Looking into S-Mesh, Good or Bad Idea?

[Redeemed]

I feel like thin thread mesh really simplifies things for us. You can likely do most of your jobs with 150s and 225s. I personally have been liking the Hi-Dro mesh and I've been remeshing with 157 and 198 for the majority of what we print. I keep around 15 shurloc frames around so if we happen to need a bunch of 305s I can just pop those panels in when we need them. But having static 305s has been pointless for us since we really don't use that mesh often.

I see Hi-Dro Mesh mentioned, is this better or stronger than regular S-Mesh?

Based on my experience, the Hi-Dro 157 mesh holds higher tension and holds up better through reclaim and you don't get tiny holes in the mesh nearly as easily as S-Mesh. The 198 Hi-Dro doesn't seem to have the best tension, but I really like the print results and the ink clears very easily. 230 Hi-Dro's are great as well. If I had to pick my top 3 meshes it would be 157 hi-dro, 180-S and 198 Hi-dro, potentially swapping 180-S for 230 hi-dro. That will obiously vary based on what you print, but since we don't really do much process work, these meshes work for pretty much everything we print.

Thank you for the information! I use Plastisol, Is Hydro mesh good for that?

[Redeemed]

Does anyone else use Hydro Mesh? I would like to hear what you think about it.

[Rockers]

We use Nittoku (Murakami), NBC EX and some Hi-Dro. Based on our experience I would say there is really not much difference between those three. Upside of Hi-Dro over NBC is that they come as well as mesh panels in case you use Roller Frames. I think you are overthinking this a little. You can use any of those three mentioned and see better prints compared to standard mesh. But between those three you will see just very marginal differences in outcome, if any at all. And all three print just fine regardless of the ink. In terms of tension, open area %, Nittoku(Murakami) has the edge over the other two.

[Nation03]

I feel like thin thread mesh really simplifies things for us. You can likely do most of your jobs with 150s and 225s. I personally have been liking the Hi-Dro mesh and I've been remeshing with 157 and 198 for the majority of what we print. I keep around 15 shurloc frames around so if we happen to need a bunch of 305s I can just pop those panels in when we need them. But having static 305s has been pointless for us since we really don't use that mesh often.

I see Hi-Dro Mesh mentioned, is this better or stronger than regular S-Mesh?

Based on my experience, the Hi-Dro 157 mesh holds higher tension and holds up better through reclaim and you don't get tiny holes in the mesh nearly as easily as S-Mesh. The 198 Hi-Dro doesn't seem to have the best tension, but I really like the print results and the ink clears very easily. 230 Hi-Dro's are great as well. If I had to pick my top 3 meshes it would be 157 hi-dro, 180-S and 198 Hi-dro, potentially swapping 180-S for 230 hi-dro. That will obiously vary based on what you print, but since we don't really do much process work, these meshes work for pretty much everything we print.

Thank you for the information! I use Plastisol, Is Hydro mesh good for that?

Yeah, I only print Plastisol and these screens work great. As Rockers mentioned, any thin thread will improve print quality for the most part.

[Maxie]

I use NBC on statics.   All thin mesh (S).
We do quite a lot of shirts with white on dark, no underbase using 110.
Most quality prints we use 150 base and top colors 225 but for whites and printing on sports shirts with a grey base we use 175.
Sim Process  305.
I think we get better results with S mesh, also easier to print but we tear quite a lot of screens but because we restretch in house we can live with this.
I don't think I would have liked to have started with thin screens.

[Redeemed]

I use NBC on statics.   All thin mesh (S).
We do quite a lot of shirts with white on dark, no underbase using 110.
Most quality prints we use 150 base and top colors 225 but for whites and printing on sports shirts with a grey base we use 175.
Sim Process  305.
I think we get better results with S mesh, also easier to print but we tear quite a lot of screens but because we restretch in house we can live with this.
I don't think I would have liked to have started with thin screens.

(I don't think I would have liked to have started with thin screens)

That is one of my concerns and what is weighing on my mind. I think If I go forward with the S or Hydro Mesh I'll start with just a few to see if I like them. Thanks for your help!

[Redeemed]

We use Nittoku (Murakami), NBC EX and some Hi-Dro. Based on our experience I would say there is really not much difference between those three. Upside of Hi-Dro over NBC is that they come as well as mesh panels in case you use Roller Frames. I think you are overthinking this a little. You can use any of those three mentioned and see better prints compared to standard mesh. But between those three you will see just very marginal differences in outcome, if any at all. And all three print just fine regardless of the ink. In terms of tension, open area %, Nittoku(Murakami) has the edge over the other two.

Thanks.