How long did it take for you to be able to make good prints

kylerogers · September 28th, 2008, 01:34 AM

How long did it take before you could make good prints with one stroke?

SkyLinePrints · September 29th, 2008, 02:59 PM

1 flood stroke? 1 flood/1 print stroke? shirt color? ink color?

kylerogers · September 29th, 2008, 05:09 PM

Let's say black ink on a white shirt with a 156 mesh count. I'm starting to get decent prints with a 110. With 156 I get a lot of weaks spots and gaps in the print where ink is left in the mesh. I've also tried 196 and 230 with black ink and I was hopeless with those mesh coats. Even when I loaded the ink up with soft-hand extender I still couldn't do it.

SkyLinePrints · September 29th, 2008, 07:52 PM

Hmmmm.... I would think that with the 110 and 156, it would be pretty easy. I would say a month or so tops. The higher the mess, the tougher it is.

couple of things:

1) check your off contact. The ink should sheer off. On black ink with white shirt, I would say u need about 1/16 to 1/8 inch

2) make sure your screen is level front to back

3) print at about a 45 degree angle with firm even pressure throughout the stroke

Try these things and let us know what happens. :-)

kylerogers · September 30th, 2008, 10:28 AM

I've been working on it a month now. I'm starting to get decent with a 110 mesh.

I have a simple logos table top press, so you can't adjust the tilt of the screen. You have a screw to raise and lower the screen, but the side closest to you is always going to be a little higher.

select1 · September 30th, 2008, 01:36 PM

Nathan hit it on the nose. I would also suggest making sure your screens are reclaimed well. Proper ink and stencil removal as well as proper degreasing will allow your ink to flow much better through the screen and not get hung up in the knuckles of the mesh. A screen that is not cleaned properly and not tensioned properly can be very detrimental to your print. Hope this helps.

aaronscreen · October 4th, 2008, 08:51 PM

Everything everyone is saying is right on. One thing you should always do if you are using a 156 mesh dark on lights is a backflood. Push the squeegee back before you do the pull print. Go on youtube and watch an automatic press print. It will pull the print and then always do a backflood. It fills all of the space in your image in and makes for a very nice print and easier too.

jr_sanford · October 6th, 2008, 06:21 PM

110 mesh for black ink???

We use 156+ mesh for black inks.
SHARP squeegees are a must.
Tight screens with as little off-contact as possible.
A 70 durometer sharp squeegee.
Flood first then a slow 20º angle pull across the image area.
Works like a champ for us here.

J.R. Sanford
Production Manager
NW Awards
185 NW Chehalis AV
Chehalis, WA 98532
(shop) 360-748-7346
(cell) 360-880-6384
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