Emulsion – Photo emulsion is what makes the modern day display screen printing process doable. The emulsion is a substance that reacts to ultraviolet mild. Once it has been uncovered to the proper ultraviolet wavelength, the emulsion hardens and turns into impermeable. There are various different types of emulsion in the market, as well as many alternative strategies of utility. In a later publish, I’ll dive into the two most popular methods for coating the display mesh with emulsion.
Squeegee – A squeegee is a flat, rubber or urethane blade set right into a handle. Some folks could argue that this is not necessary. That brushes or sponges can be used to push the ink via the display screen. They are appropriate and it can be completed, but the outcomes and time consumption can result in very combined results. Almost all skilled screen printers use squeegees to provide constant, high quality outcomes.
Scoop Coater – This can be a instrument that is used to coat the display with a skinny, uniform layer of liquid photograph emulsion. Without the scoop coater it is feasible to make use of a squeegee to unfold the photograph emulsion however this will sometimes lead to uneven thickness and poor exposure results.
Film Positive (Artwork) – The film positive refers to the artwork which is usually printed or drawn onto on a clear medium. The artwork should be opaque so as to provide correct outcomes when exposing the screen. One among the most affordable methods to create the movie constructive is to print straight onto transparency film from your laser or ink jet printer. Make sure you have the printer settings set to produce the darkest black doable for your artwork. As an alternative, vellum can be used as a movie positive. If you are using vellum add approximately 20% to the publicity time as a result of lowered transparency of the vellum.
Light Source – To be able to properly expose the emulsion and “burn” the display screen, a light supply is required that incorporates Ultraviolet Radiation in the 350-420 Nanometer spectrum. Fluorescent unfiltered tubes, steel halide lamps and even the solar can be utilized to expose a display screen.
Hinge Clamps – These are important in the event you plan on screen printing paper goods or different flat objects. The hinge clamps you to maintain your display in the identical positiong, industrial filter mesh permitting for easy registration and consistent prints.
Tape – There are sorts of tape that I exploit frequently. The primary is painter’s tape which use for simple registration of screens, psoitioning acetate, and so forth. The second sort of tape that I exploit is a tape made for display screen printing which is water and solvent resistent. This one is used for coustic mesh taping my screens. I’ve also used plastic packing tape with nice results. Yellow Light Safe Bulb – During the coating. Exposure process you will need to create mild protected circumstances. Premature publicity to UV gentle (sunlight, regular household lights, etc) can pre-expose the coated screens leading to poor outcomes. Yellow bulbs filter out the specturm of gentle that may expose the emulsion, making it “safe” to work beneath those circumstances.Screen Printing Equipment: Screen Frame
The screen frame is a construction that the woven mesh is stretched upon and adhered to. Screen frames are available a wide range of styles and sizes, relying on the size of the art work and printing surface. The mesh is both stapled or glued to the frame with ample tension to offer a flat printing surface that will not buckle.
Typically, frames are made out of wooden or aluminum. Personally I recommend aluminum frames over wood because they’re simply cleaned. Will be reused indefinitely with out dropping their shape. Wood screens shall be high quality for some time but repeated water publicity tends to warp the body over time. Over time, with extended use, each wooden and aluminum screen meshes will lose some tension which can result in poorer high quality printing outcomes. If you start to notice this occurring it’s best to have the screens re-meshed.
Always choose a display frame that’s bigger than the realm you are trying to print by at least 2 inches on every side. If you enjoyed this short article and you would such as to obtain more info regarding coustic mesh how much kindly browse through our web-site. This will make your life easier when applying emulsion, exposing artwork and printing.
Screen Printing Equipment: Screen Mesh
Woven mesh is the “silk” in silkscreen. Typically this mesh is made out of mono-filament polyester fabric which is stretched taut over a screen body. The areas between the mesh make the fabric porous which allows ink to move by means of.
Screen fabric are available a wide number of mesh counts. Lower mesh counts implies that the fibers of the mesh are spaced farther apart, permitting extra ink to go by. Higher mesh counts deposit smaller quantities of ink and are generally higher for nice particulars and line work. A normal rule of thumb is a hundred and ten – 160 mesh count for fabrics and 230+ if you’re printing on paper. In case you are on a price range and solely want one display, one hundred fifty should do the trick for both fabric and paper.
Screen mesh is available in both white or dyed mesh (sometimes yellow). Dyed mesh cuts down the quantity of light diffusion during the publicity process which results in a sharper print. For lower mesh counts round a hundred and ten it doesn’t really make a difference if the colour is white or dyed.
Screen Printing Equipment: Inks
There are two foremost kinds of inks which might be used for display printing, each with their own advantages and disadvantages.
Water-based inks make the most of both dyes or pigments in a suspension with water because the solvent. The evaporation of the water is essential to set or cure the ink.
Plastisol is a thermoplastic ink. It’s composed of PVC (polyvinyl chloride) particles suspended in a plasticizer. High temperatures are required to cause the molecules of PVC resin and plasticizer to cross-hyperlink and fully cure. Water-based mostly inks are typically slightly extra environmentally pleasant. Give printed fabrics a soft “hand”. A smooth hand implies that your hand cannot easily feel the ink when it passes across the floor of the fabric. Water based mostly inks printed on fabric can also be ironed (Plastisol will melt. Smear if heated as much as it’s curing temperature). For paper screen printing applications water-primarily based inks are perfect as they will air dry because the water content in the ink evaporates. Clean up is straightforward and could be performed without a lot affect to the atmosphere.
Disadvantages of Water-primarily based Inks
Water-primarily based ink is way tougher to cure than plastisol for fabric purposes. With water-based mostly ink, the curing temperature must be reached after which held until the entire solvent (water) is removed. In case you don’t fully cure the ink (for instance on a T-shirt), the ink will fade with repeated washings. If water-based ink is left in open mesh for even a brief time period, it could possibly clog the mesh and break the display screen. You don’t actually have to fret with reference to paper functions nonetheless. The other factor is that water-based mostly inks will break down regular emulsion very quickly. Even break down water resistant emulsions over time leading to screen breakdown for longer print runs. Plastisol inks aren’t water-soluble. The ink won’t dry if left within the screen for prolonged intervals of time. It can be left within the screen for extended durations of time without worrying about clogging the mesh. Platisol will not break down the screen emulsion like water-based inks. Additionally they occur to be very opaque. Great for applications on colored fabric. Plastisol inks will not air dry. Should be cured (heated) in consequence. Curing the inks may be done with a flash dryer, or more inexpensively, any home oven. Watch out to not burn your house down! Most plastisols want to reach a temperature of about 350 Fahrenheit before being fully cured.
Plastisol tends to take a seat on top of the threads as a substitute of soaking into them, which sometimes leads to a raised, plasticized texture. There are, however, plastisol additives that can provide the ink a softer “hand”. If the ink is under-cured, the print will crack and peel over time.
Plastisol inks are typically thought of harsher on the setting. Fortunately, there are quite a few plastisol inks in the marketplace that contain less toxins, and there are also eco-pleasant solvents that are available for clear up.