Capilary Film

[Ryan]

Does it go bad? If its been in a tube, not affected by light?  Need to know if I should trash it because its old, like 20 years

[Frog]

Try it.
Ulano lists their CDF shelf life as 15 months.

[ebscreen]

I once used some indirect film that must have been 20 plus years old, stored in a tube.

Worked perfectly. The resolution on that stuff is amazing, but the stencil it produces
in anemic at best.

[Socalfmf]

i used a screen that was over 2 yrs old that was coated in a cabinet when we went to M3's and it still burned and held good for the 24 shirts we were doing...

so try it

sam

[3Deep]

I,ve got a few tubes of film and some boxes wonder if those will still work, I know they have to be atleast 8 years plus old never open.

Darryl

[Ryan]

Looks like I'll give a whirl then before I trash it. Anyone know the thickness for a regular screen?

[stitches4815]

i used a screen that was over 2 yrs old that was coated in a cabinet when we went to M3's and it still burned and held good for the 24 shirts we were doing...

so try it

sam

I didn't think you did any manual work Sam.  I thought all you did was count your millions and beat your employees.   

[Frog]

Looks like I'll give a whirl then before I trash it. Anyone know the thickness for a regular screen?

What film do you have? what thickness is it?

[Socalfmf]

Stitch that was years ago that I did the screen....now you ask me...i say "whats a screen" hahahahaha  now get to work

[RICK STEFANICK]

Looks like I'll give a whirl then before I trash it. Anyone know the thickness for a regular screen?

i think its 25 or 50 microns..

[Ryan]

I have 30, 35, 50 and 80. All but one is from Autotype, the other is from Ulano. The Ulano says best used by 3/91, so I think they are all from that era. Thats why I wasn't sure it would work or not.

[RICK STEFANICK]

really , if it has been stored correctly it may work.. for hd we use 100, 200 and 400 for some gels. what you have will probably work for standard prints. you can also stack it for thicker stencils. give it a shot..

[alan802]

I don't have anything to add about the longevity of cap film, but we have been using it more and more lately and it's been great.  I bought the Ulano EZ Film, 50 micron, 17x24 sheets and it's much closer in price to direct emulsion these days.  There are some screens, lower mesh counts, that have well over $1.00 worth of emulsion, $1.50 in some cases, on them and the cap film comes out to $2.00 per sheet.  But that difference in price is quickly taken away when you consider the labor time involved.  You can coat a screen in a minute or less, but cap film is twice as fast to apply, it dries much quicker, it exposes a few light units faster, it sprays out faster, it reclaims faster, so all that adds up.  I haven't quantified or compared cap film with direct emulsion to give an absolute factual comparison, but I'll try to get some real numbers on paper for our shop.  It's even better for beginners and those who can't get the hang of applying direct emulsion.

[Gilligan]

I don't have anything to add about the longevity of cap film, but we have been using it more and more lately and it's been great.  I bought the Ulano EZ Film, 50 micron, 17x24 sheets and it's much closer in price to direct emulsion these days.  There are some screens, lower mesh counts, that have well over $1.00 worth of emulsion, $1.50 in some cases, on them and the cap film comes out to $2.00 per sheet.  But that difference in price is quickly taken away when you consider the labor time involved.  You can coat a screen in a minute or less, but cap film is twice as fast to apply, it dries much quicker, it exposes a few light units faster, it sprays out faster, it reclaims faster, so all that adds up.  I haven't quantified or compared cap film with direct emulsion to give an absolute factual comparison, but I'll try to get some real numbers on paper for our shop. It's even better for beginners and those who can't get the hang of applying direct emulsion.

Hey hey hey... no need for the name calling.

Serious question... why does it reclaim faster?  To me if they are both the same EOM and "strength" then it could only reclaim faster because it isn't adhered INTO the mesh as well (due to coating both sides vs laying the film on and letting it "leech" in the mesh).  But I've never used Cap. Film so I'm only speculating based on idea and theory of how it "should" work.

[alan802]

Hey hey hey... no need for the name calling.

Serious question... why does it reclaim faster?  To me if they are both the same EOM and "strength" then it could only reclaim faster because it isn't adhered INTO the mesh as well (due to coating both sides vs laying the film on and letting it "leech" in the mesh).  But I've never used Cap. Film so I'm only speculating based on idea and theory of how it "should" work.

It isn't totally encapsulating the mesh, the majority of the film is on the squeegee side and there is actually none on the opposite side of the thread, only slightly dipping into mesh openings.  The squeegee is riding directly on the mesh threads.  Because the "emulsion" is only on one side, it releases from the mesh easier, it seems like the chemicals break it down faster as well.