Getting a good flood on the auto?

[Colin]

First a comment on ink flow/stirring.

All Inks are tested in the lab before being released to the public.  All viscocity testing is done with the ink at 72 degrees fahrenheit.  This is why you see proper print characteristics when the ink is warm.  That's how it is tested.

Now a very quick very very basic breakdown on ink chemistry.

Viscocity Buster = Plasticiser

Curable reducer = Resin and Plasticiser.  No Filler. No thickener.

Chino Base, Fashion Soft, etc... = Resin, Plasticiser, some filler for effects, and very little thickening agent like Cabosil (Fumed Silica).  They are all a little thicker than standard Curable Reducer.

Ink Bases = Resin, Plasticiser, some filler ingredients for rheological/adhesive/opacity/flashing purposes.  Thickeners for desired effects/rheology.

Finished inks = Resin, Plasticiser, filler ingredients, thickeners, and supporting chemicals based on end use.

Quickest way to reduce viscocity of white is by using the most fluid product available.  That is plasticiser.  But if you over add you end up with extended flash times and/or the potential for not curing.

Second quickest way is to add curable reducer.  It has no viscocity modifications and will create flow that much faster.  Yes, it can extend flash times.

3rd option is a lower viscocity base of your personal choice.

However, this is screenprinting.  We all have our personal opinion on proper flow and print characteristics.  If I get my best print characteristics by using curable reducer and someone else gets their best print characteristics by adding the thickest base known to man.  Then they are both correct answers.

I believe the reason why Alan went with the base in his white is because it improves the screen shear of the ink while also keeping it's viscocity low and rolling just enough.  Curable reducer does not change drag/shear qualities of an ink.

The short answer on the Street Fighter ink.  It's inconsistent.  I have been using it for the last year and it..... frustrates me.  Sometimes it's "runny" lower visc.  Sometimes it's very short bodied and reminds me of old XOLB-158.  Most of you will understand that reference.  Flash times on the SF are not consistent as well as the opacity. 

Conclusion, it is a cheap white.  A Very Good cheap white.  As a result, you learn to work with it, or search for a new white..... like me.

My 2 cents.

[alan802]

I would advise most of you who haven't done it already, copy/paste Colin's post onto something you can save and keep for future reference, that's some golden info.

[Northland]

I've been using Wilflex Epic Quick white lately..... it has a quality that I describe as "waxy". It seems to be full bodied, but yet pushes threw the  mesh cleanly and the print doesn't get stippled when lifting the screen. I don't know what ink component provides that property, but I don't mind paying extra for it. It does climb the squeegee a little .... but not as much as a QCM158.

I need to get some screens meshed up with thin thread to see how close I can get to the proverbial "one hit".

[ebscreen]

Damn good info Colin.

Could you imagine having an ink tech/chemist on your production floor? Luckiest boss ever.

[Colin]

Thanks for the Kudos guys!

EB, there are still a few things that have stumped me with Rutlands inks.  Stuff that just shouldn't happen at certain temp ranges with wet on wet sim process printing.  But I guess it's now a new world of chemistry out there..... grrrr.

Side note:  Wish I could get the garment saturation I need with waterbase/discharge inks for 50/55 lpi sim process printing   Make all the plastisol issues go away

[Northland]

I wonder if some auto users assume only the screen and pallet need to be in the same plane (parallel)... but overlook the fact that the squeegee track also needs to be paralleled to the same plane.

I'm a big fan of YouTube videos for tutorial and use it for just about every car repair I make.
I put a tutorial on YouTube about adjusting (paralleling) a TUF Javelin. I'm not proud of it (and will probably remove it as soon as there's a better one available)... for now it's gonna have to suffice.

! Private video

[jvanick]

Northland, this is great...

Barring too many print jobs this weekend, I'm gonna be doing this to mine... I know that I only leveled the base, not print table...

-J

[GaryG]

Colin~
There was the video series on the high solids acrylic H2O base ink.
He was practically writing the book on the new acrylic H2O...
Remember the US guy that prints overseas?
Where / who was that again guy's?

[inkman996]

I avoid using viscosity buster at all costs and only use it as a very last resort. It does work great as expected but man will it jack your flash times, I have added less than recommended amounts and still seen an increase in flash time.

