Author Topic: Coating screens and putting them in a cabinet  (Read 4368 times)

Offline Appstro

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 183
Re: Coating screens and putting them in a cabinet
« Reply #15 on: January 15, 2014, 03:39:44 PM »
Gotcha! I have the cabinet door open now and the floor fan on low. Wanna hear something funny though?  I blacked out the shop and found the perfect spot for my cabinet. When I turned all the lights off I saw a flickering light coming from the roof of the shop....shining right on the spot where the cabinet is..... Its a stupid dormer whirly bird thing. had to climb up on the roof and put a few trash bags over it for now to block the light!!!

Screens drying now :)


Offline Appstro

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 183
Re: Coating screens and putting them in a cabinet
« Reply #16 on: January 15, 2014, 04:16:02 PM »
Looking at the screens as they are almost dry....The emulsion seems thin. I coated 1/1....made sure I had full contact with the coater....Should  I be feeling and seeing the mesh on the screens?

Offline Inkworks

  • !!!
  • Gonzo Member
  • ******
  • Posts: 1761
  • Pad&Screenprinter
Re: Coating screens and putting them in a cabinet
« Reply #17 on: January 15, 2014, 04:40:23 PM »
Put the "fart fan" on the top and a few holes on the bottom with a some kind of filter on them.
That will make the air move through

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Broan-70-CFM-Ceiling-Wall-Exhaust-Fan-671/202905936#


Yeah, that's what we did:

1st photo is hepa filter over air intake side, second photo shows fart fan that sucks air out of the cabinet, third photo shows holes between the two sides for air-flow.



« Last Edit: January 15, 2014, 04:42:42 PM by Inkworks »
Wishin' I was Fishin'

Offline Appstro

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 183
Re: Coating screens and putting them in a cabinet
« Reply #18 on: January 15, 2014, 04:58:10 PM »
What about the light that gets through the fart fan?

Offline Gilligan

  • !!!
  • Ludicrous Speed Member
  • *******
  • Posts: 6853
Re: Coating screens and putting them in a cabinet
« Reply #19 on: January 15, 2014, 05:27:38 PM »
Looking at the screens as they are almost dry....The emulsion seems thin. I coated 1/1....made sure I had full contact with the coater....Should  I be feeling and seeing the mesh on the screens?

Not with a proper glisten method.

What about the light that gets through the fart fan?

Unless it's something more than basic fluorescent or home lighting then I wouldn't worry about it.  Now if you have a window blasting on that vent then I'd do something.

It's been discussed a good bit about the need to go crazy with UV protection.  The general consensus seemed to be that it was fairly overrated.

Offline jsheridan

  • !!!
  • Gonzo Member
  • ******
  • Posts: 2130
Re: Coating screens and putting them in a cabinet
« Reply #20 on: January 15, 2014, 09:56:57 PM »
It was 85 degrees in the Sandy Eggo today.. and about 28% humidity.

Around here, all we really need is a fan to move the air.

Man.. I love San Diego this time of year  8)
Blacktop Graphics Screenprinting and Consulting Services

Offline mk162

  • Ludicrous Speed Member
  • *******
  • Posts: 7858
Re: Coating screens and putting them in a cabinet
« Reply #21 on: January 16, 2014, 09:21:54 AM »
there are shops around me that still use red lights in their darkrooms.  we are moving to regular light, LED's to be exact.  We are testing right now to see if they will expose a screen overnight or over a weekend.  I am thinking no, but we'll see....a poor man's uv tester.

Offline 3Deep

  • !!!
  • Ludicrous Speed Member
  • *******
  • Posts: 5323
Re: Coating screens and putting them in a cabinet
« Reply #22 on: January 16, 2014, 11:08:25 AM »
Those are some nice cabinets, but mine is a small one that I sit a fan in front of and screens are dry in about 15 to 30 minutes at least to my touch and they seem to burn fine with no problem.

Darryl
Life is like Kool-Aid, gotta add sugar/hardwork to make it sweet!!

Offline Appstro

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 183
Re: Coating screens and putting them in a cabinet
« Reply #23 on: January 16, 2014, 11:37:17 AM »
I used a fan last night, but see that I should have vacuumed out my cabinet before placing the screens! A few wood chips.....I just built it Sunday, but got in a rush,...

Offline Inkworks

  • !!!
  • Gonzo Member
  • ******
  • Posts: 1761
  • Pad&Screenprinter
Re: Coating screens and putting them in a cabinet
« Reply #24 on: January 16, 2014, 11:41:35 AM »
That's why sucking air out is better than blowing air in, unless you go full on clean-room style with positive pressure, filtered air.
Wishin' I was Fishin'

Offline 3Deep

  • !!!
  • Ludicrous Speed Member
  • *******
  • Posts: 5323
Re: Coating screens and putting them in a cabinet
« Reply #25 on: January 16, 2014, 11:46:50 AM »
Ink you make a good point, I know I get dust on my wet screens before they dry cause of the fan blowing on them, but it has not been a problem causing pin holes.  I've been telling myself I was going to build a nice dryer cabinet one day...that one day just hadn't got here yet.

Darryl
Life is like Kool-Aid, gotta add sugar/hardwork to make it sweet!!

Offline cvreeland

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 111
Re: Coating screens and putting them in a cabinet
« Reply #26 on: January 16, 2014, 12:04:11 PM »
If you're using yellow mesh, you can cut a small scrap of that to use as your fan filter, & it will also help filter light. I'd use 230 or thereabouts. -- that should catch most lint, but still allow some air through.
Owner, writer Art Wear - a screen printing blog

Offline Appstro

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 183
Re: Coating screens and putting them in a cabinet
« Reply #27 on: January 16, 2014, 12:16:25 PM »
Thats a good idea. I am probably going to to the "fan upgrade" this weekend :)
I am itching to make some shirts today :)

Offline Frog

  • Administrator
  • Ludicrous Speed Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 13980
  • Docendo discimus
Re: Coating screens and putting them in a cabinet
« Reply #28 on: January 16, 2014, 12:17:14 PM »
That's why sucking air out is better than blowing air in, unless you go full on clean-room style with positive pressure, filtered air.

Remember though that that's exactly how a vacuum cleaner works, and without some filtering, the cabinet becomes the vacuum canister or bag!
That rug really tied the room together, did it not?

Offline Inkworks

  • !!!
  • Gonzo Member
  • ******
  • Posts: 1761
  • Pad&Screenprinter
Re: Coating screens and putting them in a cabinet
« Reply #29 on: January 17, 2014, 06:31:15 PM »
Lol, yeah I hadn't thought of it that way. We always found when we were just using a box fan, that blowing it into the cabinet raised dust, where sucking air out was much gentler and worked just as fast. Actual clean rooms work exactly the opposite, and any small spot where air can leak will have filtered air coming out of it, rather than sucking air, and contaminants into it. Eventually we'll have a small fan blowing filtered air into our screen room for this exact reason. Done right the room should stay quite dust/lint free.
Wishin' I was Fishin'