Like printing on a golf ball-or craters--like on the moon....

[Itsa Little CrOoked]

This is jus' messed up, y'all.

EVERYtime these come through the door I wince and say bad words. I couldn't find a thread about this, but there probably is already some info on the board.

How the heck are you supposed to print these and get a smooth print? The little blobs left in the craters from previous print transfer to the next shirt and flub it up. It's also complicated by "traps" if the art requires them. Butt registration isn't good either.  I've tried dry-stroking on paper (pellons might be better) between shirts to clean up the blobs...when the piece count justifies it. What a PAIN!

Surely there is a trick and I just don't know about it.

Anybody?
Stan

P.S.  The bulldog.pdf file is just a slice of the art. Some of the shirts are red.

[Sbrem]

Maybe you could make transfers and apply them. Note the neck label...

Steve

[Itsa Little CrOoked]

Is that what you'd do?

(I suck at multicolor transfers done in house, and they go out the door Friday)

[inkman996]

We are moving more and more to having custom plastisol transfers made for us when it comes to tough materials like that. We have been burned so many times trying to get decent prints on rough material. A transfer comes out crisp and bright every single time.

[royster13]

We are moving more and more to having custom plastisol transfers made for us when it comes to tough materials like that. We have been burned so many times trying to get decent prints on rough material. A transfer comes out crisp and bright every single time.

Yes they do......

[Itsa Little CrOoked]

This job is all 2 color (spot) but on 3 different colors of shirts, requiring color changes.  Low piece count doesn't help. Hiring out the transfers is the ONLY way we do them currently, but I have played around with multi-color stuff.  It seems like a specialty and we just can't specialize in EVERYthing in-house in a small shop. I can do one color transfers okay.

I suppose I can go high mesh count, and print paper between shirts, like I've done before (whist cursing.)

We are manual only.

Stan

[mk162]

if it's small quantities, you could always go sublimation.

[Sbrem]

Is that what you'd do?

(I suck at multicolor transfers done in house, and they go out the door Friday)

Yes, it is. Put your first color down and set it down the dryer as fast as can be done (pre-shrink the paper, and get good, stable paper) then put the second color on top. If you're powdering, you only have to do the last overall color. Of course, I can't see your art, so I may be all wet, but yes, this is what we'd do if jammed like this.

Steve

[JBLUE]

We run these all the time. You do need more pressure to fill the voids. On a manual you have to have good control of your edge. Find the happy medium and it will be ok. You will get some ink push through. It is part of the deal.  On lighter colors base out the ink a bit to get it to flow better. Get it real warm. High mesh on top colors.

[larryk]

Hey Stan... if you can't get it to work give me a call and I will do the tranfers for you......

[tonypep]

I used to print for Mizuno back in the ATL. Did all their marathon stuff in the 10s of thousands. ING lions and such I can't remember having the slightest proble other than having to open them up out of the bags and dealing with the tissue paper. Sorry not much help other than the basic SP101; mesh selection, ink, sqg selection, tension etc

[Itsa Little CrOoked]

if it's small quantities, you could always go sublimation.

On White Shirts, that would work and we probably oughta just go ahead and  do that.

But there are red shirts and black shirts too.

Tony, what meshes would you use? 
     The Black Shirts get Red and White, the Red will need an underbase
     Red Shirts get Black and White (as shown in the bulldog.pdf attachment)
     White Shirts get Red and Black (but I might go ahead and sublimate those)

Sonny called and suggested Russell Gray through 196 for the underbase under the red ink on the black shirts, and 110 for the rest....TO CLEAR THE MESH WITH ONE PASS.

@ Sbrem  I've got to work on my transfer skills. And it's the powdering that causes some of the problems.  A little of it stays on the paper where I don't want it.  And the art is just like the slice I posted in the OP....except the above color changes.  My paper is Super Trans B  but I don't always get a clean release. 

[tonypep]

Need to see the image(s) for mesh selection you can p-mail me those if need be.

[JBLUE]

The lowest we usually go is a 160 S mesh for the base. 230's on the top colors. Unless you want to stop a bullet or even a tank round a 110 is way to much.

[mk162]

a single stroke through a 110 isn't bad at all, overprinting, yes.  But on whites we do it all the time.