Just a Video

[alan802]

I've always wanted to do videos on a regular basis with my rambling commentary for those who like that sort of thing like me.  I love watching videos on youtube of other shops printing but honestly there isn't that much out there and there is very little that has commentary with any type of details on the settings and parameters.  I know as we get busier I will have less time to do any videos and maybe I'm the only one that likes them and there won't be any need to do them but I digress.

In this vid I'm just showing off Joe's NexGen Cotton White ink and we're printing fast...well, fast by comparison to what we used to do.  I tried not to ramble but I don't have notes on what I'm going to say but I try to simply explain what and why and a little bit of how.  I'm also trying to encourage those shops that may be struggling with printing white plastisol for whatever reason to do what our shop did and not give up.  This work that we do is too hard to simply go through the motions and achieve a level of quality that is "good enough".  It does take extra work to do the testing and experimenting but once you get proficient at the techniques then it actually becomes easier and more efficient, a win/win/win situation.  I believe that if we're going to do this then we should do it the best way possible and get out of the rut of "getting by".  I try to explain the reasons why I think printing your base and top white fast is beneficial and what we've gained by doing it.  There may be some shops who won't benefit that much by using these techniques, sort of a law of diminishing returns, but if anyone would like to add to their quality and efficiency then I highly recommend taking those steps, it's worth it in my opinion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MoxcQskDAY

[Colin]

Watched the vid, no sound here at work.  I will listen to you at home.  Good looking prints!

How old is that 5 of xolb-158?

[Homer]

you using cotton white on a 50/50 shirt?

[farmboygraphics]

Frackin Lint Balls!!! :-)
P.S. I like watchin other shops video's too.

[Wildcard]

Does the flood pressure & speed also change with the fast print speed?

[Maxie]

There seems to be no angle on the squeegee, is there?
Is anyone printing fast using regular mesh?

[cbjamel]

Alan, I have a couple questions.
1. Double bevel what duro?
2. PFFP pull off.
Why not pfpf pull off?
What mesh count on both screens 150S? You said one screen.

Great video.

Thanks,
Shane

[Sbrem]

I do like the look of the first hit before the flash...

Steve

[alan802]

Watched the vid, no sound here at work.  I will listen to you at home.  Good looking prints!

How old is that 5 of xolb-158?

Not old, but it's junk.  It's got the tiny specks all in it.

you using cotton white on a 50/50 shirt?

It's a low bleed technically speaking.  It won't stop a 100% poly from bleeding but the 50/50's have gotten better over the years...somehow. 

Does the flood pressure & speed also change with the fast print speed?

Slightly.  We'll bump the psi up 1-2 for every 4-5"/sec.  The overall pressure on the shirt is relatively the same but you need to adjust the off contact a little bit and the pressure slightly as you increase your speed.  That's not always the case but as a general rule.

[alan802]

There seems to be no angle on the squeegee, is there?
Is anyone printing fast using regular mesh?

Regular mesh doesn't work well with fast speeds.  You have to go really low on your mesh counts to increase your open area.  It's about the mesh opening and the thickness of the threads/aka distance ink travels (think tunnel).

Alan, I have a couple questions.
1. Double bevel what duro?
2. PFFP pull off.
Why not pfpf pull off?
What mesh count on both screens 150S? You said one screen.

Great video.

Thanks,
Shane

1.  It's a prototype double beveled smiling jack.  It's an 85 duro technically but prints more like a 75 due to the hinge built into the blade. 

2.  Can print faster, by a significant margin.  Instead of flashing once before the top white at say, 3-4 seconds on that size print, we can flash it twice before the top color at around 2-3 seconds once things get warmed up and go as low as about 1.5 seconds if it's really warm.  That was a longer print run and after a few hundred shirts we get down under 2 seconds per flash when running that way and can get closer to 1000/hr production speeds.  If I have an inexperienced puller I'll PFPF to keep the snapbacks from happening but I expect the unloader to be able to unload at a fast pace.

I believe that was a 120/54 base and a 150/48 top.  We go back and forth from a 120 to a 150 for underbasing these days.  I'll use a 90/71 or a 100/55 for one hit whites/colors.  I've even used a 120 for red ink on a medium gray shirt to keep from basing it and the print turned out perfect.  I know it sounds blasphemous to use a 120 or equivalent mesh for a spot color on medium/light shirts but with thin thread mesh you can do that and still put down a very thin layer of ink that would not be so if you underbased then put a top color on.  You'd have to base with a high mesh and use a high mesh for the spot/top color to keep that thin of a deposit, not to mention tripling the time it takes to set up.  Set up one screen, one stroke or set up 2 screens that have to be perfectly registered, print, flash, print...I know which way I'll go.

