what to charge for making screens?

[whitewater]

We contacted a bar about doing their screen printing. They said they do all their printing in house..no idea how they do it, but they do not have a dark room and was wondering if we could make their screens for them. They would supply the art and screens, we would coat them and burn.

Would any of you even do this?

If so what would you charge?

Just wondering what their capability is as far as printing goes, and wether if they ever need some shirts done that they cant handle or something then we would be there...

Thanks

[Gilligan]

Rob, maybe work out a wholesale deal with them.  Or maybe sit down and do the math with them, it might not be worth their time in the end.  Sorry, I didn't answer your question... I forget what my buddy charged me... Hmm 20, 30 tops.  I remember not liking it though. Lol

[TCT]

We actually have someone ask us to do this on average of once a month.  I learned years ago, for us it is no where near worth it.  Too much risk and headache:
What if you rip a screen or something?  They don't like where it is lined up, there is a blemish in the screen, emulsion breaks down from excessive scrubbing or re-use becomes your fault, problems with the artwork and they need another one ASAP, their screens are dirty as all hell, the list goes on.
I would say, if it is something you are going to do outline very clear language in a contract or something to save you some headache. I lucked out and found one of our suppliers burns screens for people.  I just send people there, the people are happy and the supplier appreciates the business!

[ericheartsu]

we do it every once in a while, and we charge $75 (for standard mesh-110, 156, a little more for higher mesh). That includes the film, a 20x24" aluminum frame, emulsioned, exposed and blocked out.

[mk162]

yeah, I wouldn't do it either...and then I would tell them that since I have a kitchen I can make my own food/drinks too, can I have their recipes.

Maybe you should ask him what he makes more money doing, selling liquor or printing shirts.

And no, I wouldn't do it.  I had a guy wanting me to do the same, and I couldn't get rid of him fast enough...i have more profitable things to do.

[3Deep]

Simple answer for me would be NO! unless your in the biz and need  help

Darryl

[royster13]

http://www.silkscreeningsupplies.com/product/4010

[Socalfmf]

we make screens for a guy who makes shipping boxes...the big ones. and we charge 86 bucks for a 23x31 230 mesh.

[GaryG]

Get or buy a shirt or two and wash it a bunch of times.
See if they are cured well. Odds are they might not hold up, then...
sell them a bunch.

[inkman996]

We have one company that buys their own meshed screens, they hold their own inventory but they bring in x amount of screens every few weeks to be coated and exposed. Every piece of film has line up specs written out for us so no worries about miss placements, we coat burn and expose their screens for $50 a pop. Considering they all us get thrown into our day to day stuff its a lucrative deal. And like I said we never inventory their screens.

[Parker 1]

Did it once 3 yrs. ago charged 50 bucks, used a hardener to lock in the image.  Guy called back and said he needed a different image and was unable to reclaim the screen.  I told him he had to reclaim it using a razor blade.  Never heard from him again. 

[kingscreen]

In my experience, it's never worth it.

But Anthem does it. You can reference their pricing for that service: http://www.anthemprintingsf.com/Screen-Burning-Services-s/179.htm

[StuJohnston]

I just had someone ask about this. I ended the email saying that it would probably be cheaper for me to do his whole job rather than going out and buying the stuff and diy-ing it. Anyhow, I referred him to a local screen guy, www.officialscreens.com I just went in today to meet with Gabriel and he's a pretty cool guy. He took me into his shop to show me his stretchers and exposure unit. We chatted a bit afterwards and I mentioned this board to him, hopefully he'll check it out.

Anyhow, all he does is remeshing, making screen frames and coat/burn screens. It's apparently possible to do this for a profit, he's been at it for eight years. But I would prefer to only have myself as a customer for screens that I make.

As an aside, I went there to find out about custom large format screens and I asked about getting a 76x65 frame coated and burned and it was a fair bit less than I thought it would be.

[Inkworks]

Price it so it makes you good margin and treat it like anything else you do to make money.

[StuJohnston]

I completely agree, the problem with this particular request that I had and likely others like it is that the customer isn't necessarily well versed in the art of printing. I know from experience, when I had a lack of it, I thought the screen was the problem many times that it wasn't. I suppose if it were an experienced printer that just needed something exposed that they couldn't fit on their exposure unit I would be more than happy to help them.