Wings..........not the spicy kind

[inkman996]

I decided to try and make my own flood bar wings. I bought a piece of aluminum flat stock cut it to length bent it and simply used a rivet gun to attach. I left the flood bar edge proud slightly so I can still have the blade edge touch the mesh with out digging the wing in. Have not tried  it yet but i am sure it will work. I am going to buy a wider piece of flat stock for a little more height on the rest of the flood bars.

[blue moon]

that looks pretty good!
The only advantage a commercial version would have is that they clean easier . . .

[inkman996]

Yep but for the money no biggie its not me cleaning them lol. I might go fancier and do an extra cut so I can attach from the rear instead, that will make cleaning even easier.

[Sbrem]

check for burrs obviously, but good job.

Steve

[Northland]

I'm trying to conquer floodbar issues too.
I'm reluctant to set my floodbar to give me a hard flood, for fear of roughing up the mesh.

So, I've ordered a Newman Hydra floodbar (from Calibrated's site).
It looks as if it has a much smoother edge to give a hard flood.
Bottom of the linked page.
http://www.stretchdevices.com/squeegees-and-floodbars

It could be modified... ala Inkmans mock-up to give a winged edge too.
Any Hydra users out there??

[blue moon]

I'm trying to conquer floodbar issues too.
I'm reluctant to set my floodbar to give me a hard flood, for fear of roughing up the mesh.

So, I've ordered a Newman Hydra floodbar (from Calibrated's site).
It looks as if it has a much smoother edge to give a hard flood.
Bottom of the linked page.
http://www.stretchdevices.com/squeegees-and-floodbars

It could be modified... ala Inkmans mock-up to give a winged edge too.
Any Hydra users out there??

very interesting. Did you get a chance to test it yet? Any thoughts?

[Homer]

I did something similar with some sintra, the issue I ran into was the angle.  if the wings are not angled right, the tips of the wings will be sticking up in the air, not touching the mesh, making them not work properly. also, if the angle is too great, you will tear the mesh. I couldn't get my flood bars to be completely vertical, so that may be my problem.

as far as cleaning, somebody needs to make a floodbar condom type thing, a quick removable color change device of some kind so we don't need to buy 20 flood bars. It takes too long to clean and dry them too, really not a fast and efficient way to do it. Like a thin plastic disposable sleeve, snaps on to the floodbar.

[inkman996]

After testing out my home made versions for a bit I can say they work great. I have no problem with the angles since I left the flood bar edge slightly proud of the wings, that allows me to still put the blade in direct contact with the mesh and not sorry about the wings digging in. I set the wings up first to be perfectly level with the mesh then apply enough pressure to touch the flood bar adge with the mesh.

As for cleaning my screen guy has no problem at all. He scrapes all the ink off first then quick wipe with the rag to get the bulk out then he puts them in the wash out booth and pressure washes all the rest off takes no time at all.

The pay off is I can do hundreds and hundreds of more prints with out ever touching the ink, not to mention the money saved on buying OEM flood bars and wings.

[Homer]

I have a full set of wings, absolutely love them. you only need maybe a cup of ink to print, no need to dump a whole gallon on the screen.

[Northland]

I'm trying to conquer floodbar issues too.
I'm reluctant to set my floodbar to give me a hard flood, for fear of roughing up the mesh.

So, I've ordered a Newman Hydra floodbar (from Calibrated's site).
It looks as if it has a much smoother edge to give a hard flood.
Bottom of the linked page.
http://www.stretchdevices.com/squeegees-and-floodbars

It could be modified... ala Inkmans mock-up to give a winged edge too.
Any Hydra users out there??

very interesting. Did you get a chance to test it yet? Any thoughts?

... haven't been able to test the "hydra" yet (still waiting for delivery).
I'm going to have to poke Calibrated again.... the product was supposed to be drop shipped from Newman over two weeks ago.

[ZooCity]

Aside from limiting the flood bar angle, why aren't wings on every flood bar?  Seriously, why the hell would you not want yer ink to stay in the image area?

Does the newman hydra have a softer/pliable edge to the flood bar?  Excepting the "V" squeegees on those javelin-style machines this seems to be something missing from the floodbar world.  As a manual printer I have a hard time understanding why you wouldn't want a squeegee-like material working the ink both ways.

I've checked out schematics of those and they definitely have the right idea with using the "hydrology" or whatever you might call it of the flowing ink to evenly fill the stencil and make shearing the ink as easy as possible.  Just not sure if that special shape would really make enough difference to justify the cost and pain in the arse of cleaning those things.  I actually love the couple "constant force" squeegees I have but holy hell, cleaning those things wastes so much time that it's just not worth it. 

[inkbrigade]

I'm trying to conquer floodbar issues too.
I'm reluctant to set my floodbar to give me a hard flood, for fear of roughing up the mesh.

So, I've ordered a Newman Hydra floodbar (from Calibrated's site).
It looks as if it has a much smoother edge to give a hard flood.
Bottom of the linked page.
http://www.stretchdevices.com/squeegees-and-floodbars

It could be modified... ala Inkmans mock-up to give a winged edge too.
Any Hydra users out there??

Another big name shop here in Portland uses the newman squeegees as floodbars.

[broadway]

That will be a bitch to clean. Try to weld it with alumalloy rods (?). You can find it on ebay.  You can use a plumber propane torch to melt it. I have used it before on my aluminum canoe to fix holes. Easy to work with.

[Evo]

That will be a bitch to clean. Try to weld it with alumalloy rods (?). You can find it on ebay.  You can use a plumber propane torch to melt it. I have used it before on my aluminum canoe to fix holes. Easy to work with.

That would be brazing. (not welding, where as  the parent metals would be melted together).

Much lower temp than welding and easy to put alum to alum. You need to scrub the metal clean with an abrasive, (wire brush, etc) then finish clean with MEK, then go to town on it. It would fill the seams and no rivets would be needed, only an clamp or vice to set it up.

[blue moon]

That will be a bitch to clean. Try to weld it with alumalloy rods (?). You can find it on ebay.  You can use a plumber propane torch to melt it. I have used it before on my aluminum canoe to fix holes. Easy to work with.

yup, that sounds like a good idea for DIY!