How long do screens last, and how many should you start out with.

nametags · August 1st, 2011, 08:08 AM

I need some opinions from the experienced.

Looking into starting screenprinting possibly. When buying from the start, about how many screens should I try to have on hand, and sizes.

Also, what is the average life span of screens?

You can tell I'm new to this, but, I'm doing my research before I do anything.

All opinions appreciated.

Reply here or PM or email if you wish.

Thanks in advance.

nametags · August 9th, 2011, 03:25 PM

Wow,,,,,no advice on this one. I figured there would be tons of suggestions.

Printwizard · August 9th, 2011, 05:34 PM

Tshirtforums has great advice for beginners, this forum is more for advanced commercial operations.

pwalsh · August 9th, 2011, 06:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nametags

I need some opinions from the experienced.

Looking into starting screen-printing possibly. When buying from the start, about how many screens should I try to have on hand, and sizes.

Also, what is the average life span of screens?

You can tell I'm new to this, but, I'm doing my research before I do anything.

All opinions appreciated.

Reply here or PM or email if you wish.

Thanks in advance.

Nametags: The lack of a response might be related to the lack of information provided in your original post, for example:

What type of screen-printing are you looking to dd example; Garment or Flat Stock/Graphics?
How big an image, and how many colors are you planning to print?
What type of equipment are you planning to use?
What type(s) of inks are you planning to use?

I'm confident that you will get some great advice with some more information.

Printwizard · August 9th, 2011, 06:15 PM

We started with $10,000 of screens, we now hold about 13,000 screens with images on them, all static frames over a dozen mesh counts, and from 5 x 11 inches up to 6 x 18 feet....

srimonogramming · August 9th, 2011, 06:37 PM

We have an inventory of only 150 screens, half newman rollers and half shurloc ez frames with about 10-20 static alums that we keep around for kicks. We don't keep any images on screen and reclaim them within days of running a job. We do keep the film around but since 80% of the jobs we do aren't ever printed again, it makes no sense for us to keep a large inventory of exposed screens around.

Like Peter mentioned, it's really hard to point you in the right direction with what was given, so depending on if your going to just print some tshirts on the side or get involved fully it could be 10 screens of wooden stretch and glue or 1000 newman rollers, 25x36 or 18x20, or the average sized 23x31, the options are plenty. Give us a few more details and I'm sure some of us could help you out more than we have so far.

preston · August 9th, 2011, 09:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nametags

I need some opinions from the experienced.

Looking into starting screenprinting possibly. When buying from the start, about how many screens should I try to have on hand, and sizes.

Also, what is the average life span of screens?

You can tell I'm new to this, but, I'm doing my research before I do anything.

All opinions appreciated.

Reply here or PM or email if you wish.

Thanks in advance.

While there is no concrete answer to the lifespan of screen because of different variables from shop to shop I would say unless you tear or pop one from not being careful a screen should last a new startup shop around a year or more depending on how much it is used. I say this because if you only have 4 screens they are going to get used more often then if you have 40.

I personally have screens still in use after 5 years and have had others that I took out of production after just 6 months. The thing to keep in mind is if you are pricing your work right you will have recouped your cost of a screen in just a couple of jobs at most and then it is just along for the ride until it wears out.

Unlike the other comment about not getting answers here because the site is mainly "advance commercial" type people, to me it is better to ask questions and get answers from people who do this day in and day out for a living instead of people that may just be playing around with it.

nametags · August 10th, 2011, 10:27 AM

Thanks to all for the replies. I'll take it all into consideration.

I disagree this forum being for advance commercial operations. That's where beginners learn, from experienced operators.

Always be courteous to those on your way up, as you may meet them again on the way down.

Gilligan · August 10th, 2011, 11:52 AM

Well said nametags... but I fear that it fell on deaf ears.

preston · August 10th, 2011, 12:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nametags

I disagree this forum being for advance commercial operations. That's where beginners learn, from experienced operators.

And that is what I said.