article in impressions mag about making economic sense....

[jason-23]

and the part where this company uses permanent block out and a "sepcial caulk" in the corners of there screens to eliminate taping. Do any of you guys do this ? Is so:  How does it work for you ? and what is the special caulk? I found Rhino makes a permanent block out but I don't know about the caulk.

[jason-23]

NO body???

[mk162]

i know that homer doesn't use tape.  I've tried a few permanent blockouts, with little success.  the caulk is proably silicone on the inner corners to prevent seepage where frame meets the mesh.

i even tried polyurethane...it worked ok, it just grabs the edge of the coater and makes it hard to coat.

[Sbrem]

I used to use Liquid Tape, from Advance. I'd coat the frame and the about 1" around the mesh. It worked well, but did interfere with coating somewhat until we laid it down smooth. Changing mesh? A major pita, so we went back to tape.

Steve

[mk162]

Sbrem, can you give me some details on that product?  And how you laid it down smooth?

[alan802]

I've long wanted to find a good way to get away from taping screens and I've even tried a few things and the tape just makes everything easier, especially cleaning ink out of the screens.

[screenprintguy]

I was just going to post a question about this exact article. Of course, typical impressions article, they give you some new cool method but not the product. I have been asking around about a permanent block out, so far only found one, from Rhino Tech. Has anyone done this yet. It seems like an awesome way to speed up pre-press and save on all the tape on and off of the screen.

PS. Alan, congrats on the new bad azzzzzzz dryer, must be lovin it!

Mike

[Prosperi-Tees]

Just duct tape the screens. Jk how about a clear epoxy?

[jason-23]

somebody at one time said he just uses emulsion edge to edge. one would think that some pin holes will be there. Also I think preston or andy said one time they don't even remove there tape. that reminds me of one time I had a ton of pin holes around an image and instead of trying to us a  block out pen I just used packaging tape and MAN did i have a hell of a time getting that crap off. I thought the dam screen was going to rip. I'm think mask off with packaging tape on both sides and leave it on there. I feel the emulsion had a lot to do with the packaging tape sticking so well.

[Prosperi-Tees]

somebody at one time said he just uses emulsion edge to edge. one would think that some pin holes will be there. Also I think preston or andy said one time they don't even remove there tape. that reminds me of one time I had a ton of pin holes around an image and instead of trying to us a  block out pen I just used packaging tape and MAN did i have a hell of a time getting that crap off. I thought the dam screen was going to rip. I'm think mask off with packaging tape on both sides and leave it on there. I feel the emulsion had a lot to do with the packaging tape sticking so well.

You probably used the wrong kind of tape. The wrong type is an acrylic adhesive. The right type is a natural rubber adhesive which is what I use and it peels off pretty easy. I made that mistake once and you are right it is a pita to get off and sometimes you will get the top tape layer and still have the glue stuck on the screen.

[Gilligan]

There was a thread hanging around (I thought it was here... might be over at P's place) that talked about using essentially frame glue and a sponge brush... mark off just INSIDE your scoop coater and then VERY carefully brush the glue on and it creates an permanent "tape" around the edges.  Just coat right across the edge that you painted on and you should be good.

I always thought I'd do that... but I don't know how it would work with Newmans.

[screenprintguy]

I have a sample on the way of a product that is supposed to be engineered for this purpose. Coating 2 inches around the entire screen edge. The product is supposed to stay in tact when reclaiming so that you only have to coat your emulsion just over the edges if you have the proper sized scoop coater. I had one cut a while back to fit within 1/2 inch to the inside of a roller frame so that I could coat close. With this stuff, they say you can coat over it, and then when you reclaim it's still there, allowing you to eliminate tape. We will see, I'll do a couple static frames and a couple roller's and put them to the test and give feed back along with the product information. It's being sent from our friends at Screen Process of Alabama.....


I'll post pics when I get them set up.

Mike

[Gilligan]

Definitely interested... especially in how it works in rollers when you retension them.  Granted, if you had to work harden them first it wouldn't be the end of the world.

[Sbrem]

Sbrem, can you give me some details on that product?  And how you laid it down smooth?

It was called Liquid Tape, and was sold by Advance, long gone, but perhaps AWT (some of the same people, the Greene family I think) might still offer it. I would apply it with a one inch paint brush to the inside of the frame, where we would normally tape, and to the mesh as well, then use a small card to smooth it out. I found after awhile that if I let the liquid sits for a few minutes, it would thicken up, and it was easier to apply to the mesh, if too runny, it would drip right through. This is going back to the early 90's. What was cool is that we didn't have to pull the tape off the inside of the frames anymore, just put it in the screen cleaner and clean. But, pulling the mesh off if it got ripped, was a big pain. Eventually, we went back to tape...

[Chadwick]

Perhaps if we used a dip tank I would think differently..
I like tape.
When you're done printing, you peel it, and all the ink that
would be covering your frame, off.
Simple cleanup for 30 seconds and about as many cents of tape.

Whatever works though.