Question on coating screens..

[whitewater]

We have a Diamondback with the tri lock..Love it.  Now that we have had this, we go through a ton more emulsion with the larger auto screens.. Sometimes I try to gang up 2 left chests on one screen and make sure same ink color ,but to use the tri lock i have to do it this weird way...that if it was multi color left chest i can not do it my way..

Using the tri lock how do you adapt using it to gang images? or you dont?

another question: It sucks coating the whole screen with emulsion to only use half of it..do i have to plan out the coating the screens with the art?

I would rather not gang...because if different ink color i dont want to deal with it, i really just want to through in screens and go and not play around

We are just going through a ton more emulsion and figure we can do a better job..


Any opinions?

Thanks little bucks!

[Inkworks]

95% of the screens in our shop get 2 images. Wiping down one color of ink to go with another color on the other end of the screen is many, many times quicker and easier than a full reclaim/coat/expose. In many cases we don't even have to wipe down ink like on left chest prints, just use a bit of pre-mask and careful squeegee stroke length control. Of course we gang common colors wherever possible.

Wiping down a bit of ink is easier than any of the other solutions you're looking at.

Look into the carrierless registration systems being talked about to speed up and ease the use of ganging images with a pre-reg system.

I think not ganging can work for massive shops with multiple dedicated people in the screen room, but for anybody smaller than that I'd push for ganging images.

The only other thing I'll throw out there is that for matching emulsion to image size, capillary emulsion is king, but it adds a lot of time, complexity and effort into custom coating screens to image size, much more than ganging and wiping a bit of ink between set-ups.

..Sorry, I know that goes completely against what you were asking about.

[whitewater]

haha! yea trying to find a easier way..LOL

There has got to be a way to set up the tri lock to gang images.?

[Binkspot]

We gang everything we can. I simply cover the other image with an old film and packing tape on the squeegee side. When we flip the screen we pull the film off and clean if necessary then tape over the used end or cover with another film on the shirt side.  I try and do a full imprint and left chest on each screen, run the left chest first, less to clean/cover. Please don't everyone jump all over me but a quick sprits of WD-40 and a rag makes quick work cleaning out a screen followed up with some screen opener or press wash. If half the screen is for another job I will pull it and clean it in the washout booth and let it dry.

I do not have a tri loc but a similar set up using a lay out board. It has three stops that match a tri loc pallet and has two sets of grids for each end of the screen. The image at the bottom will not tri loc so usually use it for one or two color simple easy to reg art.

As for the emulsion IMO there are a lot of good ones out there that have a reasonable price point, just a matter of finding what works best for you. We bounce around between Saati textile PV, phu, KIWO discharge and Image star 905 all in that $40-$60 range. I have some choice diazo's which i prefer but the longer burn times kill me.

[Mr Tees!!]

...I've been meaning to post about this for awhle, and share how I tackled this  I'm headin to the shop now to do a vid, and ill post a link or something here later  !!

[Gilligan]

haha! yea trying to find a easier way..LOL

There has got to be a way to set up the tri lock to gang images.?

you can keep the tri lock, just drop the carrier sheets ala Alan's method... faster too boot.

[Frog]

One way to reduce emulsion expense, at least on small pocket prints, is to dedicate a few screens to just this duty with permanent blockout in all but the small image area(s)
Then, with a handy-dandy 6" coater, you'll hardly use any!

[whitewater]

We us the Saati Textil PV..I like it..

We always ganged on the manual, but with the trilock just finding it difficult..

Maybe just make my own grid like i did with the manual screens, but i like the carrier sheets

[Mr Tees!!]

...heres a long and shaky (youtube is working some kinda anti-shake voodoo on it) vid featuring my custom-made TriLoc part that enables us to gang screens and eliminate carrier sheets as well. Sorry for the crappy shaky vid, I was trying to do it by myself, one-handed.

TriLoc Mod!!

...this is theoretically the same as what Alan is doing, I just didnt want to rig my exposure jig upside down.

