screen printing > Screen Making

Tapeless Screens

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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:

--- Quote from: ZooCity on December 23, 2020, 05:23:06 PM ---Anyone use the permanent blockout screens in an automatic screen washer?

--- End quote ---

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.


--- Quote from: ZooCity on December 23, 2020, 05:23:06 PM ---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.

--- End quote ---

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.

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