Those mesh charts that look like a bunch of insane numbers on a page can tell you a lot about how thick or thin a print will be.  I see it all the time, someone is double stroking their underbase through a 156/64 then they are probably doubling the top color as well through a 230/48 or equivalent all to avoid using the dreaded "low mesh count screens" but I could do the same print with one screen, one stroke and have a thinner ink deposit.  I went to a shop last week that was doing that same scenario and the reason was because they don't use anything under a 156 because they don't want thick prints.  To give you some solid numbers to chew on:  Double stroke a 156/64 and then putting the top color on through a 230/48 will put down over 2 times the ink versus one hit through a 120/54.  Double stroke that 230 which is highly likely if you're using an opaque plastisol ink because it's one of the worst mesh counts to get ink through and we're talking close to 3 times as much ink as the single stroked 120/54.  Those numbers can be manipulated a little bit one way or the other with the blade specs and angle and O.C. but they're still relative and factual because it's really a matter of doing the math.  If there are those out there that don't look at mesh charts or know how to, I'd recommend learning it because it matters.  It's a map that will get you where you want to go if used properly. 

[jvanick]

I believe that was a 120/54 base and a 150/48 top.  We go back and forth from a 120 to a 150 for underbasing these days.  I'll use a 90/71 or a 100/55 for one hit whites/colors.

Alan -- I'm glad you posted this.

we avoided using 110/71's as an underbase for a really long time because the whole 'that seems like it would put down a lot of ink" conversation... once we got our EOM under control, a fast, light stroke with a 110/71 lays a REALLY nice underbase, and really helps with those problem 'transparent' top colors...  I'm actually shocked many times about how 'little' of a hand the 110 actually leaves when printing with it correctly.  BUT if you think about it, it does make sense in a way...
the 'thick' thread 156/64's a lot of us used to use as an underbase are probably putting down roughly the same amount of ink as a 110/71 due to the open area as well as the thread 'tunnel' thickness.

I wish we would have made the switch sooner. --- it's not the right answer in every case, but when it's needed it's awesome -- heck we've been getting some one-hit whites that look amazing as well in some cases.

we've been so busy lately I haven't even had time to think about ordering in some of Joe's products, but it's high on my list of things to work on

[Colin]

Watched the vid, no sound here at work.  I will listen to you at home.  Good looking prints!

How old is that 5 of xolb-158?

Not old, but it's junk.  It's got the tiny specks all in it.

you using cotton white on a 50/50 shirt?

It's a low bleed technically speaking.  It won't stop a 100% poly from bleeding but the 50/50's have gotten better over the years...somehow. 

Does the flood pressure & speed also change with the fast print speed?

Slightly.  We'll bump the psi up 1-2 for every 4-5"/sec.  The overall pressure on the shirt is relatively the same but you need to adjust the off contact a little bit and the pressure slightly as you increase your speed.  That's not always the case but as a general rule.

Tiny specs?  I have not heard of this.  Now I am curious.

I was curious if Rutland was producing acceptable XOLB inks now.  I know it was really bad there for a while.

[alan802]

About 6 months ago I got a pail of Tidy that was leaving tiny, unground specks of ink in the open stencil and you had to get out the press wash or screen opener and it was happening about every 6-10 prints depending on the size of the open area.  I got a few pails of Tidy and 158 and I think a total of 4 had the issue and Joe's ink replaced the Tidy/158.  I would have kept some on hand for certain occasions and still gone with Joe's ink but the problem just made the switch that much easier.  It's such a good ink for how we print that it's a shame that the problem happened but it did.  I know you'll know much more about how it happened and what exactly happened because I don't know, I do know that it wasn't usable. 

[Colin]

Sounds like undispersed thickening agents.  There are powder thickeners (Cabosil/Fumed Silica) and liquid thickeners.  Usually the liquid thickeners are the root cause.

On the rare side it could have been clumped up pigment.... But really unlikely.

[screenprintguy]

About 6 months ago I got a pail of Tidy that was leaving tiny, unground specks of ink in the open stencil and you had to get out the press wash or screen opener and it was happening about every 6-10 prints depending on the size of the open area.  I got a few pails of Tidy and 158 and I think a total of 4 had the issue and Joe's ink replaced the Tidy/158.  I would have kept some on hand for certain occasions and still gone with Joe's ink but the problem just made the switch that much easier.  It's such a good ink for how we print that it's a shame that the problem happened but it did.  I know you'll know much more about how it happened and what exactly happened because I don't know, I do know that it wasn't usable.

This is the reason I stopped using Street Fighter. I never have a problem with this, with Super Poly white, but Street Fighter had it all the time, fresh bucket, whip it up, either way, those little white nuggets in the screen were not worth the stress. NEVER have that with Legacy. I hear Joe's white is really nice. I'd like to try it for sure.