Best rollers for rear clamp manual.

[mk162]

It's really sad that it has to come to that.  We are heading the in same direction.

[ZooCity]

It's really sad that it has to come to that.  We are heading the in same direction.

Agreed, I'm wondering if this country is heading toward another burst bubble on something.  I remember how a lot of the industry terms dried up when the recession hit in a hurry and I wonder if even basic Net30 isn't getting close to extinction.  Not that I'm one to talk, we're more than a little behind on one of our house accounts due to that nightmare partner/employee situation I posted about awhile ago but that's a one-time incident not how we do biz day to day.  In fact, that whole sitch went on as long as it did because our supplier was so used to us paying up on time that they didn't raise a peep about it until it was quite a few months (and quite a few dollars) behind.  Might be prudent to get down to brass tacks with any clients that are getting behind and make sure you can still count on that AR early on rather than letting it ride.  In my case I would have genuinely appreciated that phone call long before it actually happened.  It's also to be noted that many organizations don't have an accountant and it's easy for them to simply not be aware of a bill.  Communication never hurts and it's not always 'nagging'. 

One thing I didn't see mentioned here is a factoring company.  These guys take a small % of your sale but you can essentially extend NET 30 terms to clients via them.  They don't owe you, they owe the factorer, or whatever you call that entity, and the factoring co. pays you all/most of the bill up front.  Good move for cash flow if you have clients that just absolutely need the month before paying (retailers).  Also, if they get behind and feel bitter or something it may not be directed at you. 

I've contacted a couple in the state but none have followed through on getting some of our biz yet so I guess I'll look around out of state.  I think it would be perfect if you find the need to be a little bit of a hard ass about payment policies.  Ours is either half down or payment in full before the order is released (garments ordered basically) and starting last month I had to start cracking down.  It would be nice to lay out the policy and give them a second option all while driving home the point that your business is not going to loan toward whatever project it is the shirts are going to but, this other company would be glad to. 

[Gilligan]

Do you guys have it setup where they are charged a late fee if overdue?  What about incentives to pay early?  (that will never happen with big customers though.)

We are still doing things the old school way, the good ole boy way with handshakes and somebody's word.  Too bad that we can't do things that way anymore.  We never charge late fees either.  We just recently started putting all of our new customers on COD terms and I think we are going to have to change our older customers to a half up front, second half due at completion, delivery or pickup.

Yeah, I'm in the same boat... mostly because most of my clients are "old" computer clients that I'm pulling in for t-shirt work too, or friends of friends that are on the level, but still leaves me holding the bill for a little longer than I'd like.

On the flip side, I'm VERY guilty of just plain and simple NOT sending an invoice FOREVER!  I actually get clients calling me asking when am I going to send an invoice because they WANT to pay me!  LOL

Just sent an invoice for $1k that I did about 4 months months ago.

I can also vouch for what Zoo says... granted, I'm not sure I believe some of the excuses but the squeaky wheel...   I've had pretty large invoices kind of lingering around over due a little too long and then when I call... "oh, it seemed to have slipped behind someone's desk..."  Really?  Nearly a BILLION dollar company and my invoice fell betweens some desk?!  Seems kind of odd... couldn't be because the project manager was pissed because he kept me on a boat for 3 days and I billed him for all 3 days (not sure what else he expected me to do).

You certainly have to "remind" them sometimes.  Another $600 invoice for one of my first shirt orders (the navy hoodies) JUST got paid.  I did wait a month to send the invoice but then he forgot he had received it (my father-in-law hand delivered it).  I believe him, but that just shows that you need to some times remind them.

[Gilligan]

Bringing this topic back on track again.

BOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just bought the rest of that guys newmans!!  The wife picked up 40 more!!!  So now I have 65 newmans!!  No mesh, but he did find some more alignment strips and some other tools that she didn't know what they were but said they weren't the little "clips"... she's watched a few vids with me so she knows what those are.  She said they MIGHT be in the box but he through in a few extra things.

I'm stoked!  65 mzx 18x20's square bar frames for $780 ($12 each!)

None have mesh in them... but they are all cleaned and ready to go.

Where is the best deal on mesh and which brand... I've heard lots of good things (mostly from Alan) about he S mesh... what does everyone else say?

[Evo]

Check the shurloc site for closeouts.

[Gilligan]

Yeah, I seen those before... I'll have to visit that again as I forgot about it.  Thanks for the reminder!

[ZooCity]

I'm not sure how far along you are on yer screen printing journey but I would recommend S mesh above anything else.  I couldn't say if I would have preferred to start out with it or not.  It does take a little adjusting too and the delicate mesh needs to be handled properly but, especially for manual printing, it's light years past anything else I've tried out.  You'll be printing at around 25 n/cm on the average with an off contact that is higher than screens running at higher tensions but I've found that trade off to be almost unanimously worth it.  In fact, we just pulled the very last of our high-ten (45n/cm+) Newman Roller Mesh off our screens.   It will force you to have a nearly perfect flood and print stroke every time as it excels when you use a light touch and any variance left to right or through the travel of the stroke will be blatantly obvious.  By comparison, using mesh at tensions 40 n/cm and above, you use a much lower off-contact (requires a much more calibrated press) far more pressure and you gain some repeatability.  The repeatability part could well be negated by the fact that thin thread mesh is far less physically taxing to print over long runs. 

