Screen printing

hi all

i'm interested in starting screen printing but know nothing about it! what is the kind of initial outlay that i should expect and can you recommend any good brands of machines?

Screen printing is gonna set you back about a grand.


Things you'll need: carousel: i got mine for £350 ish. Was a preorder on ebay. Its 4 colour 2 station. Doesn't have micro registration though.

screens: think mine were £23 each from art2screen. They were very slow on delivery though
emulsion
screen degreaser
scoop coater
squeegees
screen print ink. Id recommend plastisol type if starting out
flash dryer (or a heat gun will get you by)
exposure unit. (again you could use a halogen light. I built my own using one. Its quite slow to expose screens though. If you got the cash get a metal halide light instead. I've just bought one but still waiting for it to arrive. It should reduce exposure times from 12 minutes to under 5.
tunnel dryer ot something to cure your shirts. Flash dryer would do it or you could use a heat press if you have one.
clear acitate sheets to print you designs on

it all adds up quite fast!

it does not need to be expensive to begin with, i started with one screen/squeegee, some emulsion and one pot of ink. i exposed my screen with a 5quid builders lamp from screwfix hung from my attic steps. to print my wife held the screen in place while i did the ink thing. re the lamp, i continued to use this method for well over a year until getting a proper lightbox.

then next thing you'll want is a single frame press, the clamps are well under 20quid and the wood can be scrap. http://emilyowenartist.wordpress.com...rinting-press/

my top tips... buy good ink, i use permaset primarily. buy good emulsion (i use a water based specific emulsion from steve wood). i would not buy any ink or emulsion from art2screenprint, in my experience the stuff they sent out on many occasions to me was awful. a 5quid fan heater is a must for drying screens.

screenprinting is not easy, when it works its stunning but my goodness its frustrating when it does not!

Morning guys just a quickie, I am trying to print a stencil using vinyl then applying it to my screen print frame/mesh but after applying my application tape to the vinyl to remove the vinyl backing, then sticking it onto my mesh fram etc, I try pulling the Application tape of but the vinyl comes off with it, no matter how much I press it on with my sqygee it just comes of with the app tape, now the app tape I am using I have now found out that is strong tack so does anyone think using low tack would do the job?? my question is what do you guys use or will I have to get the emulsion sheets and go down that road

thanks guys

Would be better for you to start a new thread as this one is a couple of years old :-)