Tapeless Screens

[zanegun08]

Zane this has been the jam for us, saved a boat load of coin and reduced our down stream a lot.

@T Shirt Farmer thanks for posting the photos.

I'll post some photos of our screens, we are doing a similar method but using screen glue - http://saati.mybigcommerce.com/ultrafix-sb5-plus-kit-2-part-frame-adhesive/ Ultrafix SB5 and applying it with a scoop coater around the edges.

I tried to do this back in 2015, maybe 2021 is my year.

I'll try to find some screens with permanent blockout, and our tape method on them.  As well as take a photo of our garage can tape ball that we are producing daily that I would like to not do, as well as that tape is expensive!

Anybody else have a different method? 

[ericheartsu]

We run 25x36 rollers, and rarely ever tape or block out.

In fact our blocked out open areas typically interfere with our drum on our CTS, so we stopped doing that all together.

We only really tape on runs that are over 500pcs, or on runs that have super watery ink.

[zanegun08]

@ericheartsu that's a good method as then you have lots of extra room on the edges and where ink may spill out anyhow would be outside the pallet area anyhow.

I attached photos of our screen, 23" x 31" statics, both coated and uncoated.  The blockout is applied with a scoop coater, which I think is an ok method as no tape is needed like in this method here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3G0B44L7UE&feature=emb_title

However, as you can see, we still are taping all 4 sides, as well as two strips where the edge of the squeegees hit.  Which is something I need to address either by longer exposure times (Saati LED), post exposing all screens with metal halide (don't really like this option), different emulsion, rounding the edges of the squeegees, printing with less pressure.

For manuals we could easily not tape, however they still do because then they aren't having to clean the ink around the frames from the printers being messy.  With water base that is easy, but plastisol isn't quite as easy as just spraying off with a hose.

Also, when I say tapeless I mean around the edges, still tape for the registration marks are ok by me.

[T Shirt Farmer]

staff in back have to be mindful with pressure washer it will take out the glue if not careful. It does take considerable time to apply the glue. The wider the block out the more back spray in wash out booth. I would not have it another way just based on lower down stream flow with the spent tape.

[Prince Art]

Our approach to tapeless was to use a coater that left maybe 1/2" uncoated @ edges, then use an ink card to dip & spread emulsion around the edges from the back side only. No glue, nothing permanent. It added maybe 1-2 minutes or so per screen in the screen room, and completely eliminated tape, which saved much more time in setup/takedown. As a manual shop, we still used 23x31 screens, with squeegees sizes to fit our pallets. Ink almost never even touched the frames - such easy cleanup. Got that idea from ZooCity I think (if not him, someone else here) who used 25x36 screens on their auto to accomplish the same thing.

[Nation03]

The reclaim splash back was beginning to be too annoying for me. Ended up going back to taping. I switched over to Endurance Panels so I use minimal tape. on them anyway but maybe I'll revisit this tapeless idea again in the future.

Any advice in emulsion breakdown? I have rounded squeegee corners but sometimes will still experience some emulsion break down where the edge of the pallet meets the screen which is where I generally need the tape. Using and LED unit and Ulano orange. Would a post exposure fix this issue?

[ZooCity]

Anyone use the permanent blockout screens in an automatic screen washer?   Solves the sprayback problem, maybe it adds other issues though?

We use 25x36 from GSF that are perm blockout with a bead of caulk around the inside.  They work great, no issues but they are a lower mileage screen size for us, 23x31 rollers being our standard screens. 

3 strips of tape are still applied to the top of the screen, not for ink containment but to protect along the travel of the blade edges.  This is standard for any frame, tapeless or no in our shop to prevent breakdown in those common problem areas.

Based off my numbers, the lion's share of the cost of imaging a screen is in the taping.  Not so much the cost of the tape but the cost of the labor to do the taping.   

[zanegun08]

Anyone use the permanent blockout screens in an automatic screen washer?

We have an IT auto reclaimer, which using the glue we use doesn't seem to have any long term breakdown issue.

If you are talking spray back at wash out (exposing), we have a dip tank that we pre-soak screens in, so wash out is done with a hose that has very little spray back and so that isn't an issue.

3 strips of tape are still applied to the top of the screen, not for ink containment but to protect along the travel of the blade edges.  This is standard for any frame, tapeless or no in our shop to prevent breakdown in those common problem areas.

This is what we are having to do, where the squeegee hits the screen near the top, and on the edges of the squeegee.  I would like to avoid this, but that would probably mean changing emulsions which I don't really want to do.  (Kiwo Versatex)

The labor of taping adds up, but so does tape, I think the last time I looked which was a while ago we were over $20k in tape a year lol.

[ZooCity]

Good to know.  We are installing a Lotus-Holland early next year.  It seems pretty gentle overall but I was curious.

I'm not sure the top tape is avoidable, maybe there's a low rz emulsion that could make it happen....?

Yeah, the cost of tape can be high annually on a dollar level but I like to look at it as a per screen cost.  20k in tape a year sounds nuts but I'm guessing it's 0.5% of your revenue or something like that.   The labor of getting that tape on the screen is WAY more costly to the operation, imo.   I primarily hate the tape waste, it's just gross when you run thru pallets of the stuff every year.