Still on the fence myself about panels.  I do like the fact that anyone in my shop can drop a panel in and tension it up to spec from our chart and it'll be identical to any other one someone stretched.  I don't like that the mesh is not perfectly square to the frame and you don't have control over the corner softening. (note: you can indicate how much softening you want if getting custom made panels but I indicated softening for Murakami's max tensions and it's still way too much and also inconsistent on my panels)  On the flip side, stretching from bolt mesh is a skill you need to acquire and standardaize or it will be a nightmare.  If you have 65 frames to mesh up you'll be a pro by # 12 or so for sure.  Follow the videos and instructions from Stretch Devices and it'll work out just fine.  However, I don't recommend their method of cranking a screen "all the way up" immediately.  Newman roller mesh can handle this but the rest cannot and you'll likely wind up with a screen that drops tension rapidly and may have aberrations occur on the threads such as "polymer necking where it forms an hourglass shape with a thin middle that will surely break on you.  Stick with stage tensioning.  Once tensioned, don't settle for whatever the mesh relaxes to, you might as well be using statics if that's your plan.  Instead, check tension before and after every run.  Make it a rule and not something done "if there's time". 

My 2 major pieces of advice are:

• Get a roller master.
• Setup a system that ultimately protects the mesh at every point of contact.

Best of luck.

[alan802]

I'm waiting on the OK to spend some damn money on mesh and I'll be going 75% S threads and the other 25% will be newman roller mesh.  I love the newman 102 so I really want to try a few 166's and the 205s.  I need about 40 panels to get our inventory back to full.  I've been able to accomplish a ton of "one hit" colors on darker shirts with the 102 so I want to get a few more of those but I'm wondering what I can do with the other mesh counts from newman.  I have been so impressed with the 150/48 Murakami S thread mesh and it is so versatile.  Underbasing for a spot process or just plain old white print on a black shirt the 150S can do it.  With a thicker stencil you can start accomplishing "one hits" like you can with the newman 102's but have a thinner ink deposit than with the 102.  Another mesh count from the S thread I've been wanting to try is the 135/48.  I can only imagine what I could do with a 100 micron stencil on that sucker for some one hit work.  I bet you can print with virtually no pressure on the auto with a real creamy short bodied ink through that 135/48.  I've printed with some 150/48's that I had such little pressure on the squeegee cylinders that they wouldn't go up and down without barely making it back to the up position.

So to answer your question, I freaking love the 150/48 Murakami Smartmesh and I have 2 of the 110/78's that I really like as well.  They are delicate as you can imagine but as long as you don't have a bunch of go-rillas in your shop they should survive.

[Gilligan]

[Frog]

Remember guys that Gilligan is new to  mesh, rollers, stretching, and heck, screens in general. I won't even mention spending money, lol!
Doesn't the S mesh have, along with its advantages,  its own set of limitations and learning curve? Isn't it more delicate, along with more expensive? (a former deal breaker in its own right)
With this new huge commitment to rollers,  wouldn't he benefit from one of the specialized stretching tables?

And Gilly, I do understand your "thrift" as I also often have to grimace, and strain to cut loose of the cash. My father has all he needs and still won't spend more than a nickel more than he needs to. It has rubbed off on me.  In my other life in the Airheads Beemer Club, , I have proudly earned the rank of C.A.B., Cheap Airhead Bastard.

[Gilligan]

Yeah, though I've read great things about that S mesh... what I just read from Zoo has kind of scared me away from them for right now.

I am FAR from properly setup so as it stands right now EVERYTHING in my shop is a hazard and I'm the gorilla in the room... I'm cautious but with a messy shop you are bound to do something stupid.

[Gilligan]

Oh and Andy... The wife and I stumbled in this business because we thought "hey, let's print our own shirts... it can't be that hard"  We went from shopping around at hobby lobby for busted picture frames to mesh (with fabric) to buying all this gear (heat press and cutter) just months later.  We originally wanted to do the screen printing stuff first but a need and opportunity to get into the heat press side reared it's head first.  Good thing it did because I'd probably have a Silver Press right now!

So besides being cheap we also catapulted ourselves into this business from a passing thought and subsequent google search!

[Parker 1]

Gilligan, we use Sefar mesh (Panels) and works well in our shop.  It's not as expensive as Newton or S mesh therefor was a good starting point with us until we get over the learning curve.  In stating this, Sefar mesh may not be as good but I did not cringe when someone would bust one, mostly due to mishandeling.  Now that we are use to handeling our frames and have implemented a better procedure in reclaiming and tensioning,  I will step up and begin to experiment with the Higher end meshes.