"He who marches out of step hears another drum." ~ Ken Kesey
Jeff, we really need you now!
See Jeff? (Just yesterday I asked Jeff Proctor of Excaliber Inks to join us and give Lancer/Excaliber a presence here.)So far, Shane, it sounds like you have done what I would have. Years ago, I remember learning from Union tech, that though a little counter intuitive, the addition of a reducer to white can actually improve opacity. That's if it helps it to clear the screen.Otherwise, I'm not familiar with that particular white from them.In fact, it's difficult to even get Excaliber out here, though in the past, I was a fan of their Arctic White.
Alan I have messed around with this several times since I fell into it.Still evaluating the whole thing but this is what I like about the addition of a VERY SMALL amount of thinner.on some of the One Stroke inks I have the addition of LQ (lacquer thinner) adds lubricity, greately shortens the body, seems not to impact the opacity, reduces climbing and makes my arms happier. the ability of the squeegee to shear the ink just seems to go up exponentially Where screens tended to stick to the deposit they now smoothly pop off at the end of the stroke even with 1/6 or less OCThe lubricity thing is a big deal with me as we print manually and after just 3 or 4 years at this my arms are not holding up terribly well.We recently tried some One stroke Versamax scarlet in a 230 mesh it went but with a lot of muscle. Our 230's are at least running @ 25Nm on Sefar meshWe added just a few drops to the ink in the well and mixed it there with a spatula.... the stuff went through the 230 with @ 1/2 the effort which my arms really appreciated.We can't speak about duarbility long term effects on the ink, adhesion to an underbase or any real changes to flash times but so far at this point we really think this stuff beats cuarble reducer by a long shot.Try this experiment in your shop..... take a shot glass amount of ink stir it with a popsicle stick, then add ONE (1) DROP of LQ (which is probably more than you need for a shot glass amount) and repeate the stir and tell me what you think. I think you will be surprised how the ink reacts. Love to have your thoughts after you try this test.mooseman
That's the stuff, surprised you didn't like it. It made a huge difference in our shop.I know what you mean about the phone calls. You have to give them credit they are persistent.