screen printing > Ink and Chemicals
Wilflex Epic - PC or Equalizers?
ZooCity:
Wow! Erin, thank you so much for that speedy and very inclusive response!
I've got the whole picture now (I think/hope) and can see the spectrum of pigment:ink on these three systems.
This helped a lot => "The EQs are basically a highly saturated ink."
I guess we need to ride with PCs just because of the Performance Base as I have no other avenue of getting colors right now.
The Sartorious PMA7500 scale is now very close to the top of my wish list. This integration you speak of with the IMS system sounds downright badass.
Thanks again Erin!
tonypep:
I never understood the introduction of equalizers perhaps Erin can expand. If you use the PC system and color matching software then you will not risk over pigmenting.
squeegee:
We got into the Equalizers for MX small batch mixes because, one the amount of storage we need was drastically reduced (less 5's, less space taken up on our meager shelves), and two, because rather than PC'a the equalizers are curable making the possibility of bad employee judgement a non-issue.
One of my favorite tricks with the equalizers is using the EQ Marine on underbases, because a relfex or 072 in MX are so translucent, they end up looking off on a white base, but the EQ marine looks great on a base, very close to a reflex blue.
I also like that I can mix up small batches of MX white or MX black without stocking the ink. I don't use either all the time but I do need them on sim process prints.
We've also used EQ's to recycle old colors, they make it easier to change some colors to other colors without a risk of over pigmenting the ink.
At the rate we're printing 100% poly garments, I may end up stocking at least a partial amount of PC's. I do have a couple of questions for Erin in regards to printing colors mixed in the performance base:
Are there Pantone formulas for these?
How will colors mixed with performance base print in a WOW situation on a base, in other words do they build up over time? I ask because even with a polywhite base or Epic Performance white base, we see some loss of color vibrancy when overprinting with MX plastisol post curing. We are keeping the cure temp to a 320-340 degree window.
Frog:
--- Quote from: blue moon on June 01, 2011, 03:53:06 PM ---what are the eq systems? Judging from your post, it sounds like it is a base that you add the colors . . .
I have a Matsui system like that and there is no way I could do the Pantone match with it. The colors are so concentrated that it has to be measured to the 1/100th of a gram. I have no idea how to accomplish that.
--- End quote ---
Couldn't you accurately measure some pigment into, say, ten times the base, and then use that as a more easily weigh-able mixer?
squeegee:
--- Quote from: Frog on June 02, 2011, 09:23:00 AM ---
--- Quote from: blue moon on June 01, 2011, 03:53:06 PM ---what are the eq systems? Judging from your post, it sounds like it is a base that you add the colors . . .
I have a Matsui system like that and there is no way I could do the Pantone match with it. The colors are so concentrated that it has to be measured to the 1/100th of a gram. I have no idea how to accomplish that.
--- End quote ---
Couldn't you accurately measure some pigment into, say, ten times the base, and then use that as a more easily weigh-able mixer?
--- End quote ---
We have Matsui too, and I've found the innacuracy of the pantone formulas to be annoying honestly, our scale is to the hundreths but I really don't think that is the problem, I think their formulas just aren't that good, try mixing 186C in Neo OW and see what you get >:(.
What we've done is exactly this, mix up all the primaries 10% pigment to base and use them as "RFU" ink to adjust the color, that works pretty well, all except the aggravation of color matching by eye. It definately beats making adjustments with PC (because you can easily exceed the max pigment load if you're not careful).
Unfortunately the Matsui formulas (NEO RC and OW) are all made with small, sometimes minute quantities of PC. We try not to mix less than 1000 g at a time, that seems to keep all ingredients to the hundreth, not thousandth.
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