valuable lesson the hard way

[Fleetee]

So... learned a valuable lesson the hard and expensive way. i ordered a bulk order of 200 screens (60 110mesh, 130 160mesh, and 10 200mesh) and i only called the company back to add the 10 200mesh screens "just incase" last minute before it shipped. So i have a lot of various designs from simple lettering all the way up to half tones. I was going to hold off on the half tones and i assumed (for whatever reason) that i would get by with just 110 and 160 mesh counts for my designs other than the halftones. As i am printing and practicing, i realized the more smaller and detailed designs are, the design wouldnt stay on my screen after exposure (either it wouldn't wash out or whenever i did get it to wash out, it would wash out amount the entire detailed part of the design).
frustrated, i ended up doing more research to find out i would need mesh counts from 110 all the way to 280, and 305 for halftones. now im stuck with a bunch of 110 and 160 mesh screens and can even return them without paying the shipping and restocking fee. at this point, it's not even worth it to return. so im going to just keep them and do more research to really dial in what type of design requires what type of mesh count.

so my favor/question to you guys is, anyone have any reliable and informative videos, articles, charts, etc. that they know helped them when they were a newbie really understand the theory of what type of designs need to be paired up with what mesh count? i am using only plastisol ink btw

thanks guys

[Frog]

have you ever thought about hiring a consultant/trainer?

[Fleetee]

have you ever thought about hiring a consultant/trainer?

haha seems like i need one right? i actually have thought about it. i obviously dove into the deep end really early in this industry. any recommendations to where to look into? are you one?

[tonypep]

Call me in the AM  Carolina SC time

[Frog]

have you ever thought about hiring a consultant/trainer?

haha seems like i need one right? i actually have thought about it. i obviously dove into the deep end really early in this industry. any recommendations to where to look into? are you one?

Look up printficient in the members here. He's in your general vicinity of the country. And it looks like Tonypep is available as well. Can't go wrong.

[Dottonedan]

I'm thinking that the problem you are currently having, is not a mesh issue, but an exposure issue.  (Not washing out, and when it does, it washed out all of the detail).  Sounds like, the emulsion is too thick for the exposure time.

My first suggestion is to be sure that you have the right thickness of (EOM) or emulsion over mesh ratio. That is to be between 10-15 micons on higher mesh and anywhere between 10-20 on lower mesh (in a ball park).  Most people starting out won't know how to measure that so that's another discussion. To get the basics of (just the right amount) of EOM, refer to this article.  http://www.theshirtboard.com/index.php/topic,2621.0.html

A step before this article, is to be sure you first wash and then while washing, you roughen up your new mesh a little (abrade) the mesh. Just a little. Not too much. There are brushes for this that people here can suggest. This helps the emulsion bond to the mesh.

Once you have a decent or more accurate emulsion coating, you can then do an exposure test. I suggest using the stouffers 21 step test. http://www.stouffer.net/using21step.htm  Look for a good 7 to wash out.

Lastly, there is good news for your recent purchase. You can adjust your halftones (at the film output stage) to be larger so that they can be held easier on your lower mesh. You may be hearing to use 55lpi as a standard but you can go lower and get very good results. Try 40lpi and 45lpi.
The general rule of thumb is to divide your mesh you want to use, (lets say 200 mesh) and divide by 4.5  = 44.4 so round off to 45lpi.
There is more to know, but the above, would be a good start.

[Gilligan]

Read this site from "cover to cover" there is a LOT of knowledge stored on these servers!

[cbjamel]

I run 156 mesh yellow with 35 and 45lpi halftoned a lot.....  55 lpi on 230 and 305.
 156 white ink and colors no problem.

shane

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

[Fleetee]

I'm thinking that the problem you are currently having, is not a mesh issue, but an exposure issue.  (Not washing out, and when it does, it washed out all of the detail).  Sounds like, the emulsion is too thick for the exposure time.

My first suggestion is to be sure that you have the right thickness of (EOM) or emulsion over mesh ratio. That is to be between 10-15 micons on higher mesh and anywhere between 10-20 on lower mesh (in a ball park).  Most people starting out won't know how to measure that so that's another discussion. To get the basics of (just the right amount) of EOM, refer to this article.  http://www.theshirtboard.com/index.php/topic,2621.0.html

A step before this article, is to be sure you first wash and then while washing, you roughen up your new mesh a little (abrade) the mesh. Just a little. Not too much. There are brushes for this that people here can suggest. This helps the emulsion bond to the mesh.

i have a lot to learn. reading this article now, which are leading to more questions and more articles. thanks
Once you have a decent or more accurate emulsion coating, you can then do an exposure test. I suggest using the stouffers 21 step test. http://www.stouffer.net/using21step.htm  Look for a good 7 to wash out.

Lastly, there is good news for your recent purchase. You can adjust your halftones (at the film output stage) to be larger so that they can be held easier on your lower mesh. You may be hearing to use 55lpi as a standard but you can go lower and get very good results. Try 40lpi and 45lpi.
The general rule of thumb is to divide your mesh you want to use, (lets say 200 mesh) and divide by 4.5  = 44.4 so round off to 45lpi.
There is more to know, but the above, would be a good start.

[Fleetee]

have you ever thought about hiring a consultant/trainer?

haha seems like i need one right? i actually have thought about it. i obviously dove into the deep end really early in this industry. any recommendations to where to look into? are you one?

Look up printficient in the members here. He's in your general vicinity of the country. And it looks like Tonypep is available as well. Can't go wrong.

i will make a separate post about this