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screen printing => Screen Making => Topic started by: blue moon on June 15, 2011, 09:51:40 AM
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http://www.theshirtboard.com/index.php?action=articles;sa=view;article=2 (http://www.theshirtboard.com/index.php?action=articles;sa=view;article=2)
We use it here. This does not mean we check the screen every time, but I went through the process and noted how many coats it takes to achieve the results and we stick with it.
Anybody else used this to determine the coating procedure?
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affirmative.
I actually had to go out and buy a coater with a round edge some years back to cut down on the number of coats to achieve this.
(My old Advance coater will soon be a collector's item that I hope to sell to the lucky winner of the vintage wooden screen auction on ebay.)
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(My old Advance coater will soon be a collector's item that I hope to sell to the lucky winner of the vintage wooden screen auction on ebay.)
:)
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We use the glisten method here. I think those who don't use it are missing out and most likely are not printing with a sufficient eom. Whenever we get a new emulsion I'll go in the dark room and we determine how many coats on each side with the glisten method, then I'll measure the stencils with the thickness gauge to make sure the eom's are good. I've found that if you use the glisten method, your eom's will be really close to where they should be and you don't really need a thickness gauge unless you want to go beyond the 15-25% eom ratio. We do sometimes add coating strokes for those stencils we want to be thicker, especially if we have a job that we can do a "one hit" print on.
I have a chart on the wall above the coating area that has all the desired coating strokes for each mesh count we use so our screens are very consistent in thickness.
The glisten method has been around for a long time, I'm surprised that it's not the standard coating technique and many people don't use it. None of the local shops that we burn screens for use that technique and I am amazed at some of the stencils that others try to print with around here. And damn guys, how about putting some sandpaper to the scoop coater and getting rid of all the vertical lines in the stencil. There will be areas of the screens with zero eom, then a few mm's away it's 20% eom, it's amazing. I'll start taking pics of some of the screens that come in here.
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One more here.
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I am a recent convert. I wouldn't go back to any other way. I test our EOM and it's spot on.
Hands down the best coater I've used it the AWT...
http://www.techsupportsps.com/store/supplies/scoop-coaters/awt-pro-angle-2-scoop-coater.html (http://www.techsupportsps.com/store/supplies/scoop-coaters/awt-pro-angle-2-scoop-coater.html)
You have to sand the corners on the rounded side, they are squared off for some dumb reason. Busted a screen that way.
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My method of choice since 1998.
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Here here. For plastisol anyways. It sucks being a hybrid shop. I can't predict what a screen
will be used for.
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Here here. For plastisol anyways. It sucks being a hybrid shop. I can't predict what a screen
will be used for.
What's different regarding coating technique for you wb/discharge screens?
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For about 30 years or so. I still use the thin edge of the coater though, better control for me. It just seemed to me way back then that thicker emulsion on the print side made a better stencil, less effect from the fabric. We didn't have a name for it though, EOM is it.
Steve
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Here here. For plastisol anyways. It sucks being a hybrid shop. I can't predict what a screen
will be used for.
What's different regarding coating technique for you wb/discharge screens?
You don't need the EOM, gasket, whatever you want to call it. Can even be detrimental.
You're not shearing off a pre-load, you're saturating fabric.
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Here here. For plastisol anyways. It sucks being a hybrid shop. I can't predict what a screen
will be used for.
What's different regarding coating technique for you wb/discharge screens?
You don't need the EOM, gasket, whatever you want to call it. Can even be detrimental.
You're not shearing off a pre-load, you're saturating fabric.
Good point. Very good to know. Never took time or needed to take the time to think about that but makes sense.
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@ Alan802
then I'll measure the stencils with the thickness gauge to make sure the eom's are good.
YEE HAW! I's good to hear people actually measuring. I know gadgets are expensive but control is priceless.
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I measure them too ;D
I've noticed better stencils, but it has taken a while to dial the exposure in, it was triple the time of my previous stencils.
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There was a Saati thickness gauge on Ebay the other day for about $100. I almost bought
it but we're about 80% waterbased these days, and almost %100 on darks, where EOM really matters.
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Here here. For plastisol anyways. It sucks being a hybrid shop. I can't predict what a screen
will be used for.
What's different regarding coating technique for you wb/discharge screens?
Thick stencils are not required for discharge.......printing a thick deposit wastes ink and takes more time to cure. Its more about the chemistry tahn the application.
tp
You don't need the EOM, gasket, whatever you want to call it. Can even be detrimental.
You're not shearing off a pre-load, you're saturating fabric.
Good point. Very good to know. Never took time or needed to take the time to think about that but makes sense.
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Here here. For plastisol anyways. It sucks being a hybrid shop. I can't predict what a screen
will be used for.
What's different regarding coating technique for you wb/discharge screens?
Thick stencils are not required for discharge.......printing a thick deposit wastes ink and takes more time to cure. Its more about the chemistry tahn the application.
tp
You don't need the EOM, gasket, whatever you want to call it. Can even be detrimental.
You're not shearing off a pre-load, you're saturating fabric.
Good point. Very good to know. Never took time or needed to take the time to think about that but makes sense.
Discharge is a different animal - if you are attempting to put down “the kiss of ink” with plastisol, you will be frustrated with discharge because the product demands a particular level of penetration into the fabric to work!
600 plus variables - start finding the main ones for your application!
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I find myself saying that whenever something is acting strange, "remove the variables".
How's this though. I'm trying a new emulsion from CCI, and so far I love it, except
for one thing. After coating and drying, the surface feels rough. Like a fine grit sandpaper.
Anyone ever dealt with that?
But to add a variable and make things more complicated, the day I started using the new
emulsion, I got a new screen cleaning guy in. Haven't been able to sit and watch or instruct
other than the basics, but it doesn't seem like he's doing anything that would cause this.
Really hope it's not the emulsion thought it probably is. This stuff is great, except for that.
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I find myself saying that whenever something is acting strange, "remove the variables".
How's this though. I'm trying a new emulsion from CCI, and so far I love it, except
for one thing. After coating and drying, the surface feels rough. Like a fine grit sandpaper.
Anyone ever dealt with that?
But to add a variable and make things more complicated, the day I started using the new
emulsion, I got a new screen cleaning guy in. Haven't been able to sit and watch or instruct
other than the basics, but it doesn't seem like he's doing anything that would cause this.
Really hope it's not the emulsion thought it probably is. This stuff is great, except for that.
What one did you try? How did you like it?
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CCI ProChem TexCoat. Love it, just got 5 more gallons in. Better water resistance and
resolution than my old fave. Just got some plastisol in from them as well, I might be down
to 2 suppliers if it works out.
Issue mentioned above is from not noticing how damn hot it was getting in my
cabinet. Drying screens too hot causes some weird stuff, like the texture I noticed
as well as sandwiching of wet layers in between dry. This is my first summer in this
building and my drying cabinet is on a side that gets a lot of sun. Doh!