CCI D-White, Discharge White

[alan802]

The WR 25 worked fine but damn did it take a long time to expose. The first one I did at 23 light units, for context a chromablue in that mesh count would have been at 7 light units, and it was extremely underexposed to where I couldn't use it and had to burn another one.  I did the next one at 30 light units and it was still underexposed but I was able to use it.  After I washed it out successfully, I post exposed it for another 30 light units so it would hold up on the press.

What cell speed do you use for the light units on your Richmond?  ..out of curiosity...

It's set at 2.  I have no idea what is optimal for that and I've never messed with that setting.  Any recommendations or comments on cell speed?

[Prosperi-Tees]

I dont process enough screens to have a gallon of dual cure sitting in the shop. I did get a gallon of the Ulano 925WR and really do not like the way it coats, maybe its my technique but I could not get a nice even screen with it. The ones I did held up well to CCI discharge though. I tried a pure photopolymer hardened with CCI harden-x but the discharge still broke it down after about 50 prints. What am I doing wrong with the hardener?

[ebscreen]

Likely not the hardener, but an underexposed screen. Even a non-water resistant emulsion without hardener
should holdup to at least 50 impressions.

Post expose in the sun or exposure unit, wipe hardener on completely dry screen, let dry completely.

[Prosperi-Tees]

I tried to overexpose the screen and post exposed and then did the hardener. I dont know whats up with it.

[Screened Gear]

Likely not the hardener, but an underexposed screen. Even a non-water resistant emulsion without hardener
should holdup to at least 50 impressions.

Post expose in the sun or exposure unit, wipe hardener on completely dry screen, let dry completely.

Does the hardner make reclaiming harder??? I have never used it and it just sounds like it would.

[ebscreen]

Yes it does, just a little bit. If you're doing any kind of production with waterbase
it is well worth the extra effort at the end. A screen de-inked well (immediately after use,
light scrub with Simple Green or the like) and a dip tank and you probably won't notice the difference.

[squeegee]

The WR 25 worked fine but damn did it take a long time to expose. The first one I did at 23 light units, for context a chromablue in that mesh count would have been at 7 light units, and it was extremely underexposed to where I couldn't use it and had to burn another one.  I did the next one at 30 light units and it was still underexposed but I was able to use it.  After I washed it out successfully, I post exposed it for another 30 light units so it would hold up on the press.

What cell speed do you use for the light units on your Richmond?  ..out of curiosity...

It's set at 2.  I have no idea what is optimal for that and I've never messed with that setting.  Any recommendations or comments on cell speed?

I was wondering because the LU's you are using seemed a good bit lower than mine, but I use cell 1.  Basically the lower the cell speed the shorter the unit, so you can fine tune the exposures more with the shorter unit.  I'm using Textil PV at the moment.

[Evo]

In my experience, most manufacturers dual cure or pure diazo emulsions branded as "water resistant" or "highly water resistant" seem to take much longer to expose.

Ulano 925WR (which I used for years) has excellent water resistance and can hold up to discharge quite well. It reclaims very easy. I stopped using it in favor of other emulsions that could hold fine detail better.

CCI's WR-25 and SWR-3 - these hold much better detail than the Ulano, and expose in approximately the same time. (and have a similar exposure latitude). Both have very good water resistance, but not quite on par with the Ulano (in my experience anyway). Both, but especially the SWR-3, are a royal pain in the ass to reclaim. I tried a few different fluids, including the dip tank (Easistrip Supra), and some CCI ER-80, and even some Franmar. Nothing worked very well aside from pressure washing for what seemed like hours.

I try to avoid any emulsion that requires hardener at all. IMHO, a properly exposed stencil should hold up to discharge ink or it's useless. Hardener just makes the reclaim more of a chore.

I've been having good luck with the WR-6 emulsion, but the reclaim still takes longer than I'd like. I may start using the same emulsion as the bottle printer I do screens for, this would reduce the different pots of emulsion I keep around. That one is Kiwo's Polyplus HWR. It's pricey ($100/gal) but the stencils it produces are astonishing. I'll report back on it's discharge friendly-ness.

BTW -
My new one-color press is almost here! After I toss a grenade in my garage to clear it out, I'll post pics of the new setup once I have it sorted.

[mjrprint]

I heard cci swr-3 is a great emulsion too. Anyone use it. Would be ideal I guess along with their discharge

The WR-25 is better. Holds better detail and is easier to reclaim. The SWR-3 is satanically hard to reclaim.

This is good info. Thank you.

[alan802]

I'm going to do some more experimenting today.  I will try to do a few things with it as an underbase and various plastisols on top.  I've already found that for white designs on most dark colors, this is going to be great, but there are some colors that need a little bit more so using this as an underbase instead of plastisol white will probably yield great looking prints.  I am slowly moving to the discharge spot colors so once I get used to the in's and out's of this discharge white I'll make that move.

[Prosperi-Tees]

Printing plastisols on top is great Alan but it is kinda nerving at first because the plastisol does not look right until it comes out the dryer.

[3Deep]

I did some plasticharge the other day for the first time (the smell!!!) turn out great, this would be the idea base white for me as I would not have to go around twice for my whites.  You guys keep the thread going on this I,m learning alot, thanks.

Darryl

[alan802]

Darryl, I tried to buy some plasticharge base yesterday to get in here for today but nobody close to me has any in stock.  I tried the wilflex plasticharge with white plastisol and it was ok.  I'm gonna go dig around in the back to see if I have any more of that base.  I'd be interested in seeing how bright the plasticharge is with reds and yellows and blues on black shirts.  From what I've read, the plasticharge isn't as good as straight discharge colors but I'd have to see it for myself.  I want to test is out here because I've heard lot's of things that other shops have said about a product and when I've tried it, I've had completely different results.  Plus the $10,000 worth of plastisol ink sitting on the shelves would be great to be able to use.

You brought up the smell, and this CCI stuff is sitting on my desk a few inches from me as I type this and I don't even smell it.  There is no odor with this unless you get right up on it, or let it sit in a bucket for a few days.

[3Deep]

Alan, I did some black 100% cotton with a brite blue ink plasticharge and it looks great very bright...I'll try to post a pic, my samsung is taking crappy pics for some reason...reason could be me LOL

[alan802]

Alan, I did some black 100% cotton with a brite blue ink plasticharge and it looks great very bright...I'll try to post a pic, my samsung is taking crappy pics for some reason...reason could be me LOL

I'd like to see that pic D, even if it's a little blurry I can still get a good idea of the opacity.