screen printing > Screen Making
Permanent Block-out
tonypep:
And theres the wonderful odor the Estalan B emits. Hope you were well ventilated. The product works however.
Frog:
Well, as I said, I started this thread when it popped up in the tape discussion. I'm hoping that Squeegee, the guy who mentioned it, hits us up a little more info.
Yep, pretty much limited to static glued frames, at least from my experience. Back those 100 years of Tony's, I used an expensive, rubbery two part product called Pro-Seal, which I understand was developed as a fuel tank sealant.
Years later, I tried using screen glue, though it was the one part type.
I found that it got brittle, but I seem to remember in a discussion a year or so back, someone said that the present stuff flexes enough to hold up.
Alan, when I was introduced to this stuff, I was printing flat stock, and many of the screens were more than four times the size of our auto screens. Masking tape and a cardboard squeegee, and I don't think that even a six foot screen took a half hour.
What I do do now, is try to tape semi-permanently by taping with my regular rubber adhesive tape inside and out, trying to line up the edges nicely, and only replacing it when it needs it, often many jobs down the line.
I don't use a dip tank right now, so that may be a factor in its success.
squeegee:
I have some pictures I took of the method we use that I'll put up later but basically it's called liquid tape primecoat sealer, a 2 part system, the sealer and the catalyst though we use very little catalyst, less than recommended. It holds up really well, only rarely do we have to touch up a screen. I have screens that I'd estimate have been reclaimed at least 50-100 times and the blockout is still there and good.
Good application is key, when I get more time I'll put up a better explaination along with pictures.
squeegee:
So here's the way we apply the liquid tape, first we use a piece of cardboard and a sharpie to outline the border area to be covered, we leave 1/2" of overlap for the scoops. We've used this stuff on EZ frames mostly and some statics.
We use cheap sponge applicators to apply it, with a headlamp to really see what you're doing. The blockout has to be applied smoothly with no bumps that can interfere with coating. What we do now not in this picture is seal off the edges with blue painter's tape where the panel's locking strip engages the tensioning bar. We do this to keep the blockout from getting into that channel which can make removing the locking strips difficult if it gets in there during application, we then remove the tape after application and before putting the fabric protectors on. We also put a small piece of painters tape on the corners of the mesh to keep the mesh from sticking to the corners during application.
When we coat, the overlap allows the emulsion to completely seal the screen, so we no longer tape up screens before going to production. We also use an auto coater.
It takes practice to get good at this, but my people can do about 6 an hour I'd estimate. I'd say a gallon of this stuff can do about 200 23 x 31 frames. When we started, we did a marathon effort on a Sat and finished all of our frames between 3 people. We have about 150 frames. Just to give an idea of the environment, we do use a dip tank (stencil remover only) and CCI CG4 ink degradent, Liquid Renuit haze remover. We use plastisol, WB and discharge inks. I mention this because I know this blockout will hold up maybe even indefinately to these conditions.
For those interested, it's available at Nazdar, B53504 sealer, C5368OZ catalyst.
tonypep:
Thats exactly how we did it minus the cardboard.....we used painters tape. Don't rely on some Schlomo to do this. It takes finesse and care but once its done its permanent. Most recommended for those who print waterbase on a daily basis.
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