Heatpress - Silkscreening.

rainbowswirlz

Hello!
I've been doing heatpress for sometime now.
However when I print on dark garments it just doesnt look very good so I've been thinking about getting into Silkscreen.

I've had a few colleges ask me about doing some silkscreening for them, they are going to be doing fundraisers for their softball team & are going to sell TONS of t-shirts.

Anyways, Im just wanting to get a basic setup for now.
Where I can do white on darker t-shirts.

Does anyone know of any good machines I should check out?

Also if I wanted to expand in the future do I just buy more colors or do I have to buy entire machines or what.. ahh Im a little confused on the process so any information would help!

Also let me know if you think its worth it to go out and buy a silkscreen so I can do these college shirts or what. I know I'll do more than just the college shirts but does anyone have problems with silkscreen, is it hard.. not as good as heatpress? ahh, helpp!

Thanks so much for your time!

Greg hamrick

Nothing beats a screen print. Most of your transfers are screen printed. It is costly to get into however and there is a big learning curve to over come.
You need good computer graphic skills as well as some type of artistic back ground. There are many printers out there to choose from. You can pick from one color all the way up to a twelve color on a manual printer. Each color takes a screen that you must make. The equipment line up will be something like this;
Graphic software
Computer with a large format printer
Screens
Screen press
Flash Dryer
Conveyer Dryer
Exposure Unit
Washout Booth
Reclaiming Tank
Squeegees, Scoops and other misc. items.
Then there's the inks and other chemicals that you should have on hand. You can buy books on screen printing that will explain better the process, or you can go to a printing shop and ask if you can watch the process to see if you want to go that route.
If you decide you want to get into printing after that, then beware of "Cheap" setups. That's what you'll get...Cheap. But by all means, get a look at a printing setup so you can get a visual knowledge to help you when you read about the many different parts of the process. Maybe even check out a trade show and watch the demos.

Good luck....

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