Film

[mk162]

What brand film do most of you guys use?  Also, is it waterproof or non?

I don't care for the frosted look of the stuff I use now, and I am thinking about changing.  I see that Chromaline has like 4 different films and frankly, their website stinks when it comes to the benefits of each.

[Homer]

Fixxons, WP film, 13"x18" 81.00. Nazdar has the same for 85.00, Film direct was 87ish I think, Garston is getting it to me for 85 -originally 112.00. . .WP all the way, no comparison.

[blue moon]

i was having issues with clear film and was forced to switch to WP. We use the house brand which I think is Kimoto. More expensive, but it works. I'll eventually try some more, but currently the time is better spent on other things. I'll tackle the things that work later. . .

[Clark]

Fixxons 13x19 and 24" Rolls. Great stuff and can't beat the price.

[Denis Kolar]

Fixxons 13x19 WP   $86 with shipping

[mk162]

Ok, so I just checked the Dmin and Dmax of the film i ma using now.  It's around .03 on the Dmin and only 2.48 on the Dmax.  I should be over 3 at minimum.  I think it's the pigment based inks on WP film that is bad.

After checking a very old piece of Non-WP, I am going to try switching back.  The d-min on that was .01 but the dmax was only 2.2, of course I ha to peel it off the back of another film.

I'll post more results.

[inkman996]

How are you checking the densities?

[Northland]

I think the RIP is a bigger piece of the story.... but WP film for sure (fixon's or Accufast)

[blue moon]

I just checked,

WP film Dmin is 0.025 Dmax is at 3.03.

Printed last week on EPSON 3000 with inks from compandsave.com ($5.99 ea) using FM V3 at double density.
Film is from Multicraft, but I think it is Kimoto. About $140 for 13x19 (yes, I know it is expensive!).

pierre

[mk162]

With a pocket densitometer.  I have a friend from the offset side that has nifty tools.

I am going to try regular film, I bet it will be better.  2.49 isn't good enough.

[Sbrem]

Fixxons 13x19 WP   $86 with shipping

Ditto on Fixxons 13 x 19...

Steve

Pierre, Fixxons will send you some free sample sheets to try. They remind me of photo film, of which I shot and processed about a million sheets, but, I don't have the densitometer to measure it.

[inkman996]

Brad I will see if I can get one of our local off setters to test our film, I know of one that has densometer but it is not portable.

Question is what is an ideal DMAX to shoot for? Has anyone published or discussed a good dmin dmax ratio?

[blue moon]

Brad I will see if I can get one of our local off setters to test our film, I know of one that has densometer but it is not portable.

Question is what is an ideal DMAX to shoot for? Has anyone published or discussed a good dmin dmax ratio?

my understanding is 3.0 is considered sufficient for screen printing. Douglas should be able to chime in with tested data.

[Homer]

ok -I'll be the dumbass as usual - what are you guys talking about? the thickness of the film?

[inkman996]

No the density of the ink. Dmin is how much light is blocked, ie the clear part of the film, and Dmax is how much light is let through, ie where the ink is.