Screen Toaster

[Maxie]

That's a great exposure unit, all you need for CTS.
I am using the Saati 300W and Saati PHU, very happy with the results, I use film so still need a vacuum.
A suggestion, make a little flap that you can hinge onto the top and flip over when you put the screen in.
It would stop the light leaking out, possibly the UV is also not good for the person working there. (Not sure about that).

[zanegun08]

A suggestion, make a little flap that you can hinge onto the top and flip over when you put the screen in.
It would stop the light leaking out, possibly the UV is also not good for the person working there. (Not sure about that).

We have thought about that, but the light that comes out the top and through the screens seems to be pretty weak, and a flap would just be something you have to move in and out of the way.



I don't think the leak affects the the screens around it, especially since they are mostly stored tightly together so the frames block most of the light.

Did you set yours up in an already existing box, I see you posted about having glass, you use films still?

I tested the starlight multiple times, and looked at the gemini (way to expensive) and other exposure units, Saati let us try before we bought the light, and it worked great.  We still have a 5k MH for oversize screens, smaller screens, post exposure, but this does the trick for 90% of our screens and keeps up with the Spyder, so it's a constant flow of screens.

I'm not a light scientist, but the single point light may work better than the multi strip LED units in regards to undercutting, and halftones as well, but we aren't really trying to produce 85lpi prints, we still need to work on printing white ink on black  but I'd say for 95% of screen printers this would be a major upgrade and ideal setup with CTS / LED Exposure, and cost about 20k less than I-Image STEII with the same end result (if not better for halftones with wax)

[Maxie]

I still have glass and vacuum.     Love to get a wax printer but have invested heavily in moving my plant, a new printer and oven.        Need to pay for  these before I invest more and the wax printers are not cheap.
I have always used home made exposure units and I cannot think of anything commercial that would work better than what you built.     The most important thing is the light source and yours is great.
As for undercutting for years the theory was that you need a spot light source, now we are being told that strips of LED are OK.
I do not think there will be much if any undercutting with CTS no matter what light source you use, you could use the sun if you kept the back of the screen in the dark.

[firefighter17]

Got it from Saati direct.  Still in use everyday with no problems.

Saati makes the light, Ryonet makes the box / controller.  When buying from Saati direct you get a low tech controller, no frills but it works well.  The only issue is you have to key up and down 1 press for 1 second, and while some meshes are 40 second exposures, the next could be a 10, so you have to hit the button 30 times which is annoying, but it is what it is.  Could probably get a fancier controller as all it really is, is 110 plugin timer, could be a good arduino project or something to program a little controller with preset buttons.



We built it for 23" x 31" frames only, it doesn't even need a box, just contains the UV as we have unexposed screens right by it, as well as are imaging while the next screen is printing.

I believe the light was between 2k - 2.5k when we bought it.  Maybe it's come down in price in that time?

I know Exile is working on one that they will sell, but probably more inline with the Starlight which when we were testing even without glass took longer to expose than the light setup we have.  As well as ours is more ergonomic, and faster to load and unload screens in it.

Low Tech

Thank you for the info, I will contact Saati!

[Sbrem]

I've been trying to find this at the Saati site, but no luck... I guess a call is in order...

Steve

[zanegun08]

I've been trying to find this at the Saati site, but no luck... I guess a call is in order...

Here is the brochure, I got it through Grant Hewitt at Saati who is now retired but still around, so he may be able to help.

I don't see it on their website either.

[Colin]

wait... Grant ACTUALLY retired....?

That man cant retire, it's not in his genome....

[zanegun08]

wait... Grant ACTUALLY retired....?

That man cant retire, it's not in his genome....

Like I said, "retired but still around" which mean's he didn't actually retire, but officially retired unofficially.