ulano orange

[Prosperi-Tees]

I didn't think of that Alan. You are right, even with a 2/2 round side I do get drips on the edges. You know of any high solids emulsion that will hold up well with discharge? I'm trying to stick with one emulsion but the more I research the more I find one emulsion may not do it for everything.

[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.

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

I actually do use this method. She had always coated the screens before I started full time. It was always an argument about how thin the stencil was and there had to be a better way, mostly for printing white in one hit. When I did decide to make the move one of the first things on my list to do was start coating the screens myself and build a better stencil. I used the same way she did then after the screen dried would add another coat. Got better results but still not happy. I kept reading post and articles how guys were getting thick stencils by coating wet and not having to go back to recoat. Every shop I visited working on the Ptex's I would make some time to watch how the screen guys would coat. Then I read the article here and it changed everything. With a little practice I was making what I would consider great stencils. Once I was getting consistent results I tweaked the process to refine it some more to where I am at now with 2/2.

We have actually found the best thing for our shop is to keep Megan up front in the office or on the road generating work;) We sometimes let her come back and catch off the dryer or run a heat press.

[IntegrityShirts]

Couple of comments/questions.

Alan, how long did you expose that screen?  That's pretty thick on yellow mesh.  On my exposure unit that thickness would take about 40ltu.  Related question for Brian, can you calibrate the 3140?  I know with my nuarc light source and integrator you can calibrate the photo cell to get the cell calibrated to 100 which means one ltu equals roughly one second.  I'd probably still post expose with that stencil thickness too.

I guess the most important question for the Orange to the end all be all, would be discharge and waterbased performance without hardening.

[JBLUE]

I didn't think of that Alan. You are right, even with a 2/2 round side I do get drips on the edges. You know of any high solids emulsion that will hold up well with discharge? I'm trying to stick with one emulsion but the more I research the more I find one emulsion may not do it for everything.

Gerry you dont need that kind of stencil thickness for discharge. There is no reason for it. If you use the right emulsion and techniques to prep your screens your emulsion will hold up just fine.

[Homer]

from our test, orange does not perform well with discharge /wb.

[inkman996]

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.

Jason I also have a 3140 and I bought a macdermid exposure calculator and spent a whole Sunday dialing in all of our mesh counts. On 110 I am exposing 78 ltus very close to Brian's numbers, same as all the other counts. This is using qtx and qlt I use one for spot and one for higher details.

If I exposed a 110 even at 60ltu I would have a slimy screen on the ink side maybe acceptable if post exposed but not ideal, if I went. Low as you mine would wash right out. Like Brian I coat heavy, 2/2 at a slow speed with decent pressure, my dried surface is perfectly smooth when inspecting from a extreme side angle with light, you cannot see any valleys from the mesh itself.

Hey Brian when you say you post expose do you mean out side in the sun or on your exposure unit? Reason why I ask is its a waste of energy to do it on the unit since the light has to re penetrate the already exposed layers which is actually quite a bit longer than the first exposure time, sun light is almost immediate and free even on cloudy days, clouds do not block uv it's always there.

[jasonl]

I brought specs from the shop I used to work at and my Nazdar rep came down one day and we did exposure tests for a few hours and my specs from 13 years before were the exact same at my new shop.  30 ltu or less on 110 with qtx 2/2.

[Printficient]

I didn't think of that Alan. You are right, even with a 2/2 round side I do get drips on the edges. You know of any high solids emulsion that will hold up well with discharge? I'm trying to stick with one emulsion but the more I research the more I find one emulsion may not do it for everything.

We are currently in the real world testing stage with our Nova.  This emulsion is the highest solids at between 58% and 60%.  It holds great detail as it was designed for a customer that prints on pacemakers.  Current coating for the test is 2 on the substrate side and one in the ink well.  The ink being used is CCI White Discharge.  The Hardener is ours as well.  First job out 500 plus pieces on a 196.  The detail held was consistent with a 305.

[Binkspot]

When we have the time the screens go outside in the sun even on cloudy or cold days. If it is a rush they get washed, blotted with  news paper, blown out with low pressure dry air and placed in my dry box for about 15-20 min. Then exposed again and go to the press.

[alan802]

Couple of comments/questions.

Alan, how long did you expose that screen?  That's pretty thick on yellow mesh.  On my exposure unit that thickness would take about 40ltu.  Related question for Brian, can you calibrate the 3140?  I know with my nuarc light source and integrator you can calibrate the photo cell to get the cell calibrated to 100 which means one ltu equals roughly one second.  I'd probably still post expose with that stencil thickness too.

I guess the most important question for the Orange to the end all be all, would be discharge and waterbased performance without hardening.

I think I exposed that screen for 10 ltu's which is probably around 90 seconds.  I also burned a 110 yellow mesh at only 4 ltu's the other day to find the sweet spot for each mesh count.  There were no signs of under exposure on the 110 but it wasn't as thick as what we've been using.

[ZooCity]

fellas, the ltu is user set.  (unless nuarc does not have this feature)  I set our 5k Olec to have the ltu appx =1 sec.  but you can set it wherever you want. I dont see how this unit of measurement could be universal or relevant for comparison even if it was.

Sent from my intelligent phone-a-majigger.

[inkman996]

Zoo we are comparing since we are each talking about the msp3140. No it's not identical to each user since the integrator compensates for the bulb age but I may be close assuming none of us adjusted our ltu differently

[jasonl]

I used a 1998 msp3140 at my old shop and I have a 2011 msp3140 at my new shop.  Exposure times are exactly the same.

[alan802]

Where do you guys with the 3140's have your LTU's set at?  I guess what I'm asking is how long is a 10 ltu exposure, 10 seconds?  Earlier in the day 10 ltu's on our richmond is faster than after we've shot 30 screens, it's noticeable.  Having the light integrator is very valuable in my opinion, especially if you're doing high end stuff. 10 ltu's for us is approximately 75-90 seconds and that seems like forever sometimes.  That's why I have such a hard time thinking about moving to a dual cure.  3-5 minute shoots ain't gonna work when we are busy.

[Gilligan]

Can you set your ltu's down to the decimal or only whole numbers?