Going from Ts to Fleece

[ZooCity]

Something is up with my brain today...I'm getting to know our gauntlet and I guess the thinkin' cap is on.

I just had this idea for presses that run platens with 1/8" rubber tops and have no central o.c., to go from printing Ts to fleece.  As you probably know, raising the o.c. on a press without the central adjustment typically means re-registering your job.  Big time waster and so many orders are something to the tune of 100ish pcs, 75 Ts and 25 sweats so, if you priced that all together you're losing out by registering again because you aren't getting paid for that setup.

You do a platen change.  Your dedicated fleece platens have no rubber, therefore have added 1/8" to the o.c. 

Bonus, for us at least, is that we use wb roll on tack for Ts and then the web spray for fleece.  The two don't get along and you have to do a platen tape change after using the web.  With a dedicated set of fleece boards you can just keep spraying the web tack on for a long time before changing.

Now to find another set of 16x22s...

[Dottonedan]

Thats a great thought. Anyone with the extra pallets should appreciate that. I'm guessing the change over is half the time of re-registering?  Seems to make sense.

[ScreenFoo]

No central OC is rough. 

But even with it, on most orders I do with both T's AND fleece, I just set up the print with the OC high enough for fleece, just a little pressure adjustment switching over and off we go.
Wears on the screens a bit more than necessary, but I have a set amount I drop the choppers, and I do one manually just to double check it before I start up, but rarely have probs.

[jsheridan]

Just use steel shims in your frame holders cut from length stock of 1/8 and 1/16 flat steel. You can stack them to create any height you want in whatever head.

This was a trick we used when doing HD and stacked HD work. You had to shim the screen, not the machine.

[ZooCity]

Just use steel shims in your frame holders cut from length stock of 1/8 and 1/16 flat steel. You can stack them to create any height you want in whatever head.

This was a trick we used when doing HD and stacked HD work. You had to shim the screen, not the machine.

I'm all about shimming under screens and avoid touching off contact adjustments wherever possible, they are mostly a fail point and a place to put your press out of parallel, but you still need to re-reg if shimming up from T to fleece height.. 

Foo, I guess that wouldn't be too bad for most spot color work and especially with the thinner fleece that is in fashion now.  I'll try that out too.

I'm an anal son of a b. with off contact...unless it's discharge/wb then it's on contact.  Speaking of, I need to get a nice set of shims ready for the Gauntlet.  We'll have to set the o.c. to the "zero" point for dc/wb and then shim up for plastisol.

[GaryG]

Zoo- after web or other spray tack on top of -roll on wb tack try this...
Just use some mineral spirits and scrubby to get spray tack off, let dry and see that
the wb is still useful.  You may have to add a tad in some bare spots, but good to go.
We do this and don't have to change paper or any more effort.

[ZooCity]

Zoo- after web or other spray tack on top of -roll on wb tack try this...
Just use some mineral spirits and scrubby to get spray tack off, let dry and see that
the wb is still useful.  You may have to add a tad in some bare spots, but good to go.
We do this and don't have to change paper or any more effort.

Crazy.  I'll try that.

[GaryG]

Yeah the spirits break down that type of glue and leaves the water soluble tack under it.
At least with the Textac that's what we have found. Scotchbrite pad with a handle like for screens,
then t-shirt wiping the little dingle berries off smooth. Make sure you dry, then should be just like new wb tack.
I suppose we don't print zillions of fleece, but works with moderate amount of tac layer.

[ScreenFoo]

Are you using platen tape as well?  Sounds like a cool trick.
I always get those orders for a couple hundred T's and then two or three dozen hoods, always stinks. 

Zoo--I wouldn't do it on anything but spot colors with mid-low mesh, for sure.   Those S thread screens or high mesh screens might not be too happy about the extra strain.

[GaryG]

Yes med tack tape. Used spray tack for 20 years, then couldn't see our new
Sportsman with a film of stickem on it! Learned here that water based rolled on
tack lasted hundreds of tee prints and it is a dream compared to picking up "the can"
every other round.

I was surprised the first time mineral spirits left some wb tack underneath, but is like
the old oil and water don't mix.  You know, clean up paint brushes up with water (latex) or
paint thinner (oil based). As mentioned, some spots may need some more touch up w/ wb.

[ZooCity]

Zoo--I wouldn't do it on anything but spot colors with mid-low mesh, for sure.   Those S thread screens or high mesh screens might not be too happy about the extra strain.

Agreed on that.  I run 25" wide screens and can get away with a tiny bit more of that sort of thing (bigger "sweet spot") but even our spot color stuff can require very tight reg.