Cross zipper printing with plastisol.

[ZooCity]

I have four home brew ones with steps like the action ones.  works ok, not great and much better with the foam as the second step if that makes sense. 

I either tape the screen to block out the zip or tape the zip and pull before curing.  our otz prints are almost all AA, which have the open zip

Sent from my intelligent phone-a-majigger.

[Shawn (EIP)]

What worked best for me are Independent hoodies with the "kissing zipper" these are designed for easier over zipper printing. Before printing I heat press the front of the hoody so everything is flat and smooth , a I also repeat this after the print to smooth down any ink build up. Printing was done on a platten with the zipper grove routed out.

[Action1]

Greetings:

Allow me to offer some additional advice for using the Zipper Hoodie Pallets. First let us agree that not all zipper are the same. However - there is a great deal of agreement to the different brands. We machine the grove to be just slightly wider than the zipper. There has to be some play so that the zipper will locate into the slot in a reasonable amount of time without too much ministrations while loading. Also - we machine the slot to be very slightly deeper than necessary. It is expected that there may be some taping required in the channel to bring the print area to the perfect height.

It has been reported to me by a number of people that they compensate within the artwork for the area that goes over the zipper. There are many ways to do this. But if you restrict the amount of ink over the area in question, it helps greatly. This works well because the zipper is located in the channel.

We do offer the 1/4" neoprene rubber that can also be used for this application. It helps but has poor flash compatibility.

Hope this helps.

[blue moon]

Greetings:

Allow me to offer some additional advice for using the Zipper Hoodie Pallets. First let us agree that not all zipper are the same. However - there is a great deal of agreement to the different brands. We machine the grove to be just slightly wider than the zipper. There has to be some play so that the zipper will locate into the slot in a reasonable amount of time without too much ministrations while loading. Also - we machine the slot to be very slightly deeper than necessary. It is expected that there may be some taping required in the channel to bring the print area to the perfect height.

It has been reported to me by a number of people that they compensate within the artwork for the area that goes over the zipper. There are many ways to do this. But if you restrict the amount of ink over the area in question, it helps greatly. This works well because the zipper is located in the channel.

We do offer the 1/4" neoprene rubber that can also be used for this application. It helps but has poor flash compatibility.

Hope this helps.

I think my problem was that I assumed it was quick and easy solution for everything that has to do with zippers. That is not the case. It is on the other hand a solution that needs a little tinkering with to produce very good results. If you (Action) could put some suggestions on the web and on the paperwork that accompanies the plattens it would go a long way. Maybe even get some insight from the ppl using them and include it as best practices (what to do with what brand of hoodies for example). I did not even know about the neoprene you offered. It is a great idea!

pierre

[mjrprint]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. After some web digging I found a high temp foam I am going to try on the pallets. A little pricey but if it works I'm ok with the price.

http://store20.prestostore.com/catalog.php/rsrstore/pd2143856

[ZooCity]

ah, silicone, sounds like a good idea!

Sent from my intelligent phone-a-majigger.

[mjrprint]

Now the problem I have to figure out is how to cover the foam with something I can them tac so that the hoody stays put.

[Frog]

Now the problem I have to figure out is how to cover the foam with something I can them tac so that the hoody stays put.

why can't you just brush/roll/spray the foam?

[mjrprint]

Now the problem I have to figure out is how to cover the foam with something I can them tac so that the hoody stays put.

why can't you just brush/roll/spray the foam?

The inside of our fleece is super soft and sticks to the palettes like crazy as it is. I would want to avoid that kind of build up on the foam.

[Frog]

That's a major problem for all of us, with any board and/or rubber.
My thought was maybe that the soft top rubber may be too delicate to hold up to sticking and unsticking.

That was a problem I had with my first soft tops from Advance 15-20 years ago.

[Screened Gear]

When I use foam on my boards I just put pallet tape over the top and then wrap it under the board to hold the foam down. I then brush on tack to the pallet tape. You don't want to put tack on the foam, especially if you want to reuse it.

[mjrprint]

Going to order the foam today. I will let you all know if it works out.