ulano orange

[alan802]

I would also like to point out the sample quart of the Orange we tried was a lot thinner then the 5 gallons we purchased. I dont know if it was just a fluke the sample came out of an un mixed bucket or something but the viscosity was much thicker out of the 5.

That's not good.  Just a few %'s different in solids content makes a big difference to me.  I hope the next gallon or 5 that we get is the same as the first. 

I'm going to go out right now and expose a few more of the thicker stencils to see how they work, stay tuned.

[alan802]

Had some issues today with the orange, the thicker stencils aren't going to be as easy to achieve and maintain as with the PHW red.  Here are some pics of a screen that I was trying to do a color change on and the emulsion delaminated from the mesh rather easily.  I've done it before with other emulsions but not quite this easily.  This stencil is very thick, an 83 mesh count that we use for a "one hit" light tan in on a military green shirt.  We previously had to underbase this with white or sometimes we'd use the light tan as the UB and flash and hit again, but this mesh count with the stencil thickness allows us to print with one stroke and move on.  Here is the screen as I was trying to take the ink out of the screen so we could store the screen for the next time we print that job, about a week or two from now.







This screen printed great, no issues until I started rubbing the shirt side with a rag and some press wash.

[Frog]

When I used the first photopolymer emulsions from Murakami  back in the late '80's or so, we cleaned with xylene, and noticed that I was losing dots. (Screen opener spray was bad as well)

I have to wonder if this situation was aggravated by an incompatibility with your press wash.

[mooseman]

The Ulano Orange came in today, here is our comparison vs Ulano QTX

Right out of the bucket the Orange seems to have less viscosity than QTX. We did some un-scientific testing but can assure you our bucket of Orange is thinner than our bucket of  QTX.
Filled a 18 inch coater and hit a 156 screen 3 / 2. It seemed to apply slightly better than the QTX and be less stringy when we broke the coater off the mesh at the end of the coating stroke. Most like direct result of the apparent viscosity difference.

the orange color on a yellow screen is going to take some getting used to we use a visual review after coating and drying to evaluate the overall condition of the emulsion film caoting. With the pink reporting dry as red it is much easier than the dry orange on yellow.

washout was virtuially the same in time effort and mechanics, a dead heat here .
Exposure time was the same by our exposure meter calculation possibly even a little faster, lets call it a dead heat here

the exposed screen held boffo detail..... on  4 & 6 point block text on a 156 screen an excellent result.

the EOM result appears to be the same as QTX, this is purely subjective we do not have a way to measure other than a claibrated thumb nail and index finger tip but the stuff looks great.

have not had a chance to ink it up and experience the lubricity or drag of a squeegee blade undert ink and manual pressure.
We find this a critical factor for many reasons  well beyond fatigue. We definately see a big difference in drag over several brands of ink, it will be interesting to see how the orange reacts to the squeegee .

Have not had a chance to experience the visual condition of aligning the exposed screen to a positive on the pallet.
Yes we put our positives on the pallet then bring the screen to center upon it. I know this is taboo whit some but since I sign the pay checks here I let me get away with it.

My overall opinion so far is it is a keeper even with the sick looking orange color on yellow mesh.
From my wallet Orange runs $20.00 a bucket less than QTX so if it continues to report kindly as so far it looks like a win win.

mooseman

[mooseman]

Had some issues today with the orange, the thicker stencils aren't going to be as easy to achieve and maintain as with the PHW red.  Here are some pics of a screen that I was trying to do a color change on and the emulsion delaminated from the mesh rather easily.  I've done it before with other emulsions but not quite this easily.  This stencil is very thick, an 83 mesh count that we use for a "one hit" light tan in on a military green shirt.  We previously had to underbase this with white or sometimes we'd use the light tan as the UB and flash and hit again, but this mesh count with the stencil thickness allows us to print with one stroke and move on.  Here is the screen as I was trying to take the ink out of the screen so we could store the screen for the next time we print that job, about a week or two from now.







This screen printed great, no issues until I started rubbing the shirt side with a rag and some press wash.

