First attempt at white print with 2 screens

[Nation03]

Had a job today that was 158 shirts, 1 color - white print. I figured this was large enough to try burning 2 screens so we can complete in one rotation. Are there any tricks to this? I found it much harder to line up the second white screen as appose to setting up a 2 color butt reg job. I never seemed to be able to get it lined up just right. Even when the screen looked dead on, the print seemed to have sort of a shadow to it. We got it to a passable point and ran with it, but I really don't like the way they came out. We have a job tomorrow thats 185 pieces, white print front and back and I'm just going to end up running it around twice to avoid any issues.

Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks!

[1964GN]

Print>Flash the UB. Place some clear tape over the print. Print the second white over the tape. You'll see where you need to go. Just wipe the wet ink off the tape and print again. Repeat until registered.

[Nation03]

Thanks, that's not a bad idea.

Some pallets seemed to be more out of reg then others. Is this due to the inconsistencies of level/parallel?

[endhymns]

What's always helped me is printing the underbase, flashing and then marking the underbase with permanent marker on all sides of the print before printing your second white. That way when your second plate is out just a hair, you can tell which way to  adjust your micros based on where the marker is still showing.

[Frog]

Had a job today that was 158 shirts, 1 color - white print. I figured this was large enough to try burning 2 screens so we can complete in one rotation. Are there any tricks to this? I found it much harder to line up the second white screen as appose to setting up a 2 color butt reg job. I never seemed to be able to get it lined up just right. Even when the screen looked dead on, the print seemed to have sort of a shadow to it. We got it to a passable point and ran with it, but I really don't like the way they came out. We have a job tomorrow thats 185 pieces, white print front and back and I'm just going to end up running it around twice to avoid any issues.

Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks!

Do both screens have similar good  tension?

[Nation03]

The base was on a 135-S and the over print was on a 150-S. I'll double check the tension, but last time I checked they were both in the 20-22 newton range. Both screens are around a month old.

[bimmridder]

We run two whites all the time. Probably 25 jobs today a lone. A good pre registration system is your friend. As Andy said, good consistent tension. Good press set up (parallel). Oh yeah, practice and repitition

[Prince Art]

What's always helped me is printing the underbase, flashing and then marking the underbase with permanent marker on all sides of the print before printing your second white. That way when your second plate is out just a hair, you can tell which way to  adjust your micros based on where the marker is still showing.

I do this too, and often mark lines through areas that will really help me dial it in, like thin lettering. After printing a test & adjusting, I never test print again without flashing first - if you get any wet ink on the back of the screen, it can blur the edges & complicate things.

[Nation03]

Thanks for the info!

If I have some down time this weekend I'll try getting these pallets more parallel.

This press has the older style workhorse brackets on them, so my next upgrade is going to be the quick release retrofit brackets so I can use a triloc or the new workhorse version of the triloc. Hoping that will make these jobs setup a little quicker and more consistent. Most of what we do is 1 color white on dark shirts.

[jupmode]

We have a Workhorse and experience the same issue. We're in the practice of registering our boards every Monday to make sure they are all aligned. Our printing has been much more consistent since we started this.

The tape idea is a good idea. We just bought this roll from Ryonet and we like it a lot. http://www.screenprinting.com/clear-choice-screen-registration-tape-16-x100yds

The other thing we do for some jobs is choke the UB 1pt. That covers slight movement or inconsistencies with the boards.

[3Deep]

This might sound like I'm bragging maybe I am LOL, but when I'm lazy and need two white I will burn the same screen and have no problem with registration, so I will assume my screens are tight and the press is level and dead on.  Now the big question!!!! guest your not getting a one hit white if not don't feel bad me neither

[Shanarchy]

Alternate option:

100 piece orders, white on black, I use a 150S and send it around twice. On the second revolution I pull the shirts out of the basket and stack and fold them. I know this isn't the traditional way, but I feel the time we lose on the second revolution washes with the time gained stacking and folding, not making a second screen and having to register and reclaim it. But we are also a tiny shop. If we had a 3 person team (loader, unloader, and person at end of dryer) we would do it different on smaller runs. Also, pre-reg system and and choke the underbase a hair helps out when registering underbases, etc. and we use the tape method also.

[Stinkhorn Press]

didn't get said until that last comment - are you choking/trapping?
if you normally do a .75 point choke on the UB for a top color, .5 point for UB white/top white seems to be enough (if press is close to true, parallel)

[Nation03]

I was going to ask about choking back the UB, but I wasn't sure if that would also cause a blurry/ghost image. I run photoshop so I guess I can reduce the UB by 1 pixel without it being too dramatic. I'll try that on my next run.

We're also a small shop, just my brother and I. We've done a few 100 piece jobs with 2 rotations and we would stack shirts/card ink back to the center of the screen as it was going around twice. Not the worst system and it beats printing manually.

Thanks again for all the advice.

[AntonySharples]

I like the marker trick myself and we always trap the UB white.  We make two white screens 99% of the time, anything over 24 pieces which covers 99% of our work.  Depending on the garment, 180/45 and 280/35 or 150/45 180/45.  Will improve your white prints tremendously.