screen printing > Equipment
Mesh counts....
Printhouse:
OK..... I would like to learn from you pros out there. I know many of you are in the Automatic world these days but I am sure that you can assist here. I have been in business since June of last year. When I first started and I was picking out my frames I ended up going with Aluminum static frames in two mesh counts. I bought 155 mesh and 110 mesh. I typically run all my standard inks through the 155's and my whites and slightly thicker colored inks through the 110's. Over the past year I have purchased approx 50 of each. I am looking to make another large purchase of screens just due to the volume that I am printing these days and the number of repeat orders which I have been saving on racks. In talking to some people, including my screen suppliers, it seems that the average printer is pushing typical inks through 110 mesh and pushing whites through as low as 80's. I was going to order a six pack today with some different mesh that I am not currently using. I was thinking about some 81's, 125's, 140's, 173's, 200's and 230's. I thought this way I could experiment with what works best for me. I thought I would pick the brains of everyone here. I have been buying 23 X 31's lately in an anticipation of a possible move to an auto at sometime.
Denis Kolar:
As far as I have seen on the forums, there is no need to have too many mesh counts.
Most of the people commented on the same question that I asked before that they mostly use 110, 155 and 230.
And then again, this comes from complete newbie.
One thing I know, I could not find better pricing than from www.techsupportsps.com from Pittsburgh. They were at ISS yesterday, I have to stop by at their booth tomorrow. One day shipping to Ohio.
alan802:
Well, the trend these days is to go pretty much high mesh for most of the work on an auto. Lot's of shops are underbasing with 195's and 230's and putting top colors and spot colors on lights on 230's and 305's. I however like to use lower mesh counts simply because there is no real way to completely clear an opaque ink through a 230 or 305 while keeping the pressure low enough for the ink to sit on top of the shirt. And underbasing through a 230 often requires 2 strokes or even a pfpf of your underbase before you put your top colors on. I think one stroke through a 137 would be better than 2 strokes through a 230 and probably would deposit less ink as well. And it will allow you to keep the ink on top of the shirt instead of in it. But, I'm in the minority with my theory of printing. I guess my priorities are to get the ink deposit on top of the shirt, then it's to accomplish that task with one stroke. I don't like to double stroke anything, and I don't like to pfpf our underbases and we don't hardly ever have to do that. I have been using higher meshes for top colors on top of underbases with good results. You have to use more pressure but it's not an issue since your printing on plastic and not thread.
I've experimented lately with higher mesh counts for underbasing and it hasn't really turned out well, especially with white designs on darks. I did however have great results in a halftone underbase through a 156 the other day, but the shirts were a medium color and not black or navy.
One piece of advice is I would suggest getting your new screens with a high quality mesh in them, like murakami smartmesh with the S threads, or something equivalent. I love printing with the s thread mesh, you can drop your print pressure by 30-50% with most mesh counts, and maybe even more. The only drawback to meshing static alums with that high dollar mesh is that it might not be the best way to spend your money, but I'm sure the benefits would be worth it, in my opinion.
Printhouse:
Great input so far. I have been purchasing all of my screens through www.Rhinotoughgraphics.com They are also at the ISS show. You can buy a six pack of 110's there for $80. I usually get my 155's for $16-$18. They run monthly specials and shipping is usually about $6 or so. They also have great aluminum squeegees that they will have there tomorrow for $6 for six inch and $14 for 14 inch. I brought home a bunch of them. I have a tech support account but have never really ordered from them. I bought out a shop in bedford and got about 25 gallons of tech support ink. I am going to crack open some tech white this week in fact.
Donnie:
It really depends on what kind of stuff you are printing. I started out with the same meshes BUT as I became more proficient at the process and started doing simulated process the mesh counts rose. I underbase all most all simulated process with 230s and 305's for the top colors. Most of my meshes now are in the higher range but I am running an auto. I probably would not be doing this if I had to manually push white ink though 230 and 305 meshes on a daily basis.
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