Hey Allan, Just a thougt after looking at you pics, when I see edges (like I see in your pics) on our lower mesh counts it is usually a result of underexposure. We find on 80's I have to expose at 1.5 times my tytpical or I get tha same result right out of the washout booth.

just  for waht it is worth.
mooseman

[alan802]

I hear ya moose, unfortunately, I didn't expose this screen.  My printer did it and he could have very well have underexposed it.  When the edges came up I showed him and asked him if this was the first one that had done it and it was because we hadn't done a color change or de-inked a screen with the new emulsion.  It could have been weak right after the sprayout, but everything seemed solid until I started to put some elbow grease into it.  I haven't dialed in our exposure light units for this stuff yet, but I've noticed it is around 20% or so faster than the phw red with the same mesh counts, but the stencil thicknesses are significantly lower with the orange.

[Binkspot]

Have done a few color changes with the Orange and haven't had that issue yet but screens I know will be on long runs or color change I will post expose for half the normal time after they dry. We have been doing this for the past few years, someone from another shop suggested it when we had our old florescent exposure unit and just never strayed from it when we got the 3140. Maybe I am way off on this but don't really want to experiment on a long run.

I don't know if it helps but we are exposing 110 mesh on our 3140 for 70 ltu, might give you a reference.

[jasonl]

cant believe you are exposing 110 at 70 ltu on a 3140.  I expose for 28 ltu on the same model and at my old shop on an old 3140 I also exposed at 28 ltu.  QTX or Kiwo Discharge, they both expose the same.  Thats odd you need 70 ltu.

[Binkspot]

If I dont the emulsion is spongy and starts to wash out along the edges of the image. I have checked with a Chromaline (wrong spelling) calculator and thats what works. I may be doing something wrong, wouldnt be the first time.
I'm not at the unit now but these are my general exposure times for Textile PV and Orange off the top of my head.
150=60
230=45
305=38

[Frog]

Jason, you and Bink may both be exposing 110 mesh, but you may not have anywhere close to the same EOM.

[jasonl]

Understood, thats probably the reason it has worked for me at 2 different shops.  My techniques are the same from shop to shop.  Someone elses could be way different.

[Prosperi-Tees]

That is a PHAT stencil! I think I need to up to 3/3 on my coating. The emulsion I use only has around 39% solids. Either that or change emulsion. Has anyone used the orange for discharge?

I am going to coat some kiwo discharge emulsion this weekend and see how that goes

[Binkspot]

No trouble always looking to improve our operation. I know if Megan coats and we use those times the image either is a bitch to get out or wont come out because the way she coats is diffrent and the stencil is not as deep.

[Frog]

No trouble always looking to improve our operation. I know if Megan coats and we use those times the image either is a bitch to get out or wont come out because the way she coats is diffrent and the stencil is not as deep.

May I suggest that Megan and you both, if you don't already,  use the glisten method which should get your EOM's closer together, whether it takes one of you more strokes or less strokes. The end result will be similar.

This was one of the first articles here.
http://www.theshirtboard.com/index.php/topic,2621.0.html

[alan802]

That is a PHAT stencil! I think I need to up to 3/3 on my coating. The emulsion I use only has around 39% solids. Either that or change emulsion. Has anyone used the orange for discharge?

I am going to coat some kiwo discharge emulsion this weekend and see how that goes

Hey Gerry, I don't think you're going to have much luck coating a lower mesh count (80-110) with a 3/3 and 39% solids content emulsion.  You are going to have major drippage, more than likely.  And not just around the edges and corners, it will be all over the screen.  The reason why I have to use the high solids content emulsions is because of those thick stencils on low mesh counts.  I have a sample of some Murakami pure photo that is high solids and really high viscosity so I'll be reviewing that sometime next week.

I meant to coat some higher mesh screens today with the orange but I got sidetracked by a broken 42" heat buster fan, some idiot sales people, looking for my tools, and some deliveries I had to make since our delivery driver called in sick.  I'll coat some on monday and do some halftone sampling with our handy dandy test film my artist made to test emulsions and mesh count capabilities.