I seriously have to take a vid soon of the issue we are dealing with concerning Miamis smooth white. It is cold in our shop but not that cold yet the latest five gallon we are using we cannot in any way flood the white ink. It has so much body it actually starts forming sideways icicles behind the flood bar.

It has nothing to do with stirring it, we just printed a large job with the white and even after being stroked hundreds of times it made no difference.

[alan802]

I wonder if some auto users assume only the screen and pallet need to be in the same plane (parallel)... but overlook the fact that the squeegee track also needs to be paralleled to the same plane.

I'm a big fan of YouTube videos for tutorial and use it for just about every car repair I make.
I put a tutorial on YouTube about adjusting (paralleling) a TUF Javelin. I'm not proud of it (and will probably remove it as soon as there's a better one available)... for now it's gonna have to suffice.

! Private video

That's why the flood bar mounted with dial indicators works so well for us.  The pallets and screen holders do need to be in plane, but not just to each other.  With all three in parallel you'll never have a favorite pallet to test print on or a favorite print head, they're all equal.

[Colin]

Colin~
There was the video series on the high solids acrylic H2O base ink.
He was practically writing the book on the new acrylic H2O...
Remember the US guy that prints overseas?
Where / who was that again guy's?

Mark Gervais

Part 1 of 6 - Waterbased PVC-Free Alternatives - Separations/Film Output

The main issue with the High Solids Acrylic is that it is low to medium opacity.  So the shops that are doing really excellent work have 16+ heads and multiple flash units for p/f/p of certain colors.  You WANT to run with hot pallets around 150+ degrees.... backwards thinking compared to plastisol

We won't print with it in our shop.  Plastisol and waterbase/discharge is where we will stay until the chemistry improves in the alternate ink types.

[Rockers]

Actually Union`s HSA white is anything then low or medium opaque. The few times we used it through high mesh counts it has been very opaque. Drys in the screen very quick though.

[tonypep]

Thanks for the Kudos guys!

EB, there are still a few things that have stumped me with Rutlands inks.  Stuff that just shouldn't happen at certain temp ranges with wet on wet sim process printing.  But I guess it's now a new world of chemistry out there..... grrrr.

Side note:  Wish I could get the garment saturation I need with waterbase/discharge inks for 50/55 lpi sim process printing   Make all the plastisol issues go away

Hard to state this without it coming out the wrong way but we have been printing sim/ true process DC
for a very long time without issue and no special "tricks". It does indeed take many issues away and changes some the basic fundamental tenets that have been drilled into us such as tension, dot gain, and off contact. We have executed a few experiments and have found the plastisol vs of the same graphic took longer to dial in and exhibited a lesser quality print. I won't bore everyone with previously posted pics but it really isn't that hard at all. When done correctly no dots visible even under a loupe.

[Colin]

I have seen your work Tony, and I am truly impressed.  Always have been.  You have knowledge I want

The problem I am having is the standard garment types PC61, G2000, 6.1 ounce garments etc.... I just cannot get the saturation I need to remove the last hint of shirt color from between the weave.  On ring spun Next level/Bella/Etc fashion garments (4.5 ounce etc ) I have much greater success, but it is still not as bright as I would wish.  I am using 225 mesh and 65/90/65 blades. 

Side note:  We are at the tail end of a 26k order with a simprocess front, very bright bright print.  Think bright yellow yellows and deep rich reds with the gamut of orange between.... we wanted to print as discharge.... but could not get the print nearly bright enough.  Easy peasy with plastisol....

The only time I was happy was when I had two colors with a heavy overlap/blend that gave me the saturation I needed.  Again 6.1 ounce garments.

We are using screens stretched between 25-30 (closer to 30) newtons as that's where we want them for plastisol.  I understand lower tension and close to zero off contact is better for saturation, but...

I have been toying with the idea of creating a "discharge base" like a white plate that would "prime" the area so I had better shirt color removal.  However, these types of jobs come in rarely.

I would actually pay for a discharge walk through on how to achieve proper saturation, color blending, separation techniques (the differences between waterbase and plastisol) Screen prep, etc.. for sim process across all garment types/weights.

Sorry to shift the topic guys!

[brandon]

Sometimes it's very short bodied and reminds me of old XOLB-158.  Most of you will understand that reference.

Yup. Too well actually