...I forgot to note that the screen used in the vid actually has THREE images on it. The one that says BEST is part of a 2-color image, and the other side has a leftchest and full back on the same film.

...any questions post away, Im on some serious cold meds right now and not sure i covered it all.

 

[Gilligan]

...heres a long and shaky (youtube is working some kinda anti-shake voodoo on it) vid featuring my custom-made TriLoc part that enables us to gang screens and eliminate carrier sheets as well. Sorry for the crappy shaky vid, I was trying to do it by myself, one-handed.

TriLoc Mod!!

...this is theoretically the same as what Alan is doing, I just didnt want to rig my exposure jig upside down.

...I forgot to note that the screen used in the vid actually has THREE images on it. The one that says BEST is part of a 2-color image, and the other side has a leftchest and full back on the same film.

...any questions post away, Im on some serious cold meds right now and not sure i covered it all.

 

Like that!

[Homer]

I'm not a fan of the carrier sheets either. i suppose I'll put up the pics of my newest contraption. It's basically the same idea as Mr T but not as nice. I use 3 targets, 2 top, 1 bottom left. I made a master film plate with targets and taped it to a piece of glass about 1/2" smaller than the inside dimension of screen. this way, the mesh is perfectly flat against the glass. I had a lazy moment and used 3" tape to block out the light instead of vinyl. looks like crap. it's one of those temporary things that becomes permanent....

this is the unit mounted on a light table



stop blocks (bolts)


step 1 , put the screen in hit the stop blocks.



step 2, line film up to reg marks


step 3, tape it down


step 4, repeat...15 seconds is about average to reg a film if you're taking your time

[Evo]

We are just going through a ton more emulsion and figure we can do a better job..


Any opinions?

If you don't want to gang images than just go ahead and coat the whole thing and burn one end. The little bit of extra emulsion is a few pennies vs. time to put in the extra steps of blockout, tape, old film, etc.

You can gang images with the Triloc and carrier sheets. Use a very thick piece of black visqueen or opaque cardstock and block one end of the mesh during exposure. Flip and repeat.

[Nick Bane]

or print both images on the same piece of film, spaced and oriented accordingly.

[alan802]

Nice stuff guys.  As soon as I got our triloc I had to find a way to use it without carrier sheets and I really like that M&R made an FPU for Sean like that to adapt to the no carrier sheet method.  I wish I had one like that but the way I got around that issue works great and if it ain't broke...  I have also thought about doing a wall mount FPU like Sean but I haven't had the time to mess with it. 

I certainly don't like to tell M&R how to do their business (just thinking out loud here but if I were them, I'd adopt the "no carrier sheet" triloc and manufacturer the new system and begin to phase out the carrier sheet triloc system.  I'd also build a stand to hold the new FPU and add backlighting.  I know it would resemble another manufacturer's system and also a guy that is not thought of too highly has been pushing the "film to screen" but I hope pride wouldn't get in the way of providing customers with the best system.  I don't know if there would be any patent issues to work through if M&R were to build a new FPU stand that somewhat resembles the MHM but I think the triloc would be unbelievable with M&R's commitment and their manufacturing ability.  I know people are very proud of the triloc and it has been a great tool over the years but I think most of us would agree that the MHM system is better/faster/as accurate and M&R could make a few adjustments to it and it would be damn near perfect.  The only way to make it better would be if each printhead had their own pallet jig so you didn't have to take the jig on and off for every job.

We also gang up 95% of our screens and I couldn't imagine not being able to do that without having to block out one side of the screen then burning the other side at a different time.  That would double the time you spend developing screens.  I'm a huge believer and fan of the no carrier sheet triloc system, I've been using this method for a few years and it is great.  I know it could be even better if the entire system was built by M&R instead of the garage manufacturing that I've had to do to make ours work properly.

[3Deep]

Nice guys, but the best block I got was from my buddy Scott (SportsShop), he told me to use that wax paper you get from the dollar store for baking cookies, just tape the edges and your good..ink won't stick to it just wipes off clean.

Darryl