Whites Advice Please

[Gilligan]

I definitely suggest to get a consultant in there... Seems like the boss would go for it!

[tonypep]

Hiring a consultant can be a two-edged sword. So much of this is dependant on the workforce. They must be willing to try new things and put the egos aside. We are a finicky group and, since much of what we do is considered to have a high to mid-level degree of craftsmanship and creativity, there is often a degree of pride we take in what we do (hopefully). When Mr. Smarty pants arrives there can be more than a bit of eye rolling, especially if they are seasoned workers. That is the challenge of the consultant. Its all about personality. Being humans, we tend to resist change. And its much easier to make change not work then it is to make it successful.

[mimosatexas]

It sounds to me like the guy who has been there for 22 years thinks he knows it all, but if you are producing inferior work to cheapo chinese prints (not that these are all bad, but some are including the one in your photo) I would hope he would want to change that.  When I see a nice print in a store or on a friend, I tend to geek out and look at it for a while to try to figure out why it is so good.  It annoys the hell out of my wife...

I'm not sure if a consultant is worth the money if they aren't expressly open to the idea.  I think first you need to explain that even on a forum like this, with some of the best printers out there who have decades of experience, they still have ah-ha moments that they share.  That's just how printing is, there is always some area to improve.  Based on the image you posted originally, this guys 22 years of experience mean very little as a lot of us have been printing for a fraction of that time and produce superior prints every day.  That's not because we are lucky or have better equipment or anything...it's because we have researched and tested and have an enormous drive to become better printers.  This forum and others like it are ESSENTIAL to being better as you have the collective knowledge of so many great printers who want to help.

If they are satisfied with their inferior work and don't want to improve, you might want to find new people.  Experience is great, but not when it is an obstacle to improvement.  Someone without experience, but with motivation to improve will likely have you printing better in a shorter amount of time and with a lot fewer headaches.

[ebscreen]

At the very least use a harder squeegee for your underbase, and likely slow down the print/flood until you get the ink flowing.

[vwyob]

I agree completely. Many guys that believe they know the most actually know the least. I was a litho printer for over 20 years before going into management, so I know how easy it is to get stuck in your own comfort zone. I realise it is not the same medium lol. The machine costs for one; the last speedmaster I ran cost 1.4 million GBP and ran happily at 15000 sheets PH, here the E-type was around 40k I think. But people are people regardless of the job, pride I guess. After my last post I spoke to some of the team and I think some progress has been made. Not matter what you do, or how well you do it, there will always be room for improvement. Its starting to sink in that what I am doing is in a capacity of help and good intention.
I have asked them to be receptive; read and understand; read more from other sources and find the common seam in what they have read.....then apply it. Test it. Move forward.

I've gone a tad off topic, my apologies. Thanks again for all of the help. The forum is totally invaluable/priceless

[Gilligan]

Mirakami has news letters that always have good information... I print each one out and give it to my production manager and he reads it and puts it in a binder.

[GaryG]

How about emulsion, # of coating strokes, tension, squeege dur, angle and speed if you can...
Thx

Hey Pierre,
Guess I didn't make it clear- did notice above, vwyob had some good specs on his variables.

Was asking you -what would you have on these parameters?
Being seasoned, you have a very good handle on ink lay- Quick White I assume? 

It will be a great learning tid-bit for all to benefit I'm sure.

Thanks!

[vwyob]

Gary I would love to see how other guys set their e-types.
I have recently got the guys to slow down the flood and print. It was on 11 for flood and around 7 on the print. Now its 5 on the flood and 4 on the print, a little slower on the white. Angle for the white was on 3 but now been changed to 7 or 8. The pressure dial on the side is on 6 for all units. The amount of drop from squeegee to pallet we set with film initially, ignoring the dials. Even pressure established side for side, a firm pull of the film strip with print squeegee in its print position. Flood drop/height is set with a slight bump under the mesh and barely touching pallet. They used to crank everything down and down HARD. They have gone though several pallets with de-lamination. Not good.
After the weekly initial setting we pop in the ink and do a test. The height will have to come down but not by much, slight increments instead of full turns. The lads are too keen to drop the squeegee down to clear screen. A lot of the time they are crushing the garment. Getting them to see and address other variables first has been a toughie! lol
I would be really interested to see how other guys do their initial setup.

Also cheers Gilligan