those pesky soft corners

[AAMike]

We continue to have trouble holding down the soft corners on the newman roller frames. If we don't tape them, emulsion pools in the corners but the reclaim process always breaks the tape loose. Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Mike

[Orion]

I don't coat past the ends of the rollers.

[jvanick]

I trim the corners back like Orion does.

and then tape in a 45 degree angle corner to corner.

[jsheridan]

i see bolt mesh..

the corner is to soft and i can tell whoever is making screens, is not using the alignment clips when the corners are softened.

You corner soften tool is the width of the frame corner. that is also the same distance you place a clip from the corner down the locking rail. place a cilp on both corners then soften.

by how much you soften the corner, you can control how tight those corners are.

[AAMike]

You are probably right John. The softened corner is too big. I terminated our screen stretcher on Monday and this will give us the opportunity to train a new person correctly. BTW, he was terminated for sleeping on the job, not softening the corners too much.

Thanks Guys

[StrongerThanDirt]

I trim the corners back like Orion does.

and then tape in a 45 degree angle corner to corner.

Unrelatedly, do you use a dip tank?  How do you keep the permanent marker markings on your tape?  I currently use an old screwdriver to etch the mesh count number into the tape, but it looks like it was drawn by a drunk baboon and is barely legible.  If I use marker, the dip tank just eats it right up.

[Colin]

cover with clear tape

[Screen Dan]

We just use a Brother label machine with whatever the cheapest tape is at the moment.  We label the mesh count and the initial stretch date and every subsequent retension date.  The labels have no problem sticking through the dip tank.

Hell, we even tape our screens before putting them on the rack BEFORE we mask or develop them.  Dip tank here too.  This is with PMI split tape.  No problems at all.

[mk162]

I ordered labels printed with the most common mesh counts.  To keep it cheaper I ordered a 3/4" x whatever with the numbers in a row, like this:

110 155w 155w 230 305

I got couple hundred of these in permanent/outdoor decals.  Works great and I think it cost around $70 for all the labels I should ever need.