squeegee durometer and why?

[Prosperi-Tees]

So I was printing a simple 2 color white and red on black fleece hoodies and have been recently looking at all my processes to get better and more efficient. So I picked up an 80 durometer squeegee and burned the white plate on a 140 yellow mesh static frame coated 2/2 on the thin side of the coater. I load it with my custom white ink I mixed with all the white scrap ink I had in the shop. I make one pass (push stroke) with the squeegee just kissing the garment and to my surprise the screen cleared. I lift the screen and it was almost passable. I think if I was on a 110 like I should've been it would have been a one hit white print. So I am stoked that just switching durometers could make such a difference.

So what durometers for what and why?

I'm loving how you could change one small thing in the process and get totally different results.

[jasonl]

I would say that 2 and 2 made the difference.  If you can never understand the importance of proper stencils, no durometer will help.  I learned this the hard way.

[Prosperi-Tees]

I'm just excited about my finally starting to think and implement little changes that make a big difference. I used to fight everything and get pissed and now really thinking of the way things work and actually making breakthroughs is awesome.

[Denis Kolar]

Try the same thing with 70 or 60/90/60 duro, white should look even better. Higher number duro will give you more detail, but lover duro will give you more/better coverage.

[Prosperi-Tees]

I think I am going to get a bunch of different durometers and try them to see what does what.

[ebscreen]

Also agree on the additional emulsion coats.

80 duro is what we use for underbase on fleece. Makes a world of difference.
70 for most everything else.

What's up with the Jav man? Printing manually has got to be getting redundant by now.

[Prosperi-Tees]

I need to stop feeling intimidated by it. And just do it no matter what size run it is. I didn't do it on this one because of the underbase. First time I tried an underbase on the jav it didn't turn out well.

[ebscreen]

It's a tricky thing learning to print on an auto, and underbases can be about the trickiest.
Get a few different durometers for your flood and squeegee, a job with lax timing and a buttload
of test prints. Oh, and some Quick white.

[sportsshoppe]

Hey PT's I have the Freedom which is  really close to the Jav. if you have any questions or advice drop me a line. I have had mine for about 9 yrs now and it is really a workhorse. I do not do the intense designs like some but we turn some shirt out on it. Go ahead set the job on it, that is the only way to learn it. Good Luck

[Screened Gear]

I need to stop feeling intimidated by it. And just do it no matter what size run it is. I didn't do it on this one because of the underbase. First time I tried an underbase on the jav it didn't turn out well.

Welcome to the auto world. This is the untold story of getting your first auto. I am just now starting to run more jobs on my auto. I didn't run anything on it unless it was over 75 shirts. That is about 30 to 50% of my business. The smaller stuff I ran manually for the last 10 months. I am just now getting to where I will run anything on the auto. It wasn't the auto as it was me. I had no auto experience before this press. I have been swamped with getting the new shop set up and the learning the auto. I also had a lot of work so time to learn the auto was not there. I was also intimidated by it because the first few jobs, well didn’t go so well. The prints looked good but not as good as I could do manually. I am very picky. Looking back on it I wish I would have just spent a few weekends running jobs on the auto until I got it down sooner.

It is slower in the beginning. That is the part I had a hard time dealing with. I had jobs that I had to rush to get out the door. I could print faster on my manual so I did them on the manual. (jobs under 75 shirts) Now I am faster on the auto. Spend the time to learn it. You spent a lot of time looking for that press. You should at least give your self the time to learn how to run it. (I did and I am now happier and I don’t hurt as much in the mornings)

[Prosperi-Tees]

Now that I have the shop arranged like it should and the new dryer that will keep up with it I am going to work on it. The trickiest thing I have noticed is getting the right angles and pressures especially with that v squeegee on the Jav.

[ebscreen]

Yep.

Slap a 80 duro in the print squeegee and give it a whirl. Start with a nearly
straight up angle, and flood hard. You'll likely have to use a lot of pressure
in the beginning but you can start backing off it and switching to softer durometers
once you start getting the screen to clear easily.

[Prosperi-Tees]

Hey PT's I have the Freedom which is  really close to the Jav. if you have any questions or advice drop me a line. I have had mine for about 9 yrs now and it is really a workhorse. I do not do the intense designs like some but we turn some shirt out on it. Go ahead set the job on it, that is the only way to learn it. Good Luck

Any possibility you could get me a pic of how you have your squeegee settings? I also most likely should replace all the rubber in my squeegees, no telling how old they are.