Wanting to try WB/DC - possible with my dryer?

[BrazosDesigns]

I've been doing plastisol for years, but after seeing the amazing results of wb/dc, I'd like to start working towards that better 'feel.'   Also, getting tri-blend orders.

Equipment: I have a Mach 6/6 manual, National 8ft ir dryer with air assist and exhaust, HotRoq quartz flash.

Can this equipment yield a  good print/dry speed results?   
Any ink recommendations? 
Suggestions?

About a year ago I purchased the green galaxy comet white as well as the mixing kit with pigments and clear/opaque base and some low cure additive to try. Haven't even opened it.  Will this yield good results?   But willing to try Matsui, etc. etc.

Thanks!
Darren

[zanegun08]

Yes, just slow that dryer down to turtle speed and load it up with the shirts folded up side by side.

Do some wash tests as it's really important to cure discharge properly otherwise it fades really bad, and worse comes to worse just run the shirts through the dryer twice.

Maybe to make an easier transition get some plasti-charge and pre-mixed white discharge (Matsui / whoever)

I started with discharge on a small dryer and have shirts years old that still look great, just run them slowwwww, and do some wash tests.

Also just doing discharge under base (80% Base, 20% White) under the plastisol will give a softer hand than doing a white base.

Have fun!

[Hey Monkey]

You are 1000% set to go with your setup!

[merchmonster]

we used to have a national 8ft dryer. watch out for scorch if you're doing this!
i would rather run the shirt through twice.

there are also some additives like aerotex that will help you by setting the cure even if all the water is not fully evaporated out of the ink

[Prince Art]

Make sure you've got good ventilation, too. DC fumes are no joke. If I were you (and this is what I did), just bring in enough to try it out before you plan too deeply. Base & white should be enough for you to see how it works with your setup.

[Maff]

It's possible, but you want to keep a close eye on your temps.  Get your stop watch out and temp gun in hand and monitor your prints as they go in the dryer, as soon as they get around 300-320 you want it to stay in the chamber for 3 minutes, but making sure they don't get too hot to scorch the shirt. Low and Slow is ideal.  Most inks recommend 320 for 3 minutes.  Some people go faster and hotter, but either way keep notes and test wash samples multiple times to see how the print holds up.

The nice thing about GG inks is that they are easy to work with. Commit white will print like a plastisol, you can push stroke and it won't dry in the screen (as long as its not left unattended for too long)  The pigments are also easy to work with.

Discharge is a whole other animal and has more variables that will effect the end results. Lots of testing is needed.

Whichever ink system you work with, you want to have everything organized and ready, so that once you start printing you can keep it going. Stopping for too long and ink will dry in the screen.

Cotton shirts are most reliable.  Some blended shirts are good to print, others are not.

[BrazosDesigns]

Great suggestions and thank you for the responses.  I'll order in some shirts for this purpose in a week or so and try some test prints.

I like the idea of a discharge base (80% Base, 20% White) under plastisol to improve the hand. Hopefully comet white would play friendly enough in high humidity and heat with warp low cure so that I could use that most of the time. 

I've got the dryer vented outside and also have an inline duct fan to help remove fumes.  I'll have to get my respirator out :-)

[Maxie]

I agree with Merch Monster, water based inks need to dry before they can heat up and cure.
For this reason they need a much longer time in the oven, you will have to print very slowly for your oven to keep up.
I think the best thing to do is to run them through the dryer, get rid of the water and then run them again to cure them.
This can be done while the machine is being set up or the printers are on a break.
You can do a wash test or run test, take piece of a white shirt, rub it on the cured w/d, it should stay white or close to white.

[merchmonster]

Something I wish we had did sooner was hook up an online fan to our exhaust pipe. Best $150 I spent this year. Gets rid of the fines asap.

Also fun facts about discharge - if shirt still smells like D.C. You need to keep curing.

[screenxpress]

I have an much older Vastex with a 36 inch heat tunnel.  What are the chances on waterbase?

[BrazosDesigns]

Well, I just upgraded my dryer!  I was able to find a Brown 3609 X series locally (which never happens in this small town) and was able to sell my National 2408.  The part that made the wife happy was getting the Brown delivered and National out in the same evening.

I think that the Brown 3609 should be able to do the water base and discharge with each, maybe not doing 150 a hour, but probably like 100 or so per hour.  It has 3 heat panels, can be slowed down to a 3 minute dwell, and had forced air.

Interesting thing about this dryer: the power cord with plug looks to be original and is a 10/3 wire (rated for 30 amps), but the breaker on the side of the dryer is a 50 amp and the 'hot' wires on the inside of the dryer are 6 gauge.  The cord looks to be original equipment.  Should I change the cord to a 6/3 (for 50 amp) or leave it as is?  Any other Brown 3609 owners here?

[Steve Harpold]

Hey,

We do not supply a cord with the dryer.  You should change that to the proper size as indicated by the breaker on the side of the machine or the serial tag. Congratulations on the new dryer, if you have any other questions please contact Brown Mfg! Thanks

[BrazosDesigns]

Steve,
Thanks for the reply and info about the cord.  I thought it was a bit odd to have the 10/4 going in.  I just picked up a 30' 6 gauge 3 conductor soow cable and wired that in.  The neutral and ground are bonded inside so all works well now.  I'll probably contact you about an new belt after I get it all setup.  I'll say this is a nice dryer and looks to be very easy to replace parts and to maintain.

Looking forward to moving into wb/discharge now.

[Maff]

Well, I just upgraded my dryer!  I was able to find a Brown 3609 X series locally (which never happens in this small town) and was able to sell my National 2408.  The part that made the wife happy was getting the Brown delivered and National out in the same evening.

I think that the Brown 3609 should be able to do the water base and discharge with each, maybe not doing 150 a hour, but probably like 100 or so per hour.  It has 3 heat panels, can be slowed down to a 3 minute dwell, and had forced air.

Interesting thing about this dryer: the power cord with plug looks to be original and is a 10/3 wire (rated for 30 amps), but the breaker on the side of the dryer is a 50 amp and the 'hot' wires on the inside of the dryer are 6 gauge.  The cord looks to be original equipment.  Should I change the cord to a 6/3 (for 50 amp) or leave it as is?  Any other Brown 3609 owners here?

We currently run the exact same dryer and print WB/DC regularly. We keep the fans turned up all the way and usually keep the infeed panels at the lowest level and the panels going out at the highest. This will help get the shirts up to temp quicker and then even out as they go through. Typically we set the temp to 325 but that can vary based on garment type. And the speed is usually set to about the slowest speed possible. The size of the print will effect how many an hour you can print and also how good your Tetris game is. Fold em up tight and you can cram a good deal of shirts on that belt.

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