"choppy" Ink Image & Heat gun (newbie question)

southernshelle35 · September 6th, 2008, 05:11 PM

We printed some shirts on our press and used a heat gun to flash the inks in between colors
( 3 color + flashing). Then cured it at the end of printing with the gun. The ink (image) looks "choppy" and not as smooth as I have seen on other peoples shirts. Is this from uneven heat. (I used it to get some shirts out to the store my daughters shirts are in)

I ordered a flash dryer and it has not arrived yet, supposed to be here Thurs. Can I use the flash dryer to cure the shirts at the end until I can afford to get a belt dryer? Is it this process that gives it the "smooth" look?

I have heard of wet to wet printing. How does this work? Is it a better process?
I am new to all of this so any suggestions would be great.

Thanks in advance,

SkyLinePrints · September 6th, 2008, 09:31 PM

wow...a lot of questions. :-)

the flash dryer will be a huge difference in drying compared to the heat gun. should allow you to flash and dry much quicker. wont dry as fast as a belt dryer but many people get started with it.

smooth print.... hmmmm... what mesh are you using in your screens?

if you colors are in tight registration, then wet on wet printing is the way to go. its just printing without flashing in between. make sure your off contact is set correctly and it should be pretty easy to get going. of course this is assuming you are not doing an underbase. if you are doing an underbase, you will want to flash it first then go wet on wet.

southernshelle35 · September 7th, 2008, 12:47 AM

I am using a 110 mesh screen.
I will be using the white underbase since the image is going on a colored shirt.
I need to print light to dark correct? What is off contact?

Her shirts are "cute sayings" with some type cute artwork
that people are going goo goo over her my space page url is on my profile, to give you an idea of what they are. We had them done by a local printer first go round, then decided to buy our own set up due to the cost of the printing and having to print a certain qty of each design(75) not knowing if any particular one would sell better than the other. This way we can "test the waters" with 24-36 per design.

Thanks for the information. I have a 3 color set up in the shop, I will go try wet on wet tomorrow.

Shelle

SkyLinePrints · September 7th, 2008, 07:30 AM

the rough print is more than likely the result of the 110 mesh. try 156 or higher. your print will be much much smoother. 110 with multiple colors on top of a base will build a "bullet proof" design pretty quick.

also, make sure your off contact is set properly (between 1/16 and 1/8 inch). If not, you could be pushing to much ink or not enough depending on how much space you have.

Off contact = space between the screen and the garment. the screen should not set directly on the garment but slightly over it. this allows for the screen to snap off the garment when the squeegee goes across it.

also, squeegee angles, pressure, and speed all play important roles in getting the print you desire. these all take practice and experimenting to get right.

another source of info is located at: http://boards.screenprinters.net/

a lot of good boards and friendly people to answer questions.

